AA report on '05 Ford C-Max below - Should I avoid??

Maple77

Test drove an '05 Ford C-Max in dealers - 77000 miles on clock.

€5'500 - No NCT - Dealer promises full service and NCT inc in price.

AA Report

Essential repairs:

16. Door mirror glass adjusters range movement restricted.
22. Clutch pedal pad not fitted.
26. No 4 fuel injector leaking at fitment into head. Blowing noise present, fuel/combustion smell inside car.
20, 63. Exhaust leak stain at front pipe flexible section, buzzing noise from area of air pipe at front of engine. Check and rectify as necessary.
33. Walls of RH rear tyre grooved, indicating use on underinflated tyre, repaired- remove tyre and check condition for further use.
37. RH rear wheel severely binding on brakes with handbrake off.
52. RH headlamp height adjuster inoperative.
78. Air conditioning not working.


Advisable repairs:

1, 58.Radio requires coding and aerial not fitted.
6. LH rear door child lock catch loose/defective. Tailgate lock not opening when outer handle squeezed-check.RH front door check strap mounting loose fitting.
18. RH front seat arm rest adjuster not engaging.
27. Incorrect new battery fitted by dealer- fit correct battery.
29. Fuse box cover not fitted under LH side of dash.
47. LH rear suspension damper appears somewhat weak when compressed on lift, sleeve at top mounting worn- remove damper, test and if necessary renew both rear dampers.
78. Air duct under driver’s seat not fitted. Inadequate air flow from LH outer dash vent.

How much would it cost to sort the most important of these problems (ballpark)?

Would they have to be fixed for NCT anyway or could the dealer get NCT without getting them fixed ?

Cheers

colm_mcm

To be honest, all of that can be remedied, but the fact that it was up for sale in its current condition doesn't reflect well on the dealer.
Its apparent that the car wasn't minded by its previous owner. I'd seek out a better one tbh.

Ardeehey

wouldn't touch it myself, if the dealer is willing to sell it before getting this stuff done then I wouldn't trust them to get it done after I paid the deposit. If you wanted to then pull out of the deal then you would say goodbye to the deposit

Breffnigolfer

Walk away. No, run away. That is a car waiting to drop and, as said, a dealer who does not deserve your custom, if he's prepared to show such a car.

bazz26

Lads to be fair, we are talking about a nearly 10 year old car here. The AA report is very thorough but you have to put into perspective on a car of this age. Most 9/10 year old cars will have faults.

Also garages selling 9/10 year old cars will do a minimum prep on them when selling them on as there is very little profit in spending alot of money on cars of that age or value. Normally you would insist on these issues being addressed as a condition of the sale at best but again dealers are not going to spend alot of money on cars of this age and value which is why there really is no value add in buying from a dealer in this price range.

enviro

I would be put off by that report. As a matter of interest, how soon did the AA come out after you booked the inspection?

Breffnigolfer

bazz26 wrote: »

Lads to be fair, we are talking about a nearly 10 year old car here. The AA report is very thorough but you have to put into perspective on a car of this age. Most 9/10 year old cars will have faults.

Also garages selling 9/10 year old cars will do a minimum prep on them when selling them on as there is very little profit in spending alot of money on cars of that age or value. Normally you would insist on these issues being addressed as a condition of the sale at best but again dealers are not going to spend alot of money on cars of this age and value which is why there really is no value add in buying from a dealer in this price range.

To be fair? That is some list of excuses for incompetence.


To present a car for sale to a member of the public, in such a condition, is deplorable. The age of the car is irrelevant.

Alkers

Pretty comprehensive report from the AA, how much did that cost?

bazz26

Breffnigolfer wrote: »

To be fair? That is some list of excuses for incompetence.


To present a car for sale to a member of the public, in such a condition, is deplorable. The age of the car is irrelevant.

Of course age is relevant. Expecting a 9/10 year old car to not have issues is delusional imo. As I said dealers selling cars at this age and price range will not spend big money fixing them up unless you pay top dollar for the car. Franchised dealers will not retail cars of this age as there is not enough profit in it for them so they sell these trade-ins to the trade ie smaller dealers who can flip the over for a few quid.

Breffnigolfer

bazz26 wrote: »

Of course age is relevant. Expecting a 9/10 year old car to not have issues is delusional imo. As I said dealers selling cars at this age and price range will not spend big money fixing them up unless you pay top dollar for the car. Franchised dealers will not retail cars of this age as there is not enough profit in it for them so they sell these trade-ins to the trade ie smaller dealers who can flip the over for a few quid.

Age is not relevant when a car is presented in such condition. It's an attitude like this that allows the so-called dealers get away with such practices.
While any used car should be expected to show signs of wear and tear the likes of this car should be either repaired, properly, or scrapped.

I don't get your point re-franchised dealers. What's that got to do with this thread? (We all know franchised dealers' selling strategies)

bazz26

Breffnigolfer wrote: »

Age is not relevant when a car is presented in such condition. It's an attitude like this that allows the so-called dealers get away with such practices.
While any used car should be expected to show signs of wear and tear the likes of this car should be either repaired, properly, or scrapped.

I don't get your point re-franchised dealers. What's that got to do with this thread? (We all know franchised dealers' selling strategies)

If you are not happy with the car or it's condition then you walk away from it and go look for another one. What attitude would you apply with the dealer in question to change the fact they are selling a 9/10 year old car that has faults?

It's not about accepting or tolerating cars in this condition, it's about knowing what to expect when you are looking at cars of this age/price range being sold by dealers rather than the shock horror reaction when something isn't up to scratch. In this price range there is better value buying privately imo.

And my point about franchised dealers is that they cannot make money from or don't want the hassle of selling cars of this age that they take as trade-ins so they pass them onto the smaller dealers so no big conspiracy around sales strategies. This is why most of the cars being sold by dealers in this category are cast offs that the previous owner wanted rid of.

Breffnigolfer

bazz26 wrote: »

If you are not happy with the car or it's condition then you walk away from it and go look for another one. What attitude would you apply with the dealer in question to change the fact they are selling a 9/10 year old car that has faults?

It's not about accepting or tolerating cars in this condition, it's about knowing what to expect when you are looking at cars of this age/price range being sold by dealers rather than the shock horror reaction when something isn't up to scratch. In this price range there is better value buying privately imo.

And my point about franchised dealers is that they cannot make money from or don't want the hassle of selling cars of this age that they take as trade-ins so they pass them onto the smaller dealers so no big conspiracy around sales strategies. This is why most of the cars being sold by dealers in this category are cast offs that the previous owner wanted rid of.

I'm not having a go at you , more about the Public, in general, who have allowed the so-called "dealers" get away with presenting such crap for sale. If enough people told them to take a hike with such stuff they'd soon learn what is needed to sell, a good car.