Buyers Beware: Our Experience with Linders (Finglas Branch)
In December 2016, I purchased a used Dacia Duster Signature 1.5 Diesel from what was then known as Linders Renault Finglas, now listed on Google as both Linders The Car People and Linders Opel Dublin (Finglas branch).
My wife and I were looking to buy a brand-new vehicle, but the salesperson Don Kenny recommended this particular car, saying it had “just arrived,” was in “excellent condition,” and would be ideal for us. Trusting the advice of an official dealership, we accepted the offer.
Only recently — more than eight years later — while preparing the car for a full technical inspection at Dacia Letterkenny, I reviewed the original documents and realized the truth of the transaction. We paid €18,849 (excluding interest) for a car that already had around 37,000 km, a detail that was never included in the sales contract.
That amount of mileage in under a year is far above the national average in Ireland and strongly suggests prior use as a fleet, lease, demo vehicle or taxi — all categories associated with intensive usage. Despite that, we were charged the price of a new vehicle, with no disclosure and no written acknowledgment of its true usage history.
We’ve since used the car with extreme care, averaging just 7,300 km per year, for a total of 98,631 km to date. That light use likely delayed the appearance of mechanical issues, which have only begun to surface recently: metallic rattling when braking with the clutch pressed, steering vibration at low speeds, knocking noises when downshifting, inefficient air conditioning, and persistent TPMS warnings. A local mechanic couldn’t identify the root cause.
We now have a technical inspection scheduled for June 2025 at Dacia Letterkenny, and we’ll be paying €80 per hour just to find out what may be going wrong — and whether this relates to premature wear caused by its early overuse before we took ownership.
I have submitted a formal complaint to Renault Ireland, and I’m also filing a case with the CCPC (Competition and Consumer Protection Commission). This review is not meant to attack — it’s meant to warn other consumers, especially immigrants and first-time buyers in Ireland, to be extremely cautious, even with official dealerships.
Chassis: UU1HSDJ9654802995
Plate: 161D34317
Registered to: Dayene Nascimento
Dealer at the time: Linders Renault Finglas
Now listed as: Linders The Car People / Linders Opel Dublin – Finglas
Salesperson: Don Kenny
Purchase date: 19/12/2016
We are not seeking compensation.
We are demanding accountability and transparency from a brand that claims to stand for both.
Thiago Cupollilo
Real customer
14 May 2025
Unprompted review