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I don't know what you mean? Are you saying I shouldn't say anything?
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If you were buying the same car car off the dealer, went away happy with the car and then discovered to your disappointment it was an import because you forgot to ask him , there is nothing you would be able to do about it.
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If he didn't ask - then so be it. He obviously wasn't sufficiently worried, otherwise he would have done. It not a crime and there's no deception - had he asked you'd have told him. If they'd sold their cars at a more reasonable price in the first place you wouldn't have imported one.
KB.
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"let the buyer beware works both ways" unless you want to be a very very morale person and offer the dealer more money to make you feel better about the deal.
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Thanks guys - I was starting to get pangs of worry that he may be able to come back at me in some way.
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With the number of imports floating about, the dealers should ask, if they don't, then why be forthcoming with the info?!
Keep it to yourself. I'd even go as far as to remove any import related info from the service book if thats at all possible without making it look suspicious.
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That might not be so easy as they probably stamped inside the front cover - I ordered a UK replacement when new so that all the service stamps show up there.
KB.
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Yeah KB, just got my pa to look at the service book on his 02 plate imported Mondeo Est, it has a sticker from the Belgian dealer covering the whole of the inside of the front page, so you're right, doesn't seem to be an option, ah well, it was a thought.
Perturbed, does your car show you as the first keeper, or was the importer the first?
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why does having an imported car create such a problem? Most cars in this country get made abroad anyway. If its the same spec as UK cars then, except for warranty maybe, I can't see why its worth getting worked up about. They all work the same don't they?
Splodgeface
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>>Keep it to yourself. I'd even go as far as to remove any import related info from the service book if thats at all possible without making it look suspicious.
Now, if you got home and found your newly bought car was an import you'd probably be peeved, but if you hadn't asked, maybe (?) that is your issue.
However, if you found out that the dealer had deliberately hidden the fact by removing pages from the service book, you'd probably not only be really annoyed, you'd probably also sue him.
Here's a radical idea - be honest. Say to him that its an import. Maybe he doesn't care.
If you don't, then you are about to do something which I am sure you wouldn't like if it was done to you and I suspect that you have complained about. Its called cheating someone, even if it is within the law.
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I bought my wifes Fiesta from a Renault main dealer. There was no mention of it being an import. I didn't find out until the logbook arrived. When I rang the dealer, his reply amounted to 'hard luck'.
If they'll do it to you, do it to them.
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I have to disagree with you on this, M (RBLS). I don't think it's any more (or less ) of a cheat than most dealers would inflict on most customers, given the chance. I'm sure that almost every one of us here have encountered a spot of 'mild deception' by a dealer. Buying cars is a minefield - from the back street dealer operating from home or under a railway arch.....through to Main Dealers who are, in no way, exempt from occasional deviations from the whole truth.
For sure, I would sooner disclose the fact in order to ease my conscience, but 'perterbed' has done what he done (or didn't do) and is asking the views of others and it seems that most support his course.
Your idea would be better if he'd not committed himself and he could then notify the dealer and depending on the outcome, could go elsewhere if need be.
KB.
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I have to disagree with you on this, M (RBLS). I don't think it's any more (or less ) of a cheat than most dealers would inflict on most customers, given the chance. I'm sure that almost every one of us here have encountered a spot of 'mild deception' by a dealer. Buying cars is a minefield - from the back street dealer operating from home or under a railway arch.....through to Main Dealers who are, in no way, exempt from occasional deviations from the whole truth.
For sure, I would sooner disclose the fact in order to ease my conscience, but 'perterbed' has done what he done (or didn't do) and is asking the views of others and it seems that most support his course.
Your idea would be better if he'd not committed himself and he could then notify the dealer and depending on the outcome, could go elsewhere if need be.
KB.
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The fact is, the dealer is a trader and it's down to him to ask the questions. There's no need to tell the dealer - it will give him the opportunity to renegotiate an existing contract that appears to be complete as it is - and in law it's his own lookout for not asking. If the dealer were to insist on paying less for the trade in, in theory at least, P could sue - and win, assuming that he's got forms and so on with the trade in value stated.
Whatever happens, either the car will be auctioned or sold on the forecourt, if it fits, without telling the next owner - so why give the dealer extra profit margin?
Whatever 'Perturbed' has done, it's all legal and in the past. In a situation like this, where a dealer is bound to be aware of the issues, I wouldn't let this get to my conscience and no fraud has been committed, so there's no comeback either.
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I have to express a certain amount of cynicism with regard to the perceived lower value of imports. If it's a UK spec from the same factory and has a comparable warranty (or is outside the original warranty) then there's is naff-all difference.
Having worked in the trade I smell a profit-margin expander in operation.
My car is an Eire import, an ex Alfa/Fiat Eire company car. Same warranty, same spec, lower milage than most similar uk cars, price £1.5k lower as so many punters had walked away from it as an "import". The trade decided that imports should have lower values so they could get some cheap p/exs, now they whine when the punter wants a slice of the deal or wont touch imports. And as for arguing that the customer got a substantial discount in the first place so should get a lower px, well I don't see that same logic being applied to ex-fleet cars where the discounts can be as high as 45% new.
Fortunately the numbers are getting much closer these days. If I were Peturbed (the person, not the state of mind) I would simply do the handover, telling him the handbook and service records are in the glovebox. Unless the order specified that the was p/ex was a UK car the dealer has no comeback.
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Glass's guide and CAP dont have seperate values for personal imports because there is no reason to value imports differently.
I agree with Mark, tell the dealer.
If he is a honest dealer he will apprieciated your honesty and NOT de-value your car because there is no reason to.
IMO its best to do any deal in a open honest way.
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Point is KB, until he started this thread I agree with you. Until then it was simply that the dealer hadn't asked.
However, starting the thread tends to show an awareness of being about to potentially disadvantage someone else and considering whether or not one would get away with it.. Never mind people suggesting removing pages form the service book to hide it which must be close to fraud given the intent.
However, aside from all that, and even though a dealer would perhaps do it to a customer, I would still tell the dealer.
I'd feel better about it and have never found "well they'd do it to me" as sufficient justification for dropping to their level.
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There are so many Imported vehicles on the market now. It doesn't matter whether you're a trader or a private buyer, if the fact that the vehicle you're looking to buy may be an import is something that concerns you, you should ask. If you don't and later you find it is an import then it's tough, you should have done your homework.
Same thing applies to vehicle history checks, such as HPi. If you don't bother with that type of thing and you later find that the car was accident repaired or that the mileage was false or the vehicle had outstanding finance against it, then you have little or no comeback.
All down to how much u do your homework and how much these things concern you at the end of the day.
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