When I bought my current car the clutch was going but drivable. I did a test drive and they fixed the clutch when I said I would have it
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That seems reasonable to meā¦ 
You were able to Test Drive before making the decisionā¦ thatās what makes all the differenceā¦ IMO
So the bottom line is that it is normal for French dealers to put cars on the forecourt with work still to be done - this does happen at smaller dealers in the UK, but my experience (and lets face it we are all affected by our own personal experience first) is that didnāt work for me.
Paulā¦ it might be considered normal in some areasā¦ . but in my part of Franceā¦ it is certainly not considered normalā¦ my neighbours looked a little amazed that anyone would be expected to buy a carā¦ without trying it firstā¦ 
Iāve been chewing-over this subject with them this morningā¦ at the Barā¦ (Iām buying plants not drinks)
So, this is perhaps another of those situations/questions, where there is not a blanket answer, which covers all of Franceā¦ seems different areas might do things differentlyā¦ phewā¦ glad I live hereā¦ 
Or different Garagistes Stella - Our local garage in the Bourg always has a collection of second hand cars, in various states of repair, on the small forecourt. It is known they are for sale - No price shown. If you take a fancy to a certain vehicle folks hereabouts then enter into negotiations with the Garagiste. Our next door neighbour got a lovely little van that although dented and a little rusty and needed new tyres, windscreen wipers and the distribution done, was a great deal.
Agreedā¦ good Garagistes aboundā¦ but they will not pressure a possible customerā¦ they will have a reputation to maintainā¦they will discussā¦
Of course, Cars do not have to be nickelā¦ but the customer should be allowed some discretion and not feel pressured to make a āblindā decisionā¦as it would appear was the case with @Dets .
OK so an update went to view the car and was offered a test drive the clutch to me was not as bad as vendor had said slight bit of drag but nothing major but vendor said he was not happy with it he also said a few little bits were needed to sort before sale rear window wouldnāt open common fault on scenics air bag connector needed changing another common fault on scenics the oil change and he said he would contact Renault to find out when the last cambelt change was done as no receipt for it he said if renault had paperwork he would supply it with paperwork of car if not he would change the belt and parts as it was not worth his while to sell a car that in that state and he would sort a new ct I pointed out the rear tyres were low he said heād look at that I was very happy with the car and the seller including the guarantee.
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Well, that is a turn up for the booksā¦ well doneā¦ you got your Test Drive after allā¦
Sounds like you and the Seller are (finally) getting on like a house-on-fireā¦ (perhaps he has seen the forum 
)
Good luckā¦
No, the seller doesnāt have to know about it under French law. If itās flagged up on the CT the buyer has no legal grounds for a case, but if not itās a decision made by the āexpertā as to whether the seller ought to have known or not.
Hello Angela and welcome to the Forumā¦
Thanks for the clarificationā¦ whereabouts in France are you ??
Not with a barge pole. Trust me.
So, the vices cachĆ©s laws must make being an eBay seller in France āentertainingā, in fact it makes me wonder why anyone would bother selling a 2nd hand anything.
Iām glad you werenāt put off.
What you say is in entirely in line with my experience. It sounds like he knows cars inside out and he is serious about providing a good service, keeping his customers happy and looking after his good reputation, which is what I said earlier.
I couldnāt seriously believe any car dealer would expect anyone to buy a pig in a poke without giving them an opportunity to test drive it, and I still donāt understand why there has been so much naysaying and suspicion around what in my experience is a common way of selling cars in the real world. OK it might not be how car dealers operate in the UK, but this isnāt the UK.
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Annaā¦
In the beginning @Dets was saying he was not able to Test Driveā¦ Hence our concernā¦ 
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Exactly. And how could it then have a ct yadda yadda.
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Well, if the dealer had said that, then I would have agreed it was very odd.
I canāt see where the dealer ever did say no test drive. I think the OP was worrying unnecessarily.
If the clutch had been too bad to take it for a test drive at that time, Iām sure there would have been an opportunity to test drive it after it had been fixed and before finalising the sale.
I donāt understand
-firstly I donāt know what yadda yadda means, and secondly I donāt see the connection between CTs and clutches. AFAIK the CT does not cover clutches, at least Iām pretty sure it didnāt used to and Iām not aware that it has snuck into the new more comprehensive test, but it might have so I stand to be corrected on that.
Have you really never come across yadda yadda as a version of etc? Goodness. I believe it is an Americanism, like snuck.
Re the connection between cts and clutches - I thought a ct meant a car was legally roadworthy but perhaps a clutchless car will pass a ct no problem, perhaps you donāt need a clutch to be legally roadworthy, perhaps the fact (is it even a fact?) that it canāt be driven is immaterial, who knows.
I donāt want to be all Lord Finchley about it and I pay my garage so I donāt have to think about these things, each to each.
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Perhaps Mark didnāt understand the Sellerās English ā¦
Sounds like this guy is having cash flow problems, because it would be much easier to make a sale if he fixed the clutch first. So the question you have to ask yourself its whether he will still be there if something goes wrong shortly after you take delivery?
Yes I know what yadda yadda means. I donāt know what the yadda yadda, or etc, is, in this context - a ct and ā¦ andā¦?
And still people are pitching in because they donāt āgetā this business model even though it is very common in France, and anything they donāt āgetā must be bad. Unbelievable. Mike, FGS - the guy has been in business for donkeyās years. Itās not like itās the first car heās ever sold.
Iām out.