Bought a car but conned -Fraud

paul55555

Hello

I need some advice my brother has bought a car from an employee at work one of his bosses. He bought a fiesta but later on found out the car was a D cat car. The seller has not told him this but sadly my brother has a habit of not getting advice before buying. We have looked into what the car is worth and he paid £3000 might be worth £1500-2000 for it we think the 2012 fiesta which has some damage on it is not worth the money paid.

This was a private sale I was wondering what should he do because its a manager makes things difficult at work know.Because the seller has not told him it was a cat D car basically a insurance right off. All the seller said to my brother is the car has had some damage had a few repairs could my brother stand a good chance in a small claims court?

Many thanks

motorguy

paul55555 wrote: »

Hello

I need some advice my brother has bought a car from an employee at work one of his bosses. He bought a fiesta but later on found out the car was a D cat car. The seller has not told him this but sadly my brother has a habit of not getting advice before buying. We have looked into what the car is worth and he paid £3000 might be worth £1500-2000 for it we think the 2012 fiesta which has some damage on it is not worth the money paid.

This was a private sale I was wondering what should he do because its a manager makes things difficult at work know.Because the seller has not told him it was a cat D car basically a insurance right off. All the seller said to my brother is the car has had some damage had a few repairs could my brother stand a good chance in a small claims court?

Many thanks

I think at £3K he already paid a fair price for a Cat D car - cheapest 2012 Fiesta online is this one (Cat C) @ £2850

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201705315968750?advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&sort=price-asc&year-from=2012&year-to=2012&model=FIESTA&radius=1500&postcode=bt622hb&make=FORD&page=1

Non Cat C / D 2012 Fiestas (assuming average mileage) start at around £4,500 and go up to £7,000 ish (dependent on model)

I personally wouldnt push it - it will create an awful amount of bad feeling if he tries to haul his boss through the small claims court.

On what basis do you think its worth £1500-£2000?

neilmcl

It's a private sale so pretty much sold as seen. If the seller has described it as having accident damage and repaired then I'm afraid they've been pretty much upfront about it.

Cat D is lightly damaged & repaired vehicles or stolen and recovered.

Your brother should just accept what he bought and move on.

Ebe_Scrooge

Cat D usually indicates relatively minor damage. It's only an insurance write-off because it costs more to repair than the car is worth. To properly repair, for instance, a dented door - door has to be possibly removed, lining removed, maybe window-winding gubbins removed, dent pushed out, whole door resprayed, everything refitted. That's a lot of labour. Add in the cost of supplying a courtesy car .... it doesn't take much before it's not worth it for the insurance company to repair it. Doesn't mean the car is unsafe.






Did your brother ask the seller if it was a cat D ? If he did, and the seller knowingly lied, then he may have some recourse. But if not then he has no rights from a private seller.


To be honest it's probably not worth a small claims court. The chances of getting any sort of recompense are slim in the extreme - as I said, the only exception being if he could prove the seller knowingly lied about the cat D status.

Hasbeen

paul55555 wrote: »

Hello

I need some advice my brother has bought a car from an employee at work one of his bosses. He bought a fiesta but later on found out the car was a D cat car. The seller has not told him this but sadly my brother has a habit of not getting advice before buying. We have looked into what the car is worth and he paid £3000 might be worth £1500-2000 for it we think the 2012 fiesta which has some damage on it is not worth the money paid.

This was a private sale I was wondering what should he do because its a manager makes things difficult at work know.Because the seller has not told him it was a cat D car basically a insurance right off. All the seller said to my brother is the car has had some damage had a few repairs could my brother stand a good chance in a small claims court?

Many thanks

Perhaps taking out the conned and fraud from your opening post and inserting bought cat D car for a bargain?

I had a car that was cat C written off, bought back from insurance company and bolted back on replacement wing and drivers door same colour from breakers yard to replace slightly damaged ones.

Look at what the classes mean.:)

waamo

He paid a fair price for an accident damaged car described as accident damaged.

His chances in court are about zero.

motorguy

I would also not be encouraging your brother to wave the terms "conned" and "fraud" about in his workplace concerning this.

kev25v6

A cat D could be as little as a scratch on the wing. I've had loads and never had a problem. Cat D doesn't show on the log book like a Car C does but I've had them too and no problems either. If it's a car that runs and drives fine then forget about it. If he had not found out he would be in the same position he is in now

deanos

Didn't the HPI report highlight this before he bought the car ?

worried_jim

deanos wrote: »

Didn't the HPI report highlight this before he bought the car ?

Surely he would have found this out when he did his pre purchase due diligence checks, like anyone else would do.

He's not been conned unless he said "does the car have an insurance marker against it?" And the owner (knowing that it did) said "no".

System

I've seen cars written off as CAT D because they had the wheels stolen and the replacements cost more than 50% of the value of the car. Older cars get written off as CAT D for the most minor of things.