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Original poster

Need a little advice about buying a car - Don't think this is legal but unsure what to do??

15 replies

SoConfused2019 · 21/05/2019 10:10

Long story short - Sunday afternoon I visited my local Arnold clark, found a car took it for a test drive and done the deal, got it down from 8800 to 7400, signed through the little electronic thing on his desk and he asked was the paperwork ok to be sent by email rather than print everything out, I agreed and he took my email down. The car had only arrived on Thursday so hadn't been serviced/valeted yet and once done on Monday I would be able to collect Tuesday at the earliest. All was fine and I paid a £200 deposit. I mentioned to a friend I'd not received any of the paperwork but thought no more of it, I had my receipt for the £200.

Yesterday I got an email around lunchtime (still no paperwork that I'd signed). the email said that when the vehicle had undergone the service an issue had arose with the gearbox and therefore the car couldnt be sold and would be sent back to auction. he then offered me a 2 year older car in a different model and spec for the exact same price or a refund, I replied and asked what exactly had been found as on the test drive the car was very smooth and you should have heard or felt an issue with the gearbox, even my brother commented at the time it was so smooth to drive. he ignored this email, so few hours later and after ignoring my calls I emailed again to say that id be in for my refund, he replied immediately and said if thats what you think is best.

Fast forward to this morning and my mum (who cant help herself in these situations) called up to enquire about it, as its still showing on their website she was told that it is back up for sale, so she commented on the reserved sticker and was told by the manager of the place that it was reserved but the other buyer couldn't get finance. (I was paying cash outright for it so no finance ever done for me).

As it stands i've paid the deposit, then been told the car has a fault and wont be sold. i'm due to go in today for the deposit refunded to me but what the hell do I do, fight for the car I want or get my money and go elsewhere? ive never had an issue with a car like this before.

OP posts:

birdling · 21/05/2019 10:39

Get your money back and don't touch that dealership with a barge pole.
At least you know never to buy a car from them again.
And tell everyone you know just how shoddily they dealt with you.

MatthewBramble · 21/05/2019 10:40

Get cash and put this behind you. I would do business with a firm like that no matter how good the car was.

Knowivedonewrong · 21/05/2019 10:58

Like everyone else says, go and get your money back and take your business elsewhere.
Dealers like this give other car dealers a bad name. I can assure you they are not all like this at all.

Mari50 · 21/05/2019 11:15

Sneaky fuckers. To be honest I was agog at you being able to beat them down so much, Arnold Clark are total sharks.

Angie169 · 21/05/2019 15:14

I think the sales rep that you dealt with as probably been given a ear full from his manager for allowing it to be sold as such a reduced price and has been told that the sale can't go through, so has made up some guff to you to try and persuade you not to buy it so then he can resell it at the corrected value.

DGRossetti · 21/05/2019 15:56

Maybe get this moved to legal ?

The bottom line is they are trying to unilaterally change their side of a contract they have agreed to, and contract law doesn't work like that.

You are entitled to receive the goods you ordered.

The key phrase is "loss of bargain" ...

MadSweeney · 21/05/2019 16:36

Praise the Lord for a close call, take your cash and run.

From personal experience I had a 3 month fight for a refund of a total lemon of a car that had been in their garage for repair for 9 out of the 12 weeks we owned it.
My cousin bought an auto Picasso from them and had 6 months worth of issues and breakdowns culminating in them also being unable to fix and offering her a 2 year older car for £1k more. She's an MS sufferer and reliant on the car, they couldnt have cared less.

You've dodged a bullet.

GeorgeTheFirst · 21/05/2019 16:38

I'm not sure she has dodged a bullet, she might have lost a bargain

QuestionableMouse · 21/05/2019 16:41

Get your money back and run. They've shown you how they do business... Do you really want to be part of it?

DGRossetti · 21/05/2019 16:59

Get your money back and run.

Whilst that might be best for the OP in this situation, it's "one-up" to the garage, and leaves them free to carry on as before ...

A nice letter, suggesting the garage honour the contract they agreed to might be in order ? (Keeping any screenshots of the website and any details of anything said on the phone ?).

You can't just wriggle out of a contract because it suits you. Goose, gander etc.

You can bet your bottom dollar that if the OP tried to pull out of the same at the original price, the garage would have got very nasty.

AppleKatie · 21/05/2019 17:04

Get your money back.

Review review review everywhere you can think of (start with google reviews) explaining clearly what’s happened.

historyrocks · 21/05/2019 17:13

There’s a good reason why they’re known as Arnold Shark.... get your money and run.

DGRossetti · 21/05/2019 17:29

I think the sales rep that you dealt with as probably been given a ear full from his manager for allowing it to be sold as such a reduced price and has been told that the sale can't go through

Why should the OP suffer because of their inability to train staff properly ?

bobstersmum · 21/05/2019 17:32

Dh worked for these very briefly (less than a month) once he realised what a shocking state the cars were in and the implications he left pronto. He said the cars coming in had virtually no prep so were pretty much sold as they were, and they tried to cover up any issues they might have had. A lot of the cars haven't had an easy life to start with as can be ex rental and are often high mileage.
I would ring and tell them you know the car is still for sale and that you are going to leave honest reviews stating what happened. Its obvious the deal was done without managers consent and he's said no way are we selling it for that price.

MadSweeney · 21/05/2019 17:39

I'm not sure she has dodged a bullet, she might have lost a bargain

Doubtful. These cars aren't looked at before sale as bobstermum says above. You're then at their mercy to get them fixed which is often a long drawn out process as my two experiences above illustrate.

Bargain is subjective with AC. For the sake of a few hundred quid on an item you rely on daily I'd go to a reputable garage.

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