My first experiance of buying a car ...

ando

After months of looking (I mean months), I finally found a 3dr Ford Focus 1.4 silver car in H**m***** Motors for sale. 00D for €14,950.

It looked perfect, no scratches, no bumps, nothing. It's a beauty. I got a salesman out and started to haggle with him about price. I got him down to 13,250 within 5 minutes which I taught was pretty damn good for 5 minutes work I was told the car was owned by 1 previous owner.

Anyway, I agreed to pay a €200 deposit and the rest in cash by next Thursday, then the car was mine. Just before I left I took down the registration number down.

Later on, I phoned my uncle who is a garda and asked him to check out the reg number, see if anything came up with the car. It turns out the car has a pretty bad record:


1) Was not taxed since May 2000

2) 3rd august 2000: Passenger attempted to steal from Golf shop, Blanchardstown. Car used as getaway

3) 5th august 2000: Drive off from statoil petrol station without paying

4) 13, February 2002: Car repossessed by ford credit

5) July 2002: Car impounded for drink-driving


WTF??? why was I not told any of this..... There's no records that I can find from February this year to now except for the drink driving offence, so where the heck has it been since February? The sales man told me earlier today that the previous owner traded it in for a new 2002 focus.... how could it have been traded in if Ford owned it since February..?. I dunno, somethings going on and I don't like it. I've decided to dump it, I'll keep looking around for another focus


The End

mike65

Wise move, ando. Its amazing that cars can have the most "colourful" history and you the would-be buyer will have no idea of it or in most circumstances be able to find out.

Mike.

caze

That car was way overpriced, thats why the salesman dropped so easily, you can get a new 3 door Focus for €17750 with metallic. If he sold it for 14950 thats less than 3000 depreciation on a car that is almost 3 years old - thats crazy. Even at 13250 it's no bargin.

Would you consider buying private? €12000 would get you a similar, one owner car if you were lucky. If it had service history there is very little risk of buying a dud.

I know people think they are getting peace of mind buying from a garage, but they pay ridiculous prices and as Ando has seen, you can't be totally sure of what you are getting.
If the previous owner of that Focus did not bother taxing it and was driving off from petrol stations without paying, the car probably was never serviced and had the sh*t driven out of it.

ando

hi caze,

yeah this the first time i've gone out and tried to buy a car so I didnt really see 13250 as expensive, especially as the price came down nearly 2 grand.

I am considering buying private, but really only if I have no other options.

BTW, the salesman told me it was an expensive focus because it was a 3dr focus.... 'much sought after' he told me. There were a number of 5dr focus's there iswell for €12.950 but I'm only interested in 3dr's

caze

Hi ando,
you're right about the 3 door, its a much better looking car than the 5 door or saloon. There is a bigger demand for them also which helps garages justify charging a premium for them.

As you have no trade in you should always get at least €1000 to €1500 off the sticker price of the car straight away!!
Dealers much rather a straight sale than dealing with a trade in. There will usually be a margin built into the sticker price to allow a trade in price seem better than it actually is

ie
you are trading in a 97 fiesta for a 00 Focus. Sticker price on focus is 14950. Dealer offers you 4500 for your fiesta against the Focus. You think thats a good price for your fiesta. But a dealer does not really want a 6 year old car sitting around too long.
So they may offload it at aution or a trade sale for 3000, using the discount that you would have got if you had no trade in to break even.

Or if it was a clean low milage fiesta, they have 1500 to spend on cleaning it up, give it a service and sell it on for 4500 so they are up even more.

So remember if dealing with a garage and you have no trade in, the real haggling begins after the initial €1000 drop.

Remember to ask for a CD player, alloys etc to sweeten the deal.
These don't cost the dealer that much, and they can only say no!

In march my sister got alloys and a spoiler thrown in when she bought a 2 year old megane, plus €1800 off the price, and next service free.

Best of luck with your search, but remember there will be a lot more Focus's around in Jan, Feb if you were to wait.

Caze

Robbo

5) July 2002: Car impounded for drink-driving

Gasahol: "One for you, one for me"?

