OK, so I know that many, many people have been ripped off (me included years ago, fortunately I got it repaired under a warranty they offered) but I still feel a bit guilty about this and I was was wondering about the ethics/legalities of what I'll be doing...
I have a V6 Vectra that is actually in pretty damn good condition for a 4-year old car. Trouble is, it needs the coolant fluid topping up every week to 10 days as there is a slow leak. (Latest news on this is that a Masterfit tech reckons it'll be the heat exchanger and it'll cost well over £1,000+ to put right...)
Now it *could* just be a loose pipe or a leak, but the general consensus frommechanics is that it's probably head gasket or heat exchanger - both expensive to repair. I am just on the verge of changing car and, at the moment, I have the option of direct trade-in with dealer I'm getting next car from, selling to an "older car" dealer (it's a W reg) or selling privately.
I'm against the idea of selling privately as I don't like the idea of someone ending up with a car that I know is dodgy in at least one respect that I know about (even though it's good in many others) then finding out and sending their 2 big evil mates around to kneecap me for ripping them off! "What leak mate, I don't know what you're talking about!"
If I sell/trade-in to either of the dealers and they don't do the mechanical checks & inspections that reveal the possible problem (you can clearly see evidence of leaks when looking from under the car - I saw it when it was up on a ramp) is it "buyer beware" to them and just tough luck? Or do they have some comeback on me for not disclosing a problem?
Possible mitigating circumstances for my conscience are that the trade-in dealer is offering me only £3,700 (W reg V6 CDX Vectra Estate, 41K miles) against a "low" book value of £4,500 and the 2nd hand dealer is offering me only £4,00 for purchase...
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I wouldn't be bothered in the slightest about trading it in.
That's why you are getting trade price as there might be something unseen, there might not.
Whatever's wrong with the Vectra, a grand is very steep for a head gasket, even on a V6. I'm not sure what purpose a "heat-exchanger" has on a water cooled car? Heater matrix maybe?
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Yeah - may have been heater matrix... dunno really... I do computers & databases, not cars! It all used to be so easy on my old Mini years ago... ah, those were the days - Saturday afternoons with the Haynes manual in hand and the carburettor in bits on the table... :o)
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You could stick it in an auction if you're seriously bothered about trading it in. It will probably go to the trade anyway.
Vauxhall people often seem to quote about a grand for any larger job. I'd take the car to an independent as I have found that pukka vauxhall agents don't seem to be the brightest. A friend had problems with his 4x4 system and the vauxhall dealer said it would be £3k to fix and the entire 4x4 system was doomed. It was in fact a sub £100 part for the hydraulics and was fitted in about half an hour....saving £2900 from just reading the schematics which a vauxhall dealer would have had access to!
teabelly
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Sell it to a trader, those who live by the sword etc etc.
You don't have a duty to disclose any problems, unlike selling a house for example.
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Trade it in! I did this myself when I was in the trade. I had a real lemon, taken in PX by my salesman. It was ex police (zipped headlining gave THAT away), overheated like mad and dripped oil everywhere!
I took it, as a private punter, to a not very local, Ford Main Dealer, and offered in PX for one of their used cars. Their salesman didn't bother to inspect it or drive it and we had a deal.
SWMBO drove the shed to the dealer on delivery day and it expired on the Ford dealer's lot! We took away the purchased car and sold it to break even. My salesman received a lecture and never made the same mistake again!
Roger in Spain
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Trade it in ! You won't be the first and certainly not the last. Dealers expect this sort of thing from time to time. Either they will send it to the auction or trade it to a dealer lower down the food chain.
If they do retail it and it has problems then that is what the profit margin and limited warranty is there for.
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Trade it in. \'Caveat Emptor\' works both ways.
I did almost exactly the same thing a couple of years ago. I traded in a Citroen ZX td with a completely blown head gasket and drove it to the dealership with literally no coolant in the engine. The dealer agreed a price without even lifting the bonnet.
Some weeks later i drove past the place one evening and saw the car. I pulled in to have a look, it was unlocked so i lifted the bonnet to find the engine minus its cylinder head, and looking none too healthy.
I still smile when i think about the time i ripped off a used car dealer.
Go on. Do it. You know you want to.
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Trade it in. Every punter wants to get rid of their car for a reason. If they didn't then they'd keep it. Traders know that. It's why they pay so little.
I traded in my first car, the Montego, when it started to die. They gave me peanuts for it. I mean, peanuts. A few days later we got a phone call from the dealership.
"This Montego."
"Yes"
"What's the trick to starting it, then?"
"Ha ha ha ha [click]"
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You lot are evil :o)
BTW, it appears (after a chat down at Masterfit whilst I was waiting for a small part to arrive on a van) that the exhaust blowing sort of noise that the dealer said he heard the other day and suspected was the manifold, is indeed the manifold going!
In mitigation in case anyone thinks, "well they would say that" I told the Vauxhall mechanic I was talking to that I was getting rid of the car and I suspected that the dealer was trying to rip me off by saying that the manifold was going so he asked if he could have a listen... Two of the other mechanics came out too and all agreed the manifold was starting to blow. I asked if it was expensive to fix and they all laughed for some reason...
When they finished laughing, they told me it was a sod of a job involving about 7 hours labour taking out all of the engine and various other bits before reassembling it all. The dealer I'm hoping to sell it to is getting his mechanic to have a listen later this week and if he thinks they have to do the manifold (as he suspects) they're going to knock £100 of the deal... The Vauxhall mechanics told me to bite his hand off... :o)
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Oh, and did I mention that it's due its 40,000 mile service now (i.e. the cambelt change one...) ? Is £4,000 starting to look like a good price for my beloved Vectra Estate now...? (well, let's face it, £3,900...)
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