[willhollin]

Originally Posted by cafcmark

yes ok cheers about reminding me about the m badge a work in progress just need to get rid of the missus so to get her hairdryer on it.

I'm only pulling your plonker.

See the clownage thread in off-topic.

Welcome to E90 Post.

[cafcmark]

thank you
that's better
ive had my say and will step back and watch this thread with interest!

[leetennis]

Welcome cafcmark, please don't think ill of the forum and it's members, it's been a really helpful and informative place from my experience with good banter thrown in.
I think you have stumbled upon a quite sensitive subject and you certainly are entitled to your opinion and I do genuinely think that peter at big has probably had some finer moments to his management, how ever it seems you have had your moment of frustration too, sadly the majority don't get their happy ending.
Read through the thread he has gone about his own defence in an underhand and quite dishonest way

[Shangrila]

Hi All,

This is a great thread. In fact I've joined the site so I can comment as I'm a recent genuine customer of Big Motor World, I'm picking up my E60 5 Series this Friday. Unfortunately, I didn't think to do a search for reviews on Big Motor World before going down there otherwise I probably wouldn't have gone based on experiences on this thread, but here's my experience so far.

First impressions were good, a large amount of stock to chose from and prices were reasonable. The sales guy I've been dealing with is called Prab, to be fair he was very helpful (aren't they all!) and gave me a lot of information over the phone including a fairly accurate description of the vehicle including some minor bumper scuffs etc. Made the trip down there, about 80 miles, and the car was present and as described. After a good look over the car its appears to be a genuine and straight 5 series sold with 12 months MOT (carried out by Big), however there were a couple of issues...

First problem was with the tires, the two on the offside were brand new Bridgestones and the two on the nearside were heavily worn and of a different brand. Very odd as you'd expect the wear difference to be between front and back not side to side. Upon closer inspection the tire on the offside rear (one of the brand new Bridgestones) had been fitted rotating against its directional travel. The directional arrow on the tire wall was clearly pointing the wrong way and should have been on the other side of the car and clearly on the front matching the other brand new Bridgestone on the other side. This caught the salesman out a little as he wasn't aware of it but it was explained that the car has been in the workshop for an MOT (more on that later) and that the wheels had been removed and must have been put back on the wrong corners. Wasn't a promising start but mistakes do happen and its easily rectified, something Big said they'd do before I recieved the car.

The brakes front and back were shot. In fact just from running my fingers over the front discs I could actually feel that they were warped and there was a significant lip at the top of the discs. The rears were not much better. 5's are very heavy on their brakes so this wasn't the end of the world and I negotiated a lower price, the point being in my view it should never have passed an MOT with brakes in that condition. No mechanic worth his salt would pass a car with pitted and warped discs. However it was put through by Big just a few days earlier and it was given a clean bill of health, with the exception of the tires which is where the mechanic has evidently become confused over which corner he took what wheel from! Or maybe he spent too long checking over the brakes and forgot, I don't know!

Apart from the above Big agreed to re-paint the front and rear bumpers as part of the deal at their 'insurance approved repair centre' to get rid of the minor scuffs. There were only a couple of minor marks consistant with a five year old car but I'm a bit of a perfectist, I hope they do a good job I will be checking!
I guess I could have negotiated with Big to replace the brakes as well before I collected it, but I don't rate their mechanic and I think I'll get my own man to do the job properly.

In summary so far, as I've not actually picked up the car yet, I wouldn't say Big were any better or worse than any other used car dealer, although the MOT fiasco is a little naughty. I think if you stick to the rules of buying any used car
you should be ok. Don't take Big's word for it, or anyone else's.

a) don't believe what the salesman tells you
b) check the car thoroughly or get someone independant to do it for you
c) check the service history yourself by ringing the dealers to verify mileage/maintenance


Picking my car up Friday will keep you updated.

Pete, any chance of a couple hundred quid off for the brakes?!

[B33M3R]

Sorry to p*ss on your firework but I'd walk away. Shot brakes means dodgy service history. Sounds like the wheels are probably a mish mash of other cars rejects. The shonky MOT is the cherry on top. Somebody's going to actually get killed by this shower of clowns

[B33M3R]

You should be reporting them to VOSA not giving them your money. Sorry but this place needs closing down. There's borderline MOTs then there's signing off a death trap as safe. If you had no mechanical awareness you'd have driven around for up to a year with dodgy tyres and crap brakes. I take it you don't have kids?

[Sir_Pigley]

I saw a couple of 530d cars advertised by BIG, just discarded them as possibilities despite an attractive price - I just knew I'd get shafted and your experience shows it was the right decision.

[dxb335d]

Don't buy it!

