Dealer Selling Car with Declared fault

jimjames

As per the title dealer has a car listed for sale with declared fault, car misfires/lumpy running when warm. It's up for £8k so not bargain basement level but it's 12 years old. They say it came in as P/X and they just need to shift it but it seems rather unusual and not something I've seen a mainstream dealer advertising before. Just a way to try to sell at a higher price than auction to recoup some losses perhaps? It just seemed odd when the listing is amongst some fairly high end cars as well as others of similar price. I assume it's entirely legal as the fault is declared to any prospective buyer but I would have expected a dealer to fix the issue and sell for retail price if they could. Apparently it still comes with a full warranty for everything else on the car.

Anyone else seen this before?

Grumpy_chap

I've seen this type of thing and, yes, so far as I am aware it is legal to sell a car with declared faults.
Normally, IIRC, I have only seen this on the real bargain basement last-year-of-life type thing where the Dealer is trying to avoid their obligations.
How does this declared fault affect the warranty on "everything else"?  Would the warranty provider be able to hide behind the declared fault?
I wouldn't buy a car at £8k with declared fault as, it is either repairable at sensible money (in which case the Dealer would have fixed it and sold at full market price), or there is a lot more to it than you can ascertain in a test drive and this car is going to be a burden.

jimjames

Grumpy_chap said:

I wouldn't buy a car at £8k with declared fault as, it is either repairable at sensible money (in which case the Dealer would have fixed it and sold at full market price), or there is a lot more to it than you can ascertain in a test drive and this car is going to be a burden.

That was my thought exactly. On closer inspection they actually have 2 cars for sale with different declared faults one of which is a poor paintwork repair. It seems like they just can't be bothered to sort. I guess if they can sell for £8k with fault, say the fault costs £1k to fix and car with fault fixed only sells for £9k then there's no financial benefit to them in fixing if they can achieve that. Auction might only get them £5k so but I'm surprised they don't have any trade contacts that would buy and fix then sell for retail.

Nobbie1967

Maybe they’ve done some initial fault finding and suspect it could be something very expensive such as a cracked cylinder head. If the car is being put up for £8k with a fault at 12 years old then I’m guessing it was a pretty expensive car when new, so parts prices will be commensurate with that. At a trade auction, most will realise that and bid low so they’re relying on some gullible punter who thinks they can fix it with a quick sensor change. I doubt they are a reputable dealer trying this.

CoastingHatbox

If as you say, the dealer has taken it in part-exchange, they've probably deemed that it's not worth their time dealing with it. Particularly if they are a dealer without their own workshop or their workshop is too busy it's not worth having their mechanics take time to assess it.

I've never seen such a vehicle on a forecourt, but there are plenty of dealers with eBay listings for such vehicles. £8k seems an incredibly high price for any unexceptional vehicle at 12 years old with a known fault.

Richard53

If you're buying a car with a declared misfire/poor running, then the fault could be almost anything, from a £5 sensor to a cracked head or block costing thousands to rectify. It's not a gamble I would be prepared to take, unless the car was very cheap. Pocket money cheap. At £8k, I'd be running away.

Herzlos

How does the price compare with a working one? How expensive/special is it?

jimjames

Herzlos said:

How does the price compare with a working one? How expensive/special is it?

WBAC give a quote of £9350 for a fully working one so retail would be somewhat higher. It does mean that even with say £2k of costs it could still be financially viable.
It's a very low mileage, 1 owner car which might also explain the poor running if it's not been driven enthusiastically There are known problems with the engine (petrol) getting valves coked up which could explain the symptoms but as above it could be pretty much anything which is where the risk comes especially buying from a dealer.

diystarter7

CoastingHatbox said:

If as you say, the dealer has taken it in part-exchange, they've probably deemed that it's not worth their time dealing with it. Particularly if they are a dealer without their own workshop or their workshop is too busy it's not worth having their mechanics take time to assess it.

I've never seen such a vehicle on a forecourt, but there are plenty of dealers with eBay listings for such vehicles. £8k seems an incredibly high price for any unexceptional vehicle at 12 years old with a known fault.

Hi
Often this kind of sale is dealer to dealer or off to the auction. However, there may be a good market for those that know what they are doing

(Wheelr dealers Mike can at times buy off dealers those types of cars)

Thanks

Car_54

Richard53 said:

If you're buying a car with a declared misfire/poor running, then the fault could be almost anything, from a £5 sensor to a cracked head or block costing thousands to rectify. It's not a gamble I would be prepared to take, unless the car was very cheap. Pocket money cheap. At £8k, I'd be running away.

Exactly. And if it was a cheap fix it would probably have been done, so the odds are even worse.

forgotmyname

Could be the dealer only spruces the cars up and does not entertain remedial work but they had to take the car as a batch?

Or same situation it was bought in a cluster of cars and not cost effective to sort the issues, maybe they have evidence of

recent work done which did not cure the problem? Throwing parts and money at it may not be cost effective, possibly never
recoup the money spent?

Local small dealer must take 10 cars a month from the larger chain otherwise he gets pushed down the list and only offered the

tat nobody else wants. If he stops buying they stop calling.