Tomas B

VA2010

I went to this garage to look at a car, having paid a refundable £200 'reservation fee' (to prevent it being sold before I viewed it, fully refundable within five days if I decided not to buy). The car was ok, although it hadn't been cleaned and the back seat was covered in dirt, even though I'd made the appointment to view several days earlier. I commented that one of the tyres looked like it needed pumping up a bit. The salesman went off and returned with a tyre tread depth guage, checked the tyre and assured me it was fine. I said no, it's a bit flat, needs pumping up. Again he checked the tread depth and assured me it was perfectly legal. At this point I decided not to attempt an explanation a third time as he clearly didn't have a clue what the difference was between tyre inflation and tyre tread depth. I was considering buying it anyway, but was then told that in addition to the price of the car, I'd need to pay a £96 'admin fee'. I queried this and was told it was to cover HPI checks (which the dealer has already done, to ensure THEY are not selling a car that is stolen, written off or has HPI owing, and don't cost anywhere near £96). I said I was willing to buy the car but I wasn't paying an admin fee. He said we could discuss that after he'd done his fifteen minute presentation, which consisted of him trying to persuade me to take out finance (I was a cash buyer) and other costly extras. At the end of this presentation he informed me he was unable to waive the admin fee, so I left without buying the car. Two days later I had a call from them, offering to waive the admin fee if I was still interested in the car; however, by then I'd already found and purchased another vehicle, so I declined this offer. The deposit was due to be refunded within five days but it took a fortnight for it to reappear in my account - apparently their admin person was off and they were the only one who could do the refund. Wasn't impressed with their practices and have since read plenty of reviews online from others they've tried charging an admin fee - they seem to be the only place that does it. I'd assumed that by going to a known name like Evans Halshaw I'd have a good experience, but this wasn't the case and I wouldn't go back. The salesman seemed like a nice genuine chap, but his hands were tied by their awful sales practices.