[Shangrila]

Shot brakes means new discs and pads not a poor service history. After reading this thread this morning I called BMW and got a list of the three dealers that have serviced the car over its life time. I then rang each dealer in turn and found out when it had been serviced and the mileage plus any other work that had been done, all matches the paperwork with the car with the last service being done 6 months ago.

My point is that although the management at Big M W may adopt some dodgy practices the actual vehicle I'm purchasing appears, as far as I can establish, to have a genuine mileage, serviced regularly and not been involved in an acident which are the most important three things to me.

It could well have had a wheel from another vehicle which would explain the tire mismatch, but the car is five years old so its possible its had some curb damage and they've swapped it for a decent one. As long as its balanced properly its not likely to be an issue. Not trying to defend them, but I'm not going to turn down a perfectly straight car at a reasonable price just because it needs new brakes.

Luckily I don't think I've been caught out, but someone else might if the car isn't checked over properly which is not on.

Having said that, no doubt I'll now break down on the way home.

[willhollin]

So the car was for sale with shot brakes which wouldn't have passed an MOT?

Someone without experience of buying cars could have bought that without knowing thinking everything was OK couldn't they?

Why on earth would you trust them????

[willhollin]

Originally Posted by Shangrila

a) don't believe what the salesman tells you
b) check the car thoroughly or get someone independant to do it for you
c) check the service history yourself by ringing the dealers to verify mileage/maintenance

If you have to do this when purchasing a vehicle off a 'reputable second hand car dealer' then WALK AWAY!

[B33M3R]

Mate

A service history is important but not an indicator that a car has been well looked after and not hiding any gremlins someone else punted out to auction so there was no comeback. An MOT only means a cars roadworthy on the day it was done and a clear HPI doesn't mean a cars not taken a whack. Just means there's been no insurance claims made against it.

If you went to look at a car privately and it had weird tread wear and shot brakes with a nice new MOT you'd likely walk away or at least get an independent inspection done. Why are you even accepting it in this state let alone still handing over your hard earned?

Hey Biggsy, why not put all our minds at rest and fork out for an RAC inspection on this car. Surely you must be concerned at the state of the brakes with a car carrying an MOT from your fine establishment?

[bigbmw]

Originally Posted by B33M3R

Mate

A service history is important but not an indicator that a car has been well looked after and not hiding any gremlins someone else punted out to auction so there was no comeback. An MOT only means a cars roadworthy on the day it was done and a clear HPI doesn't mean a cars not taken a whack. Just means there's been no insurance claims made against it.

If you went to look at a car privately and it had weird tread wear and shot brakes with a nice new MOT you'd likely walk away or at least get an independent inspection done. Why are you even accepting it in this state let alone still handing over your hard earned?

Hey Biggsy, why not put all our minds at rest and fork out for an RAC inspection on this car. Surely you must be concerned at the state of the brakes with a car carrying an MOT from your fine establishment?

hi biggsy here as you call me as this man said its a used car why is it ever time some one says the fact about our garage like the sales man told him about the car before he came about the marks and correctly and the person says we have lots of cars this is still wrong we have over 500 bmws one salesman could not know every car in one place they are human but hes gone to car told the person as much as he could see hes not a teck hes a salesman as for breaks mot testers have to do a break check and have to get a test printer done on this car cars when they sit around (brakes) to get rusty on the survice the person has also told you he checked his car out dont alot of people do this to if this costmer has any problems please e mail me on peterbmws@hotmail.co.uk by the why has this poster bought a car from us would be nice to know to we try as much as we can if any one has a problem please e mail me thanks

[bigbmw]

Originally Posted by willhollin

If you have to do this when purchasing a vehicle off a 'reputable second hand car dealer' then WALK AWAY!

i agree with shangrila and his post . dont trust any sales man in any company get it in writing at all times . check car out all papers and make sure its right it takes two min to give your money away and years to earn it ,,,,,,check check ever thing you buy

[bigbmw]

Originally Posted by jdcampbell

I saw a couple of 530d cars advertised by BIG, just discarded them as possibilities despite an attractive price - I just knew I'd get shafted and your experience shows it was the right decision.

did you come down to used thats a shame but i hope you got yourself a nice bmw

[Toby1990]

It just makes my head hurt trying to decipher these posts!

[Shangrila]

Got the car last week as planned really pleased with it. The paint job they've done on the front and rear bumpers really is superb. Had a proper look at brakes (wheels off) and the pads are much better than I originally thought with plenty of life left, the discs are still a little on the thin side with a lip at the top. Will need changing soon but this was negotiated in the price. Overall I'm very happy with the car. If I was going to grumble it would be about the tires, they only changed one for the MOT preseumably because that's all that needed changing but this left me with a mis-match of tread depth on the front. But then again their prices are reasonable and wouldn't be if they changed all four, but I factored in the fact it would need new rubber when buying. They seemed to be very helpful when I picked the car up and accomodating.

