CarFirm Peterborough - BMW M6(YC62 BTE)

D

Doofus

Member
Hello all,

Wanted to document my tale of woe regarding my purchase of a 2012 BMW M6 (YC62 BTE) from CarFirm Peterborough and how I eventually got in my z4 ownership.

I’ll start this off by saying that going back through it all I made a few mistakes, partly down to the excitement of buying the car I wanted but also partly down to me ignoring my gut feeling about a few things, which I’ll explain in the write up.

So let’s begin…

Preamble
I was finally in a position to get back into owning another v8, having owned a c5 RS6 and had a short list of cars I wanted to see. Having test driven a couple cars I landed on getting an M6. Then having lurked the forums to read up about the cars, history, common issues and what to look for in terms of modifications and I landed on wanting to find a Silverstone II coloured one.

After a couple months of searching within a certain budget one appeared at CarFirm Peterborough August. I made an enquiry and was sent a walk around video and loads of images about this car. A quick MoT check showed it had no MoT and it had failed quite badly in May. This was my first mistake, as my heart was telling me to not even entertain the idea, whereas my heart said get the garage to sort issues before purchase and all will be alright. I also asked about the price I would get for the Seat Leon I currently had.

Events Timeline below for what followed.

August 22nd/23rd
Enquire about BMW asking questions regarding history, modifications, the failed MoT and sensor fault, that was showing in one of the images and possible part ex of my Seat Leon. Get part ex price estimate for the Seat.

Receive reply stating it has independent service history, the exhaust is not standard, with having carbon tips added and that the car is stock in performance and nothing has been modified performance wise. Also states that the car will have 12 months MoT and sensor fault will be fixed.

Another reply states that the non-standard exhaust was not the reason for the failed MoT.

August 25th
Receive WhatsApp video of car running with exhaust. Also says it has 2 BMW services and the rest independent services.

Email them pictures of the Seats condition, including the scratches on the drivers side door and handle. Agree to knock off some money for repair of the door and agree a part ex price for the Seat.

Agree deal for the car, including admin fee and delivery. This was my second mistake as due to work and family commitments I wasn’t able to go view the car directly for at least a month and a half, worrying I would miss out on it. They say it's a 'Trade Sale' as I am not taking warranty from them and sorting a 3rd party one myself.

Aug 26th
Email them to ask again about modification as I did a bit of internet research of the licence plate as the car was previously advertised with Stage 2 remap. Also found images of it having been wrapped as well.

Dealer confirms he will do some research on the history, also confirms MoT is booked for Tuesday for delivery on Wednesday.

Aug 30th
Dealer says the MoT is now booked for 31st due to Covid and staff holidays.

September 1st
BMW passes MoT - No advisories.

Seat is untaxed and confirmed through the .gov website that it has been part exed to CarFirm. Receive email confirmation of being the keeper and the BMW is collected and delivered to myself at 16:30. Very little paperwork is handed over, nothing in terms of servicing but a big file on work done o fuel lines. The car was also 4 months overdue on a service too according to the computer. Seat is inspected by delivery driver and collected.

Take the BMW for a test drive and find that the car stereo is not working and it has a warning on the dash for 'No Acoustic Tones'. The car also stinks of unburnt fuel.

Email dealer to ask if they can look into the stereo problems and they say take it to the local garage to get fixed and they will look at how to sort.

September 2nd
Drop the car off with H&S Auto, Melbourne, these guys are excellent by the way, would highly recommend, to take a look at it. Also request an emissions test as the car stinks of fuel still.

September 4th
Receive email from dealer saying that they have valeted the Seat and that the car has a possible leak and if I was aware of this. I reply stating I wasn't aware of a leak and that the car has had no issues in the 2.5 years I have owned it and that it had passed its Mot end of August with no advisories.

September 6th
Receive another email from the dealer that the Seat has a leak from the thermostat/waterpump and residue was found on the sump. They claim it was a long standing issue that I would have known about and ask me how to rectify it.

