So we've been looking for a used car for a while now that ticks most of our boxes and is within budget. We need a ULEZ compliant car before it kicks in and it's insane how quickly cars are being sold and at above market prices. Finally found a car that ticks most boxes but above budget. Given the lack of choice, we thought we'd bite the bullet and reserved it.
Dealership has now discovered that the previous owner missed a service, which means the 6 warranty that is left on the car is invalid. They are saying that the car has been priced accordingly so they can't reduce the price but they want to be transparent that its likely we won't be able to claim under the warranty because of this technicality. They said the Kia claims assessors would see that a service has been missed and, even though it's not our fault, they would be entitled (and likely to reject) a warranty claim.
AIBU to go ahead and take the risk and buy the car? Their argument is that it's been priced below market because of the warranty issue. It's possible that nothing goes wrong with the car in the next 6 years anyway. It isn't an electric car which is where they've seen most of the issues (I'm told).
Getting quite stressed now as we've been searching for ages and secondhand cars keep getting swiped out from under us as they disappear before they even go on the website. We don't have long before ULEZ expands and we are heavily reliant on our car!
I've always had secondhand cars and I've never had issues with any of them really. But I feel the law of the universe would be such that I buy this car without a warranty and then things go wrong! We've never owned a Kia before. The long warranty was a selling point. We've always had VW or Volvo.
Would really appreciate different perspectives on this. Thanks 🙏🏻