I would like to respond to this message, by stating County Liquidations act only as a selling agent on behalf of vendors, in this particular case we tried to contact the vendor of the vehicle with no joy, after conversations with the purchasers Mr & Mrs S and the problems they had with the vehicle the following solution was offered,

The vehicle was actually purchased on 5^th October 2009

Our first written knowledge of their problems were stated in a letter dated 14^th December 2009, 10 weeks after purchase

Below is the written offer made to help their situation even though it was 10 weeks after the vendor had been paid

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I said that we had tried contacting the vendor on your behalf but with no result and could only assume that he was no longer trading or possibly gone bankrupt,

You said the vehicle was going back to the mechanics on the Friday as after numerous attempts they still had not rectified the fault, you said they suspected a new injector was needed at an approx cost of £100, at which I said we would not leave you in the dark with the vehicle and as a gesture of good will we would try to help out in some way,

When we spoke yesterday the bill had jumped from a few hundred pounds to £800 you have had 3 different mechanics investigate and charge you for jobs that didn’t cure the fault, the latest mechanic has charged you for diagnosing the fault, appearing to fix it then charge again for an injector that he had previously rectified, which was stated the car now is all ok.

At the end of yesterday’s telephone conversation I said that as a gesture of good will County Liquidation would pay half of the £800 towards the bill, that offers still stands,

The alternative to the above offer is County Liquidations would be prepared again as a gesture of good will to refund the full purchase price of the vehicle £4900 + £138 visa chgs = £5038

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Mr & Mrs S

Reply was to accept a £400 contribution towards the work

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Please accept the attached cheque (£400) as settlement towards recent problems with the above car,

Your acceptance of the cheque as confirmed in you recent letter, no further claims in any way will be made in respect of the above car.

I am pleased we have bought this to an amicable conclusion,

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That said, we are good company to deal with, and have a good reputation, County Liquidations

Thought I'd give my experience with county liquidations so far.

I brought a TDCI ford mondeo from them, I was told that it was from a main dealer. My mechanic gave it the once over. The car started up fine and drove off okay. The next day the air con fan started to make a horrendous noise. This was easily rectified by buying a replacement from a breakers. 4 days later the car went into limp mode. I had a few mechanics look at it and eventually it seems that it needs a new computer and new turbo. The T & C's at county liquidations state that you only have an hours guarantee on the car, but also that none of the cars are damaged. I got in touch with county liquidations and they said that the vendor had gone bankrupt so there was nothing they could do, they wouldn't tell me who the vendor was over the phone but did say the would reply to a letter, which they haven't as yet.

I got in touch with the previous owner and he said that the problems I'm having were on the car when he had it, so much for the "we don't sell damaged cars" bit on their website. To top it all, I had a little graffiti put on the car this week in white pen the kind a dealership would use to write on the windscreen of a car. It came off easy enough but I have never had any graffiti on any of my cars in 17 years of driving, so I'm a bit suspicious. I'm still waiting for this to be resolved.

I wouldn't recommend using them due to my experience. The prices are only a little better that a proper forecourt. If someone wanted to get a car from this place I would say just get a bog standard car, basic petrol or old diesel, nothing new that could have hidden problems. The problem with the computer on this car was only evident after a few days of driving, even an experienced mechanic couldn't see it. And the cost of the repairs will far outweigh any cost of savings.

Si

Hi
I bought my car through County Liquidations in 1995,

i and most of my family have purchased about 8 cars over the years and i would recommend them to anyone, they run a good tight operation and extremely helpfull and honest,

a car that my brother in law bought from them had a starter motor problem with it after a couple of weeks, there was no argument they had us bring the car back to them and replaced the starter motor free of charge.

you are invited to have a look around and if you want any keys or a vehicle started you simply just ask them, there are no salesmen forcing you into a car,

keep up the good work County Liquidations

I bought the car from them and was OK.but you need to check absolutely everything .good luck.

... and you signed up just to tell us that. Your boss will be pleased.

I went to County Liquidations at the weekend and have to say was surprised at how many cars they had there and how none pushy they all are. They deal in HP Repossessions, company cars etc. You can not test drive them but you can sit inside, look around the car, start it up and check the engine etc, you are left alone with the car to have a good look and if you decide you want to buy you make an offer (but they will only knock off £100 max). After you pick up the car you have 1 hour to take it and give it a good run and if within that hour you find something wrong etc you take it back and get a refund. There is no warranty with the cars but you wouldnt get one with a private sale either, you get a copy of the check done for claims etc. You can not go far wrong and it has to be safer then buying from Joe Bloggs of the street, as the company has a reputation to keep.

I've just noticed on the site that they are encouraging people to look at the photos then decide to buy over the phone, without seeing the cars. Many people have spent £000s like this and got nothing in return. If you can't visit their premises you should buy from someone local to you.

Whenever you buy a car you should inspect it, check the documents and, if possible, take it for a test drive. You may also do checks for unpaid finance if you are concerned. If the price is right and everything else is in order, you can buy. If not, you should walk away.

If you want a car at trade price with no warantee, it's worth visiting a local car auction or two. Buying cars like this is risky but, as long as the price reflects the risk and you can spot a worn out car, it's worth a try. You should not buy the first car that you look at and you should not bid until you've been to a few auctions. At most auctions you can look under the bonnet but you don't get a test drive before the sale.

I've never heard of County Liquidations but what they are doing is not unique. It is important though not to bid for anything that you've not seen.

I am looking for a used car for about £4,000 and have come across a company called County Liquidations in Essex who claim to sell cars at trade prices with no warranty but at very low prices. They claim they are an "agent" rather than a dealer which I have never heard of. Has anybody heard of them and are they legitimate?

Thanks.