Very pleased with the car, in fact I love it. Great to be back in a BMW and I feel like I'm 19 again when I was driving around in a 1984 323i!

Make your own minds up I guess, some people may have bad experiences but with the amount of cars they're turning over I guess there are going to be some who have problems with their car. Not everyone can afford to buy approved used from a dealer! Just check what your buying as best you can.

[leetennis]

Originally Posted by Shangrila

however there were a couple of issues..

First problem was with the tires, the two on the offside were brand new Bridgestones and the two on the nearside were heavily worn and of a different brand. Very odd as you'd expect the wear difference to be between front and back not side to side. Upon closer inspection the tire on the offside rear (one of the brand new Bridgestones) had been fitted rotating against its directional travel. The directional arrow on the tire wall was clearly pointing the wrong way and should have been on the other side of the car and clearly on the front matching the other brand new Bridgestone on the other side.

The brakes front and back were shot. In fact just from running my fingers over the front discs I could actually feel that they were warped and there was a significant lip at the top of the discs. The rears were not much better. 5's are very heavy on their brakes so this wasn't the end of the world and I negotiated a lower price, the point being in my view it should never have passed an MOT with brakes in that condition. No mechanic worth his salt would pass a car with pitted and warped discs.

Are you kidding me! Warped and pitted discs are now ok on second glance, I thought you could feel how the how bad the lip was?

2 brand new bridgestones, two heavily worn, now only one needs replacing as if by magic your worries of "5's" being heavy on their brakes and fears of poor tyres have all gone away, your driving it away in the same crap you found it in but at a good price of course! Shouldn't a decent dealer and purchaser prioritise the safety of the car you are driving away over the sealing of a deal.
If you are a genuine buyer and poster, then you are also a mug.

[F31-340i]

Originally Posted by Shangrila

Got the car last week as planned really pleased with it. The paint job they've done on the front and rear bumpers really is superb. Had a proper look at brakes (wheels off) and the pads are much better than I originally thought with plenty of life left, the discs are still a little on the thin side with a lip at the top. Will need changing soon but this was negotiated in the price. Overall I'm very happy with the car. If I was going to grumble it would be about the tires, they only changed one for the MOT preseumably because that's all that needed changing but this left me with a mis-match of tread depth on the front. But then again their prices are reasonable and wouldn't be if they changed all four, but I factored in the fact it would need new rubber when buying. They seemed to be very helpful when I picked the car up and accomodating.

Very pleased with the car, in fact I love it. Great to be back in a BMW and I feel like I'm 19 again when I was driving around in a 1984 323i!

Make your own minds up I guess, some people may have bad experiences but with the amount of cars they're turning over I guess there are going to be some who have problems with their car. Not everyone can afford to buy approved used from a dealer! Just check what your buying as best you can.

Real punters don't talk like this, IMO.

[edowen]

Would love to know if Shangrila's ip address is similar to that used at BIG MOTORING WORLD.

[Shangrila]

Leetennis - Do not call me a mug. Your not doing yourself any favours by trying to insult me.

I posted on this thread because I felt I had something worth while to add, but unfortunately it would seem some members are only interested in bashing Big Motoring World and only hearing about horror stories, I would suggest they're the same people who can afford to buy approved used or similar and feel they are writing from some higher authority.

I had a fairly ordinary experience with Big Motoring World. Some people are clearly not happy about that. I can't see how this thread can continue if people are going to accept that not everyone has a bad time at Big M.

I'm not endorsing them, I'm just telling you about my experience with them.

[MEGA]

Originally Posted by Shangrila

Leetennis - Do not call me a mug. Your not doing yourself any favours by trying to insult me.

I posted on this thread because I felt I had something worth while to add, but unfortunately it would seem some members are only interested in bashing Big Motoring World and only hearing about horror stories, I would suggest they're the same people who can afford to buy approved used or similar and feel they are writing from some higher authority.

I had a fairly ordinary experience with Big Motoring World. Some people are clearly not happy about that. I can't see how this thread can continue if people are going to accept that not everyone has a bad time at Big M.

I'm not endorsing them, I'm just telling you about my experience with them.

You're getting offended that we have an issue with big. You can understand why people might think that suspicious. You're also defending them directly on the "issues" they initially had with the car you've allegedly bought. So take those suspicions and multiply them.

If you're legit: Why are you getting narky?

Also: What favours is lee not doing himself? You going to get his address and go medieval on his ass?