Ever heard of this happening before...

calabi yau

Was at dealership on Friday and saw a car, fsh, looked immaculate. Drove really well and I really liked it. I'm not a mechanic but it looked pristine. Put a €200 deposit down on it.

Deal calls me today and says he serviced it for me but the two rear tyres are worn and no longer within the legal limit. Wants me to pay for the two new ones. Is this normal?

Toyotafanboi

A bit cheeky in fairness. Sounds like a chancer. A small bit depends on the price of the car too i guess.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Tell him not to, that you're broke until next month after you pay for the car and you'll get them then.

bazz26

I guess you have 3 options here.

1. Try and haggle with the dealer to replace the tyres as part of the existing deal you made.
2. Take the car as is at the agreed price and buy new tyres yourself somewhere else.
3. Look for your deposit back and walk away from the deal.

You are probably at a disadvantage now in that you should have checked things like tyres prior to agreeing a price as it's alot easier to negotiate these things at that stage rather than after.

Now new tyres will still cost the dealer money too but it's hard to tell at this point if his profit on the deal would take that into consideration or if he is just trying to squeeze more money from you now. It could be considered a sharp business practice but also would depend on the deal you struck and if it allowed for such things.

Also worth noting that a fair share of dealers will put the cheapest new tryes available on the car so you might be just better off buying a proper good brand on yourself.

calabi yau

I actually think the guy is being honest enough in so far as he told me in the first place. He gave me a choice of two sets of tyres, Firestone or a cheaper brand, I told him to put the firestones on and sure just go with it at this stage.

Gumbo

calabi yau wrote: »

I actually think the guy is being honest enough in so far as he told me in the first place. He gave me a choice of two sets of tyres, Firestone or a cheaper brand, I told him to put the firestones on and sure just go with it at this stage.

How much did he charge you for doing this?

calabi yau

kceire wrote: »

How much did he charge you for doing this?

200 squids

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

calabi yau wrote: »

200 squids

Although you haven't said what car/tyre size etc but my first reaction here is that sounds a tad expensive. TZ300s (popular type) are about €70 each.

Marcusm

calabi yau wrote: »

Was at dealership on Friday and saw a car, fsh, looked immaculate. Drove really well and I really liked it. I'm not a mechanic but it looked pristine. Put a €200 deposit down on it.

Deal calls me today and says he serviced it for me but the two rear tyres are worn and no longer within the legal limit. Wants me to pay for the two new ones. Is this normal?

He would have little prospect defending a claim that the car was not of "merchantable quality" under Sale of Goods Act if he admits that the tyres are below the legal limit. He would have no problem if just at the limit but he can hardly satisfy s13 SOGA if it does not, at his own admission, satisfy minimum road worthiness.conditions. This is different, for example, from selling a car with an expired VRT. In this case he is aware that it is not roadworthy. He should have just slapped on some part worns rather than telling you.

calabi yau

Marcusm wrote: »

He would have little prospect defending a claim that the car was not of "merchantable quality" under Sale of Goods Act if he admits that the tyres are below the legal limit. He would have no problem if just at the limit but he can hardly satisfy s13 SOGA if it does not, at his own admission, satisfy minimum road worthiness.conditions. This is different, for example, from selling a car with an expired VRT. In this case he is aware that it is not roadworthy. He should have just slapped on some part worns rather than telling you.

That's exactly what I was thinking, anyway, used car buying is tough, you want to have faith in the dealerships especially, and not have to do a mechanics course before you buy everytime.

The car has a fsh and is nct'd, is that enough to buy on or should I be bringing a mechanic up to see the car

Marcusm

calabi yau wrote: »

That's exactly what I was thinking, anyway, used car buying is tough, you want to have faith in the dealerships especially, and not have to do a mechanics course before you buy everytime.

The car has a fsh and is nct'd, is that enough to buy on or should I be bringing a mechanic up to see the car

At least he's noticed it if somewhat late. 2 years ago I inspected a car and agreed the purchase price. Definitely checked the tyres with a little tool. Brought it to a main dealer and tyres were below minimum on 3 axles, I checked all 4. Also coil springs gone in front wheels. It had zero miles since MoT (same site as the sales place 300 cars all a well known German brand) and the dealer manager refused to compensate until he saw the letter to the standards agency. His MoT operations remains under some sort of vigilance.