I received a call from H&S Autos stating they can't fix the stereo fault and that the BMW would need to be sent off for further inspection to rectify the problem. They also said the car was in for the emission test that afternoon.

I replied to CarFirm stating the Seat was perfectly fine when it was collected by them and I had no issues with it. I ask about them possibly rectifying it and if they weren't willing to, then I would reject the car.

Received a second phone call from H&S Autos stating the car failed the emissions test and that it should never have passed the MoT on the 1st September, they think it was given a dodgy MoT just before sending it to be delivered to myself. They provide readouts for myself.

Email CarFirm stating that as I am within 14 days of buying the car I want to reject the car as not fit for purpose due to the stereo/acoustic tones problem and the emissions test report.

Collect the car and leave it on my driveway and email CarFirm stating that the car is ready for them to collect and that I want a full refund of the money paid for the car.

September 13th
I received a response from CarFirm refusing my rejection. They also double down on the claims that the Seat had issues and also stating that they now found news issues with the head gasket as it failed a compression test and it’ll need to be fixed. They do offer me the option of reversing the transaction and me having the Seat and money returned, I reply stating I would accept this offer.

September 20th
Received another response from CarFirm saying that they can now longer reverse the transaction as they have already commenced work on it and the repairs would cost £2.3k to fix. They also claim it wasn’t a distance sale as I went to see the car for a full live viewing.

This was strange as there were 2 videos of the Seat on their YouTube, one of a walk around and one of them driving it and accelerating. The logbook was also updated on the 10th leading me to believe they had already sold it on.

At this point I get in touch with solicitors. I also report Eye MoT Test Station to the DVSA for a false MoT.

October 12th
BMW is booked in for an MoT Inspection by the DVSA. Car is inspected and they find that the car should have failed on emissions, missing wheel bolts on 3 of the 4 wheels, and the car got too hot for them to test brakes so had to stop the test.

I admit I only picked this up a week after getting the car,my third mistake, as I was too busy trying to sort out rejecting the car but in a stroke of luck, I went back to their walk around video and it actually showed one wheel clearly enough to see the missing bolt. Easily missable if you weren’t looking for it but that is no excuse on my part.

That is pretty much where we are at now, solicitors have sent a letter to them sectioning out what we are wanting, our position and when we start legal proceedings. So I am now left with an M6 stuck on my driveway while this gets all sorted out.

The silver lining to this Silverstone II coloured cloud is that I now own a z4 and I am enjoying it very muchly.
 
26th Aug you should have cut this one adrift :cry: you didn't so what's the solution ?
How did you pay for the balance ?
My son had a very similar experience with a £25K AMG A class bought without viewing from a main dealer during lockdown .
He paid by debit card transaction through Barclays , this enabled a "chargeback" situation to be envoked , my son had the money back in his bank account whiolst the dealership were still contesting the matter :P
Worth looking into whether you are able https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-do-i-use-chargeback-abZ2d4z3nT8q
 
mr wilks said:
26th Aug you should have cut this one adrift :cry: you didn't so what's the solution ?
How did you pay for the balance ?
My son had a very similar experience with a £25K AMG A class bought without viewing from a main dealer during lockdown .
He paid by debit card transaction through Barclays , this enabled a "chargeback" situation to be envoked , my son had the money back in his bank account whiolst the dealership were still contesting the matter :P
Worth looking into whether you are able https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-do-i-use-chargeback-abZ2d4z3nT8q
Click to expand...

I know. Kicking myself. In my mind I was hoping the mythical paperwork they said was with the car would tell me and if not take it to either Evolve or just BMW to just flash it back to normal. But again it was a case of me following my heart rather then head.

The solution hopefully is for them to payback the money paid for the car in full, and then collect the car. So far no response.

Interesting you say that about Barclays as the remainder was paid via debit card, I am with Barclays also. I asked the solicitor about this and she said to hold off for now but is an option to use as well. Good to hear Barclays were on the ball for your son.
 
