Help!! Bought a car previously in an accident

Newbie2015

Any help that can be given is much appreciated! 

My husband and I have found ourselves in an awful situation. We bought a car in London (we live in Scotland) in March... about 4 days before lockdown. We immediately took it to a local dealership and discovered the brakes discs and pads needed immediately replaced. After a fight with the dealer we bought it from, they were replaced at part our cost and part theirs. Then we went into lockdown and didn’t drive the car for 3 months, except to maternity appts and hospital as I was pregnant at the time.
Since coming out of lockdown, the car has been in the local garage every other week with various faults. 4 weeks ago we took it in again because water was coming into the car and we couldn’t find out where from. The garage then did a more comprehensive check of the car and called us to tell us they believed the car had previously been in an accident and badly repaired. There is no record on the HPI database so it seems it was an ‘unrecorded’ repair. We immediately informed the finance company (car bought on HP) who told us that we had to have an independent assessment carried out to prove the faults were present at time of purchase, also because the car was now purchased more than 6 months ago. 

The independent assessment confirmed the faults were present at time of purchase. This was sent to the finance company along with the reports from the garage showing all other issues that had been fixed to date. 

The finance company have told us the best we can expect is to strike a deal with the dealership we purchased from, for them to do the repairs. We wish to reject the car. The report from the independent assessor indicates that the water ingress has likely caused irreparable damage that will become apparent in the electrics in future.
We do not have the funds to hire a solicitor to fight this for us. 

Can anyone offer advice/what we can do. I feel the consumer act timelines should be somewhat elastic given the global pandemic and lockdown?

Many thanks in advance

AdrianC

HPI only tells you if a car has been written off by an insurer, not whether it's ever been damaged or not.

The original Spring lockdown in Scotland was eased at roughly the same time as England, late May, about two months after you bought the car - and that was more than six months ago.

Given Scottish weather, it's hard to see how you could have failed to notice water ingress between March and November, so that may be hard to claim as present at the time of purchase - but the only thing that changes six months post-purchase is the burden of proof as to whether faults were present at the time of purchase. Before then, it's for the vendor to prove they weren't. After then, it's for you to prove they were.

You say the car's been "in and out" of your local garage since around early June, but at what point did you first raise these issues with the supplier? Not the brake wear - that was sorted to mutual satisfaction - but the problems since...

How much was the car, and how old is it?

Newbie2015

In terms of lockdown, it did start easing at the end of May, but travel was still restricted in Scotland. Despite the dates, the lack of use has been confirmed by the mileage from date of purchase until now. The water ingress started a couple of months ago, but has been proven to be caused by damage improperly repaired. Essentially the bad repairs effectively gave way and are now letting water in.
The breaks were the start of the repairs, the next was a new ad blue tank that was needed. We didn’t highlight any subsequent faults to the dealer, until now, as we took these as individual faults, and bad luck of buying a 2nd hand car. We now assume that the various faults are the result of the damage the car sustained, but of course that cannot be proven unless we knew the extent of the damage and repairs done.  

The car is 4 years old.

k3lvc

So : 

What's the car

Why did you buy in London from Scotland ?

Main franchised dealer, Car Supermarket or back street dealer

Presumably you didn't manage to get previous keepers details before the V5 was sent off - that might give you the answer re damage ?

Given the time elapsed and distances involved you're going to struggle for an easy resolution - I suspect a whole load of he said/she said (and that's assuming the dealer still exists) 

Car_54

k3lvc said:

Presumably you didn't manage to get previous keepers details before the V5 was sent off - that might give you the answer re damage ?

V5C no longer shows the previous keeper. Data protection.

williamgriffin

Car_54 said:

k3lvc said:

Presumably you didn't manage to get previous keepers details before the V5 was sent off - that might give you the answer re damage ?

V5C no longer shows the previous keeper. Data protection.

That's probably why he said before it was sent off, the previous keeper would be the current keeper. 

AdrianC

Newbie2015 said:

but of course that cannot be proven unless we knew the extent of the damage and repairs done.

It is, of course, entirely likely that the dealer do not know that. They probably bought the car at auction and simply resold it.

Grumpy_chap

Presumably, if it was worth you traveling from Scotland to London to buy this car, it was at a price that was "too good to be true".
4 year old car.
How many miles?
What did you pay for it?
What type of car is it?

k3lvc

williamgriffin said:

Car_54 said:

k3lvc said:

Presumably you didn't manage to get previous keepers details before the V5 was sent off - that might give you the answer re damage ?

V5C no longer shows the previous keeper. Data protection.

That's probably why he said before it was sent off, the previous keeper would be the current keeper. 

Indeed - nowadays easy to ask to see the V5C before purchase and either photograph/memorise enough of the details in case there's a future issue. Just done it with a motorcycle purchase and previous owner was easily traceable on social media and happy to share full details of previous work carried out 

neilmcl

Newbie2015 said:

The independent assessment confirmed the faults were present at time of purchase. This was sent to the finance company along with the reports from the garage showing all other issues that had been fixed to date. 

The finance company have told us the best we can expect is to strike a deal with the dealership we purchased from, for them to do the repairs. We wish to reject the car.

Then you need to go back to the finance company and remind them that they are equally and severally liable for the breach in contract. There's no "deals to be done", you want a remedy as is your right according to your statutory consumer rights. Having said that you cannot reject the car at this stage until you've given the dealer an opportunity to put things right via a repair, if they fail or unable to do this, then and only then can you exercise your final right to reject.

Bear in mind that you are also not entitled to a full refund, any refund, outside the initial 30 days, can take into account the time you've owned the vehicle.

burlingtonfl6

With regards to why the OP bought a vehicle that wasn't in Scotland....I don't blame them. Scottish cars see harsher winters and the salt/grit means they aren't generally as nice as those in England.
The car might have been repaired, but considering most used cars on the road today will be bought and sold at some point with undisclosed repair jobs (which is natural) I think you're being a bit unrealistic in your expectations.