Consumer rights when buying approved used cars

zippy08

I bought an "Approved Used" car from a franchised dealer of a major car brand in September 2015. The car as such has been fine, but I recently found out that the car could have been in an accident prior to my purchase. I am posting this hoping to get some insights into what rights I have under law.
In April this year, the car had to go into a body shop for a bumper repair. When the shop took the bumper off, they found that the inner panels hadn't been sealed properly - most likely during a prior repair. Their view is that there must have been a significant impact on the car to require the repair in the first place, and the repair itself hasn't been done quite completely. Apart from the possible loss of structural integrity (to be verified), the result is that water seeps/drains into the boot cavity and collects in trays (rust formation would follow) or moisture accumulates under the boot floor-covering material (resulting in damp and/or mould).
I asked the body shop if they would repair the join in question, but they were not too keen to take it on, suggesting that it may not be a straight-forward job.

My thoughts at this time are around whether

• I trust the integrity of the car body (A: not very much), and
• how much hassle the water ingress is going to cause if not repaired or not repaired properly (A: a lot when the weather turns wetter in a matter of weeks)

So the question is - do I have any grounds for returning the car - such as not fit-for-purpose, non-disclosure of previous history at time of purchase, inadequate previous repair, etc.?

Clearly, the purchase is well over the 30- and 180- days that the old Sale of Goods Act and the Consumer Rights Act allow. What rights do I have - if any - in relation to the law?

tykesi

What did the HPI check on the car say? If not recorded on there can you really expect a dealer to have known if the damage wasn't evident without removing panels?

neilmcl

Unless you can prove that the dealership knew of previous accident damage and omitted to inform you then I very much doubt you have case. Not unless that the car does indeed prove to be structurally unsafe.