My trusty old Rover 45 had failed it's MOT - so, needing a car pretty sharpish, I took a trip to CarCraft in Wednesdbury to see what they could offer.
Certainly, the ads promised great deals, competitive finance packages, the option to 'drive away in an hour' and so on. The salesman who greeted me was pleasant enough - although the initial sales spiel was a bit OTT (like one of those dreadful double-glazing demonstrations) - presumably designed to check out how likely you are to buy a motor that day (and to assess your IQ and level of knowledge before deciding on the most appropriate rip-off... sorry, sales approach).
It soon became apparent that the cars were at least 10-15% above the value of the web prices quoted online, although with the web price printed out you can apparently claim it on the forecourt. That's great if you know the car you want and are lucky enough to find it there when you call. Presumably ripping off people who don't have internet access is fine and dandy...
Anyway - I'll cut to the chase. After wandering for a couple of hours and finding little to take my fancy (and fending off several approaches from an over-eager and slightly spotty salesman) I took a good look at a Peugeot 307 - 52 plate. Sticker price was £5999 - which I felt was overpriced, but I thought, given the age of the car I'd check the service history to assess the purchase a bit more closely. I opened the glovebox and took out the documents. To my surprise, alongside the owners manual and service history were two other items: the previous owners insurance documentation including name, address and telephone number and, worse, the invoice from the garage that the previous owner had bought the car from (some 18 months earlier). And the price they had paid? £4100.
Leaving aside the obvious data protection implications of leaving a previous owners personal details available to any Tom, Dick or Harry - what really galled me was the arrogance of trying to knock out a motor a full £1899 more than it had sold for 18 months earlier.
CarCraft? CarCRAP more like.
Needless to say - I left sharpish and won't be heading back soon.
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