Searchng for previous owners BT02 MJV

[Numbercruncher]

Hi Everyone,

I'm sorry to dive straight in with something heavy on my first post but here goes...

I'm looking for past owners of the above silver 206cc SE that has the red/black leather interior trim. I purchased the vehicle recently from a local garage and have since discovered that he was underhand by not declaring that the vehicle is in fact a cat c write off.

On the face of it it looks a decent car, nicely kept and relatively low mileage but basically the electrics are flakey, dashboard lights up like a Christmas tree even though there doesn't seem to be any reason why, and as I say when the new v5c arrived it clearly stated it had been salvaged.

Needless to say, the dealer doesn't want to know.

I would just like some background on the vehicle if I can get it, so if anyone recognises the registration I'd be glad to hear from you.

Many thanks.

[Capncol]

You have consumer rights. Suggest you do a bit of googling. I'm sure trading standards would be interested

[Numbercruncher]

Yes they have shown a bit of interest but I'm not over convinced they will do anything. I would like to see him stopped from doing the same thing again to someone else, but of course in reality I want recompense for myself.

Another thing I didn''t mention is that the car burns oil at an alarming rate for a vehicle that's only done c75k miles. That doesn't sound normal to me ?

Really disappointed as I'd been looking at one of these motors for a number of years.

[Artermis]

Sorry to hear about your poor experience there numbercruncher.

Legally you're in a difficult position. Sellers are not forced to declare a vehicle's history, including any previous write off. It is generally considered good practice to be open and honest, as like you, people feel cheated if people are not.

Legally the basic principle is Caveat Emptor - translates roughly as let the buyer take heed / buyer beware. That essentially means it's down to the buyer to do their due diligence. With car buying that means the buyer doing their homework on history and inspecting the car physically / mechanically.

Practically in your car a £3 text message would have told you instantly whether the car had been written off previously or not. It's definitely worth doing! You can pay a bit more for a genuine HPI check which has some insurances built in if you wish.

I'll get this out of the way now - there is nothing wrong with buying a cat C or D car. There is a stigma attached to buying a previously written off car, yes. All that cat C or D cars mean is that the insurer has decided it's beyond economical repair - not that it's dangerous or impossible to repair.

I've seen cars written off because the rear bumper has been cracked in an accident. Fifty quid down a scrap yard to find one in the same paint colour fixed it, but because the insurer has to use genuine brand new factory parts and then get it all painted etc it becomes uneconomical.

So I'm not suggesting you've bought a bad car - by any means.

Back to the legal stuff...

The difference between the buyer beware and legal impropriety hinges largely on the honesty of the seller. If you have directly asked the question on whether the car is a previous write off and the seller has been dishonest to you - then you have a possible fraud and a misrepresentation of contract.

The topic can become a grey area somewhat if you ask more open ended questions like "is there anything i should know about the car" then you spark a debate about what ought reasonably to be declared at this point. That's a debate that could go on for hours so I'll say no more about that right now.

More beneficial to you at this point is that the product sold to you must be fit for purpose. This is your right as a consumer. Sits somewhere in the sale of goods act but the wife is still asleep so I can't go and dig my textbooks out right now to check exactly where.

That means if you've been sold a road worthy running driving car then it needs to be just that. If the car is therefore not roadworthy or riddled with faults to the point that it's not drivable then the seller has an obligation to you to address this. You are likely to be offered repair but you are within your rights to ask for a refund.

Just a word of warning; if you've test driven or had the vehicle demonstrated to you with clouds of blue smoke (i.e. oil burning) and warning lights all over the dash and you've still gone ahead and purchased, then you've purchased the vehicle in full knowledge of these facts then you buy the problems with the car.

Likewise if you've been sold the car as spares or repairs then you've not been sold a running or roadworthy vehicle and any repairs are yours to deal with.

As a handy hint for next time - try to pay a deposit for things on a credit card. The consumer credit act is quite handy at times and grants you some additional rights / powers if you will. You don't have to pay for the item in full on card, just the deposit, but the entire purchase gets protected. Then if the seller becomes problematic you can seek to claim the funds back via your credit card company.

[Capncol]

Artemis, some of your points are outdated.
Trader should have made it known it was a Cat C- see Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (amended 2014) Regulation 6 (Omitting material information is a breach of that regulation)

Consumer rights act 2015 -Faulty goods.
Basically says goods (inc 2nd hand cars should be fit for purpose and free of faults within first 6 months) Unless car was sold with any known faults disclosed and reflected in the price/ sold as spares -repair etc:, then any undisclosed faults become latent defects, so unless trader specifcally sold it pointing out the elec faults and that it was a Cat C, the OP has the law on their side.