Hi all.

We went to have a look at a mondeo today that we had put a deposit down on as we were told by the salesman that it was mint with not a mark on it.

When we get there straight away I can see its got a couple of parking dents in the door and then when we start looking a lot closer we fine paint chips on the sill, chips all up the edge of the drivers door and a couple of marks/dents in the rear bumper.

The interior was very clean apart from some pink stuff they had forgot to clean from the rear arm rest.

Needless to say I was quite disappointed, especially when the salesman I met today (who wasnt the one I originally spoke to ) said our car was in excellent condition on seeing it today.

Now we asked for our deposit back and he said that as the admin girl wasnt in it wont get done until tomorrow.

He also said that I may have a call back from the manager tomorrow to see if he can change my mind about the car and that they may be able to touch it all up.

What the general consensus on dealer touch ups? are they good or just smart repairs that will eventually wear off etc?

If we were to accept the touchups should I still try and push for some more discount.

Im just worried that even after they had done them they still wont be that good or up to my standard??

Thoughts please.

How much was the car you were interested in?

I think there is a sliding scale on touch ups depending on the value of the car.

It was 10995.

11 plate titanium x estate in panther black?

How does the sliding scale work?

Quite disappointed with it to be honest!

Why would you put money down on something you’d not seen?? My own experience with car sales. I drove 20 miles each way to see a “mint” Fiesta at a dealers (for the wife). I got there and it had a ‘kin big dent in it and loads of scratches (couldn’t see them in the photos). I called the salesman a **** for wasting my time and drove home.

Plenty of other cars around – I’d be walking away.
If they’ve lied about it being mint, what else are they being economical with the truth about?

If your not happy with it leave it. There’s plenty of mondeos out there.

However I like stone chips and the I’d bit of car park rash as it shows it’s not just been painted and it’s a bit “more honest”.

If it’s from Arnold Clark walk away as they do everything and I mean everything on the cheap. I went and looked at an A3 at one in Glasgow which was ‘mint’ in the description, got to see it and it was anything but, kerbed alloys and black boot polish to touch up a scuffed grille. Walked out drove to an Audi dealer, got a newer car cheaper and almost double what AC offered for mine.

Its from a garage in Gloucester (wessex garages)

We put a securing deposit it on it to hold it until we came down for Xmas.

Inside is spotless to be fair apart from some pink gunk in the armrest.

I believe it belonged to an old couple and the old boy died and the old lady found it to big to drive around.

Must admit I agree, why put deposit down before seeing the car?
Think I’d try and get deposit back, unless you can trust them to do a good job and they would guarantee the paintwork touch ups?
Having worked at a main dealer garage, albeit 20 odd years ago I’ve seen some of the things paint shops do ‘to get by’ ……just to get a sale.
Of course things might be different now. 🙂

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201411159012379

Im looking at the following then …..

3 touch ups on a sill
Touch ups on edge of drivers door
small touch up on corner of rear bumper
2 small dents on passenger door.

I looked at that Geoff but its the non facelift and has an extra 15k miles on the clock and alot lower spec than the one I looked at today

I have a panther black focus and it marks very easily. There are chips through the paint all over the front bumper, you can see the white plastic through them. It’s only done 13,000 miles so I wouldn’t be surprised at all that a car with 50k was covered in little bits of paint damage and dents. A dealer probably wouldn’t do the repairs themselves, Ford told me that they get a dent repair company in to do these little jobs.

I would accept it repaired, the dents will be popped out as if it were magic and good paint will be used to do the touch ups. You would never know about the damage if they had fixed it before you saw it.

You put down a deposit on a car you hadn’t seen?

I put a holding deposit on it to make sure it didn’t sell before I had chance to view it.

I was told it was fully refundable if not happy.

