Kiri123:

1. Once car is written OFF then it should be the responsibilty of the insurance co to sell the car ONLY for it to be scapped and to the Breaker's yard...under no cercumstance for use on the road again..

2. This sort of Deficative cars can cost lifes...

3. There is need for law to change .

4. Bascially Not many Honest people around.

5 I had semilar experience and when the trader refused my deposit after several attempts.  I got a friend to do test drive parked the car on D/yellow line .He wasnt laughing then.... 

This is why there are write off categories. A Category C is not too bad providing it has passed a VIC test. A car is commonly written off (on paper) when the bumper cracks on an old car. Are you saying that after this has been replaced, the car can cost lives? I hardly think so!!

An explanation of the categories of write-off are listed below:

Category A: A vehicle which should have been totally crushed, including all its spare parts.

Category B: A vehicle from which spare parts may be salvaged, but the bodyshell should have been crushed and the car should never return to the road.

Category C: An extensively damaged vehicle which the insurer has decided not to repair, but which could be repaired and returned to the road.

Category D: A damaged vehicle which the insurer has decided not to repair, but which could be repaired and returned to the road.

Category F: A vehicle damaged by fire, which the insurer has decided not to repair.

Theft: These vehicles have not been recovered and ownership rests with the insurer who made the total loss payment. They are able to repossess the car as soon as it is identified, even if it has been bought innocently.

Vehicles categorised as A, B or C require a VIC test before the DVLA will issue a new registration document. This will then be noted on the V5C. See www.dvla.gov.uk for more information on VIC testing.

At the end of the day, for a small fee of just £5 this entire scenario could have been avoided. For further information, visit http://www.rac.co.uk/web/vehiclechecks/status_checks/ 

1. Once car is written OFF then it should be the responsibilty of the insurance co to sell the car ONLY for it to be scapped and to the Breaker's yard...under no cercumstance for use on the road again..

2. This sort of Deficative cars can cost lifes...

3. There is need for law to change .

4. Bascially Not many Honest people around.

5 I had semilar experience and when the trader refused my deposit after several attempts.  I got a friend to do test drive parked the car on D/yellow line .He wasnt laughing then.... 

Mango10:

Yes I know the HPI was down to me and I admit that was a stupid mistake so its fair enough to wave goodbye to my £150 now I suppose, I was just thinking that the law does seem strange in that dealers don't have to tell you anything about a vehicle if they choose not to, because even if you do ask and they give you false information, if you took it further surely its only your word against theirs....?  All seems a bit easy for unscrupulous traders to get away with what they like to me

Anyhow on the positive side, I have found a lovely car now and have bought that cheaper than this other one was anyway so  all is good

Thanks again

Hey Mango,

Glad you got everything sorted and got yourself a nice car now!!

I see your point about the law, but then we do live in the UK. One step away from the US - and we all know how they love stupidity over there!! Look at the leader!!

When I said about dealers not having to give you information, I was talking about on a voluntary basis. If you ask them a question and they lie about it, then sure - you have grounds to moan. If you took the car for a spin, and was happy with it - it's not down to the dealer to tell you anything. Have you ever gone to a dealer and said "Oh I like that car" and they say "Well, yes, it's lovely looking but the axel is *** and the engine is about to go!" LOL - they'd be out of business!

Be inquisitive and ask for some form of guarantee in the future!!

Yes I know the HPI was down to me and I admit that was a stupid mistake so its fair enough to wave goodbye to my £150 now I suppose, I was just thinking that the law does seem strange in that dealers don't have to tell you anything about a vehicle if they choose not to, because even if you do ask and they give you false information, if you took it further surely its only your word against theirs....?  All seems a bit easy for unscrupulous traders to get away with what they like to me

Anyhow on the positive
side, I have found a lovely car now and have bought that cheaper than
this other one was anyway so  all is good



Thanks again

For a start, a car is a tangible product that can be viewed, tried and tested. It is up to you to make up your mind about the product and the seller does not have to disclose anything he/she is not asked about. If he/she lies about something you ask, then this is misleading and you may have a case. It's a lot different to insurance where it requires utmost good faith from both parties.

Not wanting you to feel bad here, but the HPI is down to you. If you are going to buy the product, then you should have it examined first - this is here so there are fewer come-back. Yes, the dealers that offer HPI checks will probably be more favourable as it looks like you are getting a good deal - when he has probably added this to the asking price anyway.

Thanks all for your replies.

I called Trading Standards, and was basically told I was in the wrong for not asking about the HPI, fair enough I suppose, she also said that you don't legally have to supply any information about its past and I asked her what about the lack of paperwork from the repairs done and she said you can buy a car without any paperwork...

I am thinking now though, why should traders be able to get away with this sort of thing legally?  It seems a bit ridiculous, I know customers should get HPI checks done etc etc but surely traders at least (good ones which would therefore weed out bad ones) should legally have to do a HPI and inform customers of a vehicle history?  Or am I wrong in thinking this?!

Oo it's very late Saturday/Sunday Morn but I thought I would put my ore in.

A car salesman does not have to tell you anything that is specifically wrong with the vehicle, by law, unless you ask him and he gives you false information. I can explaina more but will probably have to be after I've had some woolly sheep.

With regards to the misleading information about previous owners, I haven't got a scooby-doo.

conmankiller - I don't think he is posing as a private seller, his ad was classed as Trade on auto trader

Mango ---- I have no doubt that he is a trader posing under the guise of a private individual trying to evade his legal obligations, he may also not have registered as a trader with Her Majesty's IR also evading that dreaded you know what ?

One thing is certain though a private individual does not have Five cars of any sort for sale, also offering 3 month warranties on them, unless they are considered a trader.

On a seperate note, he claims that he does not have the receipts that show the work has been done in putting the car right after a cat C write off, he then claims he does not have them because the insurance company handled all that !

Well that is a lie, because the whole point of an insurance co writing a vehicle off is that they deem it uneconomical to do these repairs, therefore they write it off and the vehilcle gets sold on to either traders, vehicle breakers or scrapped, the insurance co has then washed it's hands of any further dealings with the car.

Hurrah, soon to be one less to55er besmirching the good name of honest traders... Keep us posted on what happens...

JJ

Oh yeah, also, when I asked why wasn't there any mention of this write off in he paperwork he showed us and he said:

"I don't legally have to put in details on Cat C write offs in the paperwork"

I then said surely there must be paperwork for all the repair work that was done and he said:

"there is no mention of the repairs done as it was through an insurance company so they handled all that" or some rubbish

:(

conmankiller - I don't think he is posing as a private seller, his ad was classed as Trade on auto trader


 

Okay fine...... Trading standards it is then. He can't say you have not been reasonable and given him the full opportunity to do the right thing .... can he ?

He definitely has to disclose the correct number of former owners (HPI is voluntary), whether he is a trader or not, and you were buying this car on the basis of the car having less owners than has transpired, therefore the car is not, "as described".

He has really made it difficult for himself, because trading standards have got the far reaching powers to bring these dealers who pose as private sellers to account, by going into all their past and present activities.

Ok, I have finally been able to have a conversation with him after he blatantly ingored my call for about 5 mins of ringing lol

He is saying that he can't refund due to the fact that the receipt said I have now agreed to buy the car - fair enough but this was on the basis that the car was as stated.  He also said that he had another buyer interested who drove from Kent (this so called garage is near Nottingham) but he had to tell him no because he thought he sold it, so why on earth didn't he tell him before he drove up?!  Kicking myself now because I didn't think to ask that and also to ask if he was planning on telling this guy about the HPI check too :(  I did ask him about traders doing HPIs on their vehicles and he said "it doesn't legally have to be done, so I chose not to"

He also said he can't refund me as he has "put this deposit through the books now"...

Now, my partner has just rang Auto Trader (where we saw the advert) and they said that Cat C write offs do need to be mentioned in their adverts and if they knew this, it wouldn't have got through Auto Trader's system, and to definately inform Trading Standards.

Next stop, Trading Standards...
 

Going slightly of the pointbut not that far reading JJ's advice, my Dad , whenever he has to return something always waits until there are other customers around. If the retailer or in your case the trader refuses a refund or haggles the point my Dad just raises the tone of his voice. He doesn't shout he just talks loudly. He keeps calm and to the point. Your trader chappie will not want other potential customers put off by your experience so may refund you just to get rid of you before other customers go bye bye!.

Then make sure trading standards are aware of this bloke.

DD

Yep, just called again after 30 mins and although he did answer, he said "I'll call you in 20 mins, I'm just sorting out this car" Geez!!

This could go on all day, think I am going to get a friend to call and make a fresh inquiry as he knows my voice now!  See if he tells them about the history...
 

I just want to get to the bottom of this now!

Call him, tell him you've seen an advert for the car he's got for sale and arrange an appointment to go and see him about it. When you get there it's a case of 'Oh look who's turned up'. Sneaky, but you have to be sneaky to sneak a sneaker!!! He's going to want to avoid you and your calls because he knows he's in the wrong trying to pull a fast one.

JJ