Bought Car And Just found out its been clocked. Where do I stand

fonzyg50

Hi everyone

I purchased a car on 17/9/12 which we saw on eBay
It was stated as "125,000 miles. Drives great and runs smoothly" This guy(claims to be a trader)Had 100% feedback. Anyway we went round in the evening and test drove it and handed the cash £1000. He then told us he will send the rest of the documents as he left it at his office. Anyway we told him can we complete it through eBay he said yes.

We drove the car and had problems on the way home (110miles away) half way the glow plug light came on the car started to limp. We pulled over and switch it off and then back on. We noticed a lot of smoke at the back.

Next morning 18/9/12. We tried ringing him but he wasn't picking up. We left text messages. Voicemail and emails. We went on eBay and noticed he ended the listing. Also i was looking for the locking wheel nut and I was getting worried so I went through the glove box and found a mot certificate which looked defaced. I got onto vosa website and entered the reference number from my v5 slip as the mot certificate was defaced. The mileage and test number were unreadable.

And to my horror the car had done over 220,000 miles. The car has been clocked. The last mot was August 2012 with the correct mileage.

On my invoice I noticed he put mileage 125,000 not warranted. And sold as seen. Trade sale
Where do we stand. This is fraud. On the eBay listing at the bottom of the description he has put sold as seen no warranty given or implied

Sgt_Pepper_2

I take it you're not a trader.

If he's a trader then the sog act applies.

fonzyg50

Sgt_Pepper wrote: »

I take it you're not a trader.

If he's a trader then the sog act applies.

He said he took the car in as part ex so I presume he was a trader/dealer.

forgotmyname

Previous owner on the logbook?

Contact them to see when they sold the car and who to.

If its to this dealer then he probably did the deed. Who MOT'd it?

Sounds a bit daft to MOT it wth 220k miles and then sell it with 125k miles.

What is it by the way? Location?

Ebay number or ID?

Sgt_Pepper_2

Also enquire about the mileage.

fivetide

If he's written trade then he's coughed to it I'd have thought. He can't limit your rights, that's illegal. Ring him from a different phone, tell him you are bringing his car back and you'll be expecting your money.

Be firm but polite initially. If he tries it on you can do a number of things from trading standards to reporting him to the tax man.

5t.

fonzyg50

forgotmyname wrote: »

Previous owner on the logbook?

Contact them to see when they sold the car and who to.

If its to this dealer then he probably did the deed. Who MOT'd it?

Sounds a bit daft to MOT it wth 220k miles and then sell it with 125k miles.

What is it by the way? Location?

Ebay number or ID?

Hi

Have not got the logbook yet. We left messages
And he is not returning my calls or emails. I do
Have is address where we picked the car up(Norfolk)

fonzyg50

fivetide wrote: »

If he's written trade then he's coughed to it I'd have thought. He can't limit your rights, that's illegal. Ring him from a different phone, tell him you are bringing his car back and you'll be expecting your money.

Be firm but polite initially. If he tries it on you can do a number of things from trading standards to reporting him to the tax man.

5t.

Hi

We have called him with 4 different numbers but to no avail.
And Tbh I wouldn't want to drive the car back. We were lucky to make it back home.

missindecisive

drive the car back. demand your mon ey back or you will go to the police..simple!
This has happened to me. we bought a car and very foolishly didnt spot that the paperwork had been tampered with. The car was clocked, previous owner confirmed it. We told the trader we would expose him for his criminal activities..he couldn't give us our money back fast enough.

Tilt

'Sold as seen' and 'no warranty implied' are non legal statements. As Fivetide correctly points out, under the SOGA it is illegal to attempt to reduce or remove your statutory rights. It is also illegal to knowingly sell a 'clocked car' without disclosing it to the buyer.

Deffo grounds to reject which you must do formally in writing giving the seller 7 days to respond by arranging to collect the car and giving you a full refund. Send letter by recorded post but once posted DO NOT use the car again.

Yes, you can report the matter to Trading Standards via CAB but unless there are a few more complaints about this trader, I doubt whether they will do much about it. I would hold fire on reporting it though until you get your money back. If i'm honest, by the sounds of it, you will find yourself taking it to court.

As for going to the police, you will no doubt get the 'its a civil matter' line from them.

londonTiger

did you get a receipt saying you handing over £1000, if the seller is cooperative then it can work out, but if he decides to play hardball then it might be difficult to prove that the sale took place or substantiate the cost of sale.

Ebay ads are not proof of sale.

Ideally you should take someone knowledgable about cars, there's a big difference in the quality and feel of a car that's done 125k and one that's done 220k. On the latter the seats, pedals, steering wheel, and all the other bits and bobs that come in contact with the driver and passenger would be work out. It would be obvious that it's gone round the block a bit.