Are you put off from buying a car from certain areas?

JustAnotherSaver

Do certain areas put you off or only the cars themselves?
By areas it could be anything, a section of a city or the entire city itself.

I ask this because i recently spotted a car in Blackburn that i thought from the ad at least was worth a shout. Not a million miles from me so figured i'd go for a drive through.

A number of friends warned me against it. Warned is probably too strong a word so we'll settle for advised. This was regards Blackburn in general & not this specific garage, although one friend knew the actual road as they're a driver & get all over and they advised me against Blackburn & certainly that area.

I thought this must all be nonsense. It can't be that bad, you're all talking rubbish. The car seems fine from the ad, has FSH (although i'm always suspicious, especially if the stamps are of the same strength ink with the same handwriting throughout).

It was my worst experience so far when looking for a car right from the moment i made the first phone call all the way through to seeing it. Just terrible. The whole vibe, the excuses of the salesman, everything.

I've known of people buy from Blackburn before and they got not far down the road before smoke started pouring out of the bonnet on a car that cost £4k. The one i went to look at we had a budget of £3k.



Now i'm not here to slate Blackburn. I'm sure there must be honest salesmen there & decent cars there. There can't not be.

But i went in to it thinking these friends of mine were being stupid & i'd pretty much made my mind up i was buying the car before i went but when i got there i couldn't get away quick enough and it's just put me off really.

I've been advised against other areas nearby, but now that i've been bitten once, i'm not as quick to call these friends stupid. On the one hand i think just go off the ad but on the other hand i think i didn't listen to them before & they turned out to be very right.

Like i said, i'm not here to slate Blackburn at all. I saw one today in Bolton and this was another place. Thought it can't be so bad but jump on google maps & the area really doesn't look so great at all & i start thinking maybe i should start to listen to my friends & maybe i'm the one being stupid for thinking it can't be that bad? :rotfl:


So are you put off by any areas? You don't have to name them. Or do you just go off the advert & if it seems fine you go check it out anyway?

BeenThroughItAll

I don't care where my cars come from. A shed's a shed whether it's sold in Kensington or Keighley.

Herzlos

Private sales wise I may be reluctant if it's in a rough area, but that's about it.

Dealer wise, I've heard of a dodgy sales triangle in the past but can't remember where it is (Leeds/Sheffield/Nottingham?)

I've seen plenty of dodgy seeming dealers in Newcastle and Bradford/Keithley so I think I'd be looking at a car very carefully first. I think I'd be more inclined to judge each car/dealer on it's merits though.

ratrace

Its just like anything in life you good and bad everywhere, I have bought cars from so called "decent areas" and they have been lemons, for me its the person im dealing with and if they seem ok and genuine, but you cant forget they are still trying to sell the car so they might not tell you the whole truth

ive also bought cars from run downs estates and they have been more reliable so there is good and bad everywhere

JustAnotherSaver

Herzlos wrote: »

Dealer wise, I've heard of a dodgy sales triangle in the past but can't remember where it is (Leeds/Sheffield/Nottingham?)

I don't know if it's a triangle but i was basically advised against the Bs. This wasn't just one person but a number of people. Friends, people i work with (many of which are drivers & get about to these areas - not to say that that qualifies them as know alls but i'm just saying) & that is - Blackburn, Bolton, Bradford, Bury, Burnley & then on to Brierfield & then we move off the Bs onto Accrington & Nelson & around those areas.

Herzlos wrote: »

I've seen plenty of dodgy seeming dealers in Newcastle and Bradford/Keithley so I think I'd be looking at a car very carefully first. I think I'd be more inclined to judge each car/dealer on it's merits though.

There's one around here & the owners look dodgy as you like. Hands down the pants, spitting every 3 steps with the swagger-swagger walk, pitbull in hand with tattoos on the neck kind. Not to stereotype as they could be perfect boyfriend material for your daughters, who knows, but it's offputting enough that i don't even go there no matter how good the deal is.

The garage right next door to them we've had a couple cars off & the owner seems a nice bloke. Just a shame he doesn't have anything we want right now.



There's another one locally too who i would've looked at, but a relative warned me off the guy after he knowingly took in a hot car & that's about as much as i'll say on that one on a public forum. If he touched that car to sell on then god knows what he's trying to palm off. I don't want to be the one finding out.


That's the thing though - locally you have a half chance but as soon as you start branching out in to areas you're not familiar with, you're taking a bigger gamble, i think anyway.

z1a

Was it Whalley Range / Bastwell area?

n217970

Being a native to Yorkshire I wouldn't buy a car from Bradford, but then again I wouldn't go to Bradford for anything. Cars that way out though always just seem a bit on the cheap/rough side.

Only other place I wouldn't buy a car from is the coast for old fashioned rust reasons - although I expect its no longer an issue on modern car + the ways cars are move about now the ones on the dealers forecourt could have come from anywhere.

flashg67

OP, I seem to live quite near you - have bought second hand cars from Blackburn/Burnley, not many mind you, but not had a bad experience.
Last one I bought was from over Bradford way and that's been fine too - all from car sales places though, not private. I do think neck tattoos and a pit bull might be my limit though!

I think you'll get a 'feeling' as you did, I don't think it's just the town that is the problem - there's good and bad everywhere.

Prothet_of_Doom

My last car I went to Middlesborough, for a private sale unseen, apart from some grainy pictures, on a Wednesday evening in the dark, from Derby where I was working in the week, found on https://www.auto!!!!!.com

This 3.2 V6 petrol barge cost me over £500. It had a few faults, like turning right if you braked too hard. I've done 21k in 12 months at 28 mpg and spent about £600 on it in repairs and servicing.
I reckon it's current value is about £1100 if I sold it tomorrow even with 185k on the clock.

My wife on the other hand went to Blackpool and Liverpool to look for her car at main dealers and eventually found what she wanted, Low Miles on a petrol juke costing £7K with a warranty. Given that she is likely to take 36 years to get it to 185k, I think it was worth the depreciation which is likely to be £1000 a year for the next 6 years.

Prothet_of_Doom

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

https://www.auto!!!!!.com

.

I'm sorry but type in moc.etihsotua.www backwards to make it work

bloody swear filters :mad::T

z1a

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

My last car I went to Middlesborough, for a private sale unseen, apart from some grainy pictures, on a Wednesday evening in the dark, from Derby where I was working in the week, found on https://www.auto!!!!!.com

This 3.2 V6 petrol barge cost me over £500. It had a few faults, like turning right if you braked too hard. I've done 21k in 12 months at 28 mpg and spent about £600 on it in repairs and servicing.
I reckon it's current value is about £1100 if I sold it tomorrow even with 185k on the clock.

My wife on the other hand went to Blackpool and Liverpool to look for her car at main dealers and eventually found what she wanted, Low Miles on a petrol juke costing £7 with a warranty. Given that she is likely to take 36 years to get it to 185k, I think it was worth the depreciation which is likely to be £1000 a year for the next 6 years.

Jukes are ugly, £7 seems a bit much I'd have offered a fiver.