Thomas R

Many issues

The salesmen seem pleasant, but then, they always do. I am somewhat happy with my purchase, but cannot give a good review, and am in fact compelled to write a negative one. To summarise: a) they argued a trivial point making me suspicious; b) were slow to get the work done - everytime I called around 11-1pm the guy had clearly (and even admitted it one of the times) just gotten out of bed; c) got a false or dishonest M.O.T. certificate and lied through their teeth to get me out the door. 1. You won't get a fair price for your vehicle if you're exchanging it. Unfortunately I'm a university student and also an appointee for two mentally incapacitated siblings, and had neither the desire nor the time to go through the ordeal of selling privately, so I took the hit. 2. Unsettling, bad customer relations. I made an agreement for an exchange, expressing that I wanted the window switches replaced first (to show it is not a wiring issue), because I do not want a vehicle with a wiring issue. The representative made it clear that it was no problem, not expensive, and understandable, but insisted on trying to convince me not to require it. 3. Slow and unprofessional. Despite assuring me the vehicle would be ready in 1-2 days, when I called the next day at 11am-noon, the gentleman sounded like he had just got up, admitted that he had, and told me he had not made arrangements for the necessary work to be done, yet. The work even needed to be done anyway, if they were to ever sell the vehicle. The M.O.T. had not been booked, either. I called three times before the vehicle was finally ready, 7-9 days later (it was a month ago at my time of writing this, so I don't remember that detail). If I called before 1:30pm, he sounded like he had just crawled out of bed, so the last two times I made a point of calling at 2:30pm. Each time, he assured me it was "almost ready," "might be ready later today," "will call you with an update." Was it ready later that day? Three times, no. Did he call me with an update? Once, at 11pm, at night, to tell me the parts had finally been ordered. Every other time, I had to chase him up. Additionally, as to the vehicle itself, it had clearly not been cleaned inside or out since the company got it. Inside, it was dusty, grimy, and I counted 8 parking ticket receipts squashed against the windscreen. 4. Very fishy. Upon collecting the vehicle, they had, as agreed, got it M.O.T.'d which the representative insisted I must pay for. I had agreed to that, and contested it. He said he would be "reasonable," and take £20 off. I didn't agree, but he obviously assumed that was the end of it. There was an M.O.T. certificate, but no details. When I asked for the full report, he insisted they had an "arrangement" with the garage where they pay every service charge at the end of the month, and because of that, they don't get the information until then. Makes no sense at all, plus, it was the 1st of March. The month had ended. When I insisted, he told me to provide my bank details, he will refund the money, and cancel the sale. Before I could do that, his partner stepped in, playing the good guy, and said he wouldn't go back on a sale, spoke to the first chap, and came back and said they would pay for the M.O.T. because it is really their cost to pay anyway (absolutely), and he would post me the full report when it came through. Great. Thank you. It never came. 4. Dishonest. Smiles and lies, and whatever else to get you out the door with one of their vehicles. Upon getting the vehicle its first (logged) full service in 5 years (which I knew when I made the buy; I know what to look for so was confident the vehicle had been looked after), the report came back to say that the car had two snapped coil springs - one back suspension and one front suspension spring busted. Unfortunately the absence of speed bumps had not alerted me to this on the test drive. This, the Vauxhall dealer confirmed, should not have passed the M.O.T. 5. Parking tickets. A month after handing them the keys to my old car, I started getting PCNs. I have made representations to each, sending in evidence of the sale and part-exchange, and my signature as the new keeper of the vehicle I exchanged it for as evidence of conclusion of the contract. I had also still not received the new logbook for the car I purchased, but reasoned despite the usual turn-around being 2-3 weeks, since they say 4-6, I would just be told to wait 2 more weeks. I called SF Car Sales to find out whether they had sent the logbooks off, and was told, "I don't see it on the table, so it must have been sent." Nice. Very professional. Great filing system and record-keeping you have there. Conclusion? A car is a tool. Just because the guy or company that has it is untrustworthy, dishonest, and best avoided, does not mean the cars are bad. If you see a car they have that you really want, and that is all that is important, just be confident in your ability or that of a friend or relative with you, to assess for yourself whether the car is worth it, and in good enough condition. Remember with any used-car purchase, there will be something to pay out for to get it in good shape; you just have to make sure it's not something absurdly expensive or going to cause you a lot of trouble. If customer-service and experience is important to you, or you don't have the confidence to spot a good deal, keep looking. Do not use this company. Overall, I got a decent car. I had to pay out for the cambelt, aux belt, and flexi-pipe, which I had spotted anyway. I had to pay out for a broken suspension that I hadn't, but should never have come to because it should not have passed an M.O.T. Do I like the car? Yes. But, would I go somewhere else if I could do it all again? yes.