I wrote early last month regarding issues with the Renault Retail Group were i was quoted £4000 for a PX against a Renault Megane Coupe (London West) only to find that after i paid my deposit, i was told that they had given me the incorrect PX price and they dropped the price to £2000 PX against the Coupe and the sale fell through.

I then seen a coupe at the Renault Retail Group Liverpool branch and i requested a video of the car showing any body work damage, I was told about a stone chip that the salesman would repair for me and apart from that, the car was in showroom condition. So we paid the deposit and When we arrived to pick up the car, we found 2 dents in the body work so we walked away from the deal, After emailing the general manager, I was given £100 compensation to cover my return journey from cumbria.

I decided that i wasn't going to buy a car from Renault Retail Group, But after looking at the Renault Retail Group web site, i found a Renault Clio 1.5 dci 90 dynamique medianav S energy 5dr with 6000 miles on the clock at the Birmingham Renault Retail group, So i contacted the dealership and I asked if their was any body work damage or stone chips on the Clio since I was let down by the Liverpool dealership recently after been told that the car was in showroom condition and that I found 2 dents in the body work and I stressed this to the salesman and the salesman told me that the car was in mint condition and that the body work was immaculate and he told me to trust him on this. I placed a £500 deposit since I put my trust in him and that he had checked the car totally. During the phone call, he did walk around the car checking, but he kept on saying the car car was in mint condition and on that basis, that’s the reason I agreed to buy the car.

I travelled down from Cumbria to Birmingham on the train to pick up the car and after doing the the paperwork, I went outside to inspect the car, only to find stone chips and scratches on one of the doors, I was fuming with the salesman and i told him that the car was not mint and that i was not buying the car, The salesman tried telling me that my interpretation of mint was different to his and he told me that the car was a ex hire car and that it had 6000Miles on the clock and to him, the car was mint due to its age which was 11 months old and if i wanted a car in mint condition, then i would have to buy a new car.

At this point, i walked out of the dealership to find transport back home which i was lucky to be able to catch the national express coach which was next to the dealership.

The following day, I contacted the General manager and told him that i wanted £85 compensation to pay for the travel costs, He refused, after a few more emails, i was getting no where with them, I then contacted Renault customer care, but they could not help me even though they agreed with me.

I then wrote to the Renault Retail Group in London explaining the whole experience that i had buying a car from them and telling them that i had been in touch with trading standards and that i was demanding that they paid me £85 which was the cost of my travel, 2 days later i received a cheque for £85 from Birmingham and a letter saying sorry, but in future, before going into negotiations on a car, that i had to check the car over myself.

I wrote a letter back thanking the General manager for the £85 (who told me that he was not going to give me £85) and thanking him for his advice and went onto tell him that i am now a proud owner of a brand new Volkswagen polo 1.0 SE that i had bought from a local garage in cumbria and it was only £500 more than the Clio that i was going to buy.

Regarding the Volkswagen polo 1.0 SE, Got a great deal, £12200 inc metallic, better alloys, Mats and fuel and at the moment my average MPG is 53MPG and for a 1.0, It still can move and drives nicely sitting at 70 on the motorways.

Once i have had the car for a few months, i will fill in the REAL MPG since there is no info for the Volkswagen polo 1.0 SE.

Sorry for the long drawn out story, But i just want to make a point about long distance selling, that if the car is not has described and you travel to buy the car, then demand money for your expenses, I did and it worked for me.

On a final note, I have bought renaults since 1989 and due to my recent experiance, I am now a Volkswagen polo 1.0 SE owner

Edited by malct on 11/04/2015 at 20:19