dealer sold me a car, i later find out its a CAT C and is flagged by dvla

edaniels1983

i placed my car for sale in the bargain pages newspaper.
a few days later a dealer phones me wanting to buy my car. after a telephone discussion he asks me why i am selling my car and i reply, telling him i want to buy a renault scenic as its better for my young son.
the dealer states that he has a renault scenic on the forecourt and that he would do a straight swap sale if i aggree. i say ill come and have a look.
i go to the garage with my wife and son and have a look at the scenic. the dealer has no paperwork for it but says its in the post to him, but that he has done the online checks and its all ok, MOT till sept and tax till end of april(tax was on car). he was a dealer so i trusted him and agreed to the swap. he gave me a receipt and said when logbook and mot came he would phone me.
a few days later the car started leaking oil and water. i had these repaired along with a throttle cable, a new radiator, new cam seals and a new timing belt.
the end of the month approached and tax was due but i still had no mot or logbook so on the 27th april, the logbook and mot still hadnt arrived so i phoned DVLA. they informed me that they would never of arrived as it was a CAT C write off and in need of a mot and a vic test by VOSA.
i was in shock and phoned the dealer who just calmly said that my car was still on the forecourt and that to have it back. i felt i had no other option but to accept this.
the dealer was very un apollagetic and made me very uncomfortable.
a few days later in the express and star newspaper, there was a article about the dealer, saying he is an illegal business and only recently been operating, he had told me he had been a dealer there for 20 years!!
i risked my life driving the vehicle and broke the law(unaware by myself as i was insured in good faith , not knowing the history of the car)
i feel i should be compensated for this and the dealer should be brought to justice.

BLT_2

edaniels1983 wrote: »

i placed my car for sale in the bargain pages newspaper.
a few days later a dealer phones me wanting to buy my car. after a telephone discussion he asks me why i am selling my car and i reply, telling him i want to buy a renault scenic as its better for my young son.
the dealer states that he has a renault scenic on the forecourt and that he would do a straight swap sale if i aggree. i say ill come and have a look.
i go to the garage with my wife and son and have a look at the scenic. the dealer has no paperwork for it but says its in the post to him, but that he has done the online checks and its all ok, MOT till sept and tax till end of april(tax was on car). he was a dealer so i trusted him and agreed to the swap. he gave me a receipt and said when logbook and mot came he would phone me.
a few days later the car started leaking oil and water. i had these repaired along with a throttle cable, a new radiator, new cam seals and a new timing belt.
the end of the month approached and tax was due but i still had no mot or logbook so on the 27th april, the logbook and mot still hadnt arrived so i phoned DVLA. they informed me that they would never of arrived as it was a CAT C write off and in need of a mot and a vic test by VOSA.
i was in shock and phoned the dealer who just calmly said that my car was still on the forecourt and that to have it back. i felt i had no other option but to accept this.
the dealer was very un apollagetic and made me very uncomfortable.
a few days later in the express and star newspaper, there was a article about the dealer, saying he is an illegal business and only recently been operating, he had told me he had been a dealer there for 20 years!!
i risked my life driving the vehicle and broke the law(unaware by myself as i was insured in good faith , not knowing the history of the car)
i feel i should be compensated for this and the dealer should be brought to justice.

Have you considered a career on the stage, I think I just cracked a rib laughing :rotfl:

edaniels1983

im here for advice, not insulting.

i thought i was more secure at a dealers than a private sale.

BLT_2

edaniels1983 wrote: »

im here for advice, not insulting.

i thought i was more secure at a dealers than a private sale.

My apologies, it wasn't meant as an insult, more as my view of dealers. There are many honest dealers out there, but just as many who sell complete dogs, the problem being that they are more adept at hiding faults than the general public.

Probably the best place to buy a second hand car is Ebay, if you actually look at the descriptions most people will list all of the faults on the car as they are protective of their feedback.

You will rarely see an advert from a dealer saying 'Lovely car, but needs a bit of work to make it perfect'

coolio_2

Was he a dealer or a trader? If a dealer speak to head office. I assume when the repairs were required they were carried out by him at his expense, so youre not out of pocket?

I would speak to your local Trading Standards as I'm guessing they already have a file given what you have said.

edaniels1983

he was a trader. small business with about 12 cars on forecourt.

i paid for repairs as he said it was sold as seen and wouldnt cover cost when asked.

aqueoushumour01

edaniels1983 wrote: »

he was a trader. small business with about 12 cars on forecourt.

i paid for repairs as he said it was sold as seen and wouldnt cover cost when asked.

sold as seen doesn't apply to dealers. ideally you would have contacted him before getting work done and ask him to pay. if he refused then you go to a higher power to look into your rights. You shouldn't have had to pay. Does he claim to be a trader in his adverts or are they presented as private sales? if he's saying 'sold as seen' then he is ignoring the rules and you never know he may not be paying taxes on business earnings so a phone call to the inland revenue informing them of his business might be in order if you're really !!!!!!.

hethmar

"a few days later in the express and star newspaper, there was a article about the dealer, saying he is an illegal business and only recently been operating, he had told me he had been a dealer there for 20 years!!"

Why did national newspapers bother with him? I assume he is now out of business, so where would you get compensation from? You seem to have been quite lucky in the circumstances - at least you still have a car. Have you spoken to your local Trading Standards?

edaniels1983

he has been given 2 months to comply with a notice of closure. he is still open as i drove past today.

this has caused alot of distress to my family because thinking about the risks we were at by driving about in it for 3/4 weeks! anything could of happened.

i have e-mailed consumer direct, my local solicitor, my local counciler.

hethmar

I honestly dont think you will get anything from him. He is most likely bankrupt anyway but very best of luck.

forgotmyname

Did you get your car back? What loss do you want to claim for?

Who & Where is the dealer? Seen a mondeo estate that looked to good to be true so i never bothered. That was in walsall.