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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

WIBU to replace my car after six weeks?

238 replies

Tattsyrup · 25/05/2017 18:53

I bought a used car in April and since then I've been trying to convince myself that I like it, but the fact is that I don't like it. I don't want it.
I bought it unseen, having been shown a different vehicle (same make and model, but a slightly flashier version). There was definitely a fair bit of bullshitting from the salesman going on too.
If I sell the car I'll lose around £2000, plus I'd have the expense of replacing it with a car I actually like. I took out a small loan to buy the car, and I owe £4500 on that.
WWYD? AIBU to be considering selling it and buying something better?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
teaandbiscuitsforme · 27/05/2017 07:28

Our Maclaren doesn't fit horizontally in our estate boot either (not Vauxhall!) so we have to put it in diagonally. I think they're just quite long.

Msqueen33 · 27/05/2017 07:37

I think you need to go to trading standards and also kick up a real fuss with the dealership. This car sounds really odd.

LightastheBreeze · 27/05/2017 07:42

Probably best not to name them, I'm also not sure of the rules surrounding naming and shaming, they may do something anyway if you mention trading standards. I guessed it wasn't a dealership because of the price, DH just bought a car from a supermarket and they are much cheaper, I am also looking to change my small car and am quite tempted not to use a car supermarket as the buying experience of DH's car wasn't too good.

DianneDionne · 27/05/2017 07:45

OP I'm going to PM you, there is a way that the VIN can be checked against the one the registration is linked to.

FWIW a lot of basic model cars have winders on the windows as standard, it's a way of raking in more money to 'upgrade'.

DianneDionne · 27/05/2017 07:47

Sorry OP I'm on my phone at the minute and can't figure out how to message but will get to the computer in a bit!

NorthernLurker · 27/05/2017 07:49

I think it's a ringer. You need to get stroppy with them op.

HeirOfNothingInParticular · 27/05/2017 07:57

OP. Now you've said it was from a car supermarket that makes sense. I have a Fiesta Titanium and when I was looking to buy it I saw that Carcraft had a brand new one in at a price that seemed to good to be true. When I enquirer about it I was told that it didn't have some of the features included, Inthink it might have been DAB radio and cruise control. The salesman told me that it was made foRmsale in the Channel Islands I think. I decided not to go ahead and bought a nearly new one instead. The guy in the ford dealership told me that this is quite common with car supermarkets and that if I had bought it they would not touch it in the future for part ex as it's off spec. Also, as the supermarket car had been registered outside the UK, that affects insurance. You must tell your insurance company, and it puts the premium up. Perhaps this is what has happened to you, and you have been sold something which has been manufactured for a different country with a lower spec?

sharklovers · 27/05/2017 08:18

I wouldn't worry about it being a ringer or a cut and shut, that is almost certainly not the case. It probably hasn't been registered abroad either but most likely that it was supplied from outside the UK. I have heard before of car supermarkets selling odd non UK spec cars. Check the log book, it should tell you if it was previously registered abroad. On the plus side it seems like you got it for a decent price.

Frazzled2207 · 27/05/2017 08:23

I also think you've been had and that you've been sold some odd off spec vehicle. But you were daft not to kick off when you picked it up, you've been the victim of a deliberate mis-sell.
Please do your research before buying a new car and enlist the help of someone that knows about buying cars!

HeirOfNothingInParticular · 27/05/2017 08:26

Check your vehicle registration and see if that says where it was registered. Get yourself back to the car supermarket and tell them that the car they have sold you is not to the same specification as described by Vauxhall and ask them to explain. If it has come from another country and they have not specifically said, then they have misled you. If you find this difficult, try and take a friend who enjoys this sort of thing! It is a lot of money to pay for something that you are not happy with. Good luck.

NoOneLikesACrispyTowel · 27/05/2017 08:29

I was sold a pile of shite car and I ended up threatening the small claims court.

They refunded me in the end but it took a 2 week fight.

Stand your ground. Fight as much as you can, kick up a fuss, make threats, research your rights.

It's at least worth a shot for the sake of 2k.
But if I was deeply unhappy with a car I would have to get a new one.

