Part-exchange ethics

[dannyboy75]

I'm about to change jobs and need a newer, more reliable car. As it needs to be done before January I'm planning to part exchange the Audi, but it has a few gremlins.

When I've part-ex'd in the past there haven't been any problems worth mentioning, but the Audi has the following issues:

Leaky tyre (see other thread)
Air-con suddenly stopped making coldness a few months ago (might just need a regas but I have a feeling there's more to it than that)
Engine light comes on intermittently (it's done this ever since I've had it, but fault code has been checked and I was advised to ignore if car runs fine - which it does).

I might get the tye sorted if it's not too costly, but it's not really worth sorting the other 2 issues out. The question is, are you expected to declare things like this when selling to a trader, or is it up to them to spot these issues?

I'm leaning towards the latter, particularly as they usually employ the latter tactic with the car they sell to you. But, on the other hand, if I'm honest about my car then it puts me in a stronger position if I uncover any issues with the new one.

[jimbouk]

Don't lie, that should be enough. They are the professional car dealers, I assume they'll do a proper inspection before waving money at you.

[Jasp]

Nope lol, When i took mine in for part EX they didn't even test drive it, just walked round asked about the cosmetic damage then said fine ill give ya this.

[herulach]

Don't spend any money on it. IME all dealers care about is the cosmetic condition. I've traded in some proper dogs. Don't lie, just don't mention anything

[finlay666]

It's only an issue if you lie, it's not your responsibility to do their job in giving you a valuation for the worth, same as you wouldn't expect them to tell you every minor issue when buying one, you do have to do your own homework on both sides of the table when buying/selling used goods, B2B, B2C/C2B or C2C

If they fail to do a proper inspection, sell it to them but don't buy one from them!

[dannyboy75]

Thanks guys. Had a valuation yesterday and it was pretty low, so I'm going to get one from a different garage today. However if that's just as low then I'm going to have to sell privately, which is a pain in the arse but need every penny I can get for the car.