Car repaired after accident and not reported to the insurance.

Memamem

Hi, just after a bit of advice regarding a situation I have found myself in.

In the last couple of days, I have bought a car on finance from a well known dealer. Everything was fine until I got home and wanted to look at the car's manual to get familiar with some things. In the case that the manual is in, there were papers relating to a car being repaired for Structural damage and papers for a hire car for the period of 1 month, which I assume is a courtesy car. I think the car that I have purchased was in an accident and should now be a Category S car but the HPI is clear and my V5 arrived today with no mention of a category. It seems as though the previous owner, who had the car from new, hasn't reported it to her insurance. I spoke to the dealer who I purchased the car from and they are unaware of anything, so I now don't know where I stand. I obviously don't want to keep the car, now knowing it may have been in an accident.

On the bottom of the papers, the garage that repaired the car says that they have paperwork relating to the repair kept at their garage for future reference, so I am planning on calling them when they open on Monday and asking for a copy of all paperwork to ascertain what has happened.

If it has been in an accident and suffered structural damage, where do I stand? Can I go back to the dealer and reject the car?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Deleted User]

The checks/research should have been made on the car before you purchased, by that I mean getting someone to physically examine the car for any problems.
You really would be surprised how many cars have had unrecorded repairs.

Aretnap

Memamem wrote: »

I think the car that I have purchased was in an accident and should now be a Category S car but the HPI is clear and my V5 arrived today with no mention of a category. It seems as though the previous owner, who had the car from new, hasn't reported it to her insurance.

What makes you think this? Quite a lot of people crack their bumpers and don't tell their insurers - but very few people would pay themselves for structural damage which took a month to repair without making an insurance claim. More likely the car was repaired under an insurance policy, and has no category S marker because it wasn't a write-off. A newish car can suffer quite substantial damage and still be economic to repair - and there is generally no special record kept of repairs which don't result in a write-off. So any car you buy could have been in a similar accident, and you would probably not realise.

Memamem

treboeth wrote: »

The checks/research should have been made on the car before you purchased, by that I mean getting someone to physically examine the car for any problems.
You really would be surprised how many cars have had unrecorded repairs.

The HPI was clear before purchase. The car is not yet 2 years old and has all the service stamps up until just before it was sold to the dealer I purchased it from.

facade

Category S means the vehicle has suffered structural damage that was considered repairable.
Category N means non-structural damage.



These would only apply if the vehicle was written off.

It is quite possible for a previous owner to have played bumping cars with it and it not to be recorded as a write off.

(Same as any other car that you don't personally know the history of, end even then it could have had a container dropped on it at the docks and been patched up before it was sold)


Just call the garage on Monday as you planned, and find out how severe the damage was.

Memamem

Aretnap wrote: »

What makes you think this? Quite a lot of people crack their bumpers and don't tell their insurers - but very few people would pay themselves for structural damage which took a month to repair without making an insurance claim. More likely the car was repaired under an insurance policy, and has no category S marker because it wasn't a write-off. A newish car can suffer quite substantial damage and still be economic to repair - and there is generally no special record kept of repairs which don't result in a write-off. So any car you buy could have been in a similar accident, and you would probably not realise.

There are hospital information for patients papers with the papers regarding courtesty hire car and repairs that state the previous owner was in a traumatic accident, that is what is making me think that it was a rather bad accident and the car suffered bad structural damage.

My dad has looked at the car and said he can't see anything obvious that would suggest that, but although he knows his fair share about cars, I don't think he would be able to say for definite whether it had bad structural damage.

Herzlos

But the insurer chose to repair it rather than write it off. So it was probably a reputable garage and good as new. You can always visit the garage to find out.

Since the accident presumably happened before it was 2 years old, it could have had a lot of damage/repair.

There's no indication it's sub standard (you can get a structural inspection if you want) or that the dealer failed to declare anything.

If you can find a problem with it, the dealer should repair it or allow you to reject.

verityboo

If the car was damaged in an accident, repaired and returned to the original owner then it would not be recorded as cat s or n. It is only if the car is written off that it is recorded as cat s or n.

If the car was say 13 months old it could have been quite badly damaged but still deemed economical to repair. That is why you need to ask the selling dealer before buying. I also try and do my own checks, if you are thorough you can often find tell tail overspray, typically under the car or on the rubber seals around the doors etc

Memamem

verityboo wrote: »

If the car was damaged in an accident, repaired and returned to the original owner then it would not be recorded as cat s or n. It is only if the car is written off that it is recorded as cat s or n.

If the car was say 13 months old it could have been quite badly damaged but still deemed economical to repair. That is why you need to ask the selling dealer before buying. I also try and do my own checks, if you are thorough you can often find tell tail overspray, typically under the car or on the rubber seals around the doors etc

I did ask the dealer if it had been in an accident, I'm not that stupid, but his answer was no, and the HPI check was clear before I signed for the car. There are the normal scuffs and marks for a used car, but nothing that I or my dad can see that says there has been major repairs on the car.

The dealer told me that they wouldn't sell cars that have been repaired after a serious accident so that is why I am querying what to do, because I have potentially been sold a car that has been repaired after a fairly serious (it seems) accident.

Herzlos

But that doesn't mean the dealer is lying; if it was properly repaired they wouldn't be able to tell. The only way you could prove otherwise is if the repair place was theirs, or there's obviously damage.

Memamem

Herzlos wrote: »

But that doesn't mean the dealer is lying; if it was properly repaired they wouldn't be able to tell. The only way you could prove otherwise is if the repair place was theirs, or there's obviously damage.

I'm not saying the dealer is lying..

If the previous owner hasn't gone through her insurance, then no-one is going to know about the accident. I wouldn't have known if it wasn't for the papers in the car..