Bought clocked car from dealer

maximus000

Thank you very much for your answer.

neilmcl

maximus000 said:

DoaM thank you for your input. Moreover, the dealer knew the car was used as private hire and never disclosed this information until confronted. Advert on Autotrader never mentioned any business use. Could this fact be in our favour?

Before or after the sale?

wesleyad

DoaM said:

garth549 said:

If the dealer was unaware that the car had been clocked then legally they've done nothing wrong (how can they have?).  They can only describe a vehicle to the best of their knowledge.

As I said earlier, this is incorrect ... a dealer cannot use the "I didn't know" defence - they're expected to know and/or check as they're deemed to be the expert in the transaction.

They are clearly liable for misselling, but how would they be expected to know in this case. The OP has said that even Ford struggle to get the data from the steering column and there's no other way to tell. I think this is the reason the OP has been told to go the consumer rights route rather than pursue any "malicious intent" form the dealer.

maximus000

neilmcl said:
Before or after the sale?

Nothing mentioned in the advert or over the phone. It was only when we were actually picking the car up and making the payment that my brother gone through service reports again and recognised the paperwork from the minicab company. When asked direct question the trader said yes, it was owned by minicab company since new. We bought it mainly because of the very low mileage (for this type of car).

neilmcl

maximus000 said:

neilmcl said:
Before or after the sale?

Nothing mentioned in the advert or over the phone. It was only when we were actually picking the car up and making the payment that my brother gone through service reports again and recognised the paperwork from the minicab company. When asked direct question the trader said yes, it was owned by minicab company since new. We bought it mainly because of the very low mileage (for this type of car).

Well in that case as you went forward with the sale so you can't use that against them as in the end it didn't have any influence on your purchase.

LABMAN

neilmcl said:

maximus000 said:

neilmcl said:
Before or after the sale?

Nothing mentioned in the advert or over the phone. It was only when we were actually picking the car up and making the payment that my brother gone through service reports again and recognised the paperwork from the minicab company. When asked direct question the trader said yes, it was owned by minicab company since new. We bought it mainly because of the very low mileage (for this type of car).

Well in that case as you went forward with the sale so you can use that against them as in the end it didn't have any influence on your purchase.

Eh?...

neilmcl

LABMAN said:

neilmcl said:

maximus000 said:

neilmcl said:
Before or after the sale?

Nothing mentioned in the advert or over the phone. It was only when we were actually picking the car up and making the payment that my brother gone through service reports again and recognised the paperwork from the minicab company. When asked direct question the trader said yes, it was owned by minicab company since new. We bought it mainly because of the very low mileage (for this type of car).

Well in that case as you went forward with the sale so you can use that against them as in the end it didn't have any influence on your purchase.

Eh?...

Can't use it - see my correction.

ess0two

I bought a merc that been clocked,returned to dealer after 9 months and got a full refund,ECU holds the mileage correctly,all other mileage storage places can be frigged,dealer told me.

maximus000

Thank you ess0two. In our case the car broke down severely twice within 2 months of purchase due to "consumable" parts. However these are parts that should be replaced after 60 or 100k miles like automatic gearbox flywheel and timing belt/chain. This was over £3k in repairs within first two months. 

Fosterdog

You sure the car had a broken flywheel? Automatics don't have flywheels, also timing chains are not really consumables but timing belts are, as your brother drove 20,000 miles in just two months then even if the car wasn't clocked and had only originally done the 40k then with his 20k on top it was within the timeframe for needing replacement. 

The cost of repairs also seems to be incredibly high, flywheel repairs are rarely more than £1k and a timing belt kit change is £250 tops both including labour, he has paid more than double the usual maximum those repairs should have cost.