Do I have to pay the Evans Halshaw Admin Fee of £99?

carbuyer84

I am due to go to Evans Halshaw this week and purchase a car I have had moved from another location. I was told by the sales man, when I asked about the £99 Admin Fee (that is for a HPI check) and quoting it says ''optional'' on the sticker that's on the windscreen of the car that it is in fact not optional. He called over the dealer principal and he said that the company had changed their policy and that he was awaiting new stickers that would quote ''compulsory'' and he said that the company do not budge on this fee… I have done a HPI check myself on the car and feel this fee is ridiculous. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do?

Thanks.

Inner_Zone

Walk away. Evans Halshaw have a terrible reputation. Do a search on this forum.

gilbert_and_sullivan

If you don't want to pay it don't, walk away, no shortage of used cars or used car sellers out there.

I have no axe to grind with EA, my son recently bought a really nice petrol engined BMW estate from them, the car is good in all ways, they put 4 brand new Firestone runflats on it (we were expecting to find chinese ditchfinders) and relined the brakes for the MOT after the sale was agreed and its proving to be a good trouble free car, right price too.

force_ten

as said if you are not happy with the charge then go elsewhere

this is something that they get slated for on the forums and they could easily add £100.00 to the screen price and drop the admin fee and it would save them from getting bad press about it

i would expect that every other dealer in the country passes on the admin fees in the screen price rather than showing a lower price and then adding extras

straighttalker

If you don't want to pay the admin fee, don't buy from them.

knightstyle

Just look at the total price, is it a fair price for the car and in your original budget?
We bought our current Juke from EH as it was a rare model, ex demonstrator and got a good deal. The price was too high so we told them how much we would pay with the trade in and did the deal. They paid far more for the trade in than other garages to get the deal.
Just do not use them for servicing as they charge more than manufacturers prices and rip you off.

Marktheshark

Its basically the auction fees they have to pay to mahiem when they buy the cars.

Nearlyold

The Fee is Optional, if it was compulsory it would have to be included in the screen price. It's not to pay for anything in particular, though they say it covers HPI checks, its just a way of adding a little extra income to the deal for them. Force ten is incorrect in believing that no other dealer does the same thing, its getting to be quite widespread.

poppasmurf_bewdley

Charging £99 for a HPI check is just another way of picking your pocket of £99.

Any dealer is legally responsible for ensuring they have full title to any vehicle they sell, and if you do happen to buy one from them that did have a dodgy history, you would be entitled to compensation.

To my mind, it's a similar scam to the banks selling insurance to cover you against fraudulent use of your bank cards - selling you insurance to cover what is already covered by law.

bigjl

Marktheshark wrote: »

Its basically the auction fees they have to pay to mahiem when they buy the cars.

You actually think the auction fees are £99?

They charge it so they can price the car a little bit lower but still recoup the money they spend on doing a HPi check.

bigjl

Nearlyold wrote: »

The Fee is Optional, if it was compulsory it would have to be included in the screen price. It's not to pay for anything in particular, though they say it covers HPI checks, its just a way of adding a little extra income to the deal for them. Force ten is incorrect in believing that no other dealer does the same thing, its getting to be quite widespread.

It's optional is it?

Why not list all the people who have opted not to pay it?

It is an indemnity fee, and the cars I have bought from CarGiant have never had details on the invoice as to how I can avoid this "optional" fee.
Do you really think other garages don't garage for these things?

They do and they include it in the sticker price.