Donedeal mayhem

shabalala

I saved 21 cars on donedeal to call/have a look at.

Phoned them all

heres some stats.

Irish sellers: 3

Claims of full service historys: 18, actual paperwork to back up 3.

Timing belt claims to have be done 15, actual paper proof 1. (one said he had reciept but threw in the bin as he didn't think hed need it)


Buying a used car in Ireland is a minefield, and a big one at that.

bazz26

Best stick to dealers then I guess.

KevinMunster12

yeah stick to dealers with warranty, there are way too many chancers on donedeal

colm_mcm

Maybe its the cars you're getting within budget?

I've bought loads of cars on donedeal without issue.

shawnee

Seems to be an increase of dealers and chancers on donedeal in my opinion. Guys using two or three numbers and different prices on cars, have found it a minefield lately with few private sellers.:mad:

corktina

you also get a lot of iffy buyers too. My car is advertised at €4000, had two offers of €3000 without seeing the car...er, no thanks.

I don't understand how people buy bad cars on DD, they think they are getting a bargain because they are cheap perhaps? Mine isn't cheap, but it's a genuine good car.... very little interest in it. If I had a shed of the same model for small money, I bet it would have sold by now...doesn't make sense.

mayota

View the car and make up your own mind. Don't believe what sellers tell you. Budget for a belt change and service immediately. Most dodgy sellers are easily caught out.

corktina

KevinMunster12 wrote: »

yeah stick to dealers with warranty, there are way too many chancers on donedeal

depends on the dealer....you just have to read these pages to see there is a lot of rogue dealers out there.

colm_mcm

corktina wrote: »

you also get a lot of iffy buyers too. My car is advertised at €4000, had two offers of €3000 without seeing the car...er, no thanks.

I don't understand how people buy bad cars on DD, they think they are getting a bargain because they are cheap perhaps? Mine isn't cheap, but it's a genuine good car.... very little interest in it. If I had a shed of the same model for small money, I bet it would have sold by now...doesn't make sense.

Shur you should have advertised it for €5k, then they'd gladly offer €4k





Then not actually show up. Just testin the water like.

BlatentCheek

You can filter out a lot of dodgy sellers by being moderately discerning (the sticky on this forum has most of the advice in this regard).

I've bought good cars that I found on it, it just takes a little work. I can only imagine what it was like back in the day having to traipse around from joker to chancer.

For selling it's even better. Put 30 minutes effort into good photos and a well written ad and you're already ahead of 95% of the competition.
Filter out timewasters by being firm over the phone when they suggest risible offers and face to face you'll only deal with serious buyers.

keane2097

I noticed that in the stickies threads and other suggestions from regulars it seems to be almost all donedeal ads - any reason why carzone ads aren't as prevalent?

bazz26

Mostly down to what people think is an example of a suitable car rather than where it is being advertised.

Atlantic Dawn

keane2097 wrote: »

I noticed that in the stickies threads and other suggestions from regulars it seems to be almost all donedeal ads - any reason why carzone ads aren't as prevalent?

They priced themselves out of the market with €30 fee per car and before they knew it Donedeal had taken over.

yop

Have sold 4 (or was it 5) cars on DoneDeal and bought 3, can't say I had an issue with any. I did get caught out with a "folded note" on one, but that was my own stupidity.

keane2097

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

They priced themselves out of the market with €30 fee per car and before they knew it Donedeal had taken over.

Didn't realise that was a thing, maybe I should have been looking more on DD!

Idbatterim

you can generally tell the genuine sellers and cars straight off. How the ad has been written and spelled usually tells you a lot!

Imstuck

Car on there now ex uk, not underpriced at all, claiming to have 78k on it.
After some very small effortless digging the car is a cat D, (not mentioned in ad)
and also it's last not in uk has 100k on the clock!

Sam Kade

corktina wrote: »

you also get a lot of iffy buyers too. My car is advertised at €4000, had two offers of €3000 without seeing the car...er, no thanks.

I don't understand how people buy bad cars on DD, they think they are getting a bargain because they are cheap perhaps? Mine isn't cheap, but it's a genuine good car.... very little interest in it. If I had a shed of the same model for small money, I bet it would have sold by now...doesn't make sense.

