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I've recently bought a performance car from a dealer, within a couple of weeks of ownership I noticed a few issues so I got the car on a mate's ramp to check it over, spoke to the dealer who is sorting it all under warranty (I know my consumer rights protect me much more than any warranty) so I've no concerns there
Whilst going through the service history I realised the dealer has cut out all the previous owner's details from the invoices due to GDPR, which I understand but annoys me as it ruins the service history a bit for me
Anyway the dealer has missed one invoice where the name and phone number of the last owner is quite small and in the top left hand corner of the invoice with another invoice stapled to the top of it so easily missed
Checking the phone number on whats app and the number comes up with a picture
How would you feel about the new owner of your old car politely contacting you with a few questions about the car?
If it was a boring run of the mill car id prob not bother but as its a performance car the previous owner is likely to be a petrol head and not mind?
Personally I wouldn't mind.
But it does depend on the individual, and I think issues would arise if the person wasn't happy about being contacted. They would probably want to know how you came about their details for a start.
I wouldn't be happy if it was out of the blue - like you are suggesting.
No issues with being contacted, but I'd need to agree and know about it rather than a complete stranger dropping a message to me.
As long as the person was polite and seemed genuine it wouldn't bother me.
The person who bought my old house recently rang to ask me how the rainwater system I'd installed for flushing the toilet worked, happy to help, but I know where she got my details from
Why on earth should GDPR apply to a paper invoice? I have all the previous invoices from the service history of my car.
It seems OTT for the garage to have cut the invoices up - if the owner was that paranoid he'd have done so before passing them on to the garage.
If you're not sure about contacting him, perhaps a polite letter would be a better way (assuming you also have his address)?
I did this exact thing when a dealer forgot to cut out an email address from an old garage receipt. The owner was surprised but happy enough to be contacted. They didn't offer the reason they sold the car although I did mention it would be our main family vehicle hoping they might own up to any known issues. The dealer confirmed it came from auction so I assumed WBAC or similar due to mileage/age. They took good care of the car according to the invoices and service history, nicely written email too. Sub £6k Peugeot Partner Teepee so more for my own peace of mind.
Perhaps text first if mobile number asking if prev owner happy to discuss car.
The OP seems very keen to point out its a performance car but a bit lacking indetail.
Nova SRi?
I don't see a problem, owners of "performance cars" often like to talk about them. Definitely text/WhatsApp first
The OP seems very keen to point out its a performance car but a bit lacking indetail.
Nova SRi?
SRI how dare you!! nothing lower than a GTE for me
Its a mk3 Ford Focus RS running a Mountune 375 kit so really a hot hatch
So ive reached out to the previous owner via Whatsapp and they are happy to answer my questions
Why on earth should GDPR apply to a paper invoice?
The op is presumed it was the dealer and not the previous owner who's redacted all the address/contact info.
Why on earth should GDPR apply to a paper invoice?
Because paper invoices can contain people's name, address, email and phone number, its a recently new thing that dealers have to remove this info to comply with GDPR law
luckily the guy is fine with me contacting him
The OP seems very keen to point out its a performance car but a bit lacking indetail.
Nova SRi?
SRI how dare you!! nothing lower than a GTE for me
Its a mk3 Ford Focus RS running a Mountune 375 kit so really a hot hatch
So ive reached out to the previous owner via Whatsapp and they are happy to answer my questions
A Focus RS? Given the demographic its likely the previous owner may not be literate and only be able to communicate via grunting noises 😉
A Focus RS? Given the demographic its likely the previous owner may not be literate and only be able to communicate via grunting noises
Lol I think the Golf R has a worse demographic these days!
In nearly 30 years of Ford RS ownership I've yet to become non communitive, I may have to buy a Citroen Saxo for that 🤣 🤣 🤣
Well that took an awkward turn... 😁
Have had this with both my last Abarth and my previous Caravelle.
The Abarth he just wanted to know if I'd done any work and any history as the dealer dispensed with its history file for some reason. He got a load of photos and some info on what was done when and by whom.
The Caravelle we chat regularly and commiserate over how abysmally unreliable it is (I believe it's on engine rebuild #3 now). A couple of weeks ago a wheel bolt fell off at speed and ptanged down the road in front of him, turns out the owner before me had put a helicoil in that hub having cross threaded one of the bolts.
sounds like you have had the result you were after, but i wouldnt have an issue if someone contacted me about a previous car. i could tell them how many times I lapped Goodwood or the 'Ring in it 😋 😋
A tuned RS is likely to be owned by an enthusiast and most of the time they love to talk cars.
Honestly, I think you got lucky.
If I bought a car and had cause to contact the previous owner, I'd ask the dealer to pass on a message for me to ask if they were open to chatting. If I sold a car and got a message out of the blue from the new owner I'd be pissed off that the dealer had given out my details.
The OP sounds like a reasonable person but plenty aren't. And I've spent sufficient time on Pistonheads to realise that "piston" is often the wrong adjective to describe some owners of performance cars.
If I sold a car and got a message out of the blue from the new owner I'd be pissed off that the dealer had given out my details
All this talk of the dealer removing contact details on the service history confuses me. Is the previous keeper's[1] name and address no longer printed on the V5C?
[1] Yes, I know owner and keeper are separate, but 99% of the time they're the same person.
All this talk of the dealer removing contact details on the service history confuses me. Is the previous keeper's[1] name and address no longer printed on the V5C?
Yes, but not the 'new keeper' slip you tear off and hand over.
We traded in our old Octavia estate last September and got a letter from tne new owner about 6 months later - wanted to know if we still had the removable tow bar and if he could buy it.
He also thanked us for keeping on top of the servicing and looking after it.
If I sold a car and got a message out of the blue from the new owner I'd be pissed off that the dealer had given out my details
All this talk of the dealer removing contact details on the service history confuses me. Is the previous keeper's[1] name and address no longer printed on the V5C?
[1] Yes, I know owner and keeper are separate, but 99% of the time they're the same person.
The previous keeper's details are not printed on the V5 anymore and service history/invoices can contain lots of previous owners details
I had someone reach out to me on a owners forum after seeing my post.
I think he really wishes he hadn't found me.
I sold my car for pennies with a bent chassis at the upper passenger wishbone mount all declared -it had been pressed down into the chassis leg so it was no longer possible to get the geometry correct.
He had bought it from the chap I sold it for at market rate and had been chasing a terrible vibration with tires and balance and tracking.......
Told/showed him exactly what was wrong and he confirmed it was still the same. Showed him my advert. He was near apocalyptic.
Never did let me know if he sorted it with the seller.