If one has viewed a vehicle that is for sale and declined to buy it for various technical-fault reasons, how should one warn other forum members what to look out for if they are considering that particular vehicle?

Is it the done thing at all? I should feel guilty if one of our own were to buy it and miss any of the issues that I identified. Or is it caveat emptor? And how should that vehicle be identified?

 

What's the concensus? Name and shame, or keep schtum?

 

Moderators' input required here too? I wouldn't want to incur their wrath.

 

T

For sale privately or through a business?

Obviously it's beneficial for others to know what the person viewing the car has, in his humble opinion, noted as being of concern.

A business sale may carry additional safeguards but a private sale wont.

 

If you're still wary of any potential wrath then feel free to PM me.

I for one would appreciate the courtesy of a "heads up" about a vehicle for sale that is inaccurately or dishonestly described.  For your own sake I suggest that any such note should be couched in terms of "it would seem" or "in my opinion" in order to prevent any legalistic backlash to you for offering an "expert" opinion.

 

It's offered for sale by a business.  

It seemed during my inspection that some significant faults were present, and subsequently doubted by the salesperson. If you are looking, feel free to pm me for the reg and dealer. 

Does that get around the issues mentioned?

2 hours ago, tintinandcharlie said:

Does that get around the issues mentioned?

I think you should share the info if it's that bad and save someone the future hassle.

I have concerns, surely there's a huge potential for Briskoda to have a legal dispute here?

Expert witnesses would be called (in my experience their fees are huge, and they ties their horses up outside the court) from both sides with the loser paying costs etc ?

Barge pole !

I could only see that being a concern if the OP claimed something that was untrue.

If he simply couched it in terms like "it seemed to me that the X was very Y; you may want to look at that carefully if considering purchase", I can't imagine any car dealer doing anything worse than an empty threat of action.

@tintinandcharlie Roughly speaking, anything that can be proven in a court of law is very safe to post.

 

We've had a good run of informing members, there is a notorious superb doing the rounds.  

 

I'd start with posting the reg and the faults you perceive, or why you walked away. Another member might decide they are happy with those for the price etc.

 

I'd leave off anything about the seller, as per my above comment about proof. You can of course share your feelings, they are yours. At the end of the day we're all here to share and help each other as owners or potential owners.

 

HTH.

theres plenty of threads along the line of 

"i just spotted this for sale"

 - link to advert - 

" going for a look and a drive on Tueaday, will let you all know"

 

roll forward to Tuesday...

" drove it, and im very disappointed.. idle felt really rough and you cant see the rust starting around the sills in photos but its there, wont be taking it any farther"

 

no issue with you doing similar

No issues with putting it here. “I went to look at this car and I didn’t buy it because ........”.  Don’t get into who said what in response to your observations, just state why you decided to walk away.

Also, I was lead to understand a dealer was supposed to disclose any KNOWN faults or accident/repair, etc whereas a private seller can remain tight lipped. I guess the main thing there though is the term KNOWN... If they were unaware themselves, its a different ball-game and unless proof could be given that they knew! 

If you informed them of the faults you spotted, they do now know, even if they did not disclose them to you. It is a bit of a minefield!

They are supposed to disclosed 'known faults' or accident  /repairs if asked about them.

Nobody should sell a vehicle with 'Known faults' that may or does affects safety or mean a vehicle is not fit for purpose.

(Never stopped some main dealers reselling cars that were rejected because of known and accepted faults without any remedial actions being taken, and that can be 'Approved used cars' from Skoda, Audi, VW or SEAT.)

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/478006-warning-warning-warning

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/453993-rejected-diesel-back-up-for-sale-warning

 

On 17/07/2020 at 08:17, ColinD said:

@tintinandcharlie Roughly speaking, anything that can be proven in a court of law is very safe to post.

 

We've had a good run of informing members, there is a notorious superb doing the rounds.  

 

I'd start with posting the reg and the faults you perceive, or why you walked away. Another member might decide they are happy with those for the price etc.

 

I'd leave off anything about the seller, as per my above comment about proof. You can of course share your feelings, they are yours. At the end of the day we're all here to share and help each other as owners or potential owners.

 

HTH.

In that case, what follows is a purely factual account.

 

I viewed a 170, reg ND11 RKV on Wednesday 15th July 2020.  I took a fully functional trailer board specifically to test the towbar electrics. 

When it was plugged in,  the fog lamps and reverse parking sensors were still active when, as I understand  it, if the car had been correctly recoded after fitting, they both should be deactivated. The alarm also failed to sound when the board was unplugged while the car was locked. I understand that these issues can be present if a Universal wiring kit is used instead of a vehicle specific one.

For the test drive the car failed to start until a jump start pack was connected. A flat battery was blamed on the valet leaving doors open.

On the test drive the four wheel drive system also appeared to fail to engage. 

Check that these issues have been addressed or you wish to accept them if you are considering its purchase. 

 

Edited 25 July, 20205 yr by tintinandcharlie

The towing stuff is worth confirming - it can either be a universal towing relay, or it could be a properly-fitted wiring harness and module that hasn't been coded.

 

Flat battery - fair enough, if a car is not driving a lot and is being shunted around a lot, and the battery is old, this can happen.

 

I'm interested how you determined that the four wheel drive system wasn't engaging?

 

PS: I'm just up the road from Didcot myself.