Should I be worried?

stesaurus

Hi, basically finally decided to take the plunge and bring in a car from the UK. I've had a shortlist of a few and narrowed it down to one: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/690286.htm

Rang the guy and he seems fine. Agreed an amount and how to pay. I'm planning on picking it up Saturday.

The only problem I have is that when checking up the reg it's getting very little data. Tried a few UK car checks and same deal. I was talking to one of the guys that works in a car check company and he says it does happen from time to time and that it's probaly nothing to worry about, just a technical glitch. He rang the DVLA for me and they confirmed it was an RX-8.

I also wanted to get an AA or similiar inspection done first but because they can't get the info from the reg they can't quote me.

Any ideas, is it too good to be true???

peasant

Those pictures look like they came out of a brochure (i.e. highly modified). looks too good to be true to me ...

Stevie Dakota

I wouldn't condemn the car on the basis of the (really) nice photography. But I would phone him and ask him very specific questions and expect answers right away.

Where did he buy it?
Where was it serviced and when? (Then contact the service dept and enquire about what was done)
Has he had any issues?
Does the car use any oil? (be suspicious if he says no, these engine like oil)
Any stone chips, scuffs (there always are) where on the car are they)
Mention the photography, ask him who took the pictures, they have been photoshopped, did he do the image editing?

and so forth, if he doesn't know the answers I would wonder why.

Good luck.

jonathan11

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MAZDA-RX8-PZ-PRODRIVE-2007-METALLIC-GREY-_W0QQitemZ230285858142QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20080829?IMSfp=TL0808291920r12252

here it is on ebay, he looks like a fairly reputable seller at least.....

Stevie Dakota

That answers the photography question anyway!

Does that brake disk look badly scoured?

Notorious

Looking at his eBay feedback, it doesn't look like he has sold any cars before... and you think he'd provide more photos than those photoshopped ones. You can't even see much of the car with them.

Edit: I only noticed his other items available, there is loads of cars!

stesaurus

peasant wrote: »

Those pictures look like they came out of a brochure (i.e. highly modified). looks too good to be true to me ...

That was the first thing I asked. He said he has a professional photographer take all his pics. Seems fair enough he deals in higher end cars.

Motorcheck.ie are just about to send me a report. They said they had the same problems as English companies but they got most of the data. The only data I'm missing is related to finance, so there might be some outstanding possibly???

Does anyone have any recommendations on companies that can physically check the car? The AA is ruled out as I mentioned earlier

jonathan11

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320289970554

he has bought a car before on ebay, a mini cooper. maybe you could contact the seller and ask for a reference.... if the feedback is positive hes probably going to say everything was fine

stesaurus

Ok just got the details from Motorcheck. Everything seems fine, not stolen not write-off and mileage matches....except it's had a previous reg number.

Maybe that's what the problem is, a quick check on Cartell with the previous reg shows that it is in fact a PZ RX-8 so that's good.

Should I get another full check done on the old reg plate?

Darragh29

Is that a fault light I see on at the dash, just to the right of the fuel gauge??? It's not a low fuel lamp anyway 'cos the tank is at least 1/4 full...???

stesaurus

Darragh29 wrote: »

Is that a fault light I see on at the dash, just to the right of the fuel gauge??? It's not a low fuel lamp anyway 'cos the tank is at least 1/4 full...???

Hmmmm, dunno but the engine isn't ticking over so maybe just has the keys in the ignition but no engine running so all warning lights stay on. I know my current car does that. It's just a case of all the lights and dials coming on, including warning lights.

smash

He's a dealer, I wouldn't worry
http://www.performancecardreams.co.uk/

seems to be genuine, and cracking car!

Darragh29

Where's this thread been moved to?

:rolleyes:

Sorry, just ignore that...

stesaurus

steve06 wrote: »

He's a dealer, I wouldn't worry
http://www.performancecardreams.co.uk/

seems to be genuine, and cracking car!

Yeah I think so, I'm just being jumpy as it's a big purchase. I've wanted an RX-8 for a while and a PZ or any of the limited editions would have been top of my list.

He seems sound enough, offered to pick me up from the airport on Saturday morning and I got him down in price over the phone.

smash

s.welstead wrote: »

Yeah I think so, I'm just being jumpy as it's a big purchase. I've wanted an RX-8 for a while and a PZ or any of the limited editions would have been top of my list.

He seems sound enough, offered to pick me up from the airport on Saturday morning and I got him down in price over the phone.

yea, go for it or you'll regret it.

Henry Ford III

How can you agree a price on any car without having:

1/. Seen it
2/. Driven it.
3/. Checked it's history. HPI is essential on a UK car.

You are asking for trouble imho.

Darragh29

Henry Ford III wrote: »

How can you agree a price on any car without having:

1/. Seen it
2/. Driven it.
3/. Checked it's history. HPI is essential on a UK car.

You are asking for trouble imho.

+1. If you've agreed to buy this car, you're on the back foot now if you test drive it or have it inspected and find a problem, you're man will be playing all sorts of mind games with you, telling you that your a time waster, etc... I think you might now be "pot committed" to this transacton???

Mylow

Henry Ford III wrote: »

How can you agree a price on any car without having:

1/. Seen it
2/. Driven it.
3/. Checked it's history. HPI is essential on a UK car.

You are asking for trouble imho.

He may have agreed the deal on basis the car is as described, he is also covered by distance selling legislation. He has carried out HPI check (Using Motorcheck?)

Extract from UK website below.

