But he’s not just a dealer is he, he is also a repair and servicing garage. Most garages have customers calling in or ringing up saying When’s the soonest you can book me in for my oil leak/my exhaust/my starting problem/my brakes/my service/my funny clunky noise? And which makes most business sense, repairing customers’ cars and getting paid on the spot, or putting your customers off so you can invest your time and money working on cars on your forecourt that you might sell next week or the week after or the week after that? I would do the bread and butter work to keep the cashflow flowing and the customers loyal, wouldn’t you? Then when you do get a buyer for one of the cars on the forecourt, obviously that changes the equation.
If this vehicle is typical it looks as if his forecourt sales are just a sideline, he’s going to be making less profit on this than he would take from a few days of repairs and servicing for customers at 65€ per hour or whatever he charges for main d’oeuvre.
This is all supposition of course but then, so is most of what’s been said.
True.
I must admit that, apart from the clutch and as far as you can tell from the online photos it does look reasonably tidy for a 2007 vehicle and 174k km (108k miles) is not unreasonable for a car that old.
Given that he is a dealer I assume that French trades laws would give the buyer a lot of protection.
I guess it boils down to whether this is the only suitable vehicle Mark can find or whether there are others which are just as plausible but don’t have the issue of having a defect which might prevent a meaningful appraisal and having to commit to buying it in that state, then hoping that the seller doesn’t cut corners getting it fixed.
I confess that it is worries like this which, after years of only ever buying 2nd hand vehicles, I opted for a new one when the family estate died a couple of years ago.
Mark has my sympathies, SH cars are much more expensive here than the UK and he has a specific budget and requirement which reduces the range of vehicles to choose from. I have found several choices though under 4k on LBC that might suit so I would line up a list of possibles and go and see as many as I could.
In our area… franchised Garage-dealers accept all makes of cars as trade-ins… they will “do the necessary” and offer them at reasonable cost just to “get rid of them”… but, they always give a guarantee (and Service, new CT and of course new Carte Grise come as standard).
Thus folk looking for a cheaper 2nd hand car know where to go… and anyone looking for a specific car (eg 7 seater) asks them to keep an eye out…
Our nearest small town (population just under 3k) has Peugeot, Citrœn, Renault and Toyota franchised Garages… and the mixture of 2nd hands is amazing…
Word gets around amongst the Dealers… and often a suitable vehicle is found… with no stress, no pressure… if you don’t want this one… never mind… we’ll keep our eyes open.
Buying anything is a gamble… and the tighter the budget the more confident you have to be of the product itself and the Seller…
As Mark has said “it needs a clutch which the guy has said will be done once a sale is agreed my problem is I won’t be able to test drive it without the clutch being done”
Asking for the sale to be agreed on a car which is unable to be test-driven… is NOT normal/usual…
Automatic gearboxes don’t have clutches, just saying…
The advert clearly states it has manual transmission… just saying!
I’m with @anon27586881 on this one. There’s most likely no snakes in the grass on this deal; our local garage/body shop also sells cars but they have a few of them sitting around that need work done to them to pass CT, but it won’t be done until a potential buyer has been found; it isn’t their main business so they just do it “on-demand” as it were.
Besides, it’s an actual business, which means that you have legal recourse if the car turns out to be a total shitbox. I doubt it is, but I would spring for the slightly higher price with the 3 month warranty.
Ah, now, that’s a different question.
Given that it is a dealer and, as has been pointed out, there will be legal protection anyway, 500€ is a hell of a lot to pay for only three months peace of mind.
Not sure about France but in the UK these type of 2nd hand motor warranties (essentially an insurance premium) only cover “major mechanical” components - typically just engine, gearbox and structural bodywork so don’t help much with the more common niggles (like, discovering the A/C doesn’t work).
And if it is engine or gearbox problem within 3 months, blame the botched clutch replacement 
I’m assuming the warranty covers the irritating niggles too, we almost bought a car at the local shop here (we didn’t in the end because we decided taking a well deserved vacation was higher on our “spend money on” list) and when asked about warranty it was clearly explained that it covers the major mechanical components, and any items that one could expect to work on the electronics side of things so it would cover your AC packing in after a few weeks.
But that may just be the local shop’s idea of how to do their business, not sure if it’s the same across France. Then again, nothing stops someone from asking the seller what the warranty covers, and then deciding as to whether it’s worth paying the 500 on top.
All the ones I’ve seen seemed to be “major mechanical” only and short duration - three months being typical.
They’ve never seemed worth it to be honest.
Maybe they’re better in France?
Edit: Here’s the exclusion list for a typical one on sale in the UK - Personalise Your Car Warranty With Our Additions | Warrantywise - Warrantywise is one of the more reputable companies but with so many get-outs for the insurer any claim will be a headache (and don’t even think about it without a complete service history showing all services done to manufacturer recommendations and time/mileage schedule).
Mark Dets, far too many if’s, but’s, when’s and whats from the keyboard mechanics on here. Just walk away keep looking and you will find something probably better elsewhere.
Ben depending on make model manufacture etc. more modern auto gearboxes do have clutches. Either way unless he is 100% happy he should walk away.
Nobody has yet mentioned the “Vice Cache” law which applies to all sales including cars,
This applies even if no warranty is given.
Cheers Mark…
I had heard of it… but have never read such a useful explanation.
Of course, it’s a route that one hopes never to need, as it takes time and money (which one hopes to get recompensed)…
I’ll leave @Dets to make up his own mind… he’s got lots to think about… 
We’ve sort-of implied it obliquely but not named it as such.
But to offer protection the vendor has to know about the fault don’t they? - easier to prove with a dealer I admit but presumably pretty hard with a private seller.
You’re covered for any hidden faults regardless of the vendors knowledge. Hidden from sight rather than not informed by the vendor in my experience.
I sold a car once and the radiator suffered a leak a few hundred kms later, the purchaser had the vehicle towed to a main dealer and he returned home to Corsica via other means. He demanded his money back and after some legal business I was obliged to give it to him and incur the cost of repair and recovery etc.
Ouch 
But it reinforces my comment about the warranty not being money well spent.
Why are you hoping that the car has already been sold?
#confused
I suggest you look on lafrance.fr. Cars from private and dealers. Dealers often offer 3 months warraty, sometimes 6 months.