Won’t sell me car as I don’t want finance
Hi MSE,
I hope this is in the right place...
So I am in the market for a used car. I went to see the car I hoped to buy on Thursday this week. All good, slept on it and decided I’d go back to the dealer yesterday (Friday) to buy the car for just over 20k
I rang the dealer first thing Friday morning as it is an hour+ drive and just wanted to make sure the car was definitely still available, on the extreme off chance it was sold between 17:30-20:00 on Thursday night after I left. A different salesman answered and I explained the situation. He kept talking about finance which I had to keep telling him I did not need and I also did not need any ‘extras’ as my family own a car garage, I simply wanted to come pay the 20k and drive away today. I was told the salesman I was dealing with would call me back when he got in.
I received a call at 13:30 to tell me the car had been sold....on Thursday night after I left.
Being a financial fraud investigator for the past 15 years I couldn’t help but feel suspicious. I felt like it was because I didn’t want finance or extras.
I just so happen to have a good work colleague who lives very close to the dealership. He called in to see if the car was still available...and guess what, it is. This was confirmed with the salesman. It is still listed on Autotrader and their website.
This is a large and UK wide dealership by the way.
Has anything illegal occurred here?
Thank you
I hope this is in the right place...
So I am in the market for a used car. I went to see the car I hoped to buy on Thursday this week. All good, slept on it and decided I’d go back to the dealer yesterday (Friday) to buy the car for just over 20k
I rang the dealer first thing Friday morning as it is an hour+ drive and just wanted to make sure the car was definitely still available, on the extreme off chance it was sold between 17:30-20:00 on Thursday night after I left. A different salesman answered and I explained the situation. He kept talking about finance which I had to keep telling him I did not need and I also did not need any ‘extras’ as my family own a car garage, I simply wanted to come pay the 20k and drive away today. I was told the salesman I was dealing with would call me back when he got in.
I received a call at 13:30 to tell me the car had been sold....on Thursday night after I left.
Being a financial fraud investigator for the past 15 years I couldn’t help but feel suspicious. I felt like it was because I didn’t want finance or extras.
I just so happen to have a good work colleague who lives very close to the dealership. He called in to see if the car was still available...and guess what, it is. This was confirmed with the salesman. It is still listed on Autotrader and their website.
This is a large and UK wide dealership by the way.
Has anything illegal occurred here?
Thank you
0
Comments
-
What on earth would be illegal?
If they will only sell on finance thats up to them.0 -
Nothing illegal. They are at liberty not to sell to you or to insist on what payment method is acceptable.
Look elsewhere.0 -
-
Being a financial fraud investigator for the past 15 years I couldn’t help but feel suspicious.
Because someone who wasn't a financial fraud investigator would not have seen anything suspicious at all.
Have you actually read the terms on the finance? Maybe you can take-out the finance and then immdiately pay it off.0 -
Hi MSE,
I hope this is in the right place...
So I am in the market for a used car. I went to see the car I hoped to buy on Thursday this week. All good, slept on it and decided I’d go back to the dealer yesterday (Friday) to buy the car for just over 20k
I rang the dealer first thing Friday morning as it is an hour+ drive and just wanted to make sure the car was definitely still available, on the extreme off chance it was sold between 17:30-20:00 on Thursday night after I left. A different salesman answered and I explained the situation. He kept talking about finance which I had to keep telling him I did not need and I also did not need any ‘extras’ as my family own a car garage, I simply wanted to come pay the 20k and drive away today. I was told the salesman I was dealing with would call me back when he got in.
I received a call at 13:30 to tell me the car had been sold....on Thursday night after I left.
Being a financial fraud investigator for the past 15 years I couldn’t help but feel suspicious. I felt like it was because I didn’t want finance or extras.
I just so happen to have a good work colleague who lives very close to the dealership. He called in to see if the car was still available...and guess what, it is. This was confirmed with the salesman. It is still listed on Autotrader and their website.
This is a large and UK wide dealership by the way.
Has anything illegal occurred here?
Thank you
Their car, their business, their deals, their choices. They dont have to sell a car to you if they dont want to.
I'm surprised a fraud investigator would have to ask if it was fraudulent or illegal by the way.0 -
Perhaps the manufacturer of this car made others identical to it which you could purchase from more closely-located outlets that actually want to shift metal rather than extract commission.0
-
Thanks for the speedy replies all.
BoGoF, Aylesbury, Voyager - Yes of course. That was never the issue.
Supersons - The best they could offer was a reduction from 10.9% or 11.9% down to 7.9% over 36 months minimum. Way too high when I am lucky enough to have the cash in bank.
Motorguy - as above, yes of course. That was not an issue.
Konark - Of course...
I’ve been looking for a particular car for a little while now, it’s quite rare; nothing on the big sites like Autotrader, motorpoint etc aside from this one. I’ve saved up for a long time and now I’m ready to buy I was actually really happy it was only 70 miles away!
Apologies - judging by the replies, I’ve not made the salient points at all clear.
A car clearly advertised as for sale with a cash price is actually only available on a high rate of finance.
I’d assume that would be contravening some regulation and that’s why the dealer has told me it had been sold once they found I wasn’t interested in taking their finance.
Of course I’m annoyed that I’ve been lied to, I’ll get over that, but it can’t be right what they’ve done and are still doing.0 -
Can you not purchase it with finance then cancel the finance (and pay it off with your savings) within the cooling off period?0
-
A car clearly advertised as for sale with a cash price is actually only available on a high rate of finance.
I’d assume that would be contravening some regulation and that’s why the dealer has told me it had been sold once they found I wasn’t interested in taking their finance.
Of course I’m annoyed that I’ve been lied to, I’ll get over that, but it can’t be right what they’ve done and are still doing.
It could be that it had been sold to someone who was going to buy on finance, then didn't complete on the sale. Also one salesperson may have been dealing with you and hasdn't told their colleagues.
So, possibly they lied, possibly they didn't.Find out who you are and do that on purpose (thanks to Owain Wyn Jones quoting Dolly Parton)0 -
all salesmen(people) lie, they just have to open their mouth.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.7K Spending & Discounts
- 235.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 607.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173K Life & Family
- 247.8K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards