HELP!!!!! Car bought via Dealer - What's our rights???

Beetlebug1983

Hi,

My mum bought a car from a dealer in February and she has now decided to sell it. We called the dealer she bought it from and they said that they were not interested in buying it back. Because of this, we decided to go to another dealer for a best price. When the dealer took a look at the car he noticed straight away that there was damage to the bonnet and to the roof and offered us a lot less than the price paid in Feb.

As a result of this, we have done some homework on the vehilce and luckily enough the previous owner lives locally so were able to speak to them. They advsied that the damage was caused by falling snow during the winter months which fell on top of the car causing the damage. It looks like work as has been done to the car either by the dealers or a garage before hand (we are ascertaining this info) to pop the roof and bonnet out. The previous owner advised that they had told the dealer about the damage so they were fully aware of this. However, this information was not realyed to my mother when she purchased the vehicle. The previous owners have said that they are willing to speak up for us should we need them to.

So, we are now in a position where we are looking at a £2,000 loss on the car in 3 months!!!! It has only done 2,000 since it was purchased!

Can anyone advise where we stand?????

Thank you

visidigi

Unless its supposed to have been recorded damage there isn't anything the dealer has actually done wrong - they are not obliged to tell you each and every bit of repair, either mechanical or sheetmetal.

If its clear on the HPI check etc there is not much you can do - the car is phyically fit for purpose, its only an issue because you can't get good money for it. Remember a dealer markup is around £1K+ on every car they sell, so if you go to sell it after 1 month you've lost the dealer premium + the car market used values are diving bigtime at the moment - people also get VERY supecious of people who own a car for 2 months and the dealer knows this will make it pretty hard to shift easily...

arcon5

Expecting to be able to sell a car for the same price as you bought it 2k miles & +1 owner is wishful thinking.

Forwandert

You bought a car from a dealer at retail price and you are trying to sell to a dealer that will want to pay trade price, it's common sense there will be a significant difference between to two prices.

visidigi

to answer the specific subject line question - 'what our rights'

Answer = None.

Beetlebug1983

Thank you for your replies.

If the previous owner has taken the car back to the dealer as they have a workshop and have carried out the repairs themselves and re-marketed the car, surely they should make a new buyer aware of the repairs? The point that we have is if my mum was aware of the damage she wouldn't have bought it and not part-exchanged her car which was in much better condition than the one she bought.

Plus looking at the CAB's website, they say as follows:

"If the vehicle supplied by a dealer has defects and you reject the vehicle you are entitled to a refund of any money paid, together with the return of the part-exchanged vehicle.
If the dealer has already disposed of your old vehicle, you are entitled to claim the amount the dealer originally said it was worth. Even if the dealer claims that defects in the part-exchanged vehicle have reduced its value, you are still entitled to the full amount as the dealer should have inspected the vehicle thoroughly at the time the contract was made."

visidigi

The facts are the dealer doesnt have to tell you - unless its a CAT registered damage - the vehicle does not have a defect, its been repaired - there is a distinct difference - I'd even go so far as to say give up looking for advice ont he CAB site over this issue...

To answer the point about if your mum had known...no one MADE her buy the car.

shaun_from_Africa

There are many consumer advice websites (some government run, some private), but they all say more or less the same thing:

Traders have no legal obligation to tell purchasers about past repair work. If you ask the trader about these matters, he must answer truthfully or tell you if he doesn’t know.

They don't have to volunteer information about the history of the vehicle (unless written off), but if asked, then they must answer truthfully.

wealdroam

Beetlebug1983 wrote: »

When the dealer took a look at the car he noticed straight away that there was damage to the bonnet and to the roof and offered us a lot less than the price paid in Feb.

Did your mum not notice this obvious damage when she bought the car?

Beetlebug1983

wealdroam wrote: »

Did your mum not notice this obvious damage when she bought the car?

No, it had been "knocked out". But to a trained eye it was instantly noticeable. But when pointed out you can see it. It has drastically reduced the value of the car, and if she had known about it at the time, she wouldn't have bought it becuase the sell on value would be low.