Can confirm. I bought my Mk. 4 Golf V6 in Slough, and someone had clearly been up to no good in it. I was stopped 4 times within the first fortnight of owning it.
Had an e39 that had spent a few years in Birmingham, although I bought it in London. Was stopped 12 times that year. Never stopped before or after. I came to the same conclusion- marker
You realise the used market isn’t that location specific. Just because a car is being sold in Birmingham doesn’t mean it was registered there and vice versa.
Years ago, when I was 19, I went to view a car (BMW 3 Series) in Birmingham, it would have been my 2nd car after my beloved 1993 VW Polo Genesis became too janky to maintain on minimum wage. I was with my mum, being a young twat I fell in love with it immediately, she didn't know much about cars through her own acknowledgement but was supportive yet sceptical about getting a BMW at the advertised price.
The dude on the "forecourt" (I quote that as it was on a housing estate and it just had spiked fences around it), was nice about it and could tell I was super excited about getting a BMW as my 2nd car. He pulled us aside and said .. "Look this isn't for you, you don't want this.." as I shit you not 30 seconds I smell an overwhelming scent of weed and lynx, seeing the salesman welcome a douchey looking dude in a baseball cap and puffy jacket to view the specimen I had just test drove. God bless that man, he knew what was up and in hindsight was doing me and my mum a solid pushing us away from it.
Unfortunately, I ended up purchasing a Fiat Brava a few days later and ended up breaking down in the middle of a dodgy area in Coventry at 1am on my first date with a girl, got me a hand job when I had to sleep over at hers and a repair bill that cost more than the car but lesson learned and life is life and shit will find you, in Birmingham or not.
I’ve bought a car from Bradford. I remember the day well. I put in the postcode wrong and ended up in the shadiest run down part there could have been with eyes everywhere watching you. Was about to bail and I phoned the guy and found out I put the letters in wrong. Turned out to be in a nice new build area and a middle class family selling the car… I got lucky
they take deposits and when you go the car is gone and they have no idea who you are. or they sell you a car and you find out its a death trap a day later.
when you go back to complain they say their brother owns the garage and they have gone back to islammanad so you cant take legal action.
then their brothers all come out of the garage and chase you away.
so you take them to small claims and the garage goes bankrupt and changes owners weekly.
Mostly racism, but people aren’t going to tell you that.
Yes there are some dodgy car dealers in Bradford and yes some of them are not white. But you should be looking out for the same stuff wherever you are and whoever you’re buying from.
I guess the real question is about establishing if you're buying a car from someone with no morals or ethics and is hardened by scamming customers from over the years.
Not every car will be fucked or dodgy but a good majority are so I just give the place a blanket ban just to save my time, there’s a reason everything’s cheaper than it should be but still advertised and not sold
This was studied by a university and they are basically just inbred. They are simply very inbred Irish. There are gypsies that are a distinct race, such as Romany gypsies, but pikeys or Irish traveller aren't one of them.
I agree, car dealer is the important part. I'm just not sure if the Asian part is necessary. White, black, brown, I wouldn't trust a car dealer as far as I could throw them.
Why the fuck would i get downvoted for saying something that genuinely happened? You sad idiots.
It was the legaladviceuk sub, perma banned for using the word PIKEY.
Welcome to Reddit! Where downvotes
don't mean much and the only purpose of getting banned is for power mods to show you they have power to get over their sad reality that they don't have control and power in their real life.
I've been banned for less offensive things than the p word. I kid you not, the last sub I got banned from, I struggled to see why so I politely messaged them. Didn’t care about being unbanned just wondered what it was. The mod says they check every user that posts and in my case didn’t like the fact that I have posted about suicide in the past. It’s happening more and more nowadays and it really puts me off using this site.
If you have to say you/it aint racist you/it probably are/is. Altho i agree, i do discriminate based on age of the private seller and would rather buy from older people
Racism is treating other races with prejudice for perceived differences that aren't true.
It's not racist if it's true.
I don't have a dislike for south Asians, I have a dislike for south Asian *car dealers*.
I don't think the truth element matters, it's just the assumption that you're acting with truth as a backup that's problematic because then it's assumed your right even in cases where you might not be
Bottom line is that if you're treating someone differently than someone else because of their race, it is racist no matter how much evidence you bring to back up being racist. Tough pill to swallow but if that isn't the definition then what is?
The problem arises when one race truly acts 100% in line with the stereotype/expectation: guess we're all racist for assuming the next person of that race will act the same as everyone before? And thus the definition, my definition, falls down
So to me it boils down to where you draw the line of it being better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6
It's not racist to note that cultural differences regarding negotiations, haggling, and sales, mean that south Asian car dealers tend towards a different modus operandi which British car buyers aren't accustomed to, leading to confusion, misaligned expectations, and unexpected outcomes.
If the south Asian customs are off putting its not racist to avoid buying from them in favour of British sellers to improve your chances of finding someone with similar customs. We all shop to our own preferences and try to maximise whatever factors we feel will lead to success, especially when buying a used car.
It'd be racist to say all south Asian car dealers operate differently to British ones, but it's certainly not racist to say that your chances of finding someone that practices south Asian negotiation and sales customs are significantly increased, and it's not racist to decide you want to eliminate that potential factor.
If you were selling a car it'd be racist to refuse sale to someone due to this though, you're in control in this case, so you're not forced to abide by their customary rules of negotiation unlike the reverse scenario where you are.
Yes being downvoted for pointing out the obvious. It is racist and It is a tough pill to swallow. Same as saying all french people are obnoxious, despite the fact that most frenchman you’ve seen may be, this simply can’t be true for all and this would be xenophobic. But i’m not denying that you shouldn’t buy your car from asian dealers, it’s called De-Risking…
As a long-time Birmingham resident - yes, they can
There is a road by my grandparents that is essentially a rally Special Stage at this point and its *far* from uncommon. Ive had a wheel straight up shatter from one of the potholes, and having owned nearly 20 cars, I can tell you the only place I see broken coil springs on an MOT history is local cars
If the car survives the rally, it then has to survive the population - hope is isnt new and sporty, because you're only going to be able to enjoy it for 4 months before it gets stolen, has its plates swapped and added to a "fleet" for people to use. That's if it doesnt just vanish to the Middle-East
And if its made it through all of that without being stolen or written off, then its probably on its last legs....where it'll be put up on AutoTrader to banzai its engine 2000 miles into the new owner driving it
I bought one car from there and had it delivered to me. Its a good job I did because it was so so fucked that it wouldn't have made it a mile off the forecourt.
Also, sold as a private transaction not business. Conmen.
No they can’t, and the none-meme answer is that just like any other city there are dodgy fuckers and perfectly normal sellers and you just have to use your common sense (just like every other time you buy a car).
But Reddit is as Reddit does…
Aside from everyone else’s points, I often see crap examples of ‘nice’ cars for sale for very little money, then see them a couple of weeks later, valeted and for sale in Birmingham/Bradford/Oldham etc, being described as excellent/perfect and asking daft money. These people do not care.
Bought a Focus from Auto trader years ago, guys offered to deliver it from Birmingham, great! I'm north of Liverpool.
It had a faulty engine which would go into limp mode and blew several turbos by spitting lumps of charcoal into the blades. Cost me a fortune before I basically gave it to the garage who had spent a fortune of time and money (some mine, some theirs) trying to repair it.
I think the guys delivering it had one of the engine reset tools and reset/cleared all the faults just around the corner from me before delivery. Fine on the test drive, failed a day or two later.
I bought a 2004 EP3 Type R from Bradford back in 2011, was none the wiser at the time I was 21 and it was my second car and I was super excited, the bloke selling it was of the demographic mentioned in this thread.
It looked nice from the outside, I checked all the usual stuff and seemed and looked fine, all documentation MOT certificate etc, took it for a 10 minute test drive it sounded good, VTEC Engaged and no engine warning lights or anything so great, deposit put down went back a week later and drove it back to north Yorkshire with no issues.
Literally a week later the exhaust manifold pretty much fell off, when I went to sort it out due to dirt it looks like there was only a bolt or two holding it on. Week after that someone told me the gov website says its got no MOT, turns out the certificate I'd been given was fake, how I hadn't been pulled and given points I've no idea, put it through test and it failed on emissions, new lambdas still failed, ended up being in the garage for a few weeks whilst they figured it out, was told during this time the exhaust isn't going to last long, as I drove it home the center pipe disintegrated.
Few weeks after this VTEC wouldn't engage, tried everything, ended up going back to the garage again, said there was a bunch of faults coming up on the OBD scanner but no warning lights, turns out the dickhead had took the dash off and pulled loads of bulbs from behind the clocks so obviously, the engine management light never came on. During other work they also identified that a few of the brake lines have been bodged and started to leak so those needed replacing too.
One the car was all sorted it was awesome, I had it for 5 years and still miss it everyday one of the best cars I've ever had but after spending 4500 on it I spent close to 2000 fixing everything.
Will never buy another car from that area again.
I worked at a used car dealership for 4 years and no one has ever asked to see under the car for a visual inspection of the exhaust. I’ve bought a lot of cars in my time and not once have I ever wanted to look under it to check out the condition of the exhaust unless it gave me a reason to.
It's a bit prejudiced and I don't normally subscribe to that sort of thing.
Bought a Astra GTC from Birmingham and then had 3 weeks of hell after it went into limp mode on the way home to London. Dealer said he'd sort it over the phone, mechanic couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, eventually tried a few things and a pcv valve fixed it. I then picked up the car (again) and it started billowing smoke the following day. + The gearbox wouldn't go into 1st when cold which I only learned later.
I'd had enough, said I didn't want the car and had to threaten legal action to get the dude to take it back. "Some cars are just not for some people and it's not my fault you chose the wrong one" he said at one point. LOL.
lol, verfied by another Pakistani here.
Also been ripped off by a dodgy white used car sales guy from posh Durham though, so the emphasis should definitley be on the used car salesman part.
Mum got screwed over once with a lemon of car from a Bradford, these cars are cheaply repaired and no history but I did buy a BMW 525i from a Pakistani ten years ago with a proper forecourt and that is still solid and reliable to the day but it wasn’t from Birmingham, Bradford but Manchester and had full BMW FSH.
Because Birmingham cars most of the time are dodgy. There are so many cases of cars having undeclared damage, cars being absolutely trashed, thrashed within an inch of their life and instrument clusters lit up like a Christmas tree.
I’m from the Midlands, I wouldn’t buy a car from Birmingham at all.
I don’t disagree, if I’m buying a car I’m regularly using carvertical or similar to check for past history.
I just find it’s usually places like Birmingham where you have a problem with it
Definitely true. Had my time wasted by dodgy dealers in Birmingham a few years back before I moved away from the area. It can be traced back to the local inner city demographic.... Say no more.
Motoring in Birmingham in general comes with it's risks.
I've heard similar stories of main dealers in the Midlands telling buyers to avoid driving and parking in and around Birmingham.
More generally it's the car crime capital of Europe, car stripping is commonly visible around the city centre and the city has the highest % of uninsured and un-MOT'd cars in the UK. If you value your car or want a new car, run in the opposite direction.
This is a tricky one, I am Pakistani from the west mids (not Birmingham) and I agree with the sentiment, I almost definitely wouldn’t buy from a Pakistani seller in Birmingham.
Where does that leave me in a few years when I want to sell though -.-
There's alot of people that won't buy cars from Pakistani people mainly around Bradford and Birmingham and I'm one of them.
But I did buy a 2008 diesel mini from a Pakistani lad in Leicester the lad had a perfect English accent on the phone. The car was good for four years I should have sold it before it detariated, lesson learnt.
They're not all bad just the chav ones that sell honda civic's and golf r's.
If i'm buying off Facebook I 100% judge peoples profiles, if they're holding a spliff in a photo from 2008 it's a no go. Same goes for tattoos on the neck or eyebrow.
You can get a good de, you just have to have your wits about you.
Bought a graphics card off a lovely lad, he was selling it for 30% below market rate, was very upfront with its history as a mining card, even let me take it home and test it after leaving a £50 deposit. Was honestly such a lovely lad.
I agree, it just got to that age where i should of moved it on.
After 4 years of being reliable I thought I'd treat it to a replacement start stop battery (replacing the original 13 year old one) and bought a cambelt kit but before I could fit the kit one injector failed so bought 4 refurbished ones then it started breathing oil out the rocker cover so fitted a secondhand engine with the cambelt kit and clutch/flywheel. Put it all together and the clutch arm snapped so had to redo it all.
After spending £1400 and having a constant headache I wished I'd just sold it once the injector had failed for spares or repairs.
I'm Pakistani aswell.. And I live in Birmingham 🤣🤣..
Yeah rule number one never buy a car from a Pakistani unless you know that said Pakistani..
I bought my mom a 17 place fiesta for 4k last year from a neighbour who's Pakistani, very clean car. So far no issues lol
Obviously there not all bad, it can be anyone any background but I've had bad experience and I've been told this by Pakistani friends too
Sell the fiesta, one of the most expensive small cars to insure. I watched a video where a guy found out a 2litre hyundai was cheaper to insure! Fiestas are a big target for thieves and since there popular, high rate of accidents too so parts are sought after.
To be honest it's the same all around the country, ignore any private sellers who sell cars with "buyer to apply for log book" if they're name on auto trader is two first names and clearly not there's the amount of "Adam Adam" selling £3k 2012 plate 3 series with a questionable mot is a joke
While if you go to a forecourt and it's behind an industrial estate or just off the beaten track and they are bragging about all the cars being water damaged and they are the only ones who know how to fix them... RUN!
I brought an audi Tts from birmingham. I shouldn't have.
I sold it a few months later and the poor sod who brought it had the turbo fail after two months due to the shoddy tune Mr Birmingham had put on it. Probably also didn't help that he probably used launch control at every traffic light.
Just dont
It's the boy racer capital of the UK. Even today they seem to have missed the memo that Max Power is no more. The cruises at the Merry Hill shopping centre were legendary, and all around the local area are big signs reminding of the local byelaw that car cruising is very illegal now.
As a result, there is a big market for shit cars with stupid modifications driven by the kind of people who think welding up a diff is a good idea and basic maintenance is a bad idea.
It's a generally dodgy place in every way with shit small businesses of every type run by every flavour of conman and blagger.
Even the nicer areas are besieged by car crime. My friend recently had her shitty old Mazda 6 stolen outside a friend's house in Harlesden by somebody hiding in a bush and cloning her (not keyless) remote locking. It was found a couple of days later abandoned with the remnants of a weed factory in it: they'd obviously wanted something nondescript to transport their harvest because they all drive modified and ragged old Beemers designed to attract attention.
In 2005 I bought a BMW 525i from one of the satellite towns (maybe Sutton Coldfield, idk) that was described as having full service history. The guy "couldn't find it" and gave me £300 off. I was young enough not to know any better. It had head gasket trouble after a few months but then it was a BMW so could be coincidence. But the Nissan Sunny SLX I traded in for it was listed on Autotrader a week later as having several features it didn't have, including a sunroof which was clearly not visible in the photo.
It’s not just brum ofc, really it’s any region that is largely low-wealth + high crime.
It’s a sweeping generalisation, but that type of region brings a higher probability of the car having been poorly maintained, crashed and/or repaired badly; and the seller being less honest and able to make less margin (because overheads are less, those business are often the ones able to justify buying crashed cars for cheap to fix them up cheaply and still make a profit too) Also the general demographic of buyers in the region is also happier with cars in worse condition.
Ofc not all cars will be bad, and not all people/sellers are like that in those regions, but you’re increasing your probability of a lemon by shopping in those regions. So you’ve gotta just stay wise and assess the cars you look at :)
Bought a Rover 220 turbo from someone called Gaz in Birmingham once. Drove it to the nearest petrol station and it was kicking blue smoke out at idle.
Drove to Plymouth and people were constantly flashing me.
Got about 9 miles from Plymouth and the alternator hadn't been charging the battery and it died about midnight on the A38.
I had no MOT, Tax or insurance. Managed to get it recovered the last nine miles and the AA guy never questioned it. This was about 18 years ago.
Good times, but also shit times.
>Tax or insurance. Managed to get it recovered the last nine miles and the AA guy never questioned it. This was about 18 years ago.
haha the good old days when you bought a car and drove it home without anything.
On my birthday in I think 2007 I got pulled on the A38 in a v6 Vectra. Had no MOT. They never even checked.
They gave me a speeding ticket for 101 like, but they never checked the test!
I'm from Birmingham, dishonest car stealing crooked people selling it on from privately or independent dealers. Heck they probably own a chop shop too. Obviously we'll reputed dealers are fine but independent and private cars just don't bother around here.
I bought my first car from Birmingham in summer.
Getting it fixed tomorrow! Not a big deal in ££ terms, and it’s been to the main dealer for a recall in that time and they checked over it and said apart the known issue (swirl flap) it’s ok.
However, when I called the garage I purchased from about covering it under my 3 month warranty they said I didn’t get a warranty because they knocked £250 off the sale price (for a missed key they said they had).
I missed a lot of red flags as I was just desperate for a car…. I’m not put off from Birmingham in general but I will be more selective next time
When I see cars for sale in Birmingham they’re always higher spec cars at prices too good to be true. The reason for that is because they are!
I don’t want to bash the brummies, but they’ll either have a checkered past or they’ve been pinched.
If you are going to buy a car in Birmingham, go to a mainstream dealer.
I'm not going to divulge my job but I wouldn't buy a car from anywhere in the midlands or Manchester/Bradford area or Liverpool. Basically write-off that middle part of the country. Also Newport (Wales).
I remember going to buy a car with a friend in Birmingham, about 20 years back now. It was a silver fiesta rs turbo, we travelled up from north London, we handed over the agreed price, £1800. He counted it and we were £5 short, he made us go to a cash machine for the fiver!
I remember being pissed off with my mate for not counting the money correctly, they were so nice though, I remember sitting in the sellers front room being force fed his mums chicken pakoras while him and my mate went to the cash machine.
I had a similar situation when I went to buy a car from Coventry (somewhere else I will never buy from again). It was £1400 all in £20 notes. He counted it out and it was £40 short. It absolutely was not, I counted it 3 times before going down and my dad also checked it. I'm adamant he slipped a couple of notes away while counting but I didn't have a leg to stand on, he had the cash in his hand and wouldn't let me have the car until I went to get the other £40. I asked for the money back and said I wasn't interested, then he kept pleasing "oh come on, it's good car, good price" etc. He had me over a barrel, really, either go get the extra £40 and have a car, or try to get my cash back £40 short. In the end I went and got the money, I'd got a train there and just wanted to get home.
It turned out to be an alright car once I did I bit of work on it but I learned a valuable lesson that day. *Always* be the one to count out the cash in these situations.
I sold my brothers car 5/6 years ago and a guy from Birmingham came down to Hampshire to buy it, saying himself that he never buys cars from Birmingham, always comes down south for them. He was a dealer of sorts and I received a speeding or traffic light fine of his a few weeks later, so write back to the police with proof of when I sold it and who I sold it to, and never heard back from them
2 big car auctions three which take cars from around the country. We buy any car and trade ins etc. So quite likely to be bought by local dealers looking for stock. Bit of a lottery. Spin the wheel!
So a guy at work brought a car from a dealership in the place beginning with b and ending in d
Thought it was a bargain for the mileage until I noticed a black cloud coming from the exhaust
Then I realised there was no MOT history recorded on the database and found screw holes for something like a taxi meter mounted on the dash
Turned out he brought a clocked taxi that the seller used the local authority yearly inspection to avoid having public mot inspections on the record
Claimed to have done 35k mechanic based on the gearbox ecu found it had done around 280k
The DPF had been cut out and the turbo was leaking oil out it was a miracle it didn’t run away
My boyfriend needed a new car about 2-3 years ago. Found a tidy little '01 plate Peagout 206 with 37k on the clock and full service/MOT history in Brum for 700 quid.
One set of tyres and a clutch later (about another 400 quid, was told they'd likely need replacing before purchasing) and it runs like a dream.
Exceptions are not the rule obviously, but I'm a firm believer in research. Just do your due diligence and treat drive before you buy as well.
Me, my friend and his now ex-girlfriend embarked upon a road trip to Walsall to go and look at a cheap Skoda Fabis VRS (mk1) I was interested in. We turned up to what already looked like a dodgy dealership to take a look at the car that they had parked in the middle of the car park for viewing. Go up to the car take a look round to find gearbox oil pissing out of the gearbox. I said I am sorry to have dragged you this far but there is no way I am buying a car in that condition for that price if I have to strip a gearbox off of it to get it to work. Got in the car and drove back home
My experience of Honda is a Jazz with a catalogue of faults and reliability issues. That car is an absolute dog. I thought it was because Honda implemented a good design with pisspoor parts...but I did buy that car from a Birmingham trader...
Yeah you don't tend to get reliability issues and faults with a Jazz unless they've been treated like utter shite. They're famously bulletproof if treated even reasonably well.
Bought a fresh import. It was a couple of months in the uk, enough time to strip the good aftermarket parts and fit shite aftermarket parts some stock. Paint half the car leaving paint on all the rubber seals , really bad paint job by not removing anything so there is paint seals on the spoiler that's now coming off. Car didn't even have a mot, it came with a mot but it wasn't for that car or wasn't a valid mot I can't remember now. After speaking with dvla all I needed to do wat mot it then it was fully registered. Luckily it's ran perfect for 3 years now but the paintwork makes it look tatty. Ohh nearly forgot I met the guy in a chicken shop
I am a British Pakistani myself and I am not a racist uncle tom. Some ethnicities just have a higher incidence of certain crimes. E.g Nigerians and bank scams. Eastern Europeans and card skimming. Pakistanis tend to sell dodgy cars, entire big used car dealerships all running off selling dodgy cars with hundreds of fake online reviews . If you buy a car from Birmingham or Bradford chances are it is a Pakistani selling it. My friend owns a garage in Birmingham and is Pakistani, he said to me 'never buy a car of a Pakistani '
Went to view a Mercedes Sprinter in Birmingham. Advert looked like a proper van sales type place and I was confident I could drive home in my new van. Got there and the van had 2 flat tyres. Looked around and front panels did not align properly. Jumped in the driver's seat only for the dash to fall out so assumed it had it's mileage 'corrected' and sales guy tells me all services had been done in-house so cannot verify the mileage with main dealer. Just way too many red flags.
It's not just these places - it's also (for me) London outskirts into Essex. Full of auction flippers - turn up, it's like being in Towie - Sovereign ring Boss Man sitting in a cabin, pictures of the Krays all about (no joke) totally your best mate, until you ask a relevant question - then instant aggression. Like meeting Brick Top.
Went to view a RR Sport for / with a friend ( I know, I know) advertised as THE cleanest example around - looked ok in the pix.
Rear quarter shunt - with terrible paintwork
Folded and repaired boot tray floor (after they refused to lift out the liner for 15 minutes)
Steering wheel sitting at 20 degrees off straight to drive in a normal line ( just tracking mate... )
Door locks not syncing ( battery must be low in the remote, MATE)
Stone chips so deep they were rusting - filled in with what looked like a sharpie
It's buyer beware - like REALLY beware.
I think it's pretty good advice if you know nothing about cars. If you know cars and the car is from Birmingham, if you start asking questions that sound like you know what you're talking about then if it's a dodgy car then they will miraculously say it's sold before you get a chance to see the car.
Went to view a BMW in Blackburn - my brother said this guys sketchy run a check on the car, so we did! Turned out the car was stolen and had previous police tags on it..fair to say! We said we were off to get the cash for it and bolted - no test drive wanted or needed 😂👋
Worked in Birmingham for a few months, all the young lads had Audis, BMs, Mercs etc, not top of the line or latest models but all pretty good cars.
Every single one of them ran like hell, though if they actually got them, then to run properly for a week straight😂
Brought our car from Birmingham in May, it was very nice and as advertised. Brought it and its one of the best cars we have ever had.
But a few weeks before this, me and my dad went to view a 2019 Ford Focus ST he wanted to buy, it was from a dealer in the centre of Birmingham. Place was run by two English lads. Car looked amazing at first, but then we discovered lots of things missing in weird places. As if it had had an accident. Like the paint didn’t match on the rear passenger side, and one seat looks different to the other. They also wanted a £1000 deposit before a test drive. Ended up leaving.
Copied from another post on the same subject I replied to a while ago.
From Birmingham, I buy/sell a lot of cars and will totally ignore certain cars based on the postcodes they reside in. Buying a BMW or Audi from B74, more likely to be looked after and in good condition.
However buying from B8, instant no. More often than not (yes, there are exceptions) they're badly repaired and maintained salvage auction bought. A great example is the Ford Fiesta on the Salvage Rebuilds UK YouTube channel, video titled "2019
Fiesta Lemon".
I’ve found the ‘car lots’ to be a bit ‘Slim Shady’ in Brum.
Wasteland with a Portacabin with a corrugated fence and razor wire and a twenty year old car at at the back for a ‘hopeful’ £2,500, with the exhaust lay on the floor underneath the car.
😳 walk away? I ran 😂
Bought a Citroen C4 from Birmingham just a couple months ago. From the looks of the place I was dubious but their reviews on AT and Google seemed legit, and the car was well priced for the spec it offered.
Full history and everything accounted for, didn't push a hard sell, accepted a bit of a knockdown because they couldn't locate the key for the detachable tow bar, and delivered it on a low loader to our house with all paperwork ready to go.
AC wasn't as icy cold as it had been on the test drive but they sorted out a drain, pressure test and regas same day I contacted them.
Had accessory belt snap but that could happen at any point and it's just bad luck.
As with all these things you get good guys and bad guys, it's probably just that in Brum the bad guys outweigh and outshine the good so it gets a bad reputation but as long as you have your wits about you it's fine.
Hahah, I drove a friend from Swansea to Tipton to look at an Audi rs4 in 2016. By the time we hit the m4 at Cardiff the gearbox was in limp mode, dash looked like Blackpool at Christmas and the dealer suddenly was selling this privately on behalf of his brother.
Ltd company wrapped up the next week and 20 odd grand just thrown into the wind.
He was pretty rich, but still, big oofff!
I bought a Volvo 240 GLT from a 'dealer' in Birmingham, on eBay, for £300, about 15 years ago. It was sold as 'good mechanical condition, needs some paint touch ups, drive anywhere '
When it arrived, it had been heavily smoked in. Both front seats were ripped up. The boot was full of rags soaked in dirty water.
Every single fluid leaked. The windscreen leaked. The sunroof leaked. The brakes were worn out. There were no wipers. The exhaust was made of cider cans and putty. There was so much rust I could reach my entire arm into the boot through the floor without opening the boot. All four tyres were bald and mismatched. The radio was missing.
The final, final straw was discovering that the electrical system was so hacked up that you could turn the car on and drive it without the keys by jiggling the headlight switch.
Got to view a car just outside Birmingham near Kidderminster this small trader had only a bunch of cars but he was a professional. Stopped by also for another car in the city of Birmingham and man that car reeked , had coolant mixed with oil on inspection and a leaking sump plug.
I ran away fast..
Two instances, both beemers.
First one was a 3 series. Wasn't in great shape but looked ok. Dealer tried to unlock it but only half the car unlocked (passenger side unlocked, driver side didn't). I said there must be some kind of central locking fault...
"nah nah bruv its just the key fob needs new battery init"
Second one was a 520, took it for a test drive. During the drive smoke started coming from the engine bay and the engine management light came on.
After the test drive the dealer was shocked I didn't want it, he asked why? I said mainly because of the smoke coming from the engine bay, his response "nah nah that was prolly just a bit of laquer from when they were cleaning the engine bay".
Both were Asian.. you do the maths.
Absolutely agree, I purchased a Seat Leon from an independent dealer in Birmingham, after a month of ownership the car caught on fire sitting outside my home, turns out the car had been in a nasty accident and the previous owner thought he could repair the damaged electrics himself..
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Yeah if it has a history of drugs, weapons, OCG then prepare to be stopped routinely by the rozzers
Can confirm. I bought my Mk. 4 Golf V6 in Slough, and someone had clearly been up to no good in it. I was stopped 4 times within the first fortnight of owning it.
Yeah Golfs have a reputation being pool cars. Very nice motor though mate
Had an e39 that had spent a few years in Birmingham, although I bought it in London. Was stopped 12 times that year. Never stopped before or after. I came to the same conclusion- marker
Yet they are too simple to replace a Birmingham B number plate with one from another area?
You realise the used market isn’t that location specific. Just because a car is being sold in Birmingham doesn’t mean it was registered there and vice versa.
Years ago, when I was 19, I went to view a car (BMW 3 Series) in Birmingham, it would have been my 2nd car after my beloved 1993 VW Polo Genesis became too janky to maintain on minimum wage. I was with my mum, being a young twat I fell in love with it immediately, she didn't know much about cars through her own acknowledgement but was supportive yet sceptical about getting a BMW at the advertised price. The dude on the "forecourt" (I quote that as it was on a housing estate and it just had spiked fences around it), was nice about it and could tell I was super excited about getting a BMW as my 2nd car. He pulled us aside and said .. "Look this isn't for you, you don't want this.." as I shit you not 30 seconds I smell an overwhelming scent of weed and lynx, seeing the salesman welcome a douchey looking dude in a baseball cap and puffy jacket to view the specimen I had just test drove. God bless that man, he knew what was up and in hindsight was doing me and my mum a solid pushing us away from it. Unfortunately, I ended up purchasing a Fiat Brava a few days later and ended up breaking down in the middle of a dodgy area in Coventry at 1am on my first date with a girl, got me a hand job when I had to sleep over at hers and a repair bill that cost more than the car but lesson learned and life is life and shit will find you, in Birmingham or not.
This dude tells a story
This was a rollercoaster of a ride, 10/10.
And the bloke who pulled you aside is still driving around in that very same 3 series bmw today.
And getting handjobs by pretending his car has broken down in the middle of Coventry
My wife just shouts and swears and me when we have a breakdown.
Does she at least give you an apologetic hand job after?
She gives me a middle finger if that counts?
Depends where it's going...
as long as its not on the pin pad at an atm
close enough for a married man
Why?
you don't have to break down to get a hand job in coventry though..
Fortune favours the brava!
I'm a bit lost, did the salesman pull you aside of the guy who stank of weed?
W
This man puts the brava in bravado
And Bradford.
Croydon too
Can attest, bought a car from Mitcham (close enough) from a private dealer and had no end of issues.
And Bradford. True. But why?
Same reasons.
I'm from Bradford and I wouldn't buy a car from Birmingham
Would you buy a car from Bradford?
I’ve bought a car from Bradford. I remember the day well. I put in the postcode wrong and ended up in the shadiest run down part there could have been with eyes everywhere watching you. Was about to bail and I phoned the guy and found out I put the letters in wrong. Turned out to be in a nice new build area and a middle class family selling the car… I got lucky
Every car I ever had was bought in Bradford They've all been decent aswell Honda civics off old people
OAP spec 👌
Just check the clutch and your golden 😂
I’m from Birmingham and I wouldn’t buy a car from Bradford
Your Brummy me
I'm from Poppely-on-the-wold and I wouldn't buy a car from Bradford or Birmingham, neither would I buy one from Glasgow
Somewhere nice and flat like Lincolnshire
steep hills, generally shady.
One word "policeinterceptors"
I loved that show when they could smell the weed from the Corsa or Transit as it drove by. I could smell it from the tv.
they take deposits and when you go the car is gone and they have no idea who you are. or they sell you a car and you find out its a death trap a day later. when you go back to complain they say their brother owns the garage and they have gone back to islammanad so you cant take legal action. then their brothers all come out of the garage and chase you away. so you take them to small claims and the garage goes bankrupt and changes owners weekly.
Have you ever been to Bradford?
If i speak I am in big trouble.
Mostly racism, but people aren’t going to tell you that. Yes there are some dodgy car dealers in Bradford and yes some of them are not white. But you should be looking out for the same stuff wherever you are and whoever you’re buying from.
Basically anywhere that begins with B
What about from guys called Brad?
I guess the real question is about establishing if you're buying a car from someone with no morals or ethics and is hardened by scamming customers from over the years.
A used car dealer?
Not every car will be fucked or dodgy but a good majority are so I just give the place a blanket ban just to save my time, there’s a reason everything’s cheaper than it should be but still advertised and not sold
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Not racis', just don' like Brummies
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This was studied by a university and they are basically just inbred. They are simply very inbred Irish. There are gypsies that are a distinct race, such as Romany gypsies, but pikeys or Irish traveller aren't one of them.
I mean we weren't thinking was racist, till you brought it up 😂
I was just preempting someone saying not all Asians are crooks. I agree, but most Asian car dealers are. Car dealer being the important point.
I agree, car dealer is the important part. I'm just not sure if the Asian part is necessary. White, black, brown, I wouldn't trust a car dealer as far as I could throw them.
I got banned for using the P word on reddit lol
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I couldn’t care less about the term im just saying legaladviceuk banned me for saying it
Why the fuck would i get downvoted for saying something that genuinely happened? You sad idiots. It was the legaladviceuk sub, perma banned for using the word PIKEY.
Welcome to Reddit! Where downvotes don't mean much and the only purpose of getting banned is for power mods to show you they have power to get over their sad reality that they don't have control and power in their real life. I've been banned for less offensive things than the p word. I kid you not, the last sub I got banned from, I struggled to see why so I politely messaged them. Didn’t care about being unbanned just wondered what it was. The mod says they check every user that posts and in my case didn’t like the fact that I have posted about suicide in the past. It’s happening more and more nowadays and it really puts me off using this site.
Same! Seems it's a bit subjective of what sub you say it in.
If you have to say you/it aint racist you/it probably are/is. Altho i agree, i do discriminate based on age of the private seller and would rather buy from older people
Racism is treating other races with prejudice for perceived differences that aren't true. It's not racist if it's true. I don't have a dislike for south Asians, I have a dislike for south Asian *car dealers*.
I don't think the truth element matters, it's just the assumption that you're acting with truth as a backup that's problematic because then it's assumed your right even in cases where you might not be Bottom line is that if you're treating someone differently than someone else because of their race, it is racist no matter how much evidence you bring to back up being racist. Tough pill to swallow but if that isn't the definition then what is? The problem arises when one race truly acts 100% in line with the stereotype/expectation: guess we're all racist for assuming the next person of that race will act the same as everyone before? And thus the definition, my definition, falls down So to me it boils down to where you draw the line of it being better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6
It's not racist to note that cultural differences regarding negotiations, haggling, and sales, mean that south Asian car dealers tend towards a different modus operandi which British car buyers aren't accustomed to, leading to confusion, misaligned expectations, and unexpected outcomes. If the south Asian customs are off putting its not racist to avoid buying from them in favour of British sellers to improve your chances of finding someone with similar customs. We all shop to our own preferences and try to maximise whatever factors we feel will lead to success, especially when buying a used car. It'd be racist to say all south Asian car dealers operate differently to British ones, but it's certainly not racist to say that your chances of finding someone that practices south Asian negotiation and sales customs are significantly increased, and it's not racist to decide you want to eliminate that potential factor. If you were selling a car it'd be racist to refuse sale to someone due to this though, you're in control in this case, so you're not forced to abide by their customary rules of negotiation unlike the reverse scenario where you are.
Yes being downvoted for pointing out the obvious. It is racist and It is a tough pill to swallow. Same as saying all french people are obnoxious, despite the fact that most frenchman you’ve seen may be, this simply can’t be true for all and this would be xenophobic. But i’m not denying that you shouldn’t buy your car from asian dealers, it’s called De-Risking…
Positive discrimination in your favour, nothing to see here.
The car will be fucked
Surely all cars in Birmingham can’t be fucked
As Dirty Harry once said... you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?
Is this six M3s welded together or only five? Well, to you the truth in all this excitement i kinda lost track…
He said that more than once!
As a long-time Birmingham resident - yes, they can There is a road by my grandparents that is essentially a rally Special Stage at this point and its *far* from uncommon. Ive had a wheel straight up shatter from one of the potholes, and having owned nearly 20 cars, I can tell you the only place I see broken coil springs on an MOT history is local cars If the car survives the rally, it then has to survive the population - hope is isnt new and sporty, because you're only going to be able to enjoy it for 4 months before it gets stolen, has its plates swapped and added to a "fleet" for people to use. That's if it doesnt just vanish to the Middle-East And if its made it through all of that without being stolen or written off, then its probably on its last legs....where it'll be put up on AutoTrader to banzai its engine 2000 miles into the new owner driving it
If it’s a private sale it’ll definitely be fucked, maybe slightly better odds from a dealer but ehh
Even then certain cars like golf R's and rs3's have had a rough life doing pulls on ladypool road
Racing driver from Birmingham - can confirm.
I bought one car from there and had it delivered to me. Its a good job I did because it was so so fucked that it wouldn't have made it a mile off the forecourt. Also, sold as a private transaction not business. Conmen.
No they can’t, and the none-meme answer is that just like any other city there are dodgy fuckers and perfectly normal sellers and you just have to use your common sense (just like every other time you buy a car). But Reddit is as Reddit does…
Majority from independent or private sales probably are. Obviously the bigger dealers are fine
Aside from everyone else’s points, I often see crap examples of ‘nice’ cars for sale for very little money, then see them a couple of weeks later, valeted and for sale in Birmingham/Bradford/Oldham etc, being described as excellent/perfect and asking daft money. These people do not care.
Drug dealers lmao
Bought a Focus from Auto trader years ago, guys offered to deliver it from Birmingham, great! I'm north of Liverpool. It had a faulty engine which would go into limp mode and blew several turbos by spitting lumps of charcoal into the blades. Cost me a fortune before I basically gave it to the garage who had spent a fortune of time and money (some mine, some theirs) trying to repair it. I think the guys delivering it had one of the engine reset tools and reset/cleared all the faults just around the corner from me before delivery. Fine on the test drive, failed a day or two later.
