What a wasted day.

I left Loch Lomond 8am, 1st class ticket paid for by car dealer Good start, brilliant journey arrived London Huston 1422. Never been 1st class before , had free breakfasts , limitless tea / coffee/ cold drinks then lunch
Dealer picked me up and drove 20 minutes to his premises. All good so far, now almost shaking with excitement
Now it has to be remembered I gave my deposit 2 weeks ago and jointly decided on the 4th June for collection to allow time for the car to be prepped, MOT'd etc plus some wheel refurb work.

My first view of the car was under low slung poorish lighting( his premises is in a covered private level of a multi story car park . Only light is artificial with low car park ceiling). I did think it looked a little drab for black but didn't think too much at the time.

However , it was almost immediate that the dealer said all the soft functions weren't working and the car was giving a dash battery requires replacing alarm so we had to go to his local indy to replace the battery ( a gel battery costing £250). The indy said whilst resetting the cars electrics the rear spoiler failure alarm wont clear and dosnt work.
It was on the way to the indy I noticed the aircon not working at all ( 28 deg in London yesterday). So at the same time he asked the indy to check the airocon gas. It was found to be low but they had run out and couldn't fill it so with the new battery fitted off we went to find a Halfrauds who do aircon recharging. By now it was 5pm and Halfrauds were closing. So no Aircon and no rear spoiler. ...uhmm

It wasn't long before I noticed the passenger rear window playing up. Some times it would drop ( correct) when you opened the door but sometimes it wouldn't. However the drivers side rear window just didn't work and wasn't quite fully up

By now we were parked up in bright sun light and I had time to look over the body work....for ***** sake I cant believe he didn't tell me.
Starting with the least worst: probably 3 or 4 bird muck patches that had been washed off but left permanent paint damage, possibly removable with a cut but ?; there were 2 large chips in the roof caused by stones, right down to the metal; stone chips on the bonnet, 6 inch scratch in the roof through the lacquer but not thought the base coat; 6 or 7 deep scratches ( over 6 or 7 inches long all of them) in the passenger front wing deep enough to run your finger nail in; a full length scratch from the passenger side front head lamp to rear 1/4 all the way along , again finger nail deep with patches showing primer; then al least a further 6 to 7 reasonably deep scratches ( again at least 6 inches in length) in the rear passenger side wing.
So...after 2 weeks notice.

Flat Batteries x2
Defective Aircon
Defective rear spoiler
Sort of defective passenger rear window
defective drivers rear window
More scratches than a 40 year old LP

Ive asked how long he anticipated it will take to correct all the problems. Some of which might have been caused by the flat battery. The London Bentley dealer might be able to rectify most of the issues . Its the paint that annoys me most. If he can have that done I'm still interested. Apart from that the car is fantastic inside so he's got until Friday to see if he can get everything sorted which I doubt. If he cant he will give me my deposit back. He was surprised I hadn't said no sooner but I'm realistic and realised some of the issues were not overly serious.....but should I accept a car of that value with any problems at all. it was another 6 hour Cattle Class train journey back home

So there we have it a wasted day

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the window issue is due to low batteries and windows have lost their initialisation,the aircon could need just a refill but may have a leak. definitely make sure he replaces both batteries and the spoiler has probably come adrift from its cables,this is all minor to the paintwork..so it depends how you feel about that !! personally i would wait for a better car !!

 

Agreed, I was getting my self ready for the mechanical stuff but the paint work is another thing altogether. Its spoilt a very nice car

 

i'd walk. Is this car super low price and why you're bothering with such a possibly misrepresented vehicle and STILL considering it? i'd look for an 2006 or higher car.

 

TBH I'd set my heart on if after a long time looking, it sort of felt right on the internet but there we are not everything is as it seems.

 

First class up and cattle class back eh?

Does that tell you something? Sorry to laughing at your lot mate but that whole thing is laughable even down to the dimly lit garage. You deserve better. Was that a licensed Bentely dealer? In London the capital of the home of Bentely????? For shame!

 

No worries, I know your not
Actually a Maserati specialist He was fine about it and did say he was surprised how long it took me to say no. I suppose I was hoping we could work through some of the defects as I thought they might have been battery related as well. But the paint work , well that was not going to be easily fixed.

 

I understand. When i want something my mind tries to justify or manage the problems so I can tell myself all is ok. I recall seeing a brand new Mulsane at a authorized Bentely dealer and being horrified from the swirls in the clear coat on a dark paint. The car needed a full correction before going anywhere.

 

That's exactly what I was doing, telling my self I can get this sorted , I'm going to drive this home tonight no matter what. The reality wasn't quite so nice.
I think the car paint had been keyed recently by a vandal and he hadn't noticed. Its the only explanation my mine can come up with as surly no one would attempt to sell a car knowing those scratches were in the paint It makes my Pee boil sometimes.

 

I would walk from that one. Mechanics are one thing but the paint will haunt you forever.

 

So... you're new to buying used cars from shady dealers?

NEVER get emotionally attached to a single example of a car. I find that incorrect financial decisions are usually made accordingly. Besides, we all know there are FAR BETTER examples out there than what was misrepresented to you. Then again I know some guys love tinkering with broken cars and don't mind the added expense and efforts to fix them, so perhaps you are that type. Just hope the price of the vehicle itself is super, super low.

 

I walked away Now looking at another example £7k more but 30k miles less on the clock
Deposit is paid, insurance paid now waiting to have a final inspection/mot and "hopefully" pick it up Wednesday

 

Bravo!!!

 

Nice, well done.

 

Good choice---congrats! Looking forward to pics