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Another second hand car issue...
ianforest
Posts: 8 Forumite
I bought a second hand car for £4995 from a dealer on the 29th December which was advertised as having 100,131 miles. I traded in a vehicle and was given £4500 for it and I also paid £500 on a debit card. I had test drove the vehicle and all seemed fine. I received one single key, the V5C, a service book and an invoice.
A couple of days later after new year on the 3rd January I noticed that when accelerating in gears 1 and 5 the gear stick moves about an inch when you press and lift the clutch. I Google'd this problem and on the 5th January I surmised that it appears to be a common problem with the gearbox on this type of vehicle. I also discovered that when the steering wheel is on full right lock it seems to rub on the inside of the bodywork. A local independent garage quoted me around £750.00 to repair the gearbox.
At this time I was due to move some children around at my daughters school and needed to provide my insurance, mot and driving licence. As I wasn't given a paper copy of the MOT I tried to get one from a garage. They were unable to print it off. I tried 3 other garages, none of which could print it off.
I contacted the DVLA as their website is showing the vehicle as having a valid MOT. They confirmed it had one but couldn't tell me why a garage can not print it off. They suggested contacting VOSA/DVSA which I did and they confirmed the last recorded mot was on the 30th September 2014. Furthermore, the recorded mileage of the vehicle was noted at 108,588 miles...some 8,500 miles MORE than when I bought the vehicle.
The DVSA could find no record at all of a valid MOT despite the fact that the DVLA are reporting that this vehicle had one.
The DVSA suggested contacting the original owner, ADT Fire & Security. They get rid of their vehicles through a fleet remarketer who confirmed that the vehicle was sold on their behalf by an auction house in Belfast, At the time of the sale the recorded mileage was 129,633 miles, 29.502 miles MORE than what was on the vehicle when I bought it.
I contacted the dealer by email on the 7th January and they rang me back. The salesman told me that I had no right to moan because I had paid less for the vehicle than what it really should've been priced at. He also mentioned he had a friend who runs a garage who could repair the car. He then told me that he would call me back later that day. He didn't.
I rang Citizens Advice who gave me plenty of information and concluded that legally I am entitled to a full refund because the vehicle was faulty and certainly not as described.
Citizens Advice advised me to contact them again quoting various sections of their website which I did at 9am on the 8th January. I did not hear from the dealer.
Upon further inspection of the service book which records a completely different set of miles for this vehicle I noted that the service book was NOT for the vehicle I purchased. The last letter of the registration is different.
I contacted them again by email this morning asking them to call me but did not hear from them so physically went down to see them.
The salesman seemed completely uninterested over my concerns with the mileage, MOT and of course the faulty gears and so on. He got uncomfortable and the conversation went outside and he asked me to leave the premises. I asked the speak to the Manager and was told that he had just left and would not be returning. I said that I would wait and the Salesman told me that the manager was "not someone you want to mess around with".
The Salesman told me I was not entitled to a refund and that he would see me in court in 6 months time. He pointed out that the sales invoice has wording on it which mentions that the recorded mileage may or may not be accurate and should not be taken as fact, however I am very clear in remembering that the Salesman told me that out of the two vehicles I was looking at, the one I ended up purchasing had less miles "just over 100k mate".
As I was reluctantly leaving the Manager reappeared. The conversation started quite calm but quickly became heated. He told me I was not entitled to anything especially as I have rejected the offer to repair the vehicle. I do not trust them to do this properly.
He offered me my £500 back together with what they sold my old vehicle at. Unfortunately I didn't find out exactly what that was but to be honest the conversation at this stage had turned very sour resulting in him saying that he looks forward to seeing me in court.
So...any advice guys? CAB say I need to return the vehicle before the 28th Jan. I am reluctant to put any more miles on it but I can't afford to buy another vehicle. I don't really want to try and sell this one as I have morals.
I will be ringing CAB again on Monday for further advice but any help you can offer would be fantastic.
Many thanks and thank you for reading.
A couple of days later after new year on the 3rd January I noticed that when accelerating in gears 1 and 5 the gear stick moves about an inch when you press and lift the clutch. I Google'd this problem and on the 5th January I surmised that it appears to be a common problem with the gearbox on this type of vehicle. I also discovered that when the steering wheel is on full right lock it seems to rub on the inside of the bodywork. A local independent garage quoted me around £750.00 to repair the gearbox.
At this time I was due to move some children around at my daughters school and needed to provide my insurance, mot and driving licence. As I wasn't given a paper copy of the MOT I tried to get one from a garage. They were unable to print it off. I tried 3 other garages, none of which could print it off.
I contacted the DVLA as their website is showing the vehicle as having a valid MOT. They confirmed it had one but couldn't tell me why a garage can not print it off. They suggested contacting VOSA/DVSA which I did and they confirmed the last recorded mot was on the 30th September 2014. Furthermore, the recorded mileage of the vehicle was noted at 108,588 miles...some 8,500 miles MORE than when I bought the vehicle.
The DVSA could find no record at all of a valid MOT despite the fact that the DVLA are reporting that this vehicle had one.
