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Carcraft, or car crooks ?
Hello, this is a post for people looking to buy a used car. Don't go anywhere near Carcraft.
A couple of years ago, my sister in law went into Carcraft in Wednesbury to buy a family/people carrier. She was brow beaten by aggressive salesmen into buying an overpriced car that was way too small. She said she felt almost frightened to walk out of the place without buying a car. Fortunately, we found some "irregularities" in the finance paperwork and were able to brow beat them into swapping the vehicle for a Megane Scenic.
With a few spare minutes on Friday before picking up the missus from work in Wednesbury, I thought I'd have a look at a couple of their cars in the hope of getting a test drive. I am in the market for a Lexus IS 220D.
"Hard sell" doesn't really cover it. I was accosted by a smarmy man who made me sit for 5 minutes while he spouted his company sales mantra. When I was finally allowed to go and look at a few cars, he trailed me at a constant distance, finally moving in for the kill.
"Don't worry about the screen price, I can work miracles with that". The car in question was a 2008 model, with 68k on the clock, screen price £16000. No sat nav, but plenty of stone chips.
"We inflate the prices so that people with bad credit can get finance. What would you be looking to offer me on this car ?"
Thinking I was being clever, I knocked 25% off.
"I think we can do it for £12k, if you buy it today ?". I was flabbergasted and before I knew it, his sales manager popped up to reinforce the sell.
"I've done my profit for the week but I need to shift some more units, so I can do it at cost, if you commit today".
I knew £12000 was still too much money so I pulled the ripcord and got out.
So, a pithy story and all that but what's the rub ?
1. There were a dozen cars of equal or better condition/mileage (eg with sat nav) advertised by dealers on Autotrader for less than £11,000 (not £16,000), this week.
2. The profit/unit story is nothing more than a con to make "shrewd" buyers think they are getting a good deal.
3. Overpricing vehicles for "sub-prime" finance means higher credit advances at higher interest rates, costing buyers much more interest.
4. HP agreements on overvalued cars are hugely dangerous. Insurance companies pay "market value" only on total loss cars, so you never get your overinflated purchase price back, if you have a major accident. HP companies front load their interest (using "Rule of 78"), so you could end up owing £20k on an HP account where the car is valued at £10k.
5. To combat the problem in 4 above, some bright spark invented "Gap Insurance", which will cover the shortfall if you should end up in trouble. In other words, an insurance policy to cover you for being ripped off in the first place, which you have to pay for. Carcraft offer this as an ancillary, doubtless they make a commission....
This is a lot of words, but I hope it is OK to post it and that it helps a few people avoid being ripped off.
A couple of years ago, my sister in law went into Carcraft in Wednesbury to buy a family/people carrier. She was brow beaten by aggressive salesmen into buying an overpriced car that was way too small. She said she felt almost frightened to walk out of the place without buying a car. Fortunately, we found some "irregularities" in the finance paperwork and were able to brow beat them into swapping the vehicle for a Megane Scenic.
With a few spare minutes on Friday before picking up the missus from work in Wednesbury, I thought I'd have a look at a couple of their cars in the hope of getting a test drive. I am in the market for a Lexus IS 220D.
"Hard sell" doesn't really cover it. I was accosted by a smarmy man who made me sit for 5 minutes while he spouted his company sales mantra. When I was finally allowed to go and look at a few cars, he trailed me at a constant distance, finally moving in for the kill.
"Don't worry about the screen price, I can work miracles with that". The car in question was a 2008 model, with 68k on the clock, screen price £16000. No sat nav, but plenty of stone chips.
"We inflate the prices so that people with bad credit can get finance. What would you be looking to offer me on this car ?"
Thinking I was being clever, I knocked 25% off.
"I think we can do it for £12k, if you buy it today ?". I was flabbergasted and before I knew it, his sales manager popped up to reinforce the sell.
"I've done my profit for the week but I need to shift some more units, so I can do it at cost, if you commit today".
I knew £12000 was still too much money so I pulled the ripcord and got out.
So, a pithy story and all that but what's the rub ?
1. There were a dozen cars of equal or better condition/mileage (eg with sat nav) advertised by dealers on Autotrader for less than £11,000 (not £16,000), this week.
2. The profit/unit story is nothing more than a con to make "shrewd" buyers think they are getting a good deal.
3. Overpricing vehicles for "sub-prime" finance means higher credit advances at higher interest rates, costing buyers much more interest.
4. HP agreements on overvalued cars are hugely dangerous. Insurance companies pay "market value" only on total loss cars, so you never get your overinflated purchase price back, if you have a major accident. HP companies front load their interest (using "Rule of 78"), so you could end up owing £20k on an HP account where the car is valued at £10k.
5. To combat the problem in 4 above, some bright spark invented "Gap Insurance", which will cover the shortfall if you should end up in trouble. In other words, an insurance policy to cover you for being ripped off in the first place, which you have to pay for. Carcraft offer this as an ancillary, doubtless they make a commission....
This is a lot of words, but I hope it is OK to post it and that it helps a few people avoid being ripped off.
0
Comments
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Carcraft or Carcrafty.. that would of been a better title!0
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isn't carcraft, webuyanycar. com people...
wouldn't the name wesellANYcar .com put you on edge before you even walked through the door.0 -
A couple of years ago, my sister in law went into Carcraft in Wednesbury to buy a family/people carrier. She was brow beaten by aggressive salesmen into buying an overpriced car that was way too small. She said she felt almost frightened to walk out of the place without buying a car.
Sorry to say this, but you are the ones buying and therefore in control, and buying a car is just like buying anything in life, you have to be firm and assert yourself, otherwise people are going to take advantage of you.
A few tips for buying a car:
Do a bit of homework, and narrow down the choice before you start looking.
Do not vary from your choice - a compromise is no good, and may involve you buying a car which the dealership are having trouble shifting.
Do take someone along who knows something about cars.0 -
Sorry to say this, but you are the ones buying and therefore in control, and buying a car is just like buying anything in life, you have to be firm and assert yourself, otherwise people are going to take advantage of you.
A few tips for buying a car:
Do a bit of homework, and narrow down the choice before you start looking.
Do not vary from your choice - a compromise is no good, and may involve you buying a car which the dealership are having trouble shifting.
Do take someone along who knows something about cars.
Personally, I don't have a problem in walking away from this kind of selling situation. But there are a lot of people out there who allow the process of buying a car (and other stuff for that matter) to push their adrenaline button. Before they know it, they could have been railroaded, by people who are trained to take advantage of them.
"Caveat emptor" is, of course, an established legal principle (buyer beware) and not one that most people are aware of.
Modern cars are mostly engineered to achieve vast lifetime mileages, if serviced in accordance with manufacturers' spec. Checking service history is vital. Repaired vehicles are not always a problem, accidents do happen, but repairs can be made to restore factory condition, so you shouldn't be able to notice them.
Not all retailers, be it used cars or whatever, are like Carcraft. The rest of the thread details the other sharp practices they employ, so on balance buyers should avoid them altogether. That way, Carcraft and similar will hopefully go out of business and more scrupulous sellers will prosper.0 -
bungle4by4 wrote: »isn't carcraft, webuyanycar. com people...
wouldn't the name wesellANYcar .com put you on edge before you even walked through the door.
Maybe it should be "weasleanycar.com".......there's always a rodent in there somewhere !0
This discussion has been closed.
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