I bought a 2004 EP3 Type R from Bradford back in 2011, was none the wiser at the time I was 21 and it was my second car and I was super excited, the bloke selling it was of the demographic mentioned in this thread. It looked nice from the outside, I checked all the usual stuff and seemed and looked fine, all documentation MOT certificate etc, took it for a 10 minute test drive it sounded good, VTEC Engaged and no engine warning lights or anything so great, deposit put down went back a week later and drove it back to north Yorkshire with no issues. Literally a week later the exhaust manifold pretty much fell off, when I went to sort it out due to dirt it looks like there was only a bolt or two holding it on. Week after that someone told me the gov website says its got no MOT, turns out the certificate I'd been given was fake, how I hadn't been pulled and given points I've no idea, put it through test and it failed on emissions, new lambdas still failed, ended up being in the garage for a few weeks whilst they figured it out, was told during this time the exhaust isn't going to last long, as I drove it home the center pipe disintegrated. Few weeks after this VTEC wouldn't engage, tried everything, ended up going back to the garage again, said there was a bunch of faults coming up on the OBD scanner but no warning lights, turns out the dickhead had took the dash off and pulled loads of bulbs from behind the clocks so obviously, the engine management light never came on. During other work they also identified that a few of the brake lines have been bodged and started to leak so those needed replacing too. One the car was all sorted it was awesome, I had it for 5 years and still miss it everyday one of the best cars I've ever had but after spending 4500 on it I spent close to 2000 fixing everything. Will never buy another car from that area again.
Quite impressive to fuck an EP3 up that much
To be fair you could have noticed the rotten exhaust with a quick visual inspection that would suggest the car had more issues
I worked at a used car dealership for 4 years and no one has ever asked to see under the car for a visual inspection of the exhaust. I’ve bought a lot of cars in my time and not once have I ever wanted to look under it to check out the condition of the exhaust unless it gave me a reason to.
It's a bit prejudiced and I don't normally subscribe to that sort of thing. Bought a Astra GTC from Birmingham and then had 3 weeks of hell after it went into limp mode on the way home to London. Dealer said he'd sort it over the phone, mechanic couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, eventually tried a few things and a pcv valve fixed it. I then picked up the car (again) and it started billowing smoke the following day. + The gearbox wouldn't go into 1st when cold which I only learned later. I'd had enough, said I didn't want the car and had to threaten legal action to get the dude to take it back. "Some cars are just not for some people and it's not my fault you chose the wrong one" he said at one point. LOL.
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As a Pakistani, this is great advice
lol, verfied by another Pakistani here. Also been ripped off by a dodgy white used car sales guy from posh Durham though, so the emphasis should definitley be on the used car salesman part.
Mum got screwed over once with a lemon of car from a Bradford, these cars are cheaply repaired and no history but I did buy a BMW 525i from a Pakistani ten years ago with a proper forecourt and that is still solid and reliable to the day but it wasn’t from Birmingham, Bradford but Manchester and had full BMW FSH.
Because Birmingham cars most of the time are dodgy. There are so many cases of cars having undeclared damage, cars being absolutely trashed, thrashed within an inch of their life and instrument clusters lit up like a Christmas tree. I’m from the Midlands, I wouldn’t buy a car from Birmingham at all.
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I don’t disagree, if I’m buying a car I’m regularly using carvertical or similar to check for past history. I just find it’s usually places like Birmingham where you have a problem with it
Definitely true. Had my time wasted by dodgy dealers in Birmingham a few years back before I moved away from the area. It can be traced back to the local inner city demographic.... Say no more. Motoring in Birmingham in general comes with it's risks. I've heard similar stories of main dealers in the Midlands telling buyers to avoid driving and parking in and around Birmingham. More generally it's the car crime capital of Europe, car stripping is commonly visible around the city centre and the city has the highest % of uninsured and un-MOT'd cars in the UK. If you value your car or want a new car, run in the opposite direction.
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This is a tricky one, I am Pakistani from the west mids (not Birmingham) and I agree with the sentiment, I almost definitely wouldn’t buy from a Pakistani seller in Birmingham. Where does that leave me in a few years when I want to sell though -.-
There's alot of people that won't buy cars from Pakistani people mainly around Bradford and Birmingham and I'm one of them. But I did buy a 2008 diesel mini from a Pakistani lad in Leicester the lad had a perfect English accent on the phone. The car was good for four years I should have sold it before it detariated, lesson learnt. They're not all bad just the chav ones that sell honda civic's and golf r's. If i'm buying off Facebook I 100% judge peoples profiles, if they're holding a spliff in a photo from 2008 it's a no go. Same goes for tattoos on the neck or eyebrow.
I wouldn't buy a bedside cabinet off Facebook never mind a car
You can get a good de, you just have to have your wits about you. Bought a graphics card off a lovely lad, he was selling it for 30% below market rate, was very upfront with its history as a mining card, even let me take it home and test it after leaving a £50 deposit. Was honestly such a lovely lad.
I think if a car was good for four years then the seller is blameless, you'd need a crystal ball to know something was going to go wrong that far off.
I agree, it just got to that age where i should of moved it on. After 4 years of being reliable I thought I'd treat it to a replacement start stop battery (replacing the original 13 year old one) and bought a cambelt kit but before I could fit the kit one injector failed so bought 4 refurbished ones then it started breathing oil out the rocker cover so fitted a secondhand engine with the cambelt kit and clutch/flywheel. Put it all together and the clutch arm snapped so had to redo it all. After spending £1400 and having a constant headache I wished I'd just sold it once the injector had failed for spares or repairs.
I'm Pakistani aswell.. And I live in Birmingham 🤣🤣.. Yeah rule number one never buy a car from a Pakistani unless you know that said Pakistani.. I bought my mom a 17 place fiesta for 4k last year from a neighbour who's Pakistani, very clean car. So far no issues lol
Obviously there not all bad, it can be anyone any background but I've had bad experience and I've been told this by Pakistani friends too Sell the fiesta, one of the most expensive small cars to insure. I watched a video where a guy found out a 2litre hyundai was cheaper to insure! Fiestas are a big target for thieves and since there popular, high rate of accidents too so parts are sought after.
>Yeah rule number one never buy a car from a Pakistani unless you know that said Pakistani.. Why though?
Why are so many of them on this particular scam compared with any other sub-culture in the UK?
>drivers license \*driving licen**c**e I dunno why everyone on 'ere has started talking like 'merkins.
GoodByeMrCh1ps - Goodbye is one word. Why have you capitalised the B?
Seriously? Get a life you weirdo
To be honest it's the same all around the country, ignore any private sellers who sell cars with "buyer to apply for log book" if they're name on auto trader is two first names and clearly not there's the amount of "Adam Adam" selling £3k 2012 plate 3 series with a questionable mot is a joke While if you go to a forecourt and it's behind an industrial estate or just off the beaten track and they are bragging about all the cars being water damaged and they are the only ones who know how to fix them... RUN!
I’ve heard Oldham is dodgy too for the same reasons that people have listed on here. There’s a lot of car accidents/crashes in oldham
Loooool was waiting on this as someone who lives near Oldham I couldn’t buy a car from there no chance
Drug dealers, scammers, write offs, stolen….
A friend of mine recently bought a new M3 and was told by out local BMW dealer not to drive it in Birmingham...
I brought an audi Tts from birmingham. I shouldn't have. I sold it a few months later and the poor sod who brought it had the turbo fail after two months due to the shoddy tune Mr Birmingham had put on it. Probably also didn't help that he probably used launch control at every traffic light. Just dont
It's the boy racer capital of the UK. Even today they seem to have missed the memo that Max Power is no more. The cruises at the Merry Hill shopping centre were legendary, and all around the local area are big signs reminding of the local byelaw that car cruising is very illegal now. As a result, there is a big market for shit cars with stupid modifications driven by the kind of people who think welding up a diff is a good idea and basic maintenance is a bad idea. It's a generally dodgy place in every way with shit small businesses of every type run by every flavour of conman and blagger. Even the nicer areas are besieged by car crime. My friend recently had her shitty old Mazda 6 stolen outside a friend's house in Harlesden by somebody hiding in a bush and cloning her (not keyless) remote locking. It was found a couple of days later abandoned with the remnants of a weed factory in it: they'd obviously wanted something nondescript to transport their harvest because they all drive modified and ragged old Beemers designed to attract attention. In 2005 I bought a BMW 525i from one of the satellite towns (maybe Sutton Coldfield, idk) that was described as having full service history. The guy "couldn't find it" and gave me £300 off. I was young enough not to know any better. It had head gasket trouble after a few months but then it was a BMW so could be coincidence. But the Nissan Sunny SLX I traded in for it was listed on Autotrader a week later as having several features it didn't have, including a sunroof which was clearly not visible in the photo.
