Car Supermarkets: How reliable are Cargiant’s Checks?
Cargiant entered the car market in 1976, so they’ve been around long enough to be classed as a well-established car retailer.
Cargiant entered the car market in 1976, so they’ve been around long enough to be classed as a well-established car retailer.
Cargiant entered the car market in 1976, so they’ve been around long enough to be classed as a well-established car retailer. The main difference setting them apart from other car supermarkets is that they have just the one location in North West London that they can claim is the largest used car dealership globally. Their site covers 48 acres and nearly 36,000 m2 of showroom space, so this may very well be the case. However, whether their claim to be easily accessible is another question; we’re fairly sure those living in Cumbria and Cornwall may feel differently.
For a deposit of £99, you can search for and reserve a car online, after which you can view the vehicle at their dealership in London or ‘through an online route’. However, we could find no details of how viewing vehicles outside London is possible with only a ‘Click & Collect’ service being advertised. Consequently, you’ll need to bear this in mind when purchasing with Cargiant and have arrangements to travel to the company’s one site in London. The company does accept part exchange and has optional finance available, with the ability to drive away the same day—with their cars all coming with a minimum of 60 days MOT. One facet that does set them apart from other car supermarkets is that they don’t appear to offer any free standard warranty with their vehicles, preferring to provide optional and additional warranty and protection packages at an extra cost. To some, this may be seen as an automotive business not having faith in the vehicles they have for sale, especially when most other car supermarkets are happy to provide short term warranties free of charge.
As an independently owned car supermarket, Cargiant state that the thousands of cars they stock are thoroughly checked and inspected by their 150 qualified technicians, carried out in state-of-the-art workshops with the latest diagnostic equipment. Whether you’re allowed to view these inspection reports is a question we recommend asking. However, you are welcome to arrange independent inspections at your own expense, with any electrical or mechanical issues remedied at Cargiant’s expense. The company also carries out HPI checks on all their vehicles.
Before making their vehicles available for sale, Cargiant carries out HPI checks as standard. However, we would always advise potential buyers to do their own research and carry out a full car history check to ensure the vehicle you find doesn’t turn out to be a lemon!
Cargiant is happy to confirm that their HPI car check covers financing, theft and insurance write-offs, guaranteeing their cars have no outstanding finance and have not been written off or stolen. However, whilst this check gives some reassurance, it doesn’t cover every eventuality, such as mileage discrepancies or if a car has been scrapped. It also doesn’t show the MOT history of any past failures.
The company doesn’t state their own position on car service history, but an online article by them states ‘finding out about a car’s service history will give you a strong indication of how well looked after it has been. All vehicles will have either have a service book or online service history, which the retailer should be able to show you’. Based on this, you should be able to see the service history of any car you’re interested in at Cargiant. However, in our opinion, it’s common that some vehicles may be missing service history records entirely, or the official stamps confirming completion weren’t recorded. Consequently, if a full-service history is essential to you, it’s always best to ask the question before committing to purchase.
Cargiant goes one step further by guaranteeing their cars haven’t been written off under insurance. This data is confirmed through the HPI checks they carry out on their vehicles before they are made available for sale.
The HPI car history check that Cargiant carries out is fairly standard for car supermarkets covering just theft, finance and insurance write-offs. Consequently, it only covers the basics, so to be completely safe with your next car purchase and avoid the possibility of being the new owner of a worthless catastrophe, carry out a full history check through Motorscan. Our 80+ data points on a car will provide complete peace of mind, covering:
For a fully comprehensive car history, Motorscan checks vehicles against multiple databases. In addition, these extensive checks allow us to quickly deliver the complete history of any car, obtaining crucial data from the DVLA Vehicle checking service, MIAFTR insurance database, the PNC and Experian in just seconds. By carrying out this type of full car history check, you can be confident you’ve done your homework.
With Motorscan, you can obtain basic information about a vehicle for free. This can be super helpful if all you need is to check very basic car information. However, our premium paid options bring you vital facts about a car, allowing you to double-check Cargiant ‘s findings against a more comprehensive report. And our 5-vehicle check option works out at just £5.99 per vehicle; that’s ultimately a very insignificant price to pay for peace of mind!