You put a deposit……. I’m not gonna continue as it’s not helpful, nor my opinion. Nothing wrong with putting a deposit down unseen if you are gonna take the car. If you aren’t then why put the deposit down.
And as said black cars show chips dead easy. Get their repairs done, and carry a black sharpie in the glove box if you buy. You will be amazed what they cover up

I put a holding deposit on it to make sure it didn’t sell before I had chance to view it.

I was told it was fully refundable if not happy.

People do this…nutters.

renton

What the general consensus on dealer touch ups? are they good or just smart repairs that will eventually wear off etc?

If we were to accept the touchups should I still try and push for some more discount.

Im just worried that even after they had done them they still wont be that good or up to my standard??

Thoughts please.

I will probably be corrected here but I think the best way to repair them is to drip, tiny scalpel point dribbles of paint into the chips till it’s proud of the paint, then buff that back till it’s flush. Then lacquer that, then buff that back. Then polish. It’s fairly time consuming stuff and car detailers are expensive, though no doubt they’ll have someone on staff who’ll have ago. Depending on the damage or the skill of the detailer it’ll either be hard to get rid of, or indeed it might be hard to spot when he’s done.

Personally I’d be more concerned with the mechanical condition of the car, but I’d still use them f***ing you about like this as a tool to leverage an additional 15% – 20% off the list price.

Im just worried that even after they had done them they still wont be that good or up to my standard??
Thoughts please.

It won’t be up to your standard and from all your posts about cars you sound like a nightmare buyer.

Good luck!

And if jimjam thinks a few some chips is going to result in a £2k discount then he’s delusional.

The dents and chips will most likely be fixed by a mobile repairer, and like most trades, the quality of these guys varies enormously.

TBF, most are in it for the long-haul, so they’ll probably be reasonable. The cost to the garage will be £40-60 for the dents, and £20-40 for the chips.

As has been mentioned above, I’d rather see an honest car with a few blemishes, than one which has been painted badly/cheaply as that will look far worse in a much shorter period of time.

I would speak to the sales guy, tell him it’s in his interest to get the faults fixed, as even if you don’t buy it, the next customer who’s interested will probably want them done as well. Once it’s done offer him £10k and say nothing else!

The £150 or so to have an AA or RAC inspection is definitely worth considering even if the garage says it’s “approved” already. When you get the report back it will read like a horror story, but it gives a little more leverage to you on the price, plus it should highlight any discrepancies with the history.

And, don’t for one second believe that it was owned by an old couple, you may be mightily disappointed when you see a rental or lease companies name on the V5. Independent car sales have a reputation for a reason!

slowoldman – Member
You put down a deposit on a car you hadn’t seen?
POSTED 6 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

I’ve done this before, but on rarer or sought after cars. No need on a Mondeo there’s loads about another will turn up shortly.

Walk away.

They have lied to you about the bodywork, what else are they hiding?

A few things I wouldn’t expect to have to tell an adult :wink::

Don’t believe anything a car salesman tells you. No offense but you sound like a salesman’s dream.

Don’t put a deposit down on a car you haven’t seen (unless it’s exceptionally rare i.e. not a Mondeo).

Don’t expect any used car to be ‘absolutely mint’. You will always find at least some minor stone chips/scuffs if you look hard enough. To be fair the salesman told you it was mint, and you are not being unreasonable not to expect dings, but see above about the honesty of car salesmen.

Don’t be too fussy, you probably won’t be keeping it for more than a few months 😉

+1 for walking if its Arnold Clark. Will promise a moon on a stick and deliver nothing. Had the same script on a car we were going to buy. Put a deposit on after a test drive on condition of a panel touch up… It wasn’t done and we had to fight to get the deposit back…

Panther Black is awful to keep looking clean too!

Looks awesome when clean for about 5 minutes!

To be fair I had some touch ups done to my last car and the guy did a brilliant job of it!

dooosuk – Member

And if jimjam thinks a few some chips is going to result in a £2k discount then he’s delusional.