If you suspect they have already sold your part ex, ask your solicitor to question them on if they have sold it, and if so what they sold it for and what their costs were to prepare it for sale.
 
Doofus said:
mr wilks said:
26th Aug you should have cut this one adrift :cry: you didn't so what's the solution ?
How did you pay for the balance ?
My son had a very similar experience with a £25K AMG A class bought without viewing from a main dealer during lockdown .
He paid by debit card transaction through Barclays , this enabled a "chargeback" situation to be envoked , my son had the money back in his bank account whiolst the dealership were still contesting the matter :P
Worth looking into whether you are able https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-do-i-use-chargeback-abZ2d4z3nT8q
Click to expand...

I know. Kicking myself. In my mind I was hoping the mythical paperwork they said was with the car would tell me and if not take it to either Evolve or just BMW to just flash it back to normal. But again it was a case of me following my heart rather then head.

The solution hopefully is for them to payback the money paid for the car in full, and then collect the car. So far no response.

Interesting you say that about Barclays as the remainder was paid via debit card, I am with Barclays also. I asked the solicitor about this and she said to hold off for now but is an option to use as well. Good to hear Barclays were on the ball for your son.
Click to expand...

Regardless of what your solictor says , i would be in discussions with Barclays , they were really good in my son's case , took the information on board & basically said " leave it with us , we will sort this for you asap " , within 48 hrs the cash was back in his bank , my son told them to collect the car as a refund had been paid , the garage said no , they had a right to repair it :D my son said ok , do what you like :P it was over 2 weeks before it sunk in at their end what the situation was .
 
I have to be honest, I would be talking to Barclay's plus trading standards as distance buying rules will apply - do not listen to the garage they are fobbing you off, plus the car is not as described and if you can prove a fake MOT then the dealer plus whoever issued the MOT is in some trouble if you start digging with the DVSA.

Regards you part ex, strange it only had a problem once you started complaining about the M6 - just seems like the garage trying to once again fob you off.

I think they have sold the P/X and now just don't want the car back as they know it is going to be an issue to sell on afterwards
 
Thanks for sharing your story, I hope you get sorted very soon and sounds like everything is in your favour.

Have you tried searching the Seat's reg online to see when the last log book change was?

Lee
 
mr wilks said:
Regardless of what your solictor says , i would be in discussions with Barclays , they were really good in my son's case , took the information on board & basically said " leave it with us , we will sort this for you asap " , within 48 hrs the cash was back in his bank , my son told them to collect the car as a refund had been paid , the garage said no , they had a right to repair it my son said ok , do what you like it was over 2 weeks before it sunk in at their end what the situation was .
Click to expand...

That's amazing. I think your right and was umming and ahhing about it but with what you have said I think an email to Barclays to explain the situation is in order.

Ole gits rule said:
I have to be honest, I would be talking to Barclay's plus trading standards as distance buying rules will apply - do not listen to the garage they are fobbing you off, plus the car is not as described and if you can prove a fake MOT then the dealer plus whoever issued the MOT is in some trouble if you start digging with the DVSA.

Regards you part ex, strange it only had a problem once you started complaining about the M6 - just seems like the garage trying to once again fob you off.

I think they have sold the P/X and now just don't want the car back as they know it is going to be an issue to sell on afterwards
Click to expand...

The DVSA sent over there test results and said thy would in contact with the garage and it'll go from there, said nothing left for me to do now and he'll just crack on with the investigation.

Exactly what I was thinking with regards to the dealer fobbing me off, just trying to scare me off chasing them to fix things.
 
What a horrible story, it sounds like they were just making up the problems with your Seat to force you into accepting the M6.
The garage that gave out the dodgy MOT could have its license taken from them.
I know its no use to you now but I had the message saying "no acoustic tones" in my X6 and it was just a blown fuse.
 