The DVSA suggested contacting the original owner, ADT Fire & Security. They get rid of their vehicles through a fleet remarketer who confirmed that the vehicle was sold on their behalf by an auction house in Belfast, At the time of the sale the recorded mileage was 129,633 miles, 29.502 miles MORE than what was on the vehicle when I bought it.
I contacted the dealer by email on the 7th January and they rang me back. The salesman told me that I had no right to moan because I had paid less for the vehicle than what it really should've been priced at. He also mentioned he had a friend who runs a garage who could repair the car. He then told me that he would call me back later that day. He didn't.
I rang Citizens Advice who gave me plenty of information and concluded that legally I am entitled to a full refund because the vehicle was faulty and certainly not as described.
Citizens Advice advised me to contact them again quoting various sections of their website which I did at 9am on the 8th January. I did not hear from the dealer.
Upon further inspection of the service book which records a completely different set of miles for this vehicle I noted that the service book was NOT for the vehicle I purchased. The last letter of the registration is different.
I contacted them again by email this morning asking them to call me but did not hear from them so physically went down to see them.
The salesman seemed completely uninterested over my concerns with the mileage, MOT and of course the faulty gears and so on. He got uncomfortable and the conversation went outside and he asked me to leave the premises. I asked the speak to the Manager and was told that he had just left and would not be returning. I said that I would wait and the Salesman told me that the manager was "not someone you want to mess around with".
The Salesman told me I was not entitled to a refund and that he would see me in court in 6 months time. He pointed out that the sales invoice has wording on it which mentions that the recorded mileage may or may not be accurate and should not be taken as fact, however I am very clear in remembering that the Salesman told me that out of the two vehicles I was looking at, the one I ended up purchasing had less miles "just over 100k mate".
As I was reluctantly leaving the Manager reappeared. The conversation started quite calm but quickly became heated. He told me I was not entitled to anything especially as I have rejected the offer to repair the vehicle. I do not trust them to do this properly.
He offered me my £500 back together with what they sold my old vehicle at. Unfortunately I didn't find out exactly what that was but to be honest the conversation at this stage had turned very sour resulting in him saying that he looks forward to seeing me in court.
So...any advice guys? CAB say I need to return the vehicle before the 28th Jan. I am reluctant to put any more miles on it but I can't afford to buy another vehicle. I don't really want to try and sell this one as I have morals.
I will be ringing CAB again on Monday for further advice but any help you can offer would be fantastic.
Many thanks and thank you for reading.
0
Comments
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Provided that the gearbox actually works, I wouldn't get too embroiled in the movement of the gearstick. It will probably be due to wear and tear, something that is only to be expected on a vehicle with a high mileage.
The mileage discrepancy however is a different matter.
This is what you should be focusing on as at the moment it appears that the odometer has been deliberately altered to show a far lower figure than it should do, something that is a criminal offence.
Do you have anything written down (e-mail or letter) showing the figures at the 2014 MOT and at the time the vehicle went to auction?
One very important thing to note is that if you did go to court and if the trader is operating as a limited company, it's far from uncommon for these companies to be dissolved and started up with a different name simply to avoid any legal action.0 -
Hi,
Yes I have the MOT history printed out from the DVSA website and also the vehicle catalogue from the auction last year which has the mileage figures I've given in my original post.0 -
I also have a confirmation email from the fleet remarketer who disposed of the vehicle for ADT through the auction showing the mileage at sale to be 129,588 miles. The vehicle catalogue also has the word CORRECT straight after the mileage figure.0
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1st i would say i would of snatched that £500 back.
Use the link below to enter your registration in the yellow number plate box and get a free mot history of the car, it may help you.
i also recently bought a 2nd hand car from a dealer on dec 19th 2015 i was given the mot certificate with my car and also the slip from the v5 document.
As for getting only 1 key my previous car came with just 1 key as its owner had lost one my new one came with 2, that was the 2nd question i asked the salesman "does it have 2 keys"
was the car advertised as having a new mot? if so then the dealer should of past it onto you at point of sale with the invoice etc.
hope you get it sorted
the link
https://totalcarcheck.co.uk/0 -
Or use the free government website, which op has already done0
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the total car check site give's him the history of all mot's and failures if any (old mots = recorded milage) which is what he has an issue with. As for the gov site been perfectly adequate for him what gives you the right to decide what is adequate for him? As for commission am doing it for free.
(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)0 -
I tried total car check and it does give some extra info I don't have access to on the Gov websites however it still does not reveal information on the latest MOT even though it says it expires in 2016.
Last recorded MOT is still shown as September 2014... And this is the bizarre thing.0 -
Had a plate change?Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0
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I tried total car check and it does give some extra info I don't have access to on the Gov websites however it still does not reveal information on the latest MOT even though it says it expires in 2016.
Last recorded MOT is still shown as September 2014... And this is the bizarre thing.
i purchased my car on 19th dec, arranged to pick it up on the 22nd after it had a full valet,service and mot. My latest mot was done on 21st dec 2015 and it is clearly visible on total car check site. Your car mot not showing up is quite strange. Looking on the negative side have you:-
done an hpi check
checked to see if the car has been written off at all (scrapped)
have you been through it to see if vin numbers match on engine and body of car
was it a local or reputable dealer?
what make model car is it and age?0
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