A/C Broken in car, do I tell buyer?

AlanD

Hi,
the a/c pump is on the blink in my '00 Peugeot 406 2.0 HDI 110bhp. It's time for a change in the car but I'm reluctant to spend the €700 or so on a new a/c pump plus labour to get it fixed and then trade the car in.

Would I be better off saying nothing to the dealer on trade in or should I be honest and tell him. It'd be hard to realise that it's not working unless it was a piping hot day and you were driving it for a while and you notice that the cold air isn't coming in.

Chances are he could notice it and just sell it on too without fixing it.

I'm thinking I should be honest and tell the dealer.....but the devil on my right shoulder says otherwise....

What would you do?

Einstein

to be honest, my fan wasn't working when i traded in my car, and said nothing to the dealer. he never noticed. I'm sure he did when he tried to sell it though

Nuttzz

I'm not saying you shouldnt tell him but my GF traded in her Xsara recently, it was damaged, she got a quote for €4050 to fix it, 670 of that was for parts the rest was for labour. she decided not to fix it but get rid of the car, because of the damage she got about 1k less then what she would have got for a "fixed" xsara.

Labour is a fixed overhead for a dealer, he already has the staff in place and would have to pay them even if they have nothing to fix.

Wolff

learnt this lesson a long time ago when went to a lot of trouble replacing a radio in a car the dealer looked at the outside of the car when i traded didnt even check the interior !

Say nothing - you are selling/trading the car as is

DubTony

If you're trading in say nothing. The chances are you'll be paying over the odds for the car you're buying and getting less than the trade-in is worth. Selling privately however, I'd feel a little guilty about landing someone else with that knid of problem.

In a nutshell. Screw the car dealer, cos he's already screwing you.

AlanD

I'm a man who finds it hard to lie and feel fierce guilty about doing things dishonestly. My parents would be proud I'm sure.

So maybe what I should do is trade the car in to a dealer far away so that when I bring the car back to my local dealer for servicing he won't be pissed at me for selling him a dodgy car.

See I think I'd be able to get it fixed for about a grand. So I think a dealer should be able to do it for less, so if I told him about it and took something less than a grand off the value it might do the trick. My wife is all for sending the car on saying nothing, but I'm having trouble with the idea.

PowerHouseDan

Dealers have no bother fuking you around why not return the favour of our behalf?

unkel

I wouldn't tell the dealer. It's up to him to check the car out

bazz26

AlanD wrote:

Hi,
the a/c pump is on the blink in my '00 Peugeot 406 2.0 HDI 110bhp. It's time for a change in the car but I'm reluctant to spend the €700 or so on a new a/c pump plus labour to get it fixed and then trade the car in.

Would I be better off saying nothing to the dealer on trade in or should I be honest and tell him. It'd be hard to realise that it's not working unless it was a piping hot day and you were driving it for a while and you notice that the cold air isn't coming in.

Chances are he could notice it and just sell it on too without fixing it.

I'm thinking I should be honest and tell the dealer.....but the devil on my right shoulder says otherwise....

What would you do?

Don't say a word imo. I had a Vectra a number of years ago and the a/c stopped working in it after about 14 months. The whole unit needed to be replaced, it would have cost a fortune to replace so I left it, traded the car and didn't tell the dealer about it and he never checked it. They factor in costs like this in the trade-in price and pass it on to the next buyer. They would hardly do you any favours? It is their job to find these things when buying the car from you, if they don't then tough!

If I was selling it private then I would probably tell the potential buyer up front that it was not working.

Curran

Say nothing.....even if he notices...play dumb! Say it was working the other week when the weather was good!
Its only going to cost him €75 - €150 to replace so i dont think he'd be too bothered even if he did spot it!

lomb

Curran wrote:

Say nothing.....even if he notices...play dumb! Say it was working the other week when the weather was good!
Its only going to cost him €75 - €150 to replace so i dont think he'd be too bothered even if he did spot it!

nah a pump and regassing will cost 500 minimum. i would probably tell him or alternatively sell it without the a/c, in other words buy a blank for the dash switch for a couple of euro.