Maybe you want too much for it, selling private no guarantee and all that. It might be a great car but if a similar car can be bought at a garage with a guarantee a buyer will buy from them rather than paying over the odds for a private sale.

Wanderer78

Sam Kade wrote: »

Maybe you want too much for it, selling private no guarantee and all that. It might be a great car but if a similar car can be bought at a garage with a guarantee a buyer will buy from them rather than paying over the odds for a private sale.

car long gone id say!

billy few mates

Ive had several instances where I've been offered money 'sight unseen' for cars I've sold on there and a few 'can you meet me at X to view it' all politely turned down. I've also sold two cars on there solely on the way I maintained and presented the service histories before they even drove the cars (at my insistence before any deal) and I don't recall ever having to drop my asking price to secure a sale. The last car I sold for my son, the ad went up at 5:00pm, the calls started immediately, I had the deposit for the sale by about 7:30 at full asking price and spent the next couple of days fielding calls from potential purchasers (even though I changed it to sold) DD is a handy way to sell a car but a minefield to buy one unless it's a cheap throwaway for an amount you can afford to lose....

bmwguy

I bought my last 2 cars on donedeal the last was a 2004 e39 525i sport which I could not be happier with it has been exceptional. I have had it 2 years. I am now on the lookout again and most cars that catch my eye have something that sets alarm bells ringing. Most seem to be guys flipping cars for quick profit. You can spot some lies miles away, timing belt changed when it has a chain, things like that. Perhaps it's the end of the market I am looking, I tend to buy cars for cash without financing (looking in the 5000-8000 Euro bracket). Looking at e60 5 series, e53 x5s, Audi a6, Alfa 159 etc but am worried about the sellers. I will either keep my own car or head over to the dealers.

Wanderer78

Wanderer78 wrote: »

car long gone id say!

In this particular case I very much doubt it unless he really dropped his price significantly from €4k.

Wanderer78

Augeo wrote: »

In this particular case I very much doubt it unless he really dropped his price significantly from €4k.

surely somebody can sell a car within a year

savagethegoat

Augeo wrote: »

In this particular case I very much doubt it unless he really dropped his price significantly from €4k.

I happen to know the car is long gone and replaced with a Capri...sold to a Dublin guy who said he'd buy it sight unseen and arrived on time with the cash...no gripes and he drove it away. It was a great car . Why can't I find buyers like that?

savagethegoat

savagethegoat wrote: »

I happen to know the car is long gone and replaced with a Capri...sold to a Dublin guy who said he'd buy it sight unseen and arrived on time with the cash...no gripes and he drove it away. It was a great car . Why can't I find buyers like that?

What you aren't mentioning is the asking price was at least 1k less than the price he mentioned on here

Imstuck

There should be something 'in the rules' or law that stops the person from selling a car as explained in my post above. Some poor soul is gonna end up getting robbed.
Ex English cars used to be sought after but Ireland is fast becoming a dumping ground for uk write offs.

savagethegoat

Augeo wrote: »

What you aren't mentioning is the asking price was at least 1k less than the price he mentioned on here

may be so...always has to be some haggle room

CJhaughey

Its not just DD, Carzone, and Autotrader have the same problem as well.
Have a look at this Mondeo.
Photo's not in Cork but some UK Village.
Then when you check the MOT mileage it has lost 123k miles between Nov 2013 and May 2015.
Its because there are lots of clueless people and the sums of money are not small.
Easy to dupe people out of 5-10k and walk away probably with no hassle.
BTW I reported that Ad and never even got a reply from Carzone.
At least DD will act on the reports if they get them.

billyhead

CJhaughey wrote: »

Its not just DD, Carzone, and Autotrader have the same problem as well.
Have a look at this Mondeo.
Photo's not in Cork but some UK Village.
Then when you check the MOT mileage it has lost 123k miles between Nov 2013 and May 2015.
Its because there are lots of clueless people and the sums of money are not small.
Easy to dupe people out of 5-10k and walk away probably with no hassle.
BTW I reported that Ad and never even got a reply from Carzone.
At least DD will act on the reports if they get them.

