Bought a Used Car From Evan Halshaw, £99 Admin Fee? Feel conned :(

ln2019

Hey guys,

The other day I bought a used car from Evan Halshaw, it was priced at around 2900 and just as they were going through fees talking about extra packages which then would of added up to around 4000 which I were told were optional (which I declined), I was then told that there was a £99 admin fee, I know I should of questioned this at the time but I didn't know that this was compulsory as I've read online, It seemed like I had to pay this admin fee as I wasn't told it was optional.

I still need to pick the car up from them, I've also got no insurance so I need to purchase a days insurance as I can't afford to pay for it yet.

Any idea how to approach this?

Thanks

Aylesbury_Duck

ln2019 wrote: »

Hey guys,

The other day I bought a used car from Evan Halshaw, it was priced at around 2900 and just as they were going through fees talking about extra packages which then would of added up to around 4000 which I were told were optional (which I declined), I was then told that there was a £99 admin fee, I know I should of questioned this at the time but I didn't know that this was compulsory as I've read online, It seemed like I had to pay this admin fee as I wasn't told it was optional.

I still need to pick the car up from them, I've also got no insurance so I need to purchase a days insurance as I can't afford to pay for it yet.

Any idea how to approach this?

Thanks

This bit has thrown me because it seems contradictory. Was the fee optional or compulsory?

If it's annoyed you that much, can you cancel with no loss of deposit or other costs?

marcarm

Why do you need a days insurance? What happens the day after? You should be taking out a years policy.

ln2019

From reading online about this fee it is optional: "the £99 charge is completely optional and covers the cost of additional checks we can make to give you more information about a used vehicle's history. It also provides indemnity cover for the full value of the vehicle. We do recommend it, but by no means is it required."

When purchasing I was never told it was optional, it was thrown on at the end after test driving and it was implied that it was compulsory, the advert never stated this fee.

As they talked about other packages that I could get with the car I was told they were optional but I wasn't told this fee was optional.

As this was a first car buy I didn't question it as much as I should of as it sounded normal until I did some research.

ln2019

I need to wait until the end of the month to get payed again to afford 12 month insurance, paying monthly is too expensive at the moment, so I'll need a days insurance to drive the car home from the dealers

System

I had the same from Quicks who were a Halshaw's subsiduary. I told them to sod off with the fees despite them bleating on about them being compulsory. They claimed it was for doing HPI checks to make sure it wasn't stolen or on finance and for indemnity insurance and a pre-sales check. I pointed out that when you go to Tesco they don't add on buying fees at the till, that it was their responsibility to make sure the vehicle was roadworthy, they had the legal right to sell it, if it did turn out to be stolen/on HPI then they would have to give me a full refund and that if there were faults they'd be the ones I'd be coming back to to rectify them. In short I stood there, countered the drivel coming out of the manager's mouth with their legal position and said the price I was paying was what was on the screen and that was that. I drove out with the car.

Aylesbury_Duck

I'm afraid the time for questioning it was back then.

If you're still unhappy, my original question stands:

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

If it's annoyed you that much, can you cancel with no loss of deposit or other costs?

Aylesbury_Duck

ln2019 wrote: »

I need to wait until the end of the month to get payed again to afford 12 month insurance, paying monthly is too expensive at the moment, so I'll need a days insurance to drive the car home from the dealers

That seems an expensive way of doing it, plus you'll be paying for a full month's tax (which may be a very small amount I suppose). What are you going to do with the car for the rest of the month, just have it sat on your drive?

If you can cancel the deal at no cost, I would do so and buy a car when you can afford to run it. My concern for you would be that motoring isn't cheap. If affording insurance is that marginal, what are you going to do if you get a couple of punctures or bounce in a pothole and need a new coil spring or something? Could you live/commute without a car until you've either saved more or could you buy a cheaper car and put the saving towards your motoring budget? There are plenty of good first cars available for £2k or under, there's no need to be spending £3k.

forgotmyname

Dont forget to SORN it.

[Deleted User]

I wouldn't buy the car until I had the money for the insurance also. It could get stolen, broken into, set on fire, anything, and you'll be stuck with nothing.

Insurance is not just about driving on the road.

Mr_Singleton

ln2019 wrote: »

I was then told that there was a £99 admin fee

Consider yourself lucky, was with a friend before Christmas who was looking at a car from Car Supermarket or some such place near White City north London and they were charging a completely non-negotiable £200 admin fee for cars. Should you have the cheek to get your own finance company then the charge went up to £400 never worked out you still had to pay the £200 as well.

REMEMBER they do it because people pay.