CAR CRAFT !! Warning!!

mini_mad_dad

i've looked at cars from Carcraft, you have to know what you are buying from there. one day my missus went in there whilst i was at work (only round the cornner) anyway she took out a really nice looking astra estate for a test drive and whilst out with the sales rep she popped in to where i work (just so i could give the car a once over). well for a car less than 2 year old! there was more overspray on it than the inside of a spray booth...! most of their cars are ex lease cars which were leased to companys like hire firms. so most cars are highly abused! and although on hpi the car may seem clean for accidents, most repairs for hire companys are done in house so they wont be on hpi. Also after walking around carcraft looking at the various cars they have i noticed majority of the cars inside would appear to have been touched up or even resprayed at some point (not all but some).

the tale tale signs are

poorly aligned pannels
overspray on places where paint should not be. Eg window rubbers, in wheel arches and under the bonnet like the radiator and on electrics!

if you have the choice steer clear!!!

zzzLazyDaisy

A friend who lives in Mcr bought a Freelander from CC of Rochdale. She was only given one set of keys.

A couple of weeks later the car was stolen from outside the house, fortunately a neighbour saw and chased the thief and cornered him while the police came. It turned out that the thief had a set of keys and came from Rochdale. His mate had dropped him off outside my friend's house and he had stolen the car to order.

Nothing was ever traced back to Carcraft, but it is a big coincidence, huh?

glammakid

AMO wrote:

Yeah, there's no morality to CarCraft's ways of working. I am not saying its company policy, but the company turns a blind eye to any tactic used by any sales person to get a sale.

Another example is this. I saw a couple asking about finance costs. CarCraft arrange finance at a fairly high APR. The couple were sufficiently smart to know the APR was high. However, the sales person said that he could bring the the APR down to zero (I was thinking that this was impressive which is why it caught my interest) and then he went on to say he could do this if the couple paid £1000 in extra and in advance.

I laffed and told the couple to tell him to f* off. The car they were buying wasn't that expensive (£4Kish) to start with.

AMO

I ran that by my friend and he confirms it! He says that sometimes they will pretend to write in that the £1,000 was accepted on the PC, but really it was just a crappy template designed by a few people over the past year. And then when it's printed it has Car Craft's name on it but because it's not an official document it has no substance!

So CC would tick the £1,000 accepted in advance and have the NIL for e.g. a 5 year finance loan. Now this alone would be very suspect. They'll tell you some clever story like the finance company will write to you a few days after you sign the papers because they need to have the loan approved before they enter this agreement with CC in - usually takes a week or two.

And then when a letter from the Finance Company comes neither them or CC know anything about it! The original salesman would say he didn't remember you, that he sees hundreds of customers each day. In the meantime, you've a loan which has a HIGH APR and some made up document from someone's desk saying it's genuine when it's not.

Forget about the PC terminal it was printed off because it's all on a removable hard disk and so won't be found under the permanent hard drive inside. Plus by that time they'll ask you to leave or call the police.

Between the salesmen, it's a case of seeing who can rip people off the most, even if not for financial gain it's something to tell the lads for a laugh. The £1,000 is usually shared amongst a small group of salesman who are in on it together and back each other up during the entire con.

Now this all came from someone I know that used to work at Car Craft in Leeds. Wouldn't be surprised if it's being done elsewhere too.

glammakid

Here's another true story for you.

Saturday Kenny from Car Craft in Leeds tells me that he's got a Honda Civic, V Reg 1.6 Vtec in the back that I could have for £3k if I take it that day and before they run they're checks on it. Funny thing was, he later tells me that it's just been checked?!?!? He was trying hard to sell it to me, brandishing the mp3 player, the air con, the leather interior. But strange how there was a red stain just on the passenger carpet!?!?!?

I declined and my friend tells me that he asked me not to look at that car because it was a write off that they got in for £600! A week later and the car I see online being sold at £6k!!!! What kinda checks did it have or who's taking the michael?!!?!? Oh and the red stain....that was blood.

peterg1965

These stories are horrific, has anyone ever reported this outfit to Trading Standards or to the Police? Trouble is a lot of what everyone is saying is actually hearsay but nevertheless it adds up to a company that is unscrupulous to say the very least. These are exactly the type of people that give car dealers a bad name (not that I am one!). There are plenty of other very reputable car supermarkets out there, some with excellent reputations, Fors of Winsford for example. So just give CarCraft a very wide berth and spread the word.

gord115

Once priced up a 1 year old peugeot 206 gti up there.It was exactly the same price as a BRAND NEW one from peugeot main dealer and £1000 more than a brand new one from a car supermarket

glammakid

Now they're only preying on the ignorance of the buyers if they're selling a 206 gti for the same price as new!

Typical typical typical. What else can I say?


Trading Standards would have a field day giong round checking the cars though.

BANANABUS

LIke most of these car supermarkets the sale chimps might aswell be selling washing machines! for all they know about cars

tonymc

Try contacting Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 - they should be able to at least put you on the right track with regard to the engine issue.

They were extremely helpful when I had not quite as bad a problem as yourself.