Do you mean the car is a UK import and has been clocked. I saw a 2011 ford fiesta zetec imported from the UK for sale by a small dealer in Dublin with 33000 miles on the clock. Could be clocked aswell. What do you mean though by duping people out of 5-10k. Do you mean in terms of the monetary value of the mileage that has been clocked from the mondeo. I presume these cars are ones to avoid?

CJhaughey

billyhead wrote: »

Do you mean the car is a UK import and has been clocked. I saw a 2011 ford fiesta zetec imported from the UK for sale by a small dealer in Dublin with 33000 miles on the clock. Could be clocked aswell. What do you mean though by duping people out of 5-10k. Do you mean in terms of the monetary value of the mileage that has been clocked from the mondeo. I presume these cars are ones to avoid?

What I mean is that UK imports are fine, generally over there most vehicles are legit, clocking has put people in Jail in the UK.
Its after they leave the UK and get registered here that the issue of clocking usually rears its head. The post I linked to is an unusual one in that the car is still in the UK and has a mileage discrepancy. from 152k to 33k miles.
Usually the clockers are more savvy then that so it could be a amateur effort.
Most cars are between 5k and 10k so its a lot of money to be duped out of when you buy a clocked car.
Easy check is to look up the MOT history in the UK, https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ you need the UK reg to use it.

Atlantic Dawn

You can in most cases tell by the way the car is presented and described in the ad if it's being sold by a gob****e, classic examples of ads I will ignore regardless of price are...

• 2 or 3 pictures taken at night and rubbish
• Pictures taken with car doors open
• Tippex on engine to indicate when timing belt was changed
• Details of timing belt being changed yet car has a timing chain
• 1 line descriptions of car
• No mention of mileage
• No mention of NCT expiry date
• Car parked on grass or beach
• Rubbish or childs seat in car
• Car phone kit installed so it obstructs centre console buttons/vents
• "Not in hurry to sell" in advert or "first to see will buy"
• Any text speak in the ad or spelling mistakes for the make and model of car

monkeysnapper

I went out in the last few months to buy

, 1. Running 100% just passed nct this week---- gear box knackered .

2. Same again , arranged to call to view and when I got there guy had gone out to Dublin ( we live in Kerry)

3. Cars mint, like new . flaky paint all over roof , turned out it had respray but was a poor job . loads of mech problems but it was OK because he had parts .

4 . Car had only 5k miles on it . turned out it had 18k .

I ended up buying a cheap car cause I really needed something and paid 2 k for a 2006 that was like a brand new car inside and outside and I was willing to spend 12/14 k . it had no service history but seems like a gem so far . I'm taking it in for full service in new year .

Chuffed to bits . you just need to put up with **** a bit .

I will say I've found dealers as bad at times

Imstuck

CJhaughey wrote: »

What I mean is that UK imports are fine, generally over there most vehicles are legit, clocking has put people in Jail in the UK.
Its after they leave the UK and get registered here that the issue of clocking usually rears its head. The post I linked to is an unusual one in that the car is still in the UK and has a mileage discrepancy. from 152k to 33k miles.
Usually the clockers are more savvy then that so it could be a amateur effort.
Most cars are between 5k and 10k so its a lot of money to be duped out of when you buy a clocked car.
Easy check is to look up the MOT history in the UK, https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ you need the UK reg to use it.

Yes Irish people are buying in UK cat D cars & clocking them, it's littered with them, what are the garda gonna do....... Think we know the answer

billyhead

CJhaughey wrote: »

What I mean is that UK imports are fine, generally over there most vehicles are legit, clocking has put people in Jail in the UK.
Its after they leave the UK and get registered here that the issue of clocking usually rears its head. The post I linked to is an unusual one in that the car is still in the UK and has a mileage discrepancy. from 152k to 33k miles.
Usually the clockers are more savvy then that so it could be a amateur effort.
Most cars are between 5k and 10k so its a lot of money to be duped out of when you buy a clocked car.
Easy check is to look up the MOT history in the UK, https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ you need the UK reg to use it.

