Why don't car dealers tell the truth?

[prt57]

A few weeks ago I posted that my son's Focus RS MK 2 was stolen from the drive
The Insurance money has arrived and so he fancied something a little more discrete like an S3 8P. Plenty of tuning potential.
He spotted a silver S3 from 2008 on theInternet with low miles but it was 130 miles away. The dealer described it as being in excellent condition, perfect alloys and body work over the phone. So he was ready to go on the journey in a 23 year old Metro that he is driving at the moment.
I thought I should go along too in case he said yes to a pile of rubbish.
3 hours later we arrived and it looked OK as we drove in to the car park.
However, the front was totally peppered down towards the splitter with chunks out of the plastic of the splitter. One of the lower grills was broken. One of the wheels was bubbling up all over where a poor refurb had taken place.
The dashboard must have been damaged at some point on the passenger side as an obvious repair patch about 10 cm by 10 cm was visible. Under the bonnet was a total joke, every visible steel based screw or nut or clamp was totally rusty. All of the aluminium components were thick with white oxidation.
More like a barn find than a car described as being in excellent condition.
We never even bothered asking for a test drive.
When I gave the keys back the salesman asked what we thought. You can imagine the answer!!
Straight back into the Metro which is in far better condition and back down the motor way.
What a waste of time and petrol but at least he has learnt that long distance treks to look at a car are to be avoided. 50 mile radius from now on.
Some people say that a photo never lies but in this case both the dealer and the photos did not tell the truth.

 

[Rob C]

I had the same problem when I was looking for a S3. What a dealer calls mint condition and what I call mint condition appear to be two separate things!

 

[SootySport]

You're not the only one who has been disappointed after travelling a long way, 130 miles is nothing to what I have travelled. It still is worth travelling to find the Right Car and won't put me off. It's the only way to find exactly what you want.

 

[prt57]

You're not the only one who has been disappointed after travelling a long way, 130 miles is nothing to what I have travelled. It still is worth travelling to find the Right Car and won't put me off. It's the only way to find exactly what you want.

I agree with you but I would have been more probing with my questions than my son whilst looking at the photos on the computer. I have had the salesman walk round the car before with me on the end of the phone. I could see the patch on the dashboard before we set off but it could have been a reflection etc.
I think the extra insult is today is my first Saturday off work since August. Too much time on the M1 today!

 

[CHEZ]

Private sellers too are just as guilty of this practice...

 

[voorhees]

I am always wary if only pics from certain sides or no interior shots, some eejits about

 

[Jps3290]

I bought my Audi A3 Quattrol Sline black edition over the internet but t wasnt finalised until I viewed it in person on the day of collection so I was able to back out. I travelled from Durham near NEwcastle up to Glasow by train then taxi. Quite a trek in the snow!!

Luckily it was from Arnold Clarke and was exactly as described. 1 owner and only had 26k miles on it. I was even surprised as it has stop start which they forgot to mention. They threw in 2 yrs warranty and servicing for free and enough fuel to get me home without me even asking. Already had nearly £1.5 of free repairs ( new proshaft and just recently a new pre charge pump as the Quattro system failed). No issues at all. Some dealers get back reviews, even the one I used but my experience from these I will use again in the future if they have the car I want!!

 

[nothingness]

To be fair though, I travelled 400 miles from Cornwall to Yorkshire to look at an a3 2.0t fsi S-line, and bought it on the spot. It was in mint condition, and I managed to get £750 knocked off the price due to a blunder by the salesman which was honored by the owner. Well worth the journey.

In fact all the best cars I have owned have been ones where I had to travel, but living in the SW that is a given. Now I live in the NW things are much better!