Bought car to find out it has been in an accident

hilary2327

Hi
I have just purchased a used car from a dealership. I paid cash and the car is 1 and 1/2 half years old. Collected today and really happy with car except when checked service book it has a stamp in.from nationwide crash repair centre which looks as though it's been involved in an accident. This now concerns me because I do know what the extent of the damage. The dealer didn't disclose this information.....what are my rights? Can I take this car back and exchange or ask for refund? 

KimJongUn88

If it’s a repair that resulted in the vehicle being categorised as a Cat N or Cat S, yes they would have had a duty to tell you. Does the V5C say anything?

If it’s not been categorised and you didn’t ask the specific question about previous accidents, there’s not much you can do. A lot of cars on the roads have been involved in accidents and repaired. 

neilmcl

I think you need more proof that it's been in an accident other than a stamp in the service book. All that tells me is they carried out a service of some sort.

The_Rainmaker

Could have just been this.

tacpot12

That doesn't look like an accident that has been repaired. If you can't see the damage, it suggests the repair has been done well. 

AdrianC

hilary2327 said:

Hi
I have just purchased a used car from a dealership. I paid cash and the car is 1 and 1/2 half years old. Collected today and really happy with car except when checked service book it has a stamp in.from nationwide crash repair centre which looks as though it's been involved in an accident. This now concerns me because I do know what the extent of the damage. The dealer didn't disclose this information.....what are my rights? Can I take this car back and exchange or ask for refund? 

Did they say it hadn't been? No, because they simply couldn't ever know for sure it hadn't been.

Did you explicitly ask?

For all you know, it may have simply been serviced there. Or, perhaps, had a mirror changed. Can you see any evidence of collision repair on the car?

I would say "If you want to be sure, buy a brand new car" - but some estimates put the proportion of new cars which have had some body repair prior to registration at around a third.

Hasbeen

hilary2327 said:

Hi
I have just purchased a used car from a dealership. I paid cash and the car is 1 and 1/2 half years old. Collected today and really happy with car except when checked service book it has a stamp in.from nationwide crash repair centre which looks as though it's been involved in an accident. This now concerns me because I do know what the extent of the damage. The dealer didn't disclose this information.....what are my rights? Can I take this car back and exchange or ask for refund? 

You are assuming it has been in an accident because of a stamp in the service book?

Could have been there for any amount of reasons.

Have you checked the windscreen for any chip repairs?

https://www.nationwiderepairs.co.uk/#

The_Rainmaker

Why would a company such as this stamp the book for anything other than a service?

Has the OP asked the company what possibilities are feasible?

AdrianC

I'm wondering what sort of car we're talking about. Because there's an obvious explanation to me...

It was one of their courtesy cars.

doris540

My son works for NCRC and all their courtesy cars are serviced and service book stamped before they go back to lease company, plus they are serviced with genuine parts. They mainly have Corsas and similar sized cars. Plus the paintwork has to be spot on as well as they are all inspected and if any go back not in A1 condtion they get a financial penalty