Buying from a used car dealer

A few friends are looking to upgrade their cars and having read my review of Station Garage in Balsall Common, were asking my opinion on various options available.

Buying a used car is always a gamble. There are usually three reasons a person sells of a car:
1. Upgrading to a new car
2. Financial problems &
3. Some problems with the car.

More often than not, it is usually the third reason. So be very careful when buying a used car. Used car dealers are usually costlier than private sellers. However, most usually offer some kind of warranty or the other. Take Station Garage for example. Their main selling point is the fact that they offer 12 months warranty on their cars and 12 months MOT as well. However, I have to be honest.

I am not really happy with the garage. I specifically requested them to change one of the back tyres and to top up the engine oil as I found out that it was quite low. They did change the tyre and topped up the oil as well. You will notice that I say "topped up" and not "change". That's because they simply topped up the engine oil with some used oil. Some of my other friends confirmed this as well.

I am not sure why they did this but it really lowered my evaluation of the garage. I stopped recommending them after I found out about the oil. Going to have to go for a full service soon because I am not really sure what they meant by "car serviced" and what they did with the car now. That's what happens when customer don't trust a company any more.

Satisfied customers will usually recommend the company and help bring in new customers. On the other hand, unsatisfied customers will spread the bad news even more, more so when they happen to be bloggers.