After severing all ties with my K-registered Rover 414Si last year, I went to Dixon Ford, then managed by TC Harrison. A P-registered Escort LX caught my eye, and I was soon making further enquiries.
A test drive later and the deposit was paid. I was told "you're seeing the car in it's worst condition" by the salesman, and I was assured that it'd be cleaned and valeted before I picked it up a week later.
The happy day arrived, and off I went to buy my car. I paid for it in cash - all £6,000 of it. It was then that I was offered *gasp* an extended two-year warranty. The salesman said it covered me for the clutch and a host of other things which I didn't even know a car had! I've had a new clutch fitted before, and with the two years of breakdown cover with the RAC included, it sounded like a good deal. That cost me another £350.
(Just to interrupt for a second - when I got in the car, I noticed that it hadn't been valeted as the dashboard was as dusty as it was before, there were the same mud splashes on the bodywork, and the ashtray had the same half-pack of polo mints that were in there the previous week)
Now, had I taken the opportunity to ask to read the terms and conditions beforehand, rather than trusting the salesman's word, I could have saved myself £350 on the useless warranty.
I was given no RAC membership details - not even a phone number to call if I broke down, rendering the breakdown cover effectively useless. OK, I thought. I can live with that for a while, it's probably in the post. Six months later, and numerous e-mails and phone calls later, I've only recently been given the emergency breakdown number I need to call.
Dixon have refused point blank to refund any of my money, even though the responsibility now lies with them as oppose to TC Harrison.
The lesson to be learned here is "sign NOTHING until you've read EVERYTHING". Also never forget that salesmen are out to make money. Doesn't matter how friendly they seem, at the end of the day they don't give a damn about you, they're just after commission on a sale.
I also discovered that the two-year warranty is not worth the paper it's written on, since it doesn't cover any parts that are ever likely to break. Sure the clutch is covered, but the cover excludes friction parts (the only part of a clutch that fails!). I took the car back on one occasion, about three weeks after buying it, because the seal on the rear wiper had been displaced and needed putting back. I was informed that that wasn't covered by the warranty either, and they could fix it at a cost of a further £30!
Twenty minutes of poking aforementioned seal with a screwdriver soon rectified the fault, and I saved myself £30. Little comfort considering the amount of money I'd given them.
Furthermore, I wasn't told that in order for the two year warranty to remain valid, I have to have the car serviced THERE (nowhere else will do) every 10,000 miles. I drive 30,000 miles each year, and I cannot afford to pay for a 10k service 3 times a year at £99 a shot.
As I explained to Dixon when I contacted them last - I wouldn't buy another car from them in a million years, and will recommend that everyone else do the same.
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Feb 1st, 2001
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