Claiming on Consumers act 2015 for a used car

Hi, I am hoping somebody can help. No judgement please I've never brought a used car before. I bought a used car from a dealer 5 months ago, I found out a few weeks back it's Cat N, the dealer didn't disclose this, nor advertise it in his listing.

I know I should have done a check but isn't this a false advertisement? I wouldn't have brought the car knowing it was Cat N.

We have recently gone to sell it after finding out and offer 10% of the price I paid.

I have the original listing and recipe which neither say Cat N.

Where do I stand on this? Since buying the car it's constantly leaked oil which I took back to him as he gave us 31 day warranty, he fixed it initially but the problem has still persisted.

I have looked at the Consumer Act 2015 which says we can exercised our rights for a full refund but my husband thinks its going to be alot of work just for an oil leak.

Has anybody been through this process before and won?


The dealer I brought from is an independent dealer operating from his home. 

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Comments

  • Mark_d
    Mark_d Posts: 2,262 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Do you have car insurance for driving this Cat N vehicle on a public road?
  • Yes I have car insurance 
  • Mildly_Miffed
    Mildly_Miffed Posts: 1,355 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 2 September 2024 at 4:33PM
    What age/value of car are we talking about?

    When was the car written off?

    Cat N is non-structural. It simply means that the insurer chose to pay the value of the car to their policyholder rather than repair. All the damage was expected to be to bolt-on bits.

    Should they have flagged it? Yes. If they knew. Sometimes, the classification doesn't show for a while after the insurance claim.

    Is the oil leak enough to bring a rejection? Unlikely. Consumer rights for used cars are tempered by reasonable expectations for a car of that age, value, apparent condition. An oil leak on a year-old used car is regarded very differently to a 12yo one.

    How bad is the leak? MOT fail standard is a 75mm pool in five minutes while the engine's idling - which is pretty damn substantial.
  • The car was registered in 2011, 

    I don’t know when it was written off

    The leak isn’t 75mm in 5 minutes, I took it to a garage and they couldn’t locate the leak but it’s still leaking over my drive 
  • So we're talking about a 13yo car - the average age of cars in the UK at scrapping.

    Have you done an HPI check, or are you just going on the word of the buyer that decided they didn't want it?

    How much oil do you have to add?
  • Arunmor
    Arunmor Posts: 545 Forumite
    500 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Mark_d said:
    Do you have car insurance for driving this Cat N vehicle on a public road?
    Why wouldn't they have insurance?  Strange question.   
  • It’s not really the point if the car is at the average scrapping age. The dealer has still been dishonest with the sale leaving me out of pocket. 

    We couldn’t afford a newer car which is why we went for an older one. 

    Or clarity, I am the buyer, I haven’t just decided I didn’t want it. I’ve paid more for a purchase and been misled which is why I am seeing if there is a case. 
  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 18,727 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Have you found out exactly what the damage was which caused the car to be written off? Depending on its value, a 13 yr old car with very minor damage would most probably be written off as hire car costs could make it uneconomic to repair
    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
  • Have you found out exactly what the damage was which caused the car to be written off? Depending on its value, a 13 yr old car with very minor damage would most probably be written off as hire car costs could make it uneconomic to repair
    I haven’t found out what the damage is, I got a report but it didn’t say it just said Cat N. The only reason I found out as I got a trade in quote and the dealership said. 

    I’ve resided to the fact it was my error of judgement, and lesson learnt. 
  • Have you found out exactly what the damage was which caused the car to be written off? Depending on its value, a 13 yr old car with very minor damage would most probably be written off as hire car costs could make it uneconomic to repair
    I paid 4k for the car 
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