Ste

Beware. Do your research.

This is a long review but worth reading. I viewed and test drove a car last month, which seemed good to me apart from some minor issues I noticed. However, the guy showing me the car couldn't answer some questions, and i noticed some discrepancies in the service history (which was a series of stamps, no extra paperwork of actual work done) the mileage at each service stamp seemed inconsistent to me, plus the guy wasnt able to discuss price, which had to be done over the phone to someone else, this combined with the cars being sold out of a cul-de-sac not a garage, is what first gave me doubt about this trader. However, i loved the car, and was prepared to give them the benefit of doubt. I agreed with the owners buisness partner on a good price, dependent on a pre purchase check by a mechanic and the price would include a new timing belt and water pump being fitted (as it was high milage with no record of when it was last replaced). I paid a deposit and he said the adverts would be removed (although the website still showed the car as for sale). Whilst I was waiting for the check to be done a few days later, I did some extra research which evidenced my gut feeling was correct. 1. I rang the garage which did the services on the car for the past 4 years. They couldnt find paperwork for it, a mechanic rang me back and said he remembered the car but couldnt tell me what he had ever done on it. This mechanic didnt have great reviews either. So although imw was advertising the car with full service history... it infact had zero.. just some stamps, which could have been done at any time. 2. Looking closer at the milage at the services stamp; some millage numbers in the service book differed with millage recorded at MOTs done on the same days (checking online). There was also case of dates and numbers being ammended in the service book. This raised my suspicions about the cars history. Whether IMW cars were aware of this, i do not know. But they should be doing these checks before selling on cars. 3. If you look carefully at imw cars reviews, and research the company information, you will find a review posted with the same name as the companies registered owner. The mechanical check went ahead. The report said the car was mechanically fine, nothing majorly wrong. There were multiple electrical issues with wipers, lights, and mirrors not working. Also, both bumpers and bonet had been repainted or replaced at some point. This seemed odd to me, could well have been innocent and due to chips or scratches, but on top of everything else, i grew concered something was up with the cars history and IMW cars either didn't know what it was or were being untrustworthy. Anyway, i spoke again with the trader, he then decided the price we had agreed did not now include the timing belt and water pump despite having agreed on that days before. He quoted an extra 400-ish to do that work. At that point, considering all the above and having a bad feeling, i decided not to purchase the car. The guy got rather rude, and will not give me my deposit back despite him breaking the conditions we agreed upon. Regretably this wasnt covered in writing, and I have learnt my lesson the hard way. Just be weary, check every little detail because it could end up costing you a lot of money or getting an unsafe car, not just from this place but anywhere. Trust your gut feeling if you get one and know the difference between a trader and dealer.