If a dealer selling a car has the uk reg plates blanked out does this signal alarm bells?

Duke O Smiley

billyhead wrote: »

If a dealer selling a car has the uk reg plates blanked out does this signal alarm bells?

A dealer shouldn't be selling a UK plate car here

R.O.R

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

A dealer shouldn't be selling a UK plate car here

Why?

CJhaughey

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

A dealer shouldn't be selling a UK plate car here

They can if they have a TAN number, its not illegal for a TAN account holder to sell a Foreign Reg car.

the_syco

Imstuck wrote: »

There should be something 'in the rules' or law that stops the person from selling a car as explained in my post above. Some poor soul is gonna end up getting robbed.
Ex English cars used to be sought after but Ireland is fast becoming a dumping ground for uk write offs.

It's illegal, but you gotta prove that the seller knew this, but good luck with that!

billyhead wrote: »

If a dealer selling a car has the uk reg plates blanked out does this signal alarm bells?

When I was looking for a car, if anyone had blanked out the reg plate, I ignored the ad. If someone doesn't want me to check their reg, I don't check their car.

Duke O Smiley

To rephrase that; if a dealer selling a UK plate car here there is probably a good reason.

If it was any way decent it would be on Irish plates and I'm surprised any reputable dealer would even offer a UK plate car to a member of the public sans warranty etc

billyhead

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

To rephrase that; if a dealer selling a UK plate car here there is probably a good reason.

If it was any way decent it would be on Irish plates and I'm surprised any reputable dealer would even offer a UK plate car to a member of the public sans warranty etc

If the dealer has the car advertised without plates would it not be just a process of registering the car here and obtaining an irish plate?

bazz26

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

To rephrase that; if a dealer selling a UK plate car here there is probably a good reason.

If it was any way decent it would be on Irish plates and I'm surprised any reputable dealer would even offer a UK plate car to a member of the public sans warranty etc

Dealers are not going to put Irish plates on UK imports until they sell them as the county on the plate will be dictated by the customer's address. The dealer should be however VRTing the car on the customers behalf.

Fellas selling UK plated cars from car parks or the side of the road and telling the buyer to VRT it themselves are chancers trying to stay off Revenue's radar.

I bought a few cars from DoneDeal (all 5 I've owned have been via DD). 4 private sellers, 1 dealer.

With a bit of looking you can do well with a private sale. You can usually tell the decent cars from the seller himself/herself. I do get put off by certain things in ads (like Atlantic Dawn listed above) but if I'm really interested in a particular car, I'll just ring the seller and ask a few questions or ask them to send on better pictures. I find most are grand.

It's also a rule now that every car I buy (including the one i got off a dealer) is checked out by an indy mechanic before the purchase. This saved me once on a car i was seriously considering (delighted i didn't get it in the end, but literally if they had budged by €50 on price, i'd have taken it, but they wouldn't, so they saved me in the long run).


If you're somewhat thorough, you'll be okay. Lots of chancers out there, but lots of people willing to buy blindly, so.. can you blame them!?

the_syco

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

If it was any way decent it would be on Irish plates and I'm surprised any reputable dealer would even offer a UK plate car to a member of the public sans warranty etc

But why bother sorting the VRT for a car that may not sell?

acronym Chilli

[Deleted User] wrote: »

It's also a rule now that every car I buy (including the one i got off a dealer) is checked out by an indy mechanic before the purchase.

What sort of price range are you buying at. It always seems like a lot of hassle for sub 1k cars. What would you pay your Indy, and do you bring him to car or car to him?

acronym Chilli

acronym Chilli wrote: »

What sort of price range are you buying at. It always seems like a lot of hassle for sub 1k cars. What would you pay your Indy, and do you bring him to car or car to him?

First car I bought wasn't looked over (and was also the cheapest I bought, at €950).

The other cars cost from €1,000 to €8,500. I always bring the car to a garage with a ramp they can put it on. Otherwise I don't really think you'd find much.


One car got looked at twice. So effectively I've been to about 5 mechanics for a look over. I think the cheapest was €30 and the most expensive was €75.

