Edward S

Awful!

Short version - presented a car for sale in, by their own admission, a substandard condition despite being described as "immaculate", told me it had a full service history which it didn't, promised to MOT it but didn't, promised to service it but didn't, promised to refund some of my substantial wasted train fare and didn't. Ponthir Suzuki advertised a 2021 "approved used" Across with about 31,000 miles which I was interested in, one of only a handful for sale in the country. Being 3.5 hours away I called and asked for details before visiting. I was told by 2 staff members that the car was "immaculate" and that I "wouldn't be disappointed". I was told the car had a full service history. Their Autotrader advert proudly states "We MOT and service every car before leaving our dealerships....". Assured by the description of the car, promises made and the fact it was "approved used" I paid a deposit to secure the car and travelled 3.5 hours by train to collect the car as agreed with Mark Poole. On arrival the car was presented having been freshly hosed off due to dust from the cement factory behind the dealership, so I was told. I was also informed the "full service history" was actually missing one of the 4 services it should have had. Even though it was wet it was clear the paintwork on the nearside was covered in scratches as if it had been driven against hedges on narrow lanes. I pointed this out, Mark got the "whole car" machine polished while I waited, this only took about 15 minutes so I am not convinced the "whole car" was actually done. While I was waiting I did a check on the DVLA MOT checker and found it only had 80 days of MOT left so had not been MOT'd. The car was presented for a second time, wet again. I asked for it to be dried, which was done. Now it was dry I could see that the whole bonnet, roof and areas of silver trim were covered it spots of corrosive fall out which has eaten into the paint. There were a number of areas where bird lime had been left to eat through the paint to the metal. I also noticed both front wheels were kerbed. I asked if the car had been serviced and MOT'd and was told neither had been done. The sales manager came and spoke to me, he admitted the car was not in an acceptable condition and that it should have been MOT'd. Clearly I was not going to buy the car in the state it was in. I pointed out that I had already paid out £80 on my train fare and would now have to pay another £80 to get home again, the dealership knew I was travelling from some distance yet chose to mis-describe the condition of the car and not to MOT or service it. The sales manger told me to email and they would refund one of the train fares, I emailed a week ago and have had no response. If I was a suspicious person I may think the reason it was presented wet, twice, was in an attempt to hide the poor paintwork. If you are thinking of buying from Ponthir, particularly if you have a distance to travel, be very careful!