My son wants to buy a car being sold by from Central Motor Auctions in Sunshine North. We're a bit concerned as Google Reviews are not very positive and although there are 10 5-star facebook reviews, none have a comment.
Has anybody had any experience with them or know of anybody that does? I'd like to know if we should be concerned.
TIA
it's my son buying the car - I don't know all the details. Just that it has a 3 year warranty but the warranty is only as good as the company providing it.
It seems like a good price, but in relation to this thread, our concern is not with the car but with the dealer. Particularly important for us, as we don't have expertise in buying cars and my son won't fork out for an inspection.
Reason I ask is if it's a car that's under factory warranty, and how much you're able to inspect it.
Any auctioneer can put a shit car through, and can have good ones.
The car doesn't make the auctioneer. The auctioneer doesn't make the car 😉
Just that it has a 3 year warranty but the warranty is only as good as the company providing it.
It's useless, don't put any weight on a free warranty. Will cover very little of the car and likely have a $500 claim limit
Particularly important for us, as we don't have expertise in buying cars and my son won't fork out for an inspection.
So how exactly do you know the car is 'good' without inspecting it? And an inspection costs like $200, your son wants to gamble the purchase price over $200?!
I'm already suspicious - I suppose I'm just saying that although the price seems to be good based on specs, we're concerned that if it goes wrong, the dealer may not back their warranty. Yes, my son is too quick to gamble large amounts over small - stupid I know.
Yes, my son is too quick to gamble large amounts over small - stupid I know.
Bingo. You are his dad, you're allowed to slap some sense into him, or teach him
At the end of the day, knowing what the car is and how much he's looking to spend is the key details that we need to make an informed decision.
It could be a 2yo Corolla, it could be a 15yo Skyline. Totally different scenarios
@brownbag: Oh, just to kind of emphasize the point by Spackbace, the issue isn't really whether a dealer will back their warranty or not - it's really more what the warranty will actually cover, and it's generally "not a lot that you'd actually want/need covered".
Have a read of the actual warranty - I think the list of exclusions and exemptions is longer than the warranty itself.
our concern is not with the car but with the dealer.
This is backwards. You're buying the car, not the dealership. The best dealer in the world won't help with the headaches of having a car that doesn't run, and a car bought at auction? Spackbace, talk some sense into OP please.
Particularly important for us, as we don't have expertise in buying cars and my son won't fork out for an inspection.
You admit you have no expertise in buying cars, but won't fork out for an inspection? You (your son - I hope he's not wasting your money on this) is basically begging for a lemon. I have a lemon tree - I can give you those for free.
I don't want criticism - my son may be begging for a lemon but I'm after a review of the dealer - my suspicion is that it won't be good and that will help me to convince my son not to buy this.
GIVE ME A BREAK. I DON'T NEED ANY SENSE TALKED INTO ME - I'M TRYING TO TALK SOME SENSE INTO MY SON.
GIVE ME A BREAK. I DON'T NEED ANY SENSE TALKED INTO ME - I'M TRYING TO TALK SOME SENSE INTO MY SON.
HAHAHAHAHAHA Ok ok, I feel your pain. Apologies for the above.
@brownbag: Do you know at least the model?
Some models are basically bullet-proof so even from a dodgy dealer you can have some confidence (or be easy to fix even if issues pop up). Some models are basically all lemons, so no matter who you buy it from you can expect to have trouble. =/
Edit:
Wait, I had a large paragraph written down trying to figure out which car your son's looking at by process of elimination (didn't bode well, there were a lot of out-of-warranty European models…) but uh, the place sells to dealers as well as to consumers. Which means most of the stock they have left… are stock other used car dealers have passed on. Does your son really want to buy a car that even used car dealers won't touch?
@HighAndDry:
yes, it's a VW Passat TYPE 3cc fsi v6 auto, 2009. About 95,000km. Full service history.
And I know what you're thinking - I should try to convince him to buy a Toyota. I've already tried. Even suggested Honda and Subaru (not WRX) to try to steer him towards a more palatable Japanese brand. VW is a better option than the BMW he tried to buy a few days ago. :)
Listed price is $14800
I asked my son about the warranty. It is $800 for 1 year, $1000 for 3 years and $1200 for 5 years. The dealer said that he's give the 3 year warranty for free as part of the deal (maybe in lieu of a discount). We'll check out the warranty in detail before he buys it (exclusions, limitations, underwriters, etc).
@HighAndDry: He asked me a question (and it's a reasonable one - he's a good debater). How do you know that the cars they sell to the public have been passed up by dealers? Could it be that they just offer some cars to dealers and some to the public?
@brownbag: It's a lot cheaper to sell to dealers - it's an established market with no need for marketing, obviously no need for customer-support or warranty support. They can sell for lower margins and still make more money just because the overheads will be so much less.
Plus, there's no reason for them to withhold stock from any buyer, dealer or end consumer, and the dealers will be much more up to date about their stock than consumers (buying used cars is literally half a dealer's job after all).
Edit: Also, the DSG gearbox in the 09-12 VW Passats with diesels and V6s are a known… weakness. They all burn oil, again quite literally, and have a really long list of potential failures. Seriously, google it. You get pages and pages.
Let me clarify - this is not an auction - the car is being bought from a dealer, who strangely (and suspiciously) has a name "Central Motor Auctions".
How old is the car? How many kms? How much are you able to inspect it? Can you test drive it or just visually inspect?