The guy that charged €75 wanted €40 to look at the car, and €35 was an optional extra if i wanted diagnostics read. He was in Limerick. A chap in Dundalk charged me €50 before and that was ramped up and diagnostics included.

A chap in swords was €30 and that was ramped up and test drove. Another chap in limerick did the same for €35.

Some test drive it, others don't (seems to vary from mechanic to mechanic). Atlas Autocare were the last ones I used, and although there was no test drive, they were very thorough, even going as far as rubbing magnets on the car to check for filler, etc. (incase of crash repair). They gave a printed report of all the issues they found and charged €60. I brought this to the dealer (all my other sales were private) and he agreed to fix the issues as part of the sale. So there was about €500 worth of repairs done that I wouldn't have otherwise known about. So the €60 paid for itself.

My own mechanic has never checked over any of my cars before buying, but this is more down to the fact that my car purchases never seem to be close to him. Everything I buy gets looked over by him within a couple of days, as I book them in for a full service (peace of mind).


My thinking is that it's better to spend €50 before buying as, although it could well be dead money (if nothing shows up), it also has the potential to save you a lot of heartache if there's an obvious issue with a car that you wouldn't spot yourself (I was looking at a Grand Vitara before for about €3,500, and spent €50 on a check on it. List of problems was as long as my arm and the car had a 'slight twist' in the chassis on the passenger side, presumably from previous crash damage, although the panels looked fine) so that was a bullet dodged, as far as I can see and worth the €50 to avoid buying it).


As an aside (not sure if blatant promotion is allowed here or not) but I'd say the best mechanic I used for this was a chap in swords called JDM service centre. His name was Justin, I believe. He was €30 (i gave him €40) but he spent ages looking over the car, test drove it and was detailed in explaining the issues or potential issues. (it was a 2001 Focus estate, which i paid €1,000 for).

But everyone I used has been sound and happy to help. Not all garages offer the service (some won't as they say they get people come back to them when a car develops a fault and blames them for not spotting it).

White Clover

Imstuck wrote: »

Car on there now ex uk, not underpriced at all, claiming to have 78k on it.
After some very small effortless digging the car is a cat D, (not mentioned in ad)
and also it's last not in uk has 100k on the clock!

Apologies for my ignorance. But, what does Cat D mean?

markc2951

You need to know what your looking at..I went to look at a 00 corolla a few years back..looked alright until I drove it..I said clutch is slipping his reply 'is it' lol

After viewing 3 cars a bought a 00 honda and two years later it never gave any trouble.I paid 1250 for it

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

As a polar opposite, I bought my current car on the side of the road during my lunch break. The bloke was a small time donedeal 'dealer' type. Had a good look over it, took it for a 20 minute spin, haggled for a minute and shook hands. I knew there were items to sort, but I loved the car and it was cheap so I went for it.

I've been fixing it since I bought it. :pac:

However the problems have all been diy-able and it passed the NCT first time.

I knew that I was taking a risk, but I felt like gambling that day.

bazz26

White Clover wrote: »

Apologies for my ignorance. But, what does Cat D mean?

Its the classification system that UK insurance companies put on vehicle damage repaired or written off.

From the RAC website:

Category A: scrap only. For cars so badly damaged they should be crushed and never re-appear on the road. Even salvageable parts must be destroyed.

Category B: body shell should be crushed. Signifies extensive damage, although some parts are salvageable. Should never re-appear on road, although reclaimed parts can be used in other road-going vehicles.

Category C: the vehicle is repairable but the costs exceed the vehicle’s value. Can re-appear on road.

Category D: the vehicle is repairable but repair costs are significant compared to the vehicle value – including time delays to source parts. Can re-appear on road.

grogi

the_syco wrote: »

But why bother sorting the VRT for a car that may not sell?

Everything can be sold for the right price.

But on more serious note - if the dealer does not believe the car is sellable, they would not import it.

billyhead

If a car has not been written off and has a good resale value in the UK then why are they exported for sale in Ireland. Can we presume there is something not right (i.e clocked, crashed previously) with all uk import cars sold by a dealer?