The Lemon Fool

I am looking for a replacement used car and see one advertised that is exactly what I want advertised by a main dealer, and call them up as they are a little distance away to check a couple of things.

Me - “Can you confirm it has this particular feature” - the manufacturer made two versions with and without the feature and it’s not uncommon for cars to be mistakenly misadvertised.

Sales rep responds with nonsense and bluster indicating they know nothing about what they are selling. Eventually I persuade them to go and actually look at the car on the forecourt telling them what they need to check.

Next - “It’s advertised with a full service history so was it actually serviced twice, then and then” as it’s almost three years old.

Sales rep responds with more nonsense and bluster about how it might have only had one service as some cars have extended service intervals.

Me - “nope, this car has 12 month service intervals, so was it serviced then and then”.

Sales rep goes away to check and comes back with - “no the car hasn’t been serviced at all since new”.

And this is one if their ‘approved used’ cars that has been through their thorough check process.

‘Click’ as I cut the phone off.

Do second-hand car dealers go to the same training school as estate agents to gain the level of incompetence they all seem to possess.

It's the words "main dealer" in your opening sentence that chill the marrow. Yes, I'd have expected smooth gormless blustering from the usual dealer types, but surely all that this main dealer needs to do is to key in the VIN number, and then the database would have told him/you everything you wanted to know? Including the dates of the services?

There'll be another one along shortly. Avoid this one.

BJ

I assume this isn't a Toyota. I called with the reg no of a potential purchase with a missing service book and they gave me all the history and confirmed it was still under warranty, even as an ex-lease auction car.

Odly, if it was a Private sale then it might have been different, as the service data could be linked to an individual (in this case the owner) and therefore some people believe it is covered under Data Protection.

bungeejumper wrote:but surely all that this main dealer needs to do is to key in the VIN number, and then the database would have told him/you everything you wanted to know? Including the dates of the services?

Apparently all the information in the ‘pack’ was in the admin office and it was only when they checked they ‘discovered’ they had messed up the listing.

As to why they advertised it with a full service history when it didn’t, the excuse was basically ‘the computer did it’ when I rather suspect they just list everything that way and deal with any complaints only if the customer spots it, but by then it’s usually too late for the customer to do much.

bungeejumper wrote:There'll be another one along shortly. Avoid this one.

I have, and there will be.