Just discovered car dealer lied about Cat D status

AdrianC

dannyrst wrote: »

Regardless, the dealer still didn't disclose the CAT D on the car.

They say they did, and the price demonstrates that.

If the dealer priced the car appropriately as a CAT D, what did they have to gain from not disclosing it to the OP (as proved by the lack of entry on invoice or in the advert)?

They say they did verbally.

Two and a half years later, you aren't going to find a smoking gun one way or the other. It's really that simple. It's all about balance of probabilities. And the pricing would go a good way towards adjusting that balance.

Tothepoint.

dannyrst wrote: »

Regardless, the dealer still didn't disclose the CAT D on the car. If the dealer priced the car appropriately as a CAT D, what did they have to gain from not disclosing it to the OP (as proved by the lack of entry on invoice or in the advert)?

He was told it was Cat D in person by the salesman. Than can neither be proved or disproved. So the price of the car is key, the op has said it was hundreds of pounds cheaper and didn't reflex the price of a Cat D. It could have been up to £2300 cheaper, which might shift the balance of probability towards the dealer.

19lottie82

I have an aquantance who purchased a car from the largest car dealer in the country.

4 years later he took it to we buy any car to sell it and was told it was a Cat D. This wasn't declared at the time of purchase.

He returned to the dealer and told them this, they then bought the car back from him for the same price he had paid, presumably to avoid any legal action.

A dealer not declaring a write off at the time of purchase is a very serious matter. I would assume at this point that the onus is on them to prove that they did declare it's status, not for you to prove that they didn't.

I certainly wouldn't take this lying down. I suggest you take further legal advice, perhaps the CAB as a first point of call?

arcon5

jamiewakeham wrote: »

Right. Spoke to the owener, who was not the salesman who sold me the car. He inisists that the salesman (who's since left) told me it was a Cat D, and that the price in paid took that into account. He's asked me to email him a copy of the invoice.

He's also said that I should speak to the (now departed) salesman. I'm tempted to ignore that - I need to talk to the owner, not an ex-employee?

What I'm going to try to work out now is what the 'fair' price for a four-year-old 1.2 SE Yeti with 20k on the clock and slightly imperfect paintwork should have been, with and without Cat D status. He's insisting that the £9700 I paid was fair.

Edit: Autotrader tells me that today, of the three-to-five year old cars with similar spec and milage to mine, trade advertised prices go from £9900 to £11800.

That says that a fair Cat D price might be in the region of £7-£8k, doesn't it?

What's your 1/3 off based on?

arcon5

He makes a point though... why would somebody travel such great distances to save just 'hundreds' when similar are available within the same price range?

DoaM

arcon5 wrote: »

He makes a point though... why would somebody travel such great distances to save just 'hundreds' when similar are available within the same price range?

OP already addresses that ... he was looking for a certain engine size and specification, the combination of which is (was) not common.

Tothepoint.

DoaM wrote: »

OP already addresses that ... he was looking for a certain engine size and specification, the combination of which is (was) not common.

Added to the fact it may well have been £2300 cheaper?

Remember he said they were fetching up to 12k, so why should a rare and desirable car be priced at the bottom end of the banding?

As much as I believe the OP it's not cut and dry.

jamiewakeham

Arcon5: mostly internet forum hearsay at the moment. If this goes to court I will clearly need to provide much more rigorous evidence that Cat D generally implies a reduction of around a third.

Going to take this to the CAB as advised. I don't know if it's going to be for me to prove I wasn't told, or for the dealer to prove I was. I'd have thought that the advert and invoice both not mentioning it would be in my favour though.

The critical thing is going to be assessing the real value of a Cat D car in 2014 (or, even, the real value of a non-cat D car in 2014). That's what his claim that £9700 represents a reduced price hangs on.

Has anyone got a paper copy of Glass from 2014?

arcon5

It will be for YOU to prove your case to the judge

custardy

jamiewakeham wrote: »

Arcon5: mostly internet forum hearsay at the moment. If this goes to court I will clearly need to provide much more rigorous evidence that Cat D generally implies a reduction of around a third.

Going to take this to the CAB as advised. I don't know if it's going to be for me to prove I wasn't told, or for the dealer to prove I was. I'd have thought that the advert and invoice both not mentioning it would be in my favour though.

The critical thing is going to be assessing the real value of a Cat D car in 2014 (or, even, the real value of a non-cat D car in 2014). That's what his claim that £9700 represents a reduced price hangs on.

Has anyone got a paper copy of Glass from 2014?

late 2013 do?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GLASSS-GUIDE-CONFIDENTIAL-Car-Values-2002-2013-OCTOBER-2013-ISSUE-No-891-/291918427502?hash=item43f7b1b56e:g:jtUAAOSwImRYCkb6

Given its outdated,Glass might even sell or give you the values for a cost.

customer@glass.co.uk.