Have I been mis-sold a van?

Cbeaux

Are we still in the ages of 'Sold as seen' or do I have a leg to stand on?

Please read and help me out...

Took a good while looking for a particular van for work. Didn't want to go for the usual rubbish and held on to my money for the 'right one'. Or so I thought.

Found a van on eBay listed for sale by a commercial van trader located not very far from my home. It seemed to be exactly what I was looking for - one owner from new, full service history and clean. Telephoned the dealer and we arranged for me to go take a look and have a test drive. Went down there the following day after work (friday) and the dealer showed me around the van, letting me take it for a drive.

The dealer gave me all the usual sales patter and distinctively harped on about how 'straight' and 'original' the van was, even mentioning it had 'never been painted'. To be honest, I wouldn't really know what to look for if a van or car had been repaired, but I tried my best to look like I knew what I was doing!

After a couple of minutes on negotiation of the price I shook the dealers hand and arranged to collect the vehicle the following monday asking him to get his garage to give it a full inspection before collecting it.

It's been two weeks since I collected the van. There's nothing mechanically wrong with it, having driven it to and from work through the week. A friend of mine (a car enthusiast) was at my house today as I was cleaning/waxing the van, who happened to ask how much I payed for the van and whether I knew, or was told by the dealer, that it was an accident repaired vehicle.

To my surprise (and horror) my friend moved around the van pointing out all the tell tale signs that it had received extensive bodywork repairs and re-sprays. After he had showed me, it all looked obvious, but you really have to know what to look for.

The extent of the repairs is such that the van has had whole new panels down the length of the drivers side with a respray. The job was good enough to evade my untrained eye, but my friend spotted it all straight away.

The repairs don't bother me as such. What does bother me is that I have obviously payed over the odds for what is effectively a damaged repaired vehicle. Secondly, the damage was not recorded with insurance and therefor was not independently inspected before repairs and the extent of the damage is not known by me, the end user. It could have, for all I know, been a complete write off and unsafe to be placed back on the public roads. Lastly, the residual value of the vehicle (if any) would be non-existent and i would be liable selling a van that is possible unroadworthy.

Any help on this matter would be much appreciated. I am assuming the 'Sales of Goods act' may well be in my favour in this instance, but assistance from someone with knowledge or experience in this matter would be a big help.

For information purposes:

Purchase date: 12th August 2013
Year of vehicle: 2003
Make: Ford
Model: Transit Connect 200 1.8 tddi SWB
Mileage: 58800 (warrented by dealer on receipt and by Vosa)

Thanks!

fivetide

Got a copy of the Ad?

Does it say "totally original" or anything like that. HPI clear won't help because ... it is! Basically, you need to find a lie in there otherwise it is your word against his.

Cbeaux

fivetide wrote: »

Got a copy of the Ad?

Does it say "totally original" or anything like that. HPI clear won't help because ... it is! Basically, you need to find a lie in there otherwise it is your word against his.

The eBay ad is still available to view, although it was ended by the trader. It was a commercial eBay listing, whereas the trader utilises the site for advertising purposes only. No bidding activity takes place or is permitted, so I suggest it is the same as advertising on AutoTrader for instance? Vehicles listed for sale on AutoTrader by registered businesses would still be subject to the Sales of Goods act despite what the AutoTrader advertisement said. Is this correct?

I think the eBay side of the story seems irrelevant somehow due to the fact I purchased the van from a registered limited and VAT registered company that only utilised eBay to promote the sale of the vehicle?

Advertising aside. If I was to just buy the vehicle from a trader by walking in off the street with the story mentioned applied, would the Sales of Goods Act cover me? If so, is finding a vehicle via an advertisement any different?

Confused..!

spacey2012

The very low mileage would suggest it has been parked up somewhere for a long time.

Cbeaux

spacey2012 wrote: »

The very low mileage would suggest it has been parked up somewhere for a long time.

I'm not too worried about the mileage to be honest. I have every scrap of paperwork from the day it was purchased, including all Vosa printed MOTs, tax disks, service invoices, parts receipts etc etc.

The first owner (apparently) used it to take his dog to walking spots. But hey, if it's been crashed, unreported and repaired to that standard, then the paperwork could be forgery!!!

Would be nice to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks

spacey2012

It can take up to 3 years for it to get from Claim to payout to salvage yard and to for repair and sale again.

All dealers sell a story, about some old guy who never used it.
My first plan would be to inspect the VIN plates, it may be a cut- shut job.
Look on light clusters and bumper trim for the date clocks, do they match interior parts such as the ash tray bottom ?
Either that or your mates jealous....

Cbeaux

spacey2012 wrote: »

It can take up to 3 years for it to get from Claim to payout to salvage yard and to for repair and sale again.

All dealers sell a story, about some old guy who never used it.
My first plan would be to inspect the VIN plates, it may be a cut- shut job.
Look on light clusters and bumper trim for the date clocks, do they match interior parts such as the ash tray bottom ?
Either that or your mates jealous....

Funny you mention checking the dates on the clusters etc. When I was cleaning the van I thought 'funny, the wheels are stamp dated 2006!'.

Thanks for your advice. I'll have a good look all over the van tomorrow, including underneath the chassis number location.

If it turns out to be an assortment of different vehicles, do you know my options? I'm assuming it will be illegal to keep on the road? I certainly wouldn't want it!

vaio

Lots of van will have been repaired and as big fleets often effectively self insure (via huge excesses) they might well have quite major repairs done without appearing on the database.

if it drives fine & you have no evidence of the repair being substandard in any way then I don't see the problem.

Cbeaux

vaio wrote: »

Lots of van will have been repaired and as big fleets often effectively self insure (via huge excesses) they might well have quite major repairs done without appearing on the database.

if it drives fine & you have no evidence of the repair being substandard in any way then I don't see the problem.

It drives very well. That is of course only my opinion. Driving well and being safe are two different things though. My daughter enjoys going out in the van with her daddy, so naturally I want to be 100%. If its safe, then I have no problem really, but I would have payed too much for a damaged vehicle. Is that just my fault for being naive?

I'll post an update on whether the van is compiled of more than one vehicle. The Model 'Connect' is starting to have a whole new meaning!

arcon5

Put it through an MOT? You'll then know for sure if it's road worthy in the eyes of the law. At the moment, suggesting it's potentially not roadworthy is a major overreaction... unless you mean unroadworthy when it comes to you selling it on, in which case it has nothing to do with the historic repair work, cars/vans/all vehicles do become unroadworthy over time, which is why we maintain them.

facade

The best advice I can offer is to get it independently inspected, emphasise that you believe it has been in a severe accident, and you want to know if it is safe.

This will cost up to £200 I believe, but for peace of mind it will be money well spent An MOT will not look for misaligned subframes etc, only glaring faults.
My brother bent his car in the middle once, it MOTd fine, because it roller tested ok, but on the road it kept tying to drive into the hedge.

When you have the report, you can then go back to the trader with ammunition rather than stand there while he tells you that Ford are so poor at assembling vans that they all look like that.

Or if it is pronounced safe, you can keep it and chalk it up to experience, you have the report to pass on when you come to sell it.