Max Bradley - A Good Used Car Dealer I've Found in Essex

[Wighty]

There are other Used Car search engines than Autotrader

How dare you Sir !

 

[Chrishazle]

The saga continues! Max is collecting the car today to take it back and have his mechanic sort out all the additional items that MTA have identified as needing rectification (at his cost!) and will then deliver the car back to me. He also offered to do the B service etc that I had booked the car into MTA for, at a price he said would be cheaper than MTA, but I declined and will take the car straight back to MTA once it's returned to me. MTA will of course re-inspect the car and confirm that all is well! Thinking positive, the outcome could be better (read - much cheaper for me!!) than expected, but it will be at least another week before we know.

 

[McDonald]

The saga continues! Max is collecting the car today to take it back and have his mechanic sort out all the additional items that MTA have identified as needing rectification (at his cost!) and will then deliver the car back to me. He also offered to do the B service etc that I had booked the car into MTA for, at a price he said would be cheaper than MTA, but I declined and will take the car straight back to MTA once it's returned to me. MTA will of course re-inspect the car and confirm that all is well! Thinking positive, the outcome could be better (read - much cheaper for me!!) than expected, but it will be at least another week before we know.

Good luck, the dealer seems to be acting honourably. If the issues clear up, you have the car you've been searching for. We'll all be interested in your next instalment.

 

[Chrishazle]

He does appear to be acting honourably, especially as the cost quoted by MTA for fixing the identified items is £2400! He's pretty certain he can get the required parts cheaper than MTA, and his mechanic charges less per hour as well, so I suspect that the bill will be somewhat less than MTA, but it'll still be a big chunk of cash. It'll be another week before I know more - his mechanic only gets back from holiday tomorrow, then has to obtain parts - which I guess at earliest will be Mon/Tues, then fit them and get the car back to me and me get it into MTA again. Good job it's our second car so although it's hassle it doesn't immobilise us!

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Pleased things are working out for you always a stressful time buying a used car as I said earlier it’s the bits you can’t see....

 

[bembo449]

if hes a registered trader , why aren't you citing the consumers act 2015 ?

 

[McDonald]

if hes a registered trader , why aren't you citing the consumers act 2015 ?

It seems unnecessary to leap to consumer law in this instance. The trader seems to be playing fair. They're not all 'The enemy.'

 

[Chrishazle]

So far I've deliberately not mentioned that sort of thing to him as he's being polite and reasonable, and I believe that even under consumer law I first have to give him the chance to put things right - which is what is happening now. Once I have the car back and MTA inspect it again - hopefully that stick will not be needed.

 

[bembo449]

It seems unnecessary to leap to consumer law in this instance. The trader seems to be playing fair. They're not all 'The enemy.'

yeah they are , in it to make money not for the fun of it pal , law is there to protect us ( for a change) so use it at every opportunity I say

 

[bembo449]

So far I've deliberately not mentioned that sort of thing to him as he's being polite and reasonable, and I believe that even under consumer law I first have to give him the chance to put things right - which is what is happening now. Once I have the car back and MTA inspect it again - hopefully that stick will not be needed.

oh you do indeed pal , if he's playing ball then great but ive found in the past that not all traders are aware of the protection the law affords us these days so it helps to drop it into any pre-purchase convo's

 

[Blobcat]

So far I've deliberately not mentioned that sort of thing to him as he's being polite and reasonable, and I believe that even under consumer law I first have to give him the chance to put things right - which is what is happening now. Once I have the car back and MTA inspect it again - hopefully that stick will not be needed.

I think you're doing the right think it's all about "what the reasonable man (or woman)" would do. If you come across as reasonable all the way then if things do take a turn for the worse you're in a very very strong position. Going in hot and heavy would do nothing other than upset everyone and put big delays into any resolution. I'd also suggest that solicitors would be the only beneficiary's of such a move.

 

[A.J.]

yeah they are , in it to make money not for the fun of it pal , law is there to protect us ( for a change) so use it at every opportunity I say

That is the whole idea of being in Business isn't it

 

[Chrishazle]

It may be, but the way they mark up cars raises eyebrows! An aquaintance on my 968 forum was friends with a trader who said he marks up every car by £3-5k to cover all his costs, and I know the difference between what he's asking for my car and what he paid me, and it's more than that!