RJnomore1 · 27/05/2017 08:31

This is very odd but I feel I need to defend Vauxhall! My now 10 year old Astra has all the things op is missing and is a great car. Done 120k miles drives like a dream and sailed through its mot last week.

The not made for U.K. Thing could make sense.

HeirOfNothingInParticular · 27/05/2017 08:34

Me again, it was Motorpoint where I saw the car from Channel Islands

UrsulaPandress · 27/05/2017 08:36

What a pile of shite car dealerships are.

DH can piss me off royally a lot of the time but he is darned useful when it comes to stuff like this.

friskybivalves · 27/05/2017 08:37

OP, I too feel you should go back - with someone to give you support - and kick off about being palmed off with a lower spec.

With regard to identifying where you bought it from, the clues are already in the pics you have posted. Their name is revealed on the reg plate. If you are worried about it, maybe ask MN to remove that particular image. I don't see why you should need to, though. Shame them for taking advantage of you. Yes you may have been naive. But they sure as hell knew what they were up to. Sharp practice at the very least. Shock

LightastheBreeze · 27/05/2017 08:44

It's because there are huge car supermarkets full of ex lease and god knows what cars for sale, they are much cheaper though, when we bought our family car it was about £5k cheaper from a supermarket as it was ex lease but we couldn't find the car we wanted from a proper dealer at a price we could afford

The small Ford garage I use has hardly any cars for sale, probably being slowly put out of business by the supermarkets

Take someone with you when you go back to the dealer OP, good luck

ElphabaStrop · 27/05/2017 08:46

If it's not a ringer or cut and shut then it's a lower spec import. If you ordered a 1.6 i design sports tourer having been shown a UK model then you had every right to assume you would be buying a UK model with standard UK spec.

They have mis-sold you, so you must speak to Trading Standards.

What you should have done was to reject the car there and then, but I suspect you know that now. ☺️

Have you got the Service book? Where did the first service take place?

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 27/05/2017 08:51

One of ours is a 7 year old Vauxhall has electric wing mirrors and air con (and can fit my wheelchair in the boot)

HollyJollyDillydolly · 27/05/2017 09:13

The car situation is very odd, was there a facelift to the model or something about the time yours was manufactured and your car is the 'older' version?
The garage sound very dodgy. My little car is a 55 plate so very old and that has electric mirrors, Windows and air con.

ThereIsNoSuchThingAsRoadTax · 27/05/2017 09:26

That car is the older version. The k model came out in September 2015, but the back of your car is definitely the J model. Nevertheless, all UK versions of the J had electric windows and air con. As PP have said, must be an off spec import. BTW, the pic in the advert you posted looks like the hatchback version, not the sports tourer (estate) as it says.

ThereIsNoSuchThingAsRoadTax · 27/05/2017 09:32

Actually, on closer inspection the pic on the ad is the estate.
I think the boot on the J version was smaller than it is on the k, so if they showed you the newer model and sold you the old one, that might explain the pushchair not fitting.

Original poster
Tattsyrup · 27/05/2017 09:57

Thank you all for your responses and your thoughts. I'm going to contact the car sales market and question them again. Would it be worth phoning Vauxhall customer service? I need to know if the warranty is actually valid!

OP posts:
neonrainbow · 27/05/2017 09:57

Bunch of bastards! Youve got to kick up a fuss. You were told you were buying one thing, now you've got something different. There must be something to be done!

neonrainbow · 27/05/2017 09:58

It can't hurt you contact vauxhall.

friskybivalves · 27/05/2017 10:13

Before you contact the supermarket again would it be worth having a chat with Trading Standards so you have your firepower lined up? It will give you greater clarity about your rights and what you can demand. Also might be worth starting a thread in eg moneysupermarket, which gets a lot of consumer rights traffic, and asking for advice.

And if you get nowhere with M**orpoint itself why not contact the consumer champion for the Guardian - is she Anna something? - or even Honest John who does (I think, haven't read it that recently) a consumer motoring col for the Telegraph. Also the Sunday Times column.

Yes there's such a thing as Buyer Beware but this seems from what you say to be a clear case of misselling.

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