Thinking about buying a 'part ex' car from dealer. Bad idea?

Oakeshott

So a dealer near me is selling a car I want, at a good price. The dealer has very good feedback online and seems to be trustworthy (maybe that's relative among used car salesmen?) 

The only thing stopping me buying the car is it's a 'part ex', although the advert does explicitly state the car 'drives superb'. Here's the wording of the advert: 

UNMISSABLE LOW BARGAIN PRICE***VIEWING BY APPOINTMENTS***BUY FROM A TRUSTED GARAGE&HIGHLY RATED BY AUTOTRADER AND CAR GURUS//JUST ARRIVED A LOVELY LOOKING EXAMPLE AND A GENUINE PART EXCHANGE BARGAIN THAT WAS USED DAILY AND DRIVES SUPERB WITH GENUINE WARRANTED MILES

Is it a bad idea to buy part ex? Should I expect problems? And if so do I have fewer consumer rights, as it's a part ex? 

macman

A part exchange is just a used car. You have the same consumer rights as you do with any dealer purchase, old or new.

Alanp

Is it a main dealer?, is the previous owner trading in for another one?, as long as you do your due diligence and the car is ok then why not..

Grumpy_chap

Oakeshott said:

So a dealer near me is selling a car I want, at a good price. The dealer has very good feedback online and seems to be trustworthy (maybe that's relative among used car salesmen?) 

The only thing stopping me buying the car is it's a 'part ex', although the advert does explicitly state the car 'drives superb'. Here's the wording of the advert: 

UNMISSABLE LOW BARGAIN PRICE***VIEWING BY APPOINTMENTS***BUY FROM A TRUSTED GARAGE&HIGHLY RATED BY AUTOTRADER AND CAR GURUS//JUST ARRIVED A LOVELY LOOKING EXAMPLE AND A GENUINE PART EXCHANGE BARGAIN THAT WAS USED DAILY AND DRIVES SUPERB WITH GENUINE WARRANTED MILES

Is it a bad idea to buy part ex? Should I expect problems? And if so do I have fewer consumer rights, as it's a part ex? 

Read the advert in full.
What does the Dealer mean to convey by saying that the car is a "part-ex bargain"? 
Why is the car offered at the "unmissable low bargain price"?

For comparison, here is the advert of a random car advertised as "PART EXCHANGE CLEARANCE":
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209039404316
"PART EXCHANGE CLEARANCE:, DUE TO AGE OR MILEAGE ALL OUR PART EXCHANGE CLEARANCE VEHICLES ARE ADVERTISED UNDER THE FOLLOWING TERMS & CONDITIONS:, THIS VEHICLE WILL BE SOLD AS SEEN WITHOUT WARRANTY, SPARES OR REPAIR, SHOULD BE TOWED AWAY, THESE STIPULATIONS ARE PUT IN PLACE AS THE CAR IS BEING MARKETED AS A PART EXCHANGE CLEARANCE WITH NO RETURNS" 

Now, I would steer a million miles clear of any car being offered by any Trader using "PART EXCHANGE CLEARANCE" as a reason to justify why they can try to avoid their obligations. 
This one that I've linked looks OK, but the car must clearly have some fault that is expensive to repair and not worth the Trader doing the repair (as they can do it cheaper than a consumer can).

Why not link the ad to the specific car you've seen - people may spot any warning text that you might have missed.

chrisw

It's not necessarily a bad thing. It may be that the part ex doesn't fit the dealer's usual sales profile but if it's a good car they might stick it on for sale to see the response before sending it off to auction.

Nobbie1967

As above, it may just mean they are not going to prepare it to their normal standards, so make sure you inspect it thoroughly as it may have a few dinks/paint imperfections or other cosmetic faults. They may not bother putting a new MOT on it, so check the last one for any advisories and check the tread on the tyres and windscreen for chips. It should still be mechanically sound unless clearly stated otherwise.

Herzlos

It's definitely odd to refer to it as a part ex, because most used cars are a part ex somewhere. I've only ever seen them use the part ex description when trying to pass it off without warranty as it has an unknown provenance.

That said, it may just be something they wouldn't normally stock.

It's a used car though, so treat it just like any other used car purchase - check the condition, paperwork, MOT history, how it drives etc.

It's also worth noting that the dealer knows exactly what it's worth (it's his job), so if it's selling *too* cheap I'd be suspicious about why they want rid of it.

facade

It could just be that the dealer thinks people will be attracted by imagining that it is a carefully looked after car that has been traded in at that dealer, so good that the dealer thinks it is worth selling on rather than pushing through the auction.

It is only cynics like me who think that all used cars have been "got rid of" because there is something wrong with them.

Grey_Critic

People trade in cars every day of the week. - that is what Part Exchange is. I worked for a dealer that was taken over bu another. The new owners only sold cars under 2 years old and less than 15,000 miles- anything else was sold off into the trade.

easy

Most of the used cars on dealer's forecourts are cars that have been taken on part-exchange for a new or newer car -  where do you think all the used cars come from?  

Oakeshott

Yep it’s definitely underpriced and the description states part ex unlike the others. And there is a section on his website saying anything labelled pry ex has no warranty! 

Best leave it.