no guarantee on second hand car ???

delanest

hi,

Friend of mine is thinking of buying a 98 golf form a garage. He fell in love with the car straight away but the thing is that the garage said they won't provide a guarantee with the car. Reason was the age of the car. It is NCT until summer 06.

Is this acceptable/normal/legal ?

whippet

they don't have to issue a warranty against future problems, but they must sell the car in working order and fit for the road. If a garage won't give a warranty on a 98 golf for at least 3-6 months it means they don't trust the car. If the dealer dosn't trust the car .. you definitly shouldn't

seamus

It's acceptable and legal. Whether it's normal is another matter.

As whippet says, it must be road legal and in working order. Other than that, it's your responsibility to inspect it for wear and tear that could cause problems in the short-term.

If he does a deal with the garage beforehand, to give the car a full going-over/service on condition of him buying it, then he's at least protected for about a month.

bazz26

delanest wrote:

hi,

Friend of mine is thinking of buying a 98 golf form a garage. He fell in love with the car straight away but the thing is that the garage said they won't provide a guarantee with the car. Reason was the age of the car. It is NCT until summer 06.

Is this acceptable/normal/legal ?

My gut feeling is that the garage is hiding something. There are plenty of garages out there that would give you at least 3 months warranty with a 1998 car. Your friend should shop around and find another one, there are plenty about and most will come with some sort of warranty.

If your friend is willing to accept this risk from a garage then he should look at buying privately, he/she will save alot of money from a private sale over a dealer and the risk is the same.

BnA

I'd agree with the above. Definately not legally required on a 98 car. But still, buying from a garage, I'd expect 3 months at least. Especially on a golf. If it was an aul' Fiat or something like that I might say take a chance, but a garage should have no problem giving at least 3 months with a golf.

kluivert

A garage as everyone is saying must sell a car that is road worthy.

Was anyone watching rogue traders on bbc 2 last night. Gangers selling cars that where brought in to them for them to scape....

Anyway your budding can buy the car (not with cash) bring it to a dealer or somewhere that will do a full check of roadworthy - ness. I cant remember the name of these guys - they are the lads who do the checks on garages each year and report it to the newspapers.

Borzoi

delanest wrote:

hi,

Friend of mine is thinking of buying a 98 golf form a garage. He fell in love with the car straight away but the thing is that the garage said they won't provide a guarantee with the car. Reason was the age of the car. It is NCT until summer 06.

Is this acceptable/normal/legal ?

The only good reson to buy a 7 year old car from a dealer is because you can get a warranty - without a gaurantee you might as well buy privately,it will be cheaper

miju

personally i wouldnt touch that car if the dealer wont give any gaurentee, he either:

a: knows theres something dodgy about it
b: just trying to screw yer mate out of a gaurentee in case something goes wrong

either way as someone else said you'b be better off going private if no gaurentee was offered

junkyard

Check also that that the car wasn't crashed and repaired. As regards warranty with a golf, I'd make sure you get warranty. VW's aren't as reliable as VW try to make themselves out to be. I sold a 99 golf some time ago and it nearly broke me .... door locks seized up x 2, window regulator broke, back exhaust fell off, burning oil and faulty dash lights. All this after only 34k miles!!!!

bazz26

Again as already said if you are going to buy a car from a garage without a warranty then save yourself a couple of grand and buy the same type of car from a private seller.

The risk is the same but you will buy it alot cheaper privately.