Bought a Ex hire car without knowing?

Stephb1986_2

Hi All,

I hope some of you can help me. In January 2012 I bought a Vauxhall Insignia from Arnold Clark, to begin with I had nothing but problems with the paint work they touched it up in the wrong colour then said they would have the car fully resprayed.

Fast forward for me taking it for a service, When I got the car back (I took it to a local garage) I was told that when the car had been previously serviced that the splash guard had been ripped down instead of being unclipped so therefore the clips were damaged and one was missing. I was a bit peeved at this as Arnold Clark had done the service before I collected the car.

When I looked in the service book it said ERAC UK (enterprise rent a car uk) So this car is an ex hire car which was never explained to me when I was purchasing the car. On the log book it says one owner which it may have been ERAC UK but it has potentially had over 700 drivers :eek:

A few days later I went into my boot to get something out of it and noticed that the carpet was wet so I emptied the boot and lifted the carpet up to find the wheel well had around two inches of water in it, so I dropped the carpet back down and noticed mould growing on it (I don't go in my boot regular to notice) by now I was livid.

So last Wednesday I emailed the CEO of Arnold Clark told him the situation that I wasn't happy etc etc, his secretary emailed me back and said they would look into it for me. On Thursday the area manager called me up and said that it is going to be booked into a different Arnold Clark one that had a body shop for the paintwork as there is scratches, swirls marks all over it which was obvious that the car had never been resprayed but I just left it at the time because I had other things on my mind.

On Friday Northwitch branch called me up and said to bring the car in on Monday. I dropped the car off told them the problems etc etc and left with a courtesy car.

Yesterday the area manager called and said that most of the problems had been fixed and that the garage said they didn't think the car needed to be resprayed but he was going to the branch tomorrow (as in today) to view the car. So far I've not heard anything from them.

What can I do about the car? Can I reject it? Get a refund? If I had known that the car was a ex hire car I would of never bought it. What are my options?

Many Thanks
Steph

Chopper_Read

Reject it after two years because you didn't do your homework. Are you having a laugh?


They advertised a one owner car and that's what you got.

Stephb1986_2

Chopper_Read wrote: »

Reject it after two years because you didn't do your homework. Are you having a laugh?


They advertised a one owner car and that's what you got.

Sorry meant 2012 not 2011 silly me lol, only had it 12 months.

It hasn't had one owner though has it?? It's potentially had 700!

Dukesy

Stephb1986 wrote: »

Sorry meant 2012 not 2011 silly me lol, only had it 12 months.

It hasn't had one owner though has it?? It's potentially had 700!

No, it has had one owner... It's potentially had 700 drivers. Different thing.

Stephb1986_2

Dukesy wrote: »

No, it has had one owner... It's potentially had 700 drivers. Different thing.

But still they should of told me when buying the car that it was an ex hire car???

Weird_Nev

Where are you getting the "700" figure from? 700 hires? Sounds a lot for a hire car.

You run this risk with any car that you can't trace (or don't check) the previous keepers of. It will have been evident at the time of purchase.

The issues you've mentioned with it are minor cosmetic ones. things like the splash guard could have been done at any time and could be an issue on any car you bought. If it's been reliable and as described then I really can't see your issue. Hopefully Arnold Clarke will make good on their promise to fix it for you.

I think it's the issue of it being an ex hire car that's playing on your mind. Moral of the story is to check a cars provenance thoroughly before you buy if not buying an ex hire car/police car/shed is important to you.

Dukesy

Stephb1986 wrote: »

But still they should of told me when buying the car that it was an ex hire car???

You should have looked at the V5 before buying it.

That said, it may count as unfair trading if it is an issue, which it clearly is, that would have affected your decision to buy or not to buy the car. Trading Standards are the people to speak to, althought frankly I think you'd be lucky to get anywhere on this front unless the dealer specifically told you that it had been 'owned by a little old lady' or whatever. Do not, for goodness sake, suggest as a reason against them that it has "had potentially 700 owners, not just 1".

Stephb1986_2

The car was 2 years old so therefore it had been on the road for 730 days maybe a new driver every day if not a new driver every week so maybe 104 drivers, thats still a hell of a lot of drivers for a car.

Would you be happy if you bought a car that maybe had that many drivers? because lets face it when people hire cars they don't really look after them it's not like a car that has had one careful owner is it??

I shouldn't have to do my homework the dealership should of told me.

The car I traded in at the time was immaculate and in fantastic condition compared to this car.

The splash guard was left hanging by two clips the others were bent. If that could of been done at any time Arnold Clark should of fixed them before they let me drive away with it after they serviced it. Because I haven't been under there and ripped it down.

Steph

rev_henry

Stephb1986 wrote: »

But still they should of told me when buying the car that it was an ex hire car???

No they have no obligation to tell you that unless you specifically asked who the previous owner was. You saw the V5 before purchase yes? Your responsibility to find out if you so desire.

GlynD

What's wrong with it being an ex hire car? The hire companies generally only keep them for 6 months and they never put more than 10,000 miles on them. I wouldn't have an issue with this.

cajef

Stephb1986 wrote: »

But still they should of told me when buying the car that it was an ex hire car???

Did you bother check the V5 and service book or ask who the previous owners were when you were looking at the car prior to buying.