Car dealerships... far worse than bike dealerships...

As some of you may know, we've been having issues with our car recently.

We've been looking for a new one for a while, and yesterday popped out to a 'local' garage where we'd seen two we previously liked the look of.

I deliberately didn't inform the garage that we were calling in for a test drive, so they wouldn't have time to prep the cars etc.

When I was talking to the guy, he grumbled a bit about it being closing time (4pm on a Wed), and asked us to be pretty quick. I took that as a red flag, and reminded him that for maybe an hour of his time, we'd be prepared to put a couple of k on his desk, subject to test drives, so he agreed.

First off, was the Nissan Almera Tino, on a 51 plate. It felt tiny compared to our Ford Galaxy, and very plastic. From the test drive, it didn't want to pull through the rev range, and was pulling to the left slightly (more so under hard braking). Nope, not having this one.

Next off, was a Renault Scenic, can't remember the plate. As we were looking at part-ex'ing our Galaxy, he asked for our keys, no problem there. So we set off in the Scenic, immediately this feels bigger. But immediately I turn around & go back. The speedo doesn't work, and when the car is still, turn the air conditioning on, and the whole damn car vibrates. Not having this one either. Certainly not at anything resembling the asking price.

He asked what I thought to both cars, and I told him honestly. He claimed the Scenic was mis-firing which caused the vibrations, and that it'd just had a new gearbox, which is why the speedo doesn't work.

I had to pretty much demand the keys to the Galaxy back, for some reason, he was under the impression he already had a deal, and had put our keys (including my house keys) in the safe?!?!

I think that's a car sales garage that we'll be steering clear of!

[Biker Biggles]

You were lucky he hadnt sold your galaxy by the time you got back.

And your house.

[Gazza77]

Originally Posted by Biker Biggles

You were lucky he hadnt sold your galaxy by the time you got back.

And your house.

That would have been some achievement.

[Biker Biggles]

The house would probably have been a free gift to sell the galaxy.