DubTony

AlanD wrote:

My wife is all for sending the car on saying nothing, but I'm having trouble with the idea.

Well that's the answer. Let your totally dishonest wife do the deal.

PauloMN

Agree totally with DubTony, if selling to a dealer, say nothing. It's up to them to check it when valuing the car, and whoever buys it off them will be able to get it fixed under warranty.

If selling privately, I'd say it to the buyer.

mad m

If you say this to the dealer that its broken,they auld hand on chin will come out saying "well,hmmm that might be a problem". I will have to redo the figures again.He might end up saying more than your €700 to fix it and try and pull a fast one.

Let the wife sell it...

lomb

[QUOTE=mad m

Let the wife sell it...[/QUOTE]

ud still be an accessory though, could u sleep at night knowing the punter who buys it is sweating like a pig?

Curran

lomb wrote:

ud still be an accessory though, could u sleep at night knowing the punter who buys it is sweating like a pig?

Sure know how to make a man feel guilty!
Wouldnt bother me in the slightest knowing that.....the car has windows!

Victor

If I have it right, if you don't tell a private buyer, you are still responsible to him for defects under the Sale of Goods Act.

mad m

lomb wrote:

ud still be an accessory though, could u sleep at night knowing the punter who buys it is sweating like a pig?

Ah cmon sweating over here! Probably more like freezing than sweating. But global warming is here so they tell us.

unkel

bazz26 wrote:

If I was selling it private then I would probably tell the potential buyer up front that it was not working.

So would I. Afaik you don't have to though, unless they ask. Caveat emptor...

Victor wrote:

If I have it right, if you don't tell a private buyer, you are still responsible to him for defects under the Sale of Goods Act.

Nah, doesn't apply to private sales

bazz26

I would tell a private buyer it was broken alright but I don't think I would tell them it would cost €700 to replace. It would be up to the new owner then if they wanted to get it replaced or not.

Alfasudcrazy

I had a small shunt into the back of a van with my 530D about 6 months before I traded it in.
The car was undamaged but the entire exhaust system was jerked forward causing a small hole to develop in the catalytic convertor.
600 euro's to repair - to hell with that said I and traded the car in - all garages allow about 1,000 euros for garage repairs anyway so its not as if I was doing them in any way. :rolleyes:

DubTony

How about this? Just let the guy sweat

HAW !!! HAW !!!

Sleipnir

AlanD wrote:

I'm a man who finds it hard to lie and feel fierce guilty about doing things dishonestly. My parents would be proud I'm sure.

So maybe what I should do is trade the car in to a dealer far away so that when I bring the car back to my local dealer for servicing he won't be pissed at me for selling him a dodgy car.

See I think I'd be able to get it fixed for about a grand. So I think a dealer should be able to do it for less, so if I told him about it and took something less than a grand off the value it might do the trick. My wife is all for sending the car on saying nothing, but I'm having trouble with the idea.

It's not really dishonest AlanD. It will cost the dealer a hell of a lot less to replace the unit then it would for you.
He'll probably knock 700 off the value of the trade-in , then he'll repair it for less then half that and make money on the repair when he sells the car on.

Buys the car off you for 700 less
Fixes it for, let's say 300
Sells the car with 700 added on.

He makes out, you lose out.

AlanD

Yeah I think you are all right. Say nothing. I understand that I would have to say it to a private buyer, but I won't be selling private, I've far too many miles on it and would find it hard to sell. Some dealers might feel obliged to take it off me and sell it on to one of those smaller second hand car sellers.

Unfortunately, I can't blank out the a/c button. It's a climate control system which generally works very well, but to be honest, if anyone looked at the car you wouldn't notice that the a/c wasn't working. I'd just turn it off I think so that he doesn't hear the growling sound it makes.

For him to fix it would cost a few bob alright. I know that for sure. The pump is 583 + VAT so he'll be able to buy one for somewhere around 400 I'd say. Fitting it is a bit difficult too and could cost a few hours labour by someone specialised in the area.

So I think I'll hide behind my totally dishonest wife...haha....if I avoid talking about it, I'll be grand, if it's mentioned, I'll fold. Ah she'll learn me yet!