bought a car only to find out it was a cat D

lancebond

on saturday (30/04/11) i bought a car from a trader in doncaster, i live in newcastle (so driving down to see them isn't the easiest thing)

i paid £5700 in cash and traded in my old car for a 57 plate mercedes c class 220cdi estate

when driving back i realised that i hadn't done an hpi on the car (i will never ever make this mistake again) and when i did one realised it was a cat d write off, i was NOT informed of this at any point during the sale nor was this fact in the advert.

i phoned the dealer yesterday (01/05/11) and requested a refund and my car back, the dealer has refused this saying it's not something they would do.

now i know my rights, and by rights i'm allowed a refund based on the fact that the car isn't as advertised.

but how do i now go about this? and if the dealer insists on refusing the refund am i going to have to go to court?

there are other niggles with the car that he has offered to pay to repair, but if i take the offer of repair have i then forfieted by right of refund?

help... i'm starting to get a little scared that i'm stuck with this car.

Hammyman

The car was as advertised if it did not state anywhere in the advert that it was HPI clear. The seller does NOT have to state it is a Cat C or Cat D unless asked. A seller is also not legally required to disclose any faults. The seller merely has to be truthful in the information they put in the advert, i.e if they state it is a 1.6L it has to be a 1.6L, and respond truthfully to any questions asked but they do not have to offer information of their own accord.

Also as you travelled down and saw and inspected the car before handing over your money, you have even fewer rights to a refund.

So no, you're not entitled to a refund.

By all means go to court but all they'll do is produce the advert that you claim shows it not as described and you've lost.

davemorton

Hammyman wrote: »

The car was as advertised if it did not state anywhere in the advert that it was HPI clear. The seller does NOT have to state it is a Cat C or Cat D unless asked.

You sure???:cool:

lancebond

well actually it's not as advertised.. it's advertising parking sensors.. but has none. just picked up on that.

lancebond

i know as a private seller you do not have to disclose a cat d write off, but i'm pretty sure as a TRADE seller it's a legal requirement

Hammyman

It would appear I'm not correct. The legislation has changed and the OP may have a case under an amendment to the trade description act in 2008 by the fact the non-disclosure of the write-off status is a misleading omission which, by its omission, would have caused an average person to make a transactional decision they wouldn't normally have made, i.e if the OP was aware it was a write off they wouldn't have bought it no matter how low the price however without that information, they would have bought it.

I've left my original post unaltered as I'm not ashamed to admit a mistake. I'll go get my coat now.

To the OP, apologies. You have a case but will most likely need to take it to court.

davemorton

Hammyman wrote: »

I've left my original post unaltered as I'm not ashamed to admit a mistake. I'll go get my coat now.

:beer: Now that makes a refreshing change on here!

Brooker_Dave

lancebond wrote: »

on saturday (30/04/11) i bought a car from a trader in doncaster, i live in newcastle (so driving down to see them isn't the easiest thing)

i paid £5700 in cash and traded in my old car for a 57 plate mercedes c class 220cdi estate

Was it a proper dealer?

Sounds like it was a very cheap car, did you not wonder why?

Doncaster is famed for being full of !!!!!!, so getting a refund might not be possible...

harveybobbles

I was reading an advert on autotrader a long time ago and thought why is this car so cheap... I read the advert over and over again and found the sly little runt had it worded it with out punctuation and it looked like this:

airconditioning half leather seats airbags electric windows power steering catd alarm central locking sunroof radio cd player two owners service history

So if someone glanced over the wording it would appear that the car had a Category D alarm...

lancebond

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

Was it a proper dealer?

Sounds like it was a very cheap car, did you not wonder why?

Doncaster is famed for being full of !!!!!!, so getting a refund might not be possible...

yeah it's a proper dealer, i should have had alarm bells ringing.. i've never been careless (well not THIS careless)

i'm putting it down to the week i'd had... lack of sleep, lack of proper judgement

Brooker_Dave

lancebond wrote: »

yeah it's a proper dealer, i should have had alarm bells ringing.. i've never been careless (well not THIS careless)

A proper dealer as in car pitch and portakabin, or dealer as in some mush working from home?

At least it was cheap, so you have not really lost anything...