AVOID
For many, Christmas is a time of reflection and looking back on the year just gone.
My reflection has been of a journey on which I deeply regret starting, with Car & Classic and especially Tuned Imports of Rotterdam which caused me a huge amount of upset and stress.
Whilst Car & Classic have eventually refunded my buyers premium, trying to get anyone there to act on my behalf was like walking through treacle, especially Richard Vine who had to be pressured into telephone calls as he only wanted to email and constantly reminded me I had accepted the car thus it was out of his hands.
Jos the owner of Tuned Imports is even worse. A man who only seems able to reply to emails at 2am, and finally ceased to answer any at all. Operating a very dubious business, he has been proven to LIE about the condition of the car he sells (I have proof of this as shown below).
When a fellow bidder asked specifically about there being any rust or corrosion the answer was
'Both the body and undercarriage are free of any rust issues'
This was the point I decided this was the car I want! I won the car and went over to pick it up, all the way from UK to Rotterdam.
The vehicle appeared to be in acceptable condition, and I was pressured by the employee Louis, to accept it as so on the car & Classic app, which means not only do I send the money, I pretty much loose any option to reject.
Unfortunately on return and having the car inspected by a reputable Mercedes classic specialist the reality was shocking. Massive holes abound, which means a bill of around £3500 to fix the car properly. Tuned Imports have no interest in paying the money and tell me in Holland this job is a few hundred euros! Yes it probably is when you operate a dodgy business selling dud vehicles.
After numerous emails to Tuned Imports they eventually agreed to allow me to return the car BUT still would charge me 9% for the export tax he paid. At this point the stress this has caused me has ground me down and I accept. But what a surprise when I give him some options for returning the car he yet again ignores my emails as does his employee Louis and even worse my new contact Max at Car & Classic.
I have a whole trail of emails I would be happy to share to prove this case, and most importantly I have screenshots showing the blatant LIE about the condition of this vehicle.
Ultimately my message is, AVOID Tuned Imports. They are a dubious business whom I could never ever trust. They take a small number of ‘lifestyle’ photographs which is around a third of the amount Car & Classic would take, and these photographs are a ‘lifestyle’ photo taken from a distance to avoid showing any detail.
AVOID buying a car from auction, unless you are 100% confident as to the description, and accept that especially in the case of Car & Classic that if you have pressed the ‘accept’ button you will have ZERO comeback and they really have no interest in acting on your behalf to act as mediators between vendor and buyer.
I have now had to keep the vehicle and will need to spend a minimum of £12000 to get it right.
