Phil C

PC

I went to view an Alfa Romeo 147 Q2. It was not in the condition it was advertised to be in. Three brake assemblies and one tyre were all in unsafe condition despite having passed the dealers inspection. I also had to pay a £50 deposit for a test, which was not returned to me when I told them I did not wish to buy the car. The advert stated the following: 'Car is in excellent mechanical condition' - it wasn't, it was good at best Before my visit I had asked about the condition of the suspension and bushes specifying the upper wishbones and drop links and was told that they were all in good condition, upon driving the car there was clear and loud squeaking and knocking from the front suspension on both sides (this denotes the upper wishbone bushes - squeaks; and drop links - knocking are worn). 3 of the 4 brake assemblies had been sprayed silver without being masked which had resulted in disks and pads being covered in paint (this is unsafe and should not have passed an inspection). The exhaust back box was starting to disintegrate and had been sprayed silver to cover this. There was also a slight howling noise coming from the engine, which suggested turbo, or alternator wear. 'Excellent bodywork' - again good at best there was a noticeable dent in the middle of the boot lid and the boot lid was slightly out of alignment which resulted in it squeaking. 'Interior - excellent condition' - there was a loose panel and trim missing above the pedals, the radio fascia was cracked, there was damp and watermarks inside the boot (likely due to the boot lid alignment), air conditioning didn't work properly (compressor didn't seem to switch on during the test) 'Tyre condition excellent' - One tyre had a large cut in it which had been repaired with glue, upon questioning I was told that this must have been missed on the inspection but I found it easily enough while viewing the car on the forecourt. 'all cars undergo a 50 point check together with a brake inspection' - all the above had been missed which brought into question the validity of the entire inspection. DO NOT PAY FOR A TEST DRIVE! I was told I would need to pay a £50 deposit for insurance if I wanted to take the car on a test drive which I thought was strange but assumed was to cover excess or something. I was also told that if I had taken out my own insurance that would suffice providing I could show evidence of the documents, unfortunately I was unable to access the documents on line so paid the £50 deposit to take a test drive. I had to ask for a receipt which was hand written and in hindsight I should have read more carefully. The test drive lasted no longer than 5 minutes and was solely on roads with a 30 mph speed limit which rendered the test drive pretty useless. Upon returning I asked for the deposit back only to be told it was only refundable if I chose to purchase the car. Upon checking the receipt this is what was written so I should have read it more carefully in the first place but foolishly placed trust in the honesty of this trader. The garage display a Retail Motor Industry Federation sign on the front wall of their building which also features clearly behind the cars in many of their advert pictures – THEY ARE NOT MEMBERS of the RMI. My personal opinion resulting from this visit and experience would be to avoid purchasing a car from this dealer at all costs.