Dispute with car dealer.

Moe_The_Bartender

I bought a car last weekend from a well known car retailer and drove it away having been assured that it had one previous owner. I received the registration document today which showed that there were in fact two previous owners. I had specifically asked the question as no information about previous ownership was shown on the marketing material.

I have lodged a complaint and am awaiting a response but I would like to be clear as to my rights. I traded in my own car and was told that the value was adversely affected by the fact that it had three owners. I am clearly out of pocket because I have paid more for my new car because of the number of owners and received less for my trade in for the same reason.

Thoughts please.

Carrot007

One previous owner (at the time).

One current owner (not you).

Now 2 previous owners and you as the current owner.

This is the way it always has been. Yes I think it is silly but unless this is your first time buying I would expect you to know this.

(The truth can always be misleading).

Bigwheels1111

I can’t remember off hand how they state it, one previous owner etc. But should be how many in total.
My friend had it when I went with him to buy a 2015 Prius, one previous owner, got there and I checked the paperwork while he test drove the car.
He got back likes the car but did not like that he would be the third owner, not the second.
Gave us a bit more wiggle room. Got an extra £350 of the car.
But it’s a common issue.
I always ask to see the log book V5, to check.
If they only have the small strip instead of full log book ask to see the HPi check as it states how many owners etc.

Grey_Critic

One thing to consider (and it is not an excuse) is people seem to have the option to reject a vehicle within X number of days without penalty if they decide they do not like it - People like Cazoo actually advertise this. The car will have been taxed so will add to the number of previous owners.

Data protection prevents listing who the previous owner of the vehicle was which makes it difficult to check.

KimJongUn88

Before you bought the car, it did have one previous owner. Then you bought it and became an owner pushing the number of previous owners to two.

Herzlos

How much do you think the extra owner has affected the vehicles price?

As I understand it, it's just a weird way of describing it. It's got 1 previous owner, and 1 current owner. The current owner sells it to you and now you're the current owner with 2 previous owners.

Moe_The_Bartender

I asked how many previous owners and was told 'one'. That is unambiguous. The salesman who made this statement has not denied it but says that he doesn’t remember. The supplier's position is that the car was fairly priced as a two owner car and as a one owner car would have been £2-£300 more. I told them that I wouldn’t have bought anything other than a one owner car and suggested that I would return it and they will then have a 3 owner car to sell for less. They have gone away to think about it.

force_ten

Moe_The_Bartender said:

I asked how many previous owners and was told 'one'. That is unambiguous. The salesman who made this statement has not denied it but says that he doesn’t remember. The supplier's position is that the car was fairly priced as a two owner car and as a one owner car would have been £2-£300 more. I told them that I wouldn’t have bought anything other than a one owner car and suggested that I would return it and they will then have a 3 owner car to sell for less. They have gone away to think about it.

if the dealer had shown you the V5 at the point of purchase it would have shown number of former keepers one 

so you have one former keeper and the current keeper who's address would be shown on the V5 but you are not allowed to see it because of data protection 

so when you buy the car the V5 is transferred to your name and the V5 then shows two former keepers and you as the current keeper so when you sell the car The V5 will still show two former keepers and you as the the current keeper

the dealer has not lied as the V5 that they looked at clearly states the number of former keepers as one which is correct. one former keeper and and the current keeper  

DB1904

Moe_The_Bartender said:

I asked how many previous owners and was told 'one'. That is unambiguous. The salesman who made this statement has not denied it but says that he doesn’t remember. The supplier's position is that the car was fairly priced as a two owner car and as a one owner car would have been £2-£300 more. I told them that I wouldn’t have bought anything other than a one owner car and suggested that I would return it and they will then have a 3 owner car to sell for less. They have gone away to think about it.

If you're certain those were your exact words then the problem is yours. Had you asked how many keepers it's had you would have been told two. 

motorguy

Moe_The_Bartender said:

I asked how many previous owners and was told 'one'. That is unambiguous. The salesman who made this statement has not denied it but says that he doesn’t remember. The supplier's position is that the car was fairly priced as a two owner car and as a one owner car would have been £2-£300 more. I told them that I wouldn’t have bought anything other than a one owner car and suggested that I would return it and they will then have a 3 owner car to sell for less. They have gone away to think about it.

Why does it matter?

Also if you dont have it in writing or if its not in the advert theres no physical evidence.

That said, most dealers will refund as they'll not want the hassle.

Jumblebumble

Moe_The_Bartender said:

I bought a car last weekend from a well known car retailer and drove it away having been assured that it had one previous owner. I received the registration document today which showed that there were in fact two previous owners. I had specifically asked the question as no information about previous ownership was shown on the marketing material.

I have lodged a complaint and am awaiting a response but I would like to be clear as to my rights. I traded in my own car and was told that the value was adversely affected by the fact that it had three owners. I am clearly out of pocket because I have paid more for my new car because of the number of owners and received less for my trade in for the same reason.

Thoughts please.

The salesman told just enough of the truth to mislead the unwary
 I am sure he/she knew perfectly well what information you wanted to extract by your question.
An avenue for you to explore is who is the actual owner of the car that is "in trade" at the point of sale?
The last keeper or the garage themselves ?
In my view the garage now own the car and there are therefore clearly 2 previous owners