 

[A.J.]

It may be, but the way they mark up cars raises eyebrows! An aquaintance on my 968 forum was friends with a trader who said he marks up every car by £3-5k to cover all his costs, and I know the difference between what he's asking for my car and what he paid me, and it's more than that!

Maybe you could have pushed him a bit harder on your 968 ??

 

[bob 6600]

Trade-ins are always going to benefit the dealer/trader. They ensure it's worth their while otherwise it would make no sense for them to offer it. Similar to WBAC, trade-ins are low but remove the hassle of selling it yourself. Sounds like either you wasn't sure what it was worth or he has it on for sale at a very optimistic price. Either way, you must have been happy with what was offered or this SLK got you excited and you agreed so as not to lose the new car lol.

 

[Chrishazle]

Maybe you could have pushed him a bit harder on your 968 ??

Now I've seen what he's put it up for - you may be correct, but considering what he's facing to put the SLK right, who knows?? However, you must know yourself that when PX'ing it's the cost - or in this case profit - to swop that is the decider. I knew that advertising the car for private sale I'd be asking a few grand more than he was offering, but the market for a 968 tip cab is slow and I could easily be waiting months for a buyer. You only have to look at 968 cabs for sale on eBay, they've all been on there for months, so I balanced that against hassle. Plus having looked for over a year for a suitable SLK it would quite possibly have been sold before I got a sale on the 968. In the end, I was happy with what I got, and was surprised to see how much he's put it up for after I'd told him what I'd expect on a private sale - he's asking a lot more than that, but I suspect he'll either wait a long while, find a buyer who proves there's one born every minute (who has not done the necessary research) or will have to accept a chunk less than he's asking.

ATM, I'll be happy to get the SLK with the mechanicles identified fixed at his cost, followed by acceptable inspection by MTA and the full service I'd expected to pay for. We'll see what transpires over the next week, and I'll keep the thread updated.

 

[Chrishazle]

Sounds like either you wasn't sure what it was worth or he has it on for sale at a very optimistic price. Either way, you must have been happy with what was offered or this SLK got you excited and you agreed so as not to lose the new car lol.

I had a very good idea what my 968 was worth, and what I'd expect to get on a private sale - I've owned 968's for 21 years and am an active member on the 968uk forum and PCGB, and had a club valuation of my car. The SLK showed on Autotrader as "low price". I weighed the realistic price I would expect to sell my car for against what he was offering and the SLK he was selling - OK, I knew I might make a bit more selling privately, but when, I'd probably have to wait months and loose the SLK. I was happy with the deal offered, and now if he fixes the mechanicals, I will have the car we want in excellent condition, and after the service at MTA it wil be superb and a keeper that wife and I will both be very happy with - she's already made a number of favourable comments about the SLK in the week we've had it!

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Regarding the dealers selling price on the Porsche, quite common to see a price drop of £3k over a period of 3 months on a £20k+ car, I saw a lot of this when I was looking for my 4 series. Obviously you can adjust the price downwards easily so if you don’t ask you won’t get, a bad time to sell any drop top so will be interesting to see where the value is in spring 20 but you can’t blame him speculating there will be people looking for a certain spec out there as you did with the SLK

Hope you get a quick and satisfactory result to the issues with the car

 

[Chrishazle]

Progress - my SLK is being delivered back to MTA today or tomorrow, and it seems a lot of Ben's list has been done, namely :
Replace 6 of the 8 control arms (which are about £100 each from MB!)
Replace rear discs and pads - found 1 caliper not working, not on Ben's list, replaced same!!
Relaced front NS shock absorber and top mount
Rust patch cleaned up, painted and waxoyled. Also found powder coat slight damage in the rear somewhere, cleaned and protected.
4 wheel tracking
The "missing bolt" on the rear right bank is actually a blind hole, part of the manufacturing process.
The "weeping" oil return line crimp was apparently oil from above, someone a bit careless adding oil, cleaned up, checked and not leaking.

No mention of the transmission seal weep requiring ATF out to change (I've told Ben to do this) or the slight oil leak from the back of the engine (Ben thinks possibly rocker cover, not a major problem).

So, Ben is getting in the parts for the service, will give the car a full inspection once it's back with him, and I'll hopefully get the car back Friday!!

 

[bembo449]

it will be like steve Austin pal