Replacing locking wheel nuts - and liability for part ex

[gls5000]

I just part-exed my Toyota Yaris SR 1.3 for a new Yaris T3 VVTi 1.3. The salesman called me today telling me that the parcel shelf and locking wheel nuts were missing. I knew about the parcel shelf but not the wheel nuts, but in both cases I'd never had either since purchase. For peace of mind, is it not the case that a franchised dealer can replace locking wheel nuts with an identifier code that comes with the car and is kept on record somewhere? Or does it entail throwing the wheels out altogether?

Also, I assume that now the car has been part-exed and both vehicles have changed hands and been paid up I am not liable in any way for anything not present in the car. Am I right?

 

[Ian B Walker]

I think that once the deal has been finalised and the V5 is with the salesman your liability ends. I might be wrong though.

 

[Blobcat]

To me it depends very much on what was agreed in the deal. If you had bought the car without the parcel shelf and locking wheel nut adaptor you would be straight onto the dealer and expecting him to provide them FOC.

 

[gls5000]

Yeah, I would have, but I didn't notice the lack of parcel shelf for a few months, and I didn't notice the lack of wheel nuts until the salesman rang me yesterday to say so. So it would've looked a bit strange calling up months later to ask for a part that I can't prove wasn't there originally.

I assume when you part ex a car with a franchised dealer, it's understood that they are taking the car "as is". And if there are problems afterwards, well, they should've picked up on it before valuing the car. No longer my problem.

 

[jberks]

As I understand it, you didn't tell the salesman that it was all there and if he didn't inspect it, he's supposed to be the expert, so it's his responsibility.
This comes down to one of my frequent ramblings.
When you trade in a car, they never pay you more that trade/auction value. It doesn't matter what you agree, on their paperwork, that's what they pay you. The 'it's in good nick so we can offer a bit more' line is just that, a line.
My point is, that they bought your car from you, sold it on for a profit, or at the very minimum, what they paid you, and the customer has come back with a few complaints. It's their problem, but on the off-chance, they thought they'd ask if you happen to have kept the items. As you haven't, that's the last you'll hear on the subject.
Let's be honest, there tends to be 2 reasons to trade in a car. Either the finance is up, of it has a couple of niggles and you'd rather change than fix. Hence they expect a few issues when they buy the car from you. If it's viable, they sell it on the forecourt and fix if someone buys it, otherwise it goes to the block where they have a pretty good chance of getting back what they paid you.

On the wheel locks, most can be removed by garages and a new set is £10 or so. On the rear shelf, they will nick one out of another car and sell that to an unsuspecting customer and keep doing it until someone doesn't notice (like you didn't!). Just ignore them!

 

[gls5000]

The salesman has called twice since but hasn't broached the subject again (the calls were mainly about my complaint that the bookpack contained an owner's manual for the OLD Yaris and was in full American English; and the service book had been filled out for a completely different 56-plate car!); I expect he realises there's nothing I can do for him.

I mainly traded because the 0%-finance deadline was fast coming up, but I reckon I did save about £500 in repairs - horn not working, left elec. window not working, corroded brake pads, and two nearly-worn tyres, and yes all these things happened just after the warranty ran out :-( , not to mention the parcel shelf and wheel nuts that I didn't even know about, so all in all a good deal for me I think (+£500 discount) plus the value of the tax disc which I always whip out of the holder before handover. Having said that, I bet there's still between £500 and 1000 in the car for them as they'll probably sell it on their own forecourt, with the usual franchise mark-up.