A bit of help needed, possible contract breach

jimmo

The last time I bought a car, 2001, I bought it from a local, dealer with a hell of a good reputation and he had been trading from the same premises for at least 20 years. General opinion was that his prices were a bit steep but the cars were A1.
He told me that, as a dealer, he had to do an HPI check on every car he put up for sale and I believed him, didn‘t do my own HPI check and bought the car.
Many may say that I was naïve to trust the dealer but 9 years later that car, a 1998 Mondeo Verona , belongs to my son and is still going strong.
Just to explain that, my wife is disabled and gets a brand new car under the Motability scheme every 3 years. Since we both retired in 2006 we have only needed one car so my Mondeo had to go.
When we look at your problem the first principle is that you have to give the dealer the opportunity to put things right. Only if he fails to do that can you go to court.
I like to think that if the dealer who sold me the Mondeo in 2001 had sold me a duffer he would have done everything possible to appease me rather than risk his reputation.
Now, what about your dealer?
Is he an honourable man who will sort things out to your satisfaction, or, at the other extreme, might he send a few of the boys round to give you a lesson on diplomacy?

damsmi2002

Thanks everyone for the replies, the wording surrounding any advert seems to be the grey area then, so legally still unsure on where I stand. He did appear to be a decent chap so I shall appeal to his better side in a hope that he sees it from my view and would like to keep his customers happy!

benham3160

damsmi2002 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the replies, the wording surrounding any advert seems to be the grey area then, so legally still unsure on where I stand. He did appear to be a decent chap so I shall appeal to his better side in a hope that he sees it from my view and would like to keep his customers happy!

Might have just been an oversight, have a chat with him. Could be he uses template adverts etc and didn't adjust it.

Have a chat, explain the discrepency, and remember a vehicle recorded as catagory D is worth a bit less then a non-marked vehicle.

Regards,
Andy

ilovebanksMCMLXXXI

Before you do in all guns blazing, however unlikely this could be a genuine admin error by the dealer.

To test the water I would contact them, explain what you've found out and then just sit back and listen to their response.

Anything other than them being helpful towards you then I'd suggest you have significant grounds to take the matter further.

Selling an insurance right off without informing the buyer is a bid 'no no'.

To give you a little bit of comfort - If it is only a Cat D then the car probably wasn't that badly damaged.

Best of luck

colino

Go back to the dealer and complain. If you are otherwise happy with the car, negotiate a discount, if you are not happy, get a refund. Make no mistake, claiming "HPI clear", when it clearly isn't will be of great interest to Trading Standards, and more importantly for the dealer, HPI themselves.

AlexisV

Get a figure in your head.

The market value for what you thought you'd paid MINUS the market value for what you unwittingly bought.

If you go in with figures you can make a stronger case, as opposed to just saying "I want a discount".

damsmi2002

I'm goin to make the call today but before I do I had a thought and just wanted to confirm it. Badically if it's being advertised as hpi clear, this should surely mean that a hpi check has been done. If correct this would have shown up and former damage to the car?
If this is true then I would be correct in saying that he either hasn't done the check, or wasn't honest when he found out the results of the check. If this sounds right then I'll use this for the basis of my conversation. My only other problem then being if the check hasn't been done(it advertises on their site that all cars are checked with hpi) then there is a slight chance that there is money outstanding on it. If this is true then that would form a solid basis for a refund surely?
I'd like to add that ideally I would like to keep the car and recieve some money back, as u do actually like the car!