Trying to buy a car from a West Midlands dealer?

[BTS6463]

Hi,

I have been in the process of trying to buy a 2001 Chevrolet Blazer from a dealer in Droitwich.
The whole experience is becoming a farce

I saw the car via AutoTrader online, I have since found out it was on E Bay too as a classified add..
Anyway, I phoned the dealer one Saturday to try and arrange a viewing but he said he was closed until the Monday. This was about a month ago.

A few days later I took the plunge & asked him if I could put a deposit on the car, without actually viewing it, rightly or wrongly. He said fine, put £100 on it via a bank transfer as he could not do card transactions over the phone.. fair enough, I did it. I phoned him the next day, he thanked me for the deposit & said it required a new wheel bearing before I could collect it & it should be ready for that weekend. I phoned him on the Friday, it was not ready. He apologised & said he was getting the bearing the next morning. I gave it a few days & asked if I could collect the car. "So sorry, still not got the bearing, I am buying it from e bay & will have it soon". I got quite annoyed with him as I had set up the insurance & had paid out £350! I threatened to call off the whole deal.
He said if I didn't want it I could have my deposit back & he had another buyer lined up!
I have been on a USA Chevy Blazer forum & posted a photo of the car.. A UK member PM'd me & told me he was trying to buy the same car, he said he was in a wheelchair & suffering with cancer & was trying to trade a Ssang Yong car against it. I phoned the dealer & enquired about this man & the dealer confirmed the story, saying he didn't want the Ssang Yong in exchange & as far as he was concerned, the car was mine. So now I had a guilt complex about buying this car, too!

Anyway, I phoned again, still waiting for a bearing, three weeks now having passed. I have learned the wheel bearing comes complete with the wheel hub & an ABS brake sensor & maybe is a US import. I phoned him again today & left a message.

He seems to run an odd business. I have phoned the land line of the business and on occasions he answers but sometimes it just rings, no answer machine? Then I phone his mobile & he either says I'll call you back or it goes over to answer. Today I left a message at 10am & he has never returned my call?

Is it me being unreasonable or is this trader suspect?

 

[ALewis]

Well it certainly doesn't sound too great, but in the same respect, agreeing to purchase a vehicle and arranging insurance for it without even seeing it is also a little odd, but never mind.
3 weeks to order a bearing, not answering phones, no answer machine - again odd, but there may be a legit reason, saying this there may not.

What is the purpose of this thread anyway?

 

[BTS6463]

The dealer rang me this morning at 10am & apologised for not replying to my message. He was very reasonable & said "Look, I can offer you two choices, I can refund your deposit immediately or you are still welcome to the car but I have to tell you I cannot source the correct bearing from anywhere, I have bought three bearings now & they have all been wrong & I have had to return all of them to the supplier".. I asked him is the car roadworthy & he said yes, I would not sell an unroadworthy car & the car has passed an MOT without any advisories on the bearing, the noise from the wheel is very faint & only audible at 60mph +, it isn't easy to tell which bearing it actually is.. He has offered to put 6 months road fund on the car as compensation for the bearing & the inconvenience, he is obviously a very fair man to deal with. I think he is running a small business which is maybe under staffed, hence the lack of communication which I can now understand with more sympathy. I plan to collect the car tomorrow evening.

"What is the point of this thread?" Purely asking advice & to ask an opinion of whether I was being unreasonable or not..

Many thanks

Barry

 

[ALewis]

There you go, all done and dusted, thanks for the update.
My question wasn't meant to seem rude, but I see it could look that way.. If I reworded it, perhaps it'd read 'What outcome are you trying to achieve by the thread'?

Lots of people come on here for advice (obviously) and asking for next steps so to speak, but as you didn't mention any of this, I couldn't really see the possible outcomes.
Anyway, glad it's sorted.. Not all businesses are bad! .. Just 98%!

 

[Witch consumer]

The one thing that concerns me is how easy parts are going to be to get hold of when you need them?

But he is being very reasonable feel free to leave the company name, we're happy to highlight good service as well as bad!

 

[BTS6463]

The one thing that concerns me is how easy parts are going to be to get hold of when you need them?

But he is being very reasonable feel free to leave the company name, we're happy to highlight good service as well as bad!

I have looked into spares availability & there are two companies that I have found out about from the Forum that can acquire MOST of the spares for this car, the seller does not seem to be aware of these retailers..

The seller / dealer is Carriage Car Co. of Droitwich in Worcestershire

We have a garage on the former Central TV studio site who are an American car specialist who can service this model of car, also.