You’ve got to start somewhere. If he still wants the car he now has some leverage. If you ask for 10% you’ll come away with 5%. So demand 20, you might just get ten. I’ve had bigger discounts than that simply from knowing the sales person. I know plenty of people who’ve worked in the car trade and it appears the margins are similar to many other retail industries.

I don’t know why car dealers are sacrosanct. Haggle haggle haggle.

I’d walk away too, as said Mondeos aren’t exactly rare.

Personally I’d avoid having a black car too (unless cheap), nightmare to keep clean and AFAIK it’s harder to get a good colour match on repairs (or at least it use to be).

It won’t be up to your standard and from all your posts about cars you sound like a nightmare buyer.

+1, except carry on as it keeps us all chuckling 🙂

And tbh ANY black car is a nightmare to keep clean and/or scratch/mark free. If it’s not marked now it will be within a week of ownership no matter how careful you are.

There’s too much to go at in this thread.

I believe it belonged to an old couple and the old boy died and the old lady found it to big to drive around.

Really? I guess the salesman told you this?

If I was you, I would use it to drop the price. It’s a good time of year to buy a car and the dealers are keen to shift anything.

Do a few stone chips really matter on a 3 – 4 year old Mondeo?

Under the distance selling rules you are perfectly safe putting down a deposit and asking for it back when you see the object in real life as far as I am aware.

However, you need to be realistic as to your expectation of the condition of a car given it’s age and mileage. With the state of the roads and thinnner paint etc, there will be stone chips etc on a vehicle. However, ‘damage’ from careless ownership is different as if you were told it was in excellent condition and it isn’t in your view, then I think that is reasonable grounds to walk away.

Wessex garages = walk away

I had nothing but poor service from them……

Also I’d avoid Platinum group as well…..

It’s not from Arnold Clark. We have travelled from Scotland down to Worcester for Xmas and this car was at a garage in Gloucester.

If you do a search on autotrader there is hardly any mondeos in the spec I want I’m Scotland. Any cars there are seems to be a lot higher priced than the equivalent car in England ??

Hence why I put a holding deposit on it until I could get to see the car

That’s good to know t1000

none in Scotland you say?

arnold so be wary but it’s local

a wee bit further afield

my point is that there are bucket loads of big diesel estate’s for sale, a decent number of them are probably ex company cars driven up and down motorways and serviced regularly at main dealers. High mileage but well maintained. If a car you’re looking at isn’t right then don’t buy it. The dealer needs your money more than you need their car.

if you’re willing to travel get some quality german tank for your money

Having worked in the motor trade for 15 years and knowing Wessex garages very well I would suggest the following.

The chips will likely be touched in by a smart repairer, this is standard practice for most/all franchised dealer groups. It shouldn’t put you off its just likely that the repairs have not been done prior to retail presentation. This is often the case when it comes to non franchise product. They will limit prep cost as there is no manufacturer standards for non franchised cars and they will limit the time the car is spent of the forecourt before sending to auction/trading. So if I were you, I would actually prefer to see the car ‘warts and all’ and ask the sales Man to get the repairs done apbut caveat it that if you are not happy you will not complete the transaction. Try to be realistic though, they won’t repaint a door on a car because of stone chips they will touch it in, paint is always the very last option on a used car due to cost and the fact 9/10 people nowadays can tell a panel has been painted as more modern colours become difficult to match. Not only this but it’s a 3 nearly 4 year old car so some signs of use should be expected.

As for Wessex, They are as good as a dealer gets. The operate a 100% satisfaction scheme which is rare for dealer groups nowadays as this is usually monitored by manufscturer standards, so if you are not happy you will get your deposit back.

If you need and more help or thoughts my email is in my profile. I do t work for Wessex by the way!!!!

Big g I am after titanium or above.

renton – Member

Big g I am after titanium or above

Can I ask why ? My mate has a Titanium X (I have an Edge) and basically he gets leather seats and a variation on warm air inside.

apart from that, he gets very little of any point at all.

What is it that you want on the Ti that’s not on the Edge for example ?