Car Giant / Car Craft

perdita00

I wish I had done what I normally do and look at this site before I make a financial commitment.

I went to Carcraft on 31/8/07 - They kept me waiting 5 1/2 hours. My main problem was I had been given a car which had failed its MOT and I wanted to part-exchange it and it was on its last day of tax so we wouldnt be able to drive it home. I found a car I liked and was told I could part exchange.

So far so good....

Then they kept me waiting for 5 1/2 hours. They said they were having trouble getting finance for me as I was a provisional license holder. Then then found me a lender and everything went ahead.

When I went to sign the payments had miraculously gone up but I was told that because they had kept me waiting for so long they would give me the NAC guarantee for 3 years free as well as a years RAC. He then got me to sign and half way through asked me to initial another document which he said was a copy of the 2 i had already done saying that they needed loads of copys. When I got home I saw that this was the document charging me £995 + interest for the guarantee!!! Which he told me was a freebie for bad service.

Then 6 days later the car broke down. It overheated and was undrivable - they were happy to get it fixed but could not do it for a couple of days. This brings us up to the weekend just gone.

I then went online to the VOSA website and looked at the MOT details and found out that on the last MOT cert by carcraft on the 13/8/07 an advisory notice was pinned onto it saying the radiator pipe had corroded. Now I'm not a mechanic but I think the heating/overheating problem has something to do with that.

I made a bit of a fuss and rang trading standards and they told me i could get the car taken back and the finance stopped as they were in breach of my stat rights.

Then someone from carcraft rang me and told me that the finance company they had for me had said I could no longer get finance and the only way I could get it would be for my dad to go onto the agreement. I didnt want to do this so they said they would take the car back and I would not be charged. He said he would ring me back on Sat morning . Noone did so I chased them all weekend.

Then I rang again this morning and was told I would have to make time to ring while I was at work as the relevant person was not in till 12 and it is not their problem that couldnt make the time to call. I was so angry I submitted a complaint and a manager rang me back today.

He said he could sort the finance and get it fixed for me! Now I'm not sure I want it at all after the appaling service I receievd - so when the compalints manager rang me half an hour ago he told me i could no cancel with them!!!

If anyone wants to comment on this I would be very grateful as I am tearing my hair out.

Thanks

Tanith

perdita00

I was told the finance didnt go through. But then someone rang this morning to say he had sorted it all out - I since spoke to a complaints managed who told me I couldnt pull out!!


So god knows whats going on - I think I will be onto trading standards again - first thing in the morning!!

DealDrivers_company_representative

Cars and finance are not linked....the 'car supermarket' you are buying a car from can always offer finance but they fund it through major banks/building societies and take a commission on finance they sell.

Always look at a car and finance as separate items...you buy the car from one place and shop around for finance...you don't have to take the finance offered by the seller unless they have built the specific deal around a package...and if so, ask them what the car price is alone and go elsewhere for the money!

Take it as a package and the seller can also package in a nice fat commsiion for himself.

Have they told you the APR on the deal?

ADEY_3

Phone the finance company yourself get the facts from them. Tell them whats happened cancel the agreement and take carcrook the car back.
Also in regard to big places like that watch a film called "suckers" most of what you see is true and really happens. They will tell you you can't cancel so they keep the sale

Uncle_Fester_2

Re: Car Giant

Is it possible to buy a Car and Driveaway the same day?

(Paying full amount via debit card)

vikingaero

Uncle_Fester wrote: »

Re: Car Giant

Is it possible to buy a Car and Driveaway the same day?

(Paying full amount via debit card)

I think so. You can probably drive away same day at both Car Giant and Carcraft if you take along the necessary documents - for example: insurance certificate, V5C for your part exchange if any, driving licence, utility bills and wage slips if you need finance etc.

jimpix12

Sorry to dig up this thread again, but I've seen a car on CarCraft that is great value.

I'm quite resilient to sales tactics and I can pay 100% cash. Is this a good idea? 90% of the complaints I've read about CarCraft are to do with their finance and/or warranties, but given that the vehicle I'm after is a year old, there's still 2+ years of the manufacturers warranty remaining, so I won't be taking out ANYTHING with CarCraft.

The only concerning thing is that I heard they get a lot of their vehicles from hire companies, i.e. they may often be f*cked. Can anyone confirm this is true? It's a BMW Z4 so could well have been hired out.

Thanks in advance

MX5huggy

I would think a Z4 is an unusal car to be a hire car. You need to check the service history with a fine tooth comb so that you know the manufactures warranty is still valid.

How many Z4's have you looked at? I would think there are loads at good prices about, thursty petrol sports cars are not popular at the moment!

http://www.carcraft.co.uk/SearchResult.aspx?Make=BMW&Model=Z4

Looks like they got a job lot in! Consecutive reg plates, so maybe hire cars, ask. All the same price but one has 19k miles another only has 4.5k

PS you really need a 3.0 one awsome!

ADEY_3

Be careful with Carcraft ,Welcome who used to do their sub prime finance have pulled out, rumor has it carcraft are now in trouble as most of the money they made on a car was on the finance

hm71_2

I wouldn't touch carcraft- with a long pole that belongs to someone else with a rubber glove on the end!!! when hubby got his car from there it was plagued with faults- cost over £2000 in the first nine months- all faults that would not be covered by manufacturors warranty. The mileage looked grat very low for a 3 yr old car- so that ruled out the hire/rep car scenario but it just kept going wrong. traded it on a nissan after owning it for 2 years and would not go there again.