just found out my car has been in accident

stevewright

Just wonder if anyone can advise.

I purchased a 2007 ford focus from a small independant dealer just before christmas (ive literally had it 1 mth, taking into consideration holidays)

It came with full service history and i was advised there was 8mths left on the ford warrenty.

There was water leaking into the boot, and a rattle behind steering, so i booked into a ford dealer. I only found out today that in the process of taking the trim apart theyve noticed the car had been involved in an accident, and due to it not being fixed by ford, this has invalidad the warrenty.

The log book shows one previous owner a very large, and very very well known, famous british brand name.

Im assuming what has happened is that their sales person has had an accident, and rather than go through insurance theyve just paid a body shop to repair it.

The prob i have is, ive spoke to the used car dealer who said that just because its been in an accident, is no grounds for me to get my money back on the vehicle. Indeed nothing showed up on the hpi check etc.

He has offered if i take it in on monday, he will get a different ford dealer to look at it, get leak and rattle fixed.

Id just like to check where i stand really, he seems to think the warrenty should not be compromised if the repairs are safe (and indeed i want confirmation from ford that the car is safe) and theres nothing wrong with selling a car that had been involved in an accident.

To be honest, if the car is safe, i will prob keep it as it was very highly specced, but ford personally advised to get my money back, but the dealer seems to think if he gets the probs sorted, i have no reason to want my money back!

I also traded in my old car, which he mentioned as "not being the car he expected either" but that car had not been involved in an accident, he walked round it, offered me £600 ( i was expecting nothing) so i took it!

pitkin2020

If its been repaired and has been done properly there is fundamentally nothing wrong with it. The dealer wouldn't haven't known it had been involved in accident prior unless he looked it over closely. I would get it inspected by someone independent though. Ideally if Ford aren't going to honour the warranty thats left the dealer you bought the car off of should as it was sold with the warranty.

i'm sure others with more constructive advice will be along shortly.

ses6jwg

Not as described.

stevewright

to be honest i dont think warrenties are worth the paper theyre written on - i was actually on the phone to ford direct as i was told rattles and water ingress are not covered after 12mths anyway!

that was before i was told by the dealer that they beleived it had been involved in an accident

Inactive

Has the OP had a HPI check on the vehicle?

stevewright

the dealer did say that they were unaware it had been involved in an accident, and to be ffair to them they did get it serviced by ford a few days before i got it, so that the warrenty would be carried through! they have offered to get the leak and rattle fixed by ford.

Im assuming if the car is deemed to be unsafe i can legally get my money back, if however it is deemed to be safe even if the work was unsatisfactory, i cannot?

stevewright

i got an hpi check myself, and it was all clear, not recorded lost, stolen or insurance right off.
also text that 83600 num and it came back ok

Inactive

You could try to contact the previous owner to find out exactly what happened to it in the accident.

liam8282

I would agree with the dealer, as you said a HPI check was done and nothing is showing up, there is nothing seriously wrong with the car, and the dealer hasn't really done anything wrong.

You have bought it second hand from the dealer and you had every opportunity to get the car checked out before you purchased it. I think companies like the AA offer a service where they check cars out for you before you buy them? I might be wrong though?

Fair enough it may have been involved in an accident, but the car was repaired before the dealer got it so he couldn't have been expected to know any different, and as I said if you had somebody check the car out for you, they may have told you this before you bought it.

The accident could have been something very minor, but the repairs were just not upto a good standard.

I think the dealer is being quite fair in offering to get the car repaired again for you, and I would accept that.

It might be worth checking your service book to see if Ford have made any record of the repairs?

Most car warranties check the body, paintwork, etc. when doing the service to make sure that everything is recorded if a claim is made against the warranty.

If Ford themselves haven't even spotted the repair or faults in their service, it may be worthwhile taking this up with them?

Inactive

liam8282 wrote: »

Fair enough it may have been involved in an accident, but the car was repaired before the dealer got it so he couldn't have been expected to know any different, and as I said if you had somebody check the car out for you, they may have told you this before you bought it.

How do you know that the car was repaired before the dealer got it?

He/she may have purchased it in that condition, and had the repairs carried out him/herself.

A dealer knows exactly how to spot accident repairs, chances are that he/she would have known about the repairs, even if he/she purchased it after repair.

stevewright

to be honest i thought that anything serious enough generally would have been recorded, and as the hpi was clear i didnt think there was any need to get someone to do further checks over what appeared to me to be a like new car.

There are 3 stamps for ford authorised dealers in the service book, nothing and no mention of any other work carried out, or any suspicion to accidents etc. The dealer told me today that you really would not have known anything had happened, until you lift the carpet and trim inside the car. If the work is ok, i dont mind so much, im just concerned that other things or problems could arise from the accident further down the line, and ill end up with a car i cant do anything with.

I thought i was buying a car that had not been involved in any accidents, and indeed its looking like the dealer who sold it to me wasnt aware of accidents, i guess i could contact the previous owner but with it being a large company, i doubt id get anywhere, and indeed if they could even tell me anyway due to data protection act