Assumption is the mother of most terrible car purchases
Ellis Hyde explains why you should do your homework and read the small print if you want to avoid any nasty surprises when buying a new car
Trying not to make assumptions is a good rule for life in general, but it’s a particularly helpful philosophy to stick to when you’re buying a new car – and will go a long way to help you avoid disappointment.
Case in point: the all-new, highly advanced Mercedes CLA is being billed as a potential game-changer in the world of electric cars, with the company’s website claiming that the super-sleek saloon can add up to 200 miles of range in just 10 minutes of charging, among other incredibly impressive feats.
However, as we recently discovered, the electric ‘CLA with EQ Technology’ currently isn’t compatible with the vast majority of the UK’s rapid chargers, which is a potentially major problem that the fine print on Merc’s website carefully tries to skirt around.
And I highly doubt the salespeople working on commission will rush to admit this issue to potential customers, which means drivers may only discover this after they’ve brought the car, or in the absolute worst case scenario, after running low on juice in the middle of the night!
A less catastrophic (but still pretty annoying) issue my sister had to deal with recently is that her brand-new £30k MINI Cooper – an otherwise excellent car – bafflingly doesn’t come with adaptive high-beam headlights as standard.
This wouldn’t be that much of an issue in itself, but it turns out that on a MINI you can activate adaptive high beams – quite a basic feature that most people would expect all modern premium cars to have – if you’re willing to pay a subscription of up to £70 per year, or a £150 one-off fee. New BMW customers will have shared her bewilderment, because many of them also have to pay a subscription for this feature – and various others – on their cars, but for them it costs even more.
Even floor mats, one of the most basic, cheapest bits of equipment you’d expect a car to come with, aren’t always offered as standard, as one of my colleagues’ parents learned when dealing with a particularly tight salesperson. In short, you need to be as diligent as possible and not take anything for granted during your car-buying journey to avoid being left blindsided or feeling baffled. Even the simplest question could make all the difference, so don’t be afraid to ask away.
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