Anonymous

Appalling

I bought a BMW from Mr David Tank of NG15 ‘prestige’ cars around two years ago. It was without exaggeration the worst ‘consumer’ experience I have ever had. I have waited to leave a review until I had left the local area, for reasons that are apparent below. I was a new driver, and had just passed my test. I was so exited to buy my first car that I ignored all the glaring warning signs and pushed on and bought it anyway. More fool me. It was definitely a valuable life lesson. Mr Tank is such a stereotypical dodgy used car salesman that he is almost a caricature of himself. It’s almost funny. He drives around in a flashy convertible Maserati which is paid for by buying cars on the cheap from car auctions (the stuff that’s too bad to make it as ‘approved used’), doing bare minimum (if not no) work on them, and selling them on to us at a 30% markup without checking for or caring about any existing faults or issues with the car. As shown below, he does not give two hoots about his customers or their experience, because in his mind there will always be someone else to sell the cars to, and he can keep making his money When I arrived I was met by a very unfriendly and quite hostile ‘salesman’ who didn’t really care whether I bought the car or not. I gave the car a once over, and found that it was covered in grime worked into the buttons etc of the dashboard and center console, and also came with only 1 key when it was advertised with two. After test-driving it (key handed over to me with an “off you go then”), we sat in the office to discuss buying. I broached the subject of perhaps negotiating slightly on the price, due to the issues I’d noticed. After a phone call with Mr Tank, the salesman told me that he would not negotiate, as it didn’t matter to him if he sold it to me or not because someone else would come along and buy it soon if I didn’t. I then asked if I could pay a small part on my credit card to get the section 75 protection. He was extremely reluctant to allow this and became quite hostile (‘The owner doesn’t like people doing that”) and I effectively had to twist his arm into it. I was handed the invoice, and their ‘warranty’ was very briefly explained. I don’t remember the exact terms but I believe the whole car was covered for a few weeks. The only evidence I had of this warranty was the word ‘warranty’ scrawled on the invoice. After driving the car away, over then next couple of days I noticed some issues. Firstly, all of the windscreen wipers were worn all the way down to the plastic. Secondly, the locking wheel nuts had been removed from the car, and not replaced with anything. I was driving the car with a nut missing from each wheel! I’d also noticed that the roof lining had large splats of dried BBQ sauce on it, and the cigarette lighter socket wasn’t working. I never mentioned these to Mr Tank, because I was far too preoccupied with some much bigger issues. Shortly after buying, I noticed the cruise control did not work and an error message came up when I tried to use it. Much more worryingly, I also occasionally had a ‘drivetrain error’ appear and the engine would cut out completely within 30-120 seconds of starting the car and driving away. I took the car back, and was told by Mr Tank that his mechanic said all of the faults were down to the ‘squib assembly’, and he would replace it. He did so, and when I collected the car, the cruise control error had gone, and I was assured this had also fixed the other error. However, a day or so later, the ‘drivetrain error’ came back, and again the engine again would cut out in the middle of the road. Mr Tank told me that this was just down to a low battery, and I should take it on the motorway (?!?!?!) for a couple of junctions to ‘charge it’. I did so, but the problem continued, so I brought it in again. I was told their mechanic had looked at it and couldn’t find anything wrong. Mr Tank then blamed me, saying I had been messing around with the trip computer button. He then said I’m probably not driving the car properly, and so he took me for a drive in it to show me how he would drive it. Cue him driving my car very hard, at speeds up to 70mph on the 30mph road, and saying words to the effect of ‘see- nothing wrong with it – you need to drive it faster’. A couple of days later, the problem happened again, however this time the car would not start again after cutting out, and the engine would just turn over. Now somewhat disillusioned with the abilities of Mr Tank and his mechanic, I called out the RAC, who plugged their diagnostic tool in, and found there was a ‘low fuel pressure’ error. I had it towed to Mr Tank’s compound, and attempted to explain the finding to him. He wouldn’t listen and just said his mechanic would look at it. A couple of days later the ‘salesman’ rang me to tell me again that the mechanic says it was definitely due to a low battery, and they had swapped a battery from another car. I said that this did not sound right, and asked if I could speak to the mechanic to explain what the RAC had found. This was refused, as the mechanic “doesn’t like speaking to customers”. I was assured that the problem was fixed. And as I had to visit family, I drove 3.5 hours to see them. Whilst there, the engine again cut out, and again the car would not re-start. I called Mr Tank and had him listen to the engine turning over. He told me to call out the RAC and have the car towed. They came, and again diagnosed a low fuel pressure error. But this time they would not help me because they had been called to the same fault twice, so I was not entitled to be towed. I called Mr Tank again, and he said he could get his flatbed truck to collect it for around £350. I said ‘I assume you will pay that?’ and he said no. I spent a good deal of time arguing with Mr Tank and trying to get him to see the point that this was his fault because he had sold me a faulty car, he and his mechanic had refused to listen, and their diagnosis and ‘repair’ was negligent. He was argumentative and hostile and refused to accept any blame, and insisted that I either pay to fix it myself, which he would not reimburse, or I pay him to send someone to come and collect it. By this time I was stranded at 9pm in a supermarket car park, badly stressed as a naïve first time car buyer, with the prospect of the potential of £1000s repair costs, and a dealer who was doing all he could to not accept any responsibility, and who would likely never get the car fixed without finding a way to make me pay for it. I was audibly very upset, but Mr Tank did not care. In the end I left the car there overnight, and it started again in the morning. I managed to get it to a local BMW specialist. The same day, they had diagnosed a faulty fuel pump relay had it replaced. The relay sometimes failed which meant the pump would not start, so no fuel would get to the engine (Mr Tank had me driving this on the Motorway!). Mercifully the bill was approx. £120 including diagnostic etc- a saving of £230 on Mr Tank’s proposed ‘collection fee.’ I asked Mr Tank and his ‘salesman’ to reimburse me this bill. I was flatly refused, and told ‘we don’t pay third party outlay’. I put it to them that this was an absurd policy, it was quite plain they were liable to reimburse me because they were at fault, and in any event I’d likely saved us all money. They did not agree, and continued to refuse. I considered taking legal action for the bill, and also leaving this review at the time, but having discussed with some people from the Hucknall area, I was told it was not advisable to cause a fuss with Mr Tank. So therefore I have left it until now. I do not believe they care whether or not their customers are happy or leave bad reviews. It seems to them, there will always be someone willing to buy from them, and most of the time they manage to pull it off, or it more than likely will just be some young ‘roadman’ looking for a flashy car (which seems to be the primary clientele), so it doesn’t matter. But if this review saves even one or two people having my experience, then it’s done it’s job.