The Regulations, which implement an EU Directive on Distance Selling, place new obligations on any business trading with consumers by means such as the internet, e-mail or telephone.

For example, suppliers must provide information to the consumer before the contract is made; written confirmation of this information must be given by the supplier; and consumers have a 7 day cooling-off period after a sale during which the consumer can change his or her mind and withdraw from the transaction.

Minister for Europe, Helen Liddell, said today:

“These Regulations are good news for consumers buying goods and services from home. Millions of us now buy from catalogues and over the phone, and with the popularity of buying products on the internet increasing daily, it is important that all consumers are protected and made aware of their rights. The Distance Selling Regulations provide statutory backing for the good business practices which many companies already observe and will help to ensure that this best practice is followed by all.”

Outlining the penalty for failing to comply with the new Regulations, Mrs Liddell continued:

“If a supplier fails to comply with the Regulations consumers will be able to cancel the contract and have any money they may have paid up front refunded by the supplier. Where suppliers fail to refund the consumer’s money or fail to meet their statutory obligations the Director General of Fair Trading and Trading Standards Departments will be able to take proceedings for an injunction”.

Stevie Dakota

-1

Don't agree Darragh/Henry. Having bought 2 cars in the UK I would want everyone to be clear on the price before travelling under the assumption that everything is OK with the car and having done an HPI before travelling. If there is a problem with the car I can walk away or re-negotiate if there is a problem, and I would make the seller clear on this.

smash

I've bought 2 cars in the UK without driving them first.

All I did was HPI checks and said f**k it, I've always wanted one... told the owner I was coming over, knowing that I was gonna buy them. If there's anything wrong you can then argue about it and sure with the money you save, you can get any small faults fixed.

Cars are cheap in the uk but they're not cheap if you get a hpi check, pay for return flights for a test drive + probably a nights stay, get the RAC to check it out, pay for flight back again, then pay for ferry and then VRT when you land it here... at that stage you might as well buy in Ireland.

stesaurus

Henry Ford III wrote: »

How can you agree a price on any car without having:

1/. Seen it
2/. Driven it.
3/. Checked it's history. HPI is essential on a UK car.

You are asking for trouble imho.

Well when I said agreed, I didn't mean anything concrete. I just told him I'd be coming a long way and wanted to know the actual price before travelling.

Nothing is definite, the flight is costing almost nothing and I'm prepared to walk away if I get there and it doesn't feel right.

The only possible issue is the HPI, there doesn't seem any way for me to verify this.

Mylow

Ask him for copy of V5. Check DVLA site to make sure its not on list of stolen ones.

Mylow

steve06 wrote: »

Cars are cheap in the uk but they're not cheap if you get a hpi check, pay for return flights for a test drive + probably a nights stay, get the RAC to check it out, pay for flight back again, then pay for ferry and then VRT when you land it here... at that stage you might as well buy in Ireland.

You would do some serious traveling in Ireland to find same or similar car, I think his only option is looking in UK. Its fab looking car, can't wait to hear how he gets on with it.

smash

Mylow wrote: »

You would do some serious traveling in Ireland to find same or similar car, I think his only option is looking in UK. Its fab looking car, can't wait to hear how he gets on with it.

I know that's the case with this car, it was also the case with my current car... but in general - people spending so much on checks isn't worth it when you're looking at something that's quite popular.

stesaurus

Mylow wrote: »

Ask him for copy of V5. Check DVLA site to make sure its not on list of stolen ones.

Good idea. I'll ask him for that tomorrow.

Mylow

Any updates?

stesaurus

Picked the car up on Saturday.

I managed to get a HPI check done on the car once I had the VIN and V5 details. Everything checked out so I was happy to go with the deal.

I had a nightmare journey with missed flights and delayed flights but the car is well worth the trip. Everything is immaculate in it!

It was about a 260 mile journey to Holyhead from Bristol. The GPS brought me across the Severn bridge, absolutely stunning!

Manged to do the trip with just one tank so I was impressed with that. I could live with getting 250-300 miles per fill up. Jeez thats about 16mpg, OMG what have I done!!!!:eek:

ShayK1

s.welstead wrote: »

Picked the car up on Saturday.

I managed to get a HPI check done on the car once I had the VIN and V5 details. Everything checked out so I was happy to go with the deal.

I had a nightmare journey with missed flights and delayed flights but the car is well worth the trip. Everything is immaculate in it!

It was about a 260 mile journey to Holyhead from Bristol. The GPS brought me across the Severn bridge, absolutely stunning!

Manged to do the trip with just one tank so I was impressed with that. I could live with getting 250-300 miles per fill up. Jeez thats about 16mpg, OMG what have I done!!!!:eek:

swap for a 2001, 1.9Tdi VW Passat ??

smash

congrats, we need pics then!

dbar

OK,
I know its too late for this, but for future reference I have used this guy,
http://www.eliteinspections.co.uk/ found him to be excellent. He charges around 300 Stg BUT he will technically assess the car, check if its stolen, finance etc, send an extremely detailed report and also haggle the price on your behalf, if youre not comfortable haggling. (Can usually haggle his own fee at least off the price) He can also place a deposit to hold the car.
The last time I used him the car turned out to be a ball of s%ite, crashed, filled, etc, saved me a useless trip,time and money. I would have no hesitation recommending him.
Actually, I still have a report that he did for me on another (good) car if anyone wants it-pm me. Also bear in mind as well as the official report, he will give a very good verbal over the phone on the spot.

smash

And go and buy 07-D-88888