SOLD AS SEEN!

DaMonk

If you see "sold as seen, no warranty" on carzone with a dealer is this an indication to stay away from it or are they just letting people no that no warranty is given on used cars? dont dealers have an obligation under law to stand over a car for a certain period of time?

SV

DaMonk wrote: »

dont dealers have an obligation under law to stand over a car for a certain period of time?

No.


and it's just letting you know there's no warranty given with it..

wouldn't think anything into it.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Personally if i was looking at a car in a dealers and was told it was sold as seen, it would put me off it. I would be wondering why they wouldnt stand over it?

Eoin

ClioV6 wrote: »

No.


and it's just letting you know there's no warranty given with it..

wouldn't think anything into it.

Do you not think that the fact they will not stand over the car at all, could be a concern? Unless it was an absolute bargain and was completely and utterly checked out by a professional, why on earth would you go to a dealer when the one main advantage of them is a warranty?

jaycen

Bryn wrote: »

Personally if i was looking at a car in a dealers and was told it was sold as seen, it would put me off it. I would be wondering why they wouldnt stand over it?

Doesn't always mean a problem, warranties are expensive add-ons on cheap cars(old), sometimes the dealer will drop it to shift a car.

I wouldn't buy unless I knew what I was doing though, get a mechanic to look it over if you don't.

biko

It's probably a trade-in they haven't been bothered to check out themselves and will not stand over in case there's a fault with it.
Stay away, unless you know what you're doing, or it's dirt cheap.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

jaycen wrote: »

Doesn't always mean a problem, warranties are expensive add-ons on cheap cars(old), sometimes the dealer will drop it to shift a car.

I wouldn't buy unless I knew what I was doing though, get a mechanic to look it over if you don't.

I never said it meant there was a problem But it does lead to a lot of questions about the car and why they wont stand over it. It would put a hell of a lot of people off the car. In saying that, there is always a bargain or 2 to be picked up!

Marcus.Aurelius

Unless it's actually perfect, there's no chance a dealer will give any warranty. If you have to bring it back under the 3 month warranty, the dealer has failed in his scam job.

I've never come across a decent car with no obvious faults going for sold as seen. The dealers might be greedy, but they ain't stupid.

$lash

warranty policies will often only cover cars up to a certain age ... so its usually cars older cars with a 'sold as seen' policy.

Dont let this put you off just get someone who knows about cars to view it with you and they will be able to spot a lemon.

superjosh9

biko wrote: »

Stay away, unless you know what you're doing...

+1, usually referred to as a trade-car, i.e, there's prob work needed to be done on it but for the seller isnt worth doing but at the same time, they want to be rid of it.

SV

eoin_s wrote: »

Do you not think that the fact they will not stand over the car at all, could be a concern? Unless it was an absolute bargain and was completely and utterly checked out by a professional, why on earth would you go to a dealer when the one main advantage of them is a warranty?

I wouldn't?

I'm just saying I wouldn't think anything into it.

Personally I'd much rather buy private than with a dealer, regardless of price.

trellheim

I'd view it as honesty, many a seller private or trade wouldn't put that up on a dilapidated banger.

Sold as Seen is a legal term IIRC = No Comebacks ....

some stock will only shift if sold in this manner [ note the car doesn't even have to be driveable - i.e. could have no rear wheels , you might want it to part it out ]

jaycen

Joker wrote: »

Unless it's actually perfect, there's no chance a dealer will give any warranty. If you have to bring it back under the 3 month warranty, the dealer has failed in his scam job.

I've never come across a decent car with no obvious faults going for sold as seen. The dealers might be greedy, but they ain't stupid.

The dealer's not there to scam you joker, just to sell a car.

irishpartyboy

I seem to remember hearing that all dealers are legally obliged to give a warranty to all cars sold through the books? Even if its only a 1 day?

I've often seen sold as seen, no warranty etc.. but is that 100% legal?

Trade deals excluded. I could be wrong.

Eoin

What's with the 3 month engine and gearbox warranty that even the dodgiest of places offers (even it it's impossible to claim on) - surely they are only doing that because they are obliged to?

daRobot

Wouldn't touch a motor that had this on the ad.

trellheim

What's with the 3 month engine and gearbox warranty that even the dodgiest of places offers (even it it's impossible to claim on) - surely they are only doing that because they are obliged to?

only if it's clearly implied that it's driveable ... no such claim is being made here.

bazz26

I'm of the firm belief that if the car had something wrong with it that could be cheaply fixed then the dealer would have repaired it already and sold the car at market value.

I thought though that dealers usually don't sell "sold as seen" cars to the public? I thought it was just to others in the trade who are fully aware of the concept of "no comeback".

masseyno9

The dealer is probably trying to shift a trade-in he got, and which isn't worth keeping on his forecourt. As other posters have said, these are usually called trade sales. The car could be a minter, but cleaning it up, servicing it, offering warranty could come to the value of the car itself, meaning the dealer will lose money on selling it at market price (having already given someone trade-in value on it).

A main ford dealer isn't going to retail a '99 fiesta that someone trades in, even if its in top condition, so will often sell it directly into the trade, where some trader will pick it up for a knockdown price, and sell it on at a small profit for himself.

I suspect the whole industry has slowed down, meaning less traders purchasing off dealers, meaning the dealers have to shift these lower value cars themselves. The easiest, cheapest, and most headache free way would be to sell them as a trade sale, or sold as seen.

EDIT: is it a dealer or a trader we're talking about? By that I mean, a main dealer, with new and nearly new cars, predominantly one marque. Or is it an independent operation with used cars only, and generally lower value stuff? If its a trader, then its very common to be told on viewing a car that its a sold as seen car, but for a dealer it is quite uncommon, but perfectly understandable. Just get it looked at by a mechanic before handing over the cash.

reb73

Car Auctions normally sell 'Sold as seen' cars. There's a chance the dealer picked it up with the idea of sprucing it up and selling it on, but had a rethink and is trying to flog it off.. :rolleyes:

knifey_spoonie

Joker wrote: »

Unless it's actually perfect, there's no chance a dealer will give any warranty. If you have to bring it back under the 3 month warranty, the dealer has failed in his scam job.

You obviously know so much about dealers why dont you right a book warning people about these "Scammers" . Think of all the people who would save money after reading it, you could be a hero, oh imagine the fanfare you could even lead the ST padddys day parade around Dublin:rolleyes::rolleyes:

TBH With your attitude its no wonder people in the motortrade are losing there jobs every day


Back on topic, it depends on the car is it a 96 punto for 350 smackers, you dont expect a warranty on that , but if its a 10 grand car then i would wonder

Omcd

Along a similiar vein, would people consider buying, or even responding to an ad where the trader has clearly obsecured the registration of the car ? I wouldn't. Cos it says to me that something is probably not as the seller would hope you would think it seems to be.

Or maybe theres a ligitimate reason why traders might do this that I'm not aware of ?

knifey_spoonie

Omcd wrote: »

Along a similiar vein, would people consider buying, or even responding to an ad where the trader has clearly obsecured the registration of the car ? I wouldn't. Cos it says to me that something is probably not as the seller would hope you would think it seems to be.

Or maybe theres a ligitimate reason why traders might do this that I'm not aware of ?

There is a very good reason

The reg plates can easily ordered in any motor factors, so all you do is go to carzone look for a car the same as yours, go and do something illegal and then the nobody knows it was you

The other thing would be eflow/speeding fines, just slap the plates on,and if a guard does a reg check as long as its same model and colour they aint going to check

I have experienced the first, traded in a car few weeks later got a call form a Detective in Galway asking about the car as it had been involved in a Bank Robbery