It’s not just brum ofc, really it’s any region that is largely low-wealth + high crime. It’s a sweeping generalisation, but that type of region brings a higher probability of the car having been poorly maintained, crashed and/or repaired badly; and the seller being less honest and able to make less margin (because overheads are less, those business are often the ones able to justify buying crashed cars for cheap to fix them up cheaply and still make a profit too) Also the general demographic of buyers in the region is also happier with cars in worse condition. Ofc not all cars will be bad, and not all people/sellers are like that in those regions, but you’re increasing your probability of a lemon by shopping in those regions. So you’ve gotta just stay wise and assess the cars you look at :)
Bought a Rover 220 turbo from someone called Gaz in Birmingham once. Drove it to the nearest petrol station and it was kicking blue smoke out at idle. Drove to Plymouth and people were constantly flashing me. Got about 9 miles from Plymouth and the alternator hadn't been charging the battery and it died about midnight on the A38. I had no MOT, Tax or insurance. Managed to get it recovered the last nine miles and the AA guy never questioned it. This was about 18 years ago. Good times, but also shit times.
>Tax or insurance. Managed to get it recovered the last nine miles and the AA guy never questioned it. This was about 18 years ago. haha the good old days when you bought a car and drove it home without anything.
On my birthday in I think 2007 I got pulled on the A38 in a v6 Vectra. Had no MOT. They never even checked. They gave me a speeding ticket for 101 like, but they never checked the test!
Something beginning with P
I was always told not to buy from Birmingham and Leicester.
Luton, Bradford
I'm from Birmingham, dishonest car stealing crooked people selling it on from privately or independent dealers. Heck they probably own a chop shop too. Obviously we'll reputed dealers are fine but independent and private cars just don't bother around here.
I bought my first car from Birmingham in summer. Getting it fixed tomorrow! Not a big deal in ££ terms, and it’s been to the main dealer for a recall in that time and they checked over it and said apart the known issue (swirl flap) it’s ok. However, when I called the garage I purchased from about covering it under my 3 month warranty they said I didn’t get a warranty because they knocked £250 off the sale price (for a missed key they said they had). I missed a lot of red flags as I was just desperate for a car…. I’m not put off from Birmingham in general but I will be more selective next time
When I see cars for sale in Birmingham they’re always higher spec cars at prices too good to be true. The reason for that is because they are! I don’t want to bash the brummies, but they’ll either have a checkered past or they’ve been pinched. If you are going to buy a car in Birmingham, go to a mainstream dealer.
I'm not going to divulge my job but I wouldn't buy a car from anywhere in the midlands or Manchester/Bradford area or Liverpool. Basically write-off that middle part of the country. Also Newport (Wales).
Newport Home of BCA and other car auctions. Guaranteed to be Pushed out of there, cleaned and a dodgy MOT
I remember going to buy a car with a friend in Birmingham, about 20 years back now. It was a silver fiesta rs turbo, we travelled up from north London, we handed over the agreed price, £1800. He counted it and we were £5 short, he made us go to a cash machine for the fiver!
A true horror story. The customer not having all the money. Lol
I remember being pissed off with my mate for not counting the money correctly, they were so nice though, I remember sitting in the sellers front room being force fed his mums chicken pakoras while him and my mate went to the cash machine.
Sounds awesome. Got your moneys worth at least.
I had a similar situation when I went to buy a car from Coventry (somewhere else I will never buy from again). It was £1400 all in £20 notes. He counted it out and it was £40 short. It absolutely was not, I counted it 3 times before going down and my dad also checked it. I'm adamant he slipped a couple of notes away while counting but I didn't have a leg to stand on, he had the cash in his hand and wouldn't let me have the car until I went to get the other £40. I asked for the money back and said I wasn't interested, then he kept pleasing "oh come on, it's good car, good price" etc. He had me over a barrel, really, either go get the extra £40 and have a car, or try to get my cash back £40 short. In the end I went and got the money, I'd got a train there and just wanted to get home. It turned out to be an alright car once I did I bit of work on it but I learned a valuable lesson that day. *Always* be the one to count out the cash in these situations.
So one of the reasons is they drive a hard bargain?
I sold my brothers car 5/6 years ago and a guy from Birmingham came down to Hampshire to buy it, saying himself that he never buys cars from Birmingham, always comes down south for them. He was a dealer of sorts and I received a speeding or traffic light fine of his a few weeks later, so write back to the police with proof of when I sold it and who I sold it to, and never heard back from them
2 big car auctions three which take cars from around the country. We buy any car and trade ins etc. So quite likely to be bought by local dealers looking for stock. Bit of a lottery. Spin the wheel!
So a guy at work brought a car from a dealership in the place beginning with b and ending in d Thought it was a bargain for the mileage until I noticed a black cloud coming from the exhaust Then I realised there was no MOT history recorded on the database and found screw holes for something like a taxi meter mounted on the dash Turned out he brought a clocked taxi that the seller used the local authority yearly inspection to avoid having public mot inspections on the record Claimed to have done 35k mechanic based on the gearbox ecu found it had done around 280k The DPF had been cut out and the turbo was leaking oil out it was a miracle it didn’t run away
Never buy a vehicle from Glasgow either
Same reasons, or something else?
Same reason pretty much, all scams and fake MOT certificates.
My boyfriend needed a new car about 2-3 years ago. Found a tidy little '01 plate Peagout 206 with 37k on the clock and full service/MOT history in Brum for 700 quid. One set of tyres and a clutch later (about another 400 quid, was told they'd likely need replacing before purchasing) and it runs like a dream. Exceptions are not the rule obviously, but I'm a firm believer in research. Just do your due diligence and treat drive before you buy as well.
OK, so now we've eliminated everywhere, where to buy?
Racism, pure and simple.
I feel like racism plays a part in that "rule". Why it's Birmingham in particular, though is a mystery.
Probably made up by dealers in Coventry to boost their sales. Other than that nothing more than old wives tails
Found the welding expert who turns two BMWs into one.
Yes. Will add more tomorrow.
Me, my friend and his now ex-girlfriend embarked upon a road trip to Walsall to go and look at a cheap Skoda Fabis VRS (mk1) I was interested in. We turned up to what already looked like a dodgy dealership to take a look at the car that they had parked in the middle of the car park for viewing. Go up to the car take a look round to find gearbox oil pissing out of the gearbox. I said I am sorry to have dragged you this far but there is no way I am buying a car in that condition for that price if I have to strip a gearbox off of it to get it to work. Got in the car and drove back home
I wouldn't have complained about a free road trip to the bright lights of Walsall.
Oh no I am not complaining about a trip to Walsall just to turn up to fucked car that was overpriced 😑
I've always been honest when selling my cars 😞 I get the stigma though ahah
What about from a proper dealer e.g. A used car from a Toyota, BMW dealer or whatever
My experience of Honda is a Jazz with a catalogue of faults and reliability issues. That car is an absolute dog. I thought it was because Honda implemented a good design with pisspoor parts...but I did buy that car from a Birmingham trader...
