Bought a car for too much then it was stolen!

SingerN

Hi everyone


I've come on here for some advice, please. I bought a car last Thursday (15th Sep) and paid in full for it on my credit card (£1400 + £200 warranty). They serviced, MOT'd it and fitted a new battery and I was supposed to be picking it up on Monday but it wasn't ready due to an issue with the keys so I picked it up on Tuesday evening.


On Tuesday, I drove the car to the park and ride for work and left it there during the day. The car was then stolen. My insurance company have said that the trade value of the car is only £600 and they will only pay out £500 after my £100 excess has been taken off. I've asked them to reconsider.


I've contacted the garage I bought it from and they're insisting they asked a fair price for it and said that those kind of cars retail at £1995 usually! Even when I sent them screen shots of similar cars from Auto Trader showing a price of £650, they still said they paid fairly. I've asked them to either reimburse me £700 which is fair and will mean I can buy another similar car or find a similar car for me at no extra cost. They're refusing so far so I've given them a couple of days to think about it.


I've checked trading standards for cars and it states I have a right to expect to buy a car for a reasonable price. I know I should have checked the price of the car before buying but my previous car just gave up the ghost on me and I needed one desperately for a new job. I trusted the garage to give me a fair deal.


What do you think my options are? Do you think I have a chance at a small claims court?

caprikid1

The garage is never going to refund you a penny.


If you can go and get a car for £650 then take the payout add £150 and be back in the same position ?


The insurance company has done their Job hasn't it ? Put you back in the same position as you were pre theft.


The garage is never going to give you a penny.

neilmcl

Surely this can't be for real.

OP buys a car, immediately has it stolen, then expects the car dealer to refund him the difference between what the insurer is offering and what he paid originally. You're having a laugh, nobody's going to do that.

You're entitled to market value, that's all, if you paid over the odds in the first place then I'm afraid that's your own fault.

lincroft1710

What year, make and model, please?

Ebe_Scrooge

This ^^^^


OP, think of it like this. I offer to sell you a bag of jelly-babies for £28.73. You'd say to me "On yer bike, I can get a bag from Asda for 89p". Of course, if you accepted my offer and paid me £28.73 for them, I'd be well chuffed.


Sorry, the garage has done nothing wrong - well, nothing legally wrong, one could perhaps argue over their morals if one wished. And insurance companies will always only ever pay out the "market value" for a stolen or written-off car. If you believe their valuation is wrong it's down to you to convince them of the true market value of it.


Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that's how it is.

maninthestreet

caprikid1 wrote: »

The garage is never going to refund you a penny.


If you can go and get a car for £650 then take the payout add £150 and be back in the same position ?


The insurance company has done their Job hasn't it ? Put you back in the same position as you were pre theft.


The garage is never going to give you a penny.

You've forgotten that the OP bought it using a credit card, so has £1400 to pay off in addition to buying a new car.

tykesi

SingerN wrote: »

Hi everyone


I've come on here for some advice, please. I bought a car last Thursday (15th Sep) and paid in full for it on my credit card (£1400 + £200 warranty). They serviced, MOT'd it and fitted a new battery and I was supposed to be picking it up on Monday but it wasn't ready due to an issue with the keys so I picked it up on Tuesday evening.


On Tuesday, I drove the car to the park and ride for work and left it there during the day. The car was then stolen. My insurance company have said that the trade value of the car is only £600 and they will only pay out £500 after my £100 excess has been taken off. I've asked them to reconsider.


I've contacted the garage I bought it from and they're insisting they asked a fair price for it and said that those kind of cars retail at £1995 usually! Even when I sent them screen shots of similar cars from Auto Trader showing a price of £650, they still said they paid fairly. I've asked them to either reimburse me £700 which is fair and will mean I can buy another similar car or find a similar car for me at no extra cost. They're refusing so far so I've given them a couple of days to think about it.


I've checked trading standards for cars and it states I have a right to expect to buy a car for a reasonable price. I know I should have checked the price of the car before buying but my previous car just gave up the ghost on me and I needed one desperately for a new job. I trusted the garage to give me a fair deal.


What do you think my options are? Do you think I have a chance at a small claims court?

Ha ha ha how generous of you.............

I thought the schools had gone back now?

:rotfl::rotfl::T:T:rotfl::rotfl:

foxy-stoat

SingerN wrote: »

I was supposed to be picking it up on Monday but it wasn't ready due to an issue with the keys so I picked it up on Tuesday evening.
What do you think my options are? Do you think I have a chance at a small claims court?

Maybe they were busy getting a second set cut and coded !!

Your options are finding similar cars/spec and give them to your insurers as advice of market value. They shouldnt be giving you trade money.

What was the car and spec - maybe you overpaid, did you do research before buying it?

Car_54

SingerN wrote: »

Hi everyone


I've come on here for some advice, please. I bought a car last Thursday (15th Sep) and paid in full for it on my credit card (£1400 + £200 warranty). They serviced, MOT'd it and fitted a new battery and I was supposed to be picking it up on Monday but it wasn't ready due to an issue with the keys so I picked it up on Tuesday evening.


On Tuesday, I drove the car to the park and ride for work and left it there during the day. The car was then stolen.

The car was collected on Tuesday evening, and then driven to park for the day on Tuesday? Presumably a typo for Wednesday?

So it was stolen on Wednesday, and a day later the insurers have made an offer. Is that normal? Don't they usually wait for a few days in case it's recovered? Or is there someone out there stealing £650 cars for export to rich Arabs?

We're in the dark, but it probably doesn't matter.

dacouch

You're in luck.

As you recently purchased the car, your Insurer should pay you the amount you paid unless they can prove that the value you paid was incorrect.

Ignoring the above, the Insurer should pay the retail value you would pay at a dealer and not the trade value.

ratrace

this is a wind up right?