Borzoi

Ando, did you say anyhting to the garage afterwards, cause I'd be interested to hear their reaction.

bear in mind that they're still trying to pass that lemon on to an unsuspecting punter

speedfreak

another option to consider are the car auction places. You can get great savings there. Usually company and repossessed cars (on the up and up) end up there. You can inspect the car and they are all serviced and checked out by qualified mechanics. If you are buying private be sure to get a mechanic to check it out first and there's a place in Clonskea called HPI which will let you know if there is any finance outstanding on the car. Very important as you would be liable for it if you take over the car!

Hellrazer

Originally posted by ando


Later on, I phoned my uncle who is a garda and asked him to check out the reg number, see if anything came up with the car. It turns out the car has a pretty bad record:


1) Was not taxed since May 2000

2) 3rd august 2000: Passenger attempted to steal from Golf shop, Blanchardstown. Car used as getaway

3) 5th august 2000: Drive off from statoil petrol station without paying

4) 13, February 2002: Car repossessed by ford credit

5) July 2002: Car impounded for drink-driving


The End

The only reason that I can see you being put off buying the car is actually only the price.All the sales man needed was a balaclava and shotgun to sell it to you at that price.As for the other things.

1.No tax--Not the cars fault.I see it every day of the week.And you wouldnt be liable for the back tax as you would be covered under the new owner on the tax renewal for.

2.The previous owners friend was a shoplifter-The guy probably didnt even know what the passenger was up to.

3.Drive off-Ok what can I say.Still wouldnt put me off buying the car.

4.Repossession-Because of the high demand for "00" Registrations repossions were running at about 12% for 00 registered cars.People bought cars and never realised that they actually had to pay for them.

5.Impounded for drink driving(I never saw a drunk Focus;) )
Seriously if Ford owned it since the February and it was impounded in July then either of 2 things happened.
A-The Ford dealer had loaned the car out to someone who was caught drink driving or it was a staff member.
B-There was an owner not mentioned by the salesman who had the car from February to July.

None of these thing would put me off buying a car.The price/condition is all that should matter.
And the price for a 3dr from a Ford dealer is roughly €12,500 with a one year warranty and full history.Take my advice and dont get your Garda friend to look at every car you put your eye on as you`ll always find something even a speeding ticket,parking fine etc.All you should look at is a Service history,body damage,milage etc.
Richie.

ando

thx all for the responses, This morning I went to get the deposit of €200 back, and succeeded in getting it iswell The salesman that I was originally talking to was not there, but the one other salesman was, he seemed surprised when he was told about the history of the car but agreed without hesitation to give back the €200. Sorted

On a brighter note, I found another focus in Esmonde motors, 3dr 1.4 zetec, silver, 23000 miles on the clock, taxed till april, 12months warranty, alarm ... excellent

I did a check on this one iswell, all clean, no record, nothing. Not even a speeding ticked (car only had 1 driver, women and by the looks of it, there was a "L" sticker on the back window cause there is a mark on the screen)

I'm getting it checked by the AA on wednesday, if all checks out I'll buy it (I've already put a deposit down of €200)

Now to get a loan for the insurance :rolleyes: , all 4 grand of it

BTW,

5) July 2002: Car impounded for drink-driving

D'oh LoL

Kali

Is that AA check a history or a mechanical check?

I know there are several history checks available in the UK but had never heard of any company offering them here... how much is it?

ando

its a mechanical check, costs €270

This is her:

Samson

Originally posted by ando
its a mechanical check, costs €270

I would not bother with an AA check-up, seeing as you are buying from a main Ford dealer.
The car should come with a 12 month parts and labour warranty, which means a lot.
In my opinion an independent mechanical check-up is only necessary when buying privately, as you have little or no come-back.

ando

Originally posted by Samson
I would not bother with an AA check-up, seeing as you are buying from a main Ford dealer

its a little late for that, but it doesnt bother me. I just want to ease my mind knowing the car won't fall on its face as soon as i get it home

NeRb666

The first dealer you went to has a particularly bad reputation for "not giving the entire story" about cars. I've heard similar and worse stories from people I know and in the media. I bought my first car from Winfield Motors in Rathmines (main Ford dealers) and I'd recommend them to anyone. And no, I don't work for them or know anyone who does....

Anyway, I think you were right to walk away from the first car.