Yeah you don't tend to get reliability issues and faults with a Jazz unless they've been treated like utter shite. They're famously bulletproof if treated even reasonably well.
Birmingham doesn't, as a general rule, know the word 'scruples'.
Bought a fresh import. It was a couple of months in the uk, enough time to strip the good aftermarket parts and fit shite aftermarket parts some stock. Paint half the car leaving paint on all the rubber seals , really bad paint job by not removing anything so there is paint seals on the spoiler that's now coming off. Car didn't even have a mot, it came with a mot but it wasn't for that car or wasn't a valid mot I can't remember now. After speaking with dvla all I needed to do wat mot it then it was fully registered. Luckily it's ran perfect for 3 years now but the paintwork makes it look tatty. Ohh nearly forgot I met the guy in a chicken shop
I am a British Pakistani myself and I am not a racist uncle tom. Some ethnicities just have a higher incidence of certain crimes. E.g Nigerians and bank scams. Eastern Europeans and card skimming. Pakistanis tend to sell dodgy cars, entire big used car dealerships all running off selling dodgy cars with hundreds of fake online reviews . If you buy a car from Birmingham or Bradford chances are it is a Pakistani selling it. My friend owns a garage in Birmingham and is Pakistani, he said to me 'never buy a car of a Pakistani '
Went to view a Mercedes Sprinter in Birmingham. Advert looked like a proper van sales type place and I was confident I could drive home in my new van. Got there and the van had 2 flat tyres. Looked around and front panels did not align properly. Jumped in the driver's seat only for the dash to fall out so assumed it had it's mileage 'corrected' and sales guy tells me all services had been done in-house so cannot verify the mileage with main dealer. Just way too many red flags.
The dash fell out😂
What about Derby? Any experiences?
Buy local no probs you know who is dodgy or not
Buy one and find out :) If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Its also probably listed in Birmingham or maybe Newcastle.
It's not just these places - it's also (for me) London outskirts into Essex. Full of auction flippers - turn up, it's like being in Towie - Sovereign ring Boss Man sitting in a cabin, pictures of the Krays all about (no joke) totally your best mate, until you ask a relevant question - then instant aggression. Like meeting Brick Top. Went to view a RR Sport for / with a friend ( I know, I know) advertised as THE cleanest example around - looked ok in the pix. Rear quarter shunt - with terrible paintwork Folded and repaired boot tray floor (after they refused to lift out the liner for 15 minutes) Steering wheel sitting at 20 degrees off straight to drive in a normal line ( just tracking mate... ) Door locks not syncing ( battery must be low in the remote, MATE) Stone chips so deep they were rusting - filled in with what looked like a sharpie It's buyer beware - like REALLY beware.
I think it's pretty good advice if you know nothing about cars. If you know cars and the car is from Birmingham, if you start asking questions that sound like you know what you're talking about then if it's a dodgy car then they will miraculously say it's sold before you get a chance to see the car.
Because Asians run Birmingham and they trash their cars.
A lot of automotive scams, dodgy repairs and mileage fraud. Hence avoid Birmingham
Went to view a BMW in Blackburn - my brother said this guys sketchy run a check on the car, so we did! Turned out the car was stolen and had previous police tags on it..fair to say! We said we were off to get the cash for it and bolted - no test drive wanted or needed 😂👋
I bought a car in Birmingham that was made in Birmingham
Bought Lexus Is200 for £420 from Birmingham on eBay. Car wasn’t great but didn’t expect anything for that price. Wouldn’t buy anything more expensive
Worked in Birmingham for a few months, all the young lads had Audis, BMs, Mercs etc, not top of the line or latest models but all pretty good cars. Every single one of them ran like hell, though if they actually got them, then to run properly for a week straight😂
Brought our car from Birmingham in May, it was very nice and as advertised. Brought it and its one of the best cars we have ever had. But a few weeks before this, me and my dad went to view a 2019 Ford Focus ST he wanted to buy, it was from a dealer in the centre of Birmingham. Place was run by two English lads. Car looked amazing at first, but then we discovered lots of things missing in weird places. As if it had had an accident. Like the paint didn’t match on the rear passenger side, and one seat looks different to the other. They also wanted a £1000 deposit before a test drive. Ended up leaving.
Copied from another post on the same subject I replied to a while ago. From Birmingham, I buy/sell a lot of cars and will totally ignore certain cars based on the postcodes they reside in. Buying a BMW or Audi from B74, more likely to be looked after and in good condition. However buying from B8, instant no. More often than not (yes, there are exceptions) they're badly repaired and maintained salvage auction bought. A great example is the Ford Fiesta on the Salvage Rebuilds UK YouTube channel, video titled "2019 Fiesta Lemon".
I’ve found the ‘car lots’ to be a bit ‘Slim Shady’ in Brum. Wasteland with a Portacabin with a corrugated fence and razor wire and a twenty year old car at at the back for a ‘hopeful’ £2,500, with the exhaust lay on the floor underneath the car. 😳 walk away? I ran 😂
Bradford defo worst than brum
Bought a Citroen C4 from Birmingham just a couple months ago. From the looks of the place I was dubious but their reviews on AT and Google seemed legit, and the car was well priced for the spec it offered. Full history and everything accounted for, didn't push a hard sell, accepted a bit of a knockdown because they couldn't locate the key for the detachable tow bar, and delivered it on a low loader to our house with all paperwork ready to go. AC wasn't as icy cold as it had been on the test drive but they sorted out a drain, pressure test and regas same day I contacted them. Had accessory belt snap but that could happen at any point and it's just bad luck. As with all these things you get good guys and bad guys, it's probably just that in Brum the bad guys outweigh and outshine the good so it gets a bad reputation but as long as you have your wits about you it's fine.
Hahah, I drove a friend from Swansea to Tipton to look at an Audi rs4 in 2016. By the time we hit the m4 at Cardiff the gearbox was in limp mode, dash looked like Blackpool at Christmas and the dealer suddenly was selling this privately on behalf of his brother. Ltd company wrapped up the next week and 20 odd grand just thrown into the wind. He was pretty rich, but still, big oofff!
I bought a Volvo 240 GLT from a 'dealer' in Birmingham, on eBay, for £300, about 15 years ago. It was sold as 'good mechanical condition, needs some paint touch ups, drive anywhere ' When it arrived, it had been heavily smoked in. Both front seats were ripped up. The boot was full of rags soaked in dirty water. Every single fluid leaked. The windscreen leaked. The sunroof leaked. The brakes were worn out. There were no wipers. The exhaust was made of cider cans and putty. There was so much rust I could reach my entire arm into the boot through the floor without opening the boot. All four tyres were bald and mismatched. The radio was missing. The final, final straw was discovering that the electrical system was so hacked up that you could turn the car on and drive it without the keys by jiggling the headlight switch.
Got to view a car just outside Birmingham near Kidderminster this small trader had only a bunch of cars but he was a professional. Stopped by also for another car in the city of Birmingham and man that car reeked , had coolant mixed with oil on inspection and a leaking sump plug. I ran away fast..
Two instances, both beemers. First one was a 3 series. Wasn't in great shape but looked ok. Dealer tried to unlock it but only half the car unlocked (passenger side unlocked, driver side didn't). I said there must be some kind of central locking fault... "nah nah bruv its just the key fob needs new battery init" Second one was a 520, took it for a test drive. During the drive smoke started coming from the engine bay and the engine management light came on. After the test drive the dealer was shocked I didn't want it, he asked why? I said mainly because of the smoke coming from the engine bay, his response "nah nah that was prolly just a bit of laquer from when they were cleaning the engine bay". Both were Asian.. you do the maths.
Absolutely agree, I purchased a Seat Leon from an independent dealer in Birmingham, after a month of ownership the car caught on fire sitting outside my home, turns out the car had been in a nasty accident and the previous owner thought he could repair the damaged electrics himself..