Griffo46 said:
Thanks for sharing your story, I hope you get sorted very soon and sounds like everything is in your favour.

Have you tried searching the Seat's reg online to see when the last log book change was?

Lee
Click to expand...

Yeah logbook was changed 10th September. A week and half after I changed it to CarFirm. 3 days before their email stating they found things wrong with the car.

As of last week both videos were still on Youtube of the car. Both uploaded on the 4th September so odd them claiming there were issues with the car preventing them bringing it back as well
 
Nictrix said:
What a horrible story, it sounds like they were just making up the problems with your Seat to force you into accepting the M6.
The garage that gave out the dodgy MOT could have its license taken from them.
I know its no use to you now but I had the message saying "no acoustic tones" in my X6 and it was just a blown fuse.
Click to expand...

I did ask the H&S about that, but they said they had a check of all the fuses so the issue was something more internal, possibly broken amp as I know water ingress there has been a problem, but they suggested BMW would be best placed to do a diagnosis of that.
 
That sounds like a nightmare - I hope you get a good outcome soon. :thumbsup:
 
Hindsight is a great thing and we’ve all let our hearts rule our heads, some get away with it others don’t, unfortunately looks like you haven’t :tumbleweed:

Not with a car, but another shout out for Barclays. One phone call and money was back in my account next day. Like above, company were still arguing and I said it was finished I had my money back, they were still arguing it wasn’t, phoning and emailing for weeks after I had the money back, even wrote me a nice letter offering several options to resolve rather than refund :D
 
Sorry haven't read the full thread, but the words "car firm Peterborough" were enough for me. They are the shower on the A1 just north of Wansford, in an old service station, yes?
I live quite close to them and have seen many, many cars advertised by them. I visited them once (looking at an M4). That was enough for me. I dread to think where they source their cars, but they all seem to be utter crap. Admittedly they are relatively cheap, but for a very good reason.

I have a feeling they hoover up all the German performance cars cheap that don't sell at auction TBH. :(

As far as dodgy MOTs and the like; unless you live around the area it's hard to explain; but 'laws' don't really get much attention in this part of the world. Sort of optional.
 
Argyll Andy said:
Not with a car, but another shout out for Barclays.
Click to expand...
Funny you should mention them too; my outlaws have had £250,000 'stolen' by Barclays UK as of today. Long story but it's to do with EU and brexit and Barclays being utterly fecking useless and not giving a shite :x
 
I've been there once before myself buying a performance car from a Joe Bloggs garage that went tits up, never again, live and learn
 
Doofus said:
At this point I get in touch with solicitors. I also report Eye MoT Test Station to the DVSA for a false MoT.
Click to expand...
Eye MOT centre is a long way from where Car Firm are based. Eye is the opposite side of Peterborough, there are loads of MOT garages nearer.
 
Pondrew said:
They are the shower on the A1 just north of Wansford, in an old service station, yes?
I live quite close to them and have seen many, many cars advertised by them. I visited them once (looking at an M4). That was enough for me. I dread to think where they source their cars, but they all seem to be utter crap. Admittedly they are relatively cheap, but for a very good reason.

I have a feeling they hoover up all the German performance cars cheap that don't sell at auction TBH. :(

As far as dodgy MOTs and the like; unless you live around the area it's hard to explain; but 'laws' don't really get much attention in this part of the world. Sort of optional.
Click to expand...

Yes they are. I think you are right, well I know you are right....just realised it to late in my case unfortunately.

Pondrew said:
Eye MOT centre is a long way from where Car Firm are based. Eye is the opposite side of Peterborough, there are loads of MOT garages nearer.
Click to expand...

Yeah I did have a look when I got the paperwork and did think it was a bit of a trek for an MOT.

I followed the advice from here and contacted Barclays. I have had the initial deposit given back to me in the meantime this week, while its been investigated, waiting on the bigger chunk of change to be investigated as well so that may appear back in my account to.
 
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