"Dodgy" dealers

Danger781

Why do people say certain dealers are dodgy?

For example a few people near me keep telling me stay away from a local dealer.

Surely if the car checks out with an online check and the mechanic gives it an OK I should be grand?

S28382

Maybe some try and avoid honouring a warranty.

Kenny Logins

Ask the few people near you?

biko

Depends. Some people want revenge for some perceived wrongdoing, some people have had a bad experience with a particular dealer, some might have some background info on shady stuff going on. You never really know the reason for someone putting a business down.

If an indy mechanic says car is good and there is no finance owed on the car it's probably ok. If the dealer is known for honouring warranties that's even better.
Note that I'm just speaking generally now.

djimi

Because you pay a premium when buying from a dealer to cover things like warranty, and if they are the sort of dealer that dont want to know you once you drive off the forecourt then they could be a nightmare to deal with if you need to get something sorted with the car.

ironclaw

I would personally put everything bar extremely reputable, bonded dealerships in the 'exercise extreme caution' category. Buying from a bad dealer is no different from buying from someone off DoneDeal in my eyes. I know people will champion consumer rights here but going to court against a dealer etc costs money and its not like the States were you will definitely get your costs, compensation etc etc. And if a dealer rights themselves off as bankrupt, your nowhere.

I don't really think anyone has to tell you a dealer is dodgy. Its normally fairly obvious

Danger781

I'm not sure if he even offers a warranty. Its not mentioned in any ads on car zone from him.

Anyway, for the most part nobody seems to have a reason behind their opinion of the dealer. Most people who mention it seem to be going on what other people have told them.

One reason I was given was that he apparently buys cars from other dealers that they aren't able to sell for whatever reason. I've also heard he buys trade vehicles, which I can only assume means taxis? Or maybe the same as the above.

I've also heard he messes with the mileage on cars, but again an online check should highlight that or the mechanic maybe spot something like that.

Edit: If it's any help he has over 70 cars in stock at the moment..

ironclaw

Danger781 wrote: »

I'm not sure if he even offers a warranty. Its not mentioned in any ads on car zone from him.

Anyway, for the most part nobody seems to have a reason behind their opinion of the dealer. Most people who mention it seem to be going on what other people have told them.

One reason I was given was that he apparently buys cars from other dealers that they aren't able to sell for whatever reason. I've also heard he buys trade vehicles, which I can only assume means taxis? Or maybe the same as the above.

Its not uncommon for smaller dealers to buy from trade. Major garages would rarely have a car over 3 years old on the forecourt and they just want to flog it off into the lower end of the market. Not a big deal and not dodgy.

Dodgy dealers usually try flog off a car that will run great for about two weeks but has something seriously wrong with it, something you wouldn't detect in a basic check. For instance, there was a gent on here with an Astra awhile back that had a huge fault with the ignition system. You'd never pick that up in the initial look over. A friend bought a car recently and the emissions are an NCT fail (For burning oil), again you'd only pick that up with emissions equipment.

Any second car needs to be rigourously checked in Ireland. There are so many bad cars out there, I'd say its in the majority. We don't have a 'care for' attitude here. I went shopping with a friend and it would make you cry the junk out there. One conversation went like this:

'Oil is pretty close to minimum. When was it last serviced?'

'About two weeks ago. Sure I'll top it up there now'

:rolleyes:

Not offering a warranty is a huge 'Don't buy here' sign. It basically means they arn't willing to stand over what they sell. Would you buy from Tesco if they weren't willing to stand behind the safety or freshness of the food they sell?

Online check will only roughly (and not accurately) rate the mileage and credit check. It gives no mechanical information and won't back up a log book.

drunkmonkey

Try taking a car back with a fault to some of the dealers in tallagth/crumlin/driminagh. You'll be lucky if they don't burn your house down or at the very least give you a death threat.
There's some seriously dodgy dealers out there.

goochy

No smoke without fire ! Used. Car trade have deservedly Bad rep . Southwest Dublin is full of dubious dealers and a lot of used car dealers are delboy characters ! Don't rely on their warranties and don't assume they are being honest ! As its been said do history check and get mechanic to check over

bazz26

If a dealer is not willing to stand over a car they are selling via a warranty then I wouldn't buy from them. You might as well buy private at that rate.

As for average joe calling a dealer "dodgy" without actually any reason other than what they heard, I'd treat it like pub talk. Some people can be rubbed the wrong way up by dealers for example, in the form of offering them less for their trade in than they thought their car was worth so they think they are robbing them.

I'd rather hear it from someone with personal experience or go view a car they have for sale, you can tell a lot about a dealer by the condition of the cars they are selling and the answers to the questions you ask about it.