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Fraudulent service history, no history at all


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Hi all,

 

Back in Nov 2015 i bought an Audi A5 Sports Convertible, 2012 reg, for £16,600 from a massive London based car dealer. In June this year I've decided to sell it as they worry of it devaluing in time was too much for me so i wasn't really able to enjoy the car anymore. I've tried taking it back to the same dealer but they were only able to offer me £13,000 after a quick check (this amount being subject to a thorough investigation). The guy told me the car is in a really good condition and i should have no problem selling it privately for about £14,500.

 

So after advertising it for over a month i was lucky enough to get an offer of £15,000 but, just before paying the deposit, the potential buyer called the garage to verify the service history and was informed it's fake.

 

As i still had a copy of the original advertisement from when i bought the car together with the six invoices, all from the same garage where presumably the services have been carried out (no service book, just invoices), I've contacted consumer rights and they advised me to get in touch with the company that financed the vehicle for me.

 

In the meantime i got confirmation in writing from the garage that they've never serviced my vehicle so i've sent everything to the finance company who opened a dispute with the car dealer and said they will contact me in 5 working days.

 

I am now waiting for them to get back to me but in the meantime i keep wondering what will i be entitled to?! i really don't want the car (I would have never bought it if i knew it has no service history) but i have used it in the past 7 months and added 4000 miles to its usage. i am worried they will only offer me what they did before (£13,000) but if it was as advertised by them (with 6 genuine services) I could have sold it for £15,000 privately, without a service history it's near enough impossible to sell a car of this value.

 

Consumer rights wanted to report it to trading standards as it's a criminal offence but I've asked them to hold back for now as i feel it's my bargaining tool, I've mentioned this to the finance company and said i would like to try and resolve this matter peacefully first before getting the media and trading standards involved...

 

Any ideas as to where i stand in terms of compensation?

 

Many thanks,

 

Anca

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Who are you seeking compensation from? if the garage sold you the car in good faith taking the invoices on face value why should they pay you compensation, and who compensates them?

 

I am surprised that someone would go to this level of effort as i guess that in the 3 years they owned it they must have got it serviced. But it would appear to be a case of fraud and something that perhaps the police should be looking into; especially as your car could be the tip of an otherwise bigger iceberg. Once the finance company gets involved I would think that the police are not far behind.

It is easier to enter a rich man than for a camel to pass a needle

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Who are you seeking compensation from? if the garage sold you the car in good faith taking the invoices on face value why should they pay you compensation, and who compensates them?

 

I am surprised that someone would go to this level of effort as i guess that in the 3 years they owned it they must have got it serviced. But it would appear to be a case of fraud and something that perhaps the police should be looking into; especially as your car could be the tip of an otherwise bigger iceberg. Once the finance company gets involved I would think that the police are not far behind.

 

I am seeking compensation from the finance company as legally they've bought the car from the dealer and sold it to me. The car dealer might end up dealing with me directly but as per the consumer act section 50 my complaint had to be with the finance company for misrepresented sale made by their agent (car garage).

 

The previous owner was volkswagen financial services so i suppose it was a company lease and i guess this is who will have to compensate the car dealer?! Although i'm pretty sure it was bought at an auction as i believe the car dealer buys all the cars from there. They owe me compensation because i believe they had a duty to check the service history?!

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Use the word "garage" and you also use the word "dealer". Are these one and the same?

 

Anyway, if the dealer that sold it to you with a particular service history, then they are contractually obliged to sell you a vehicle with that service history. If the service history is fake then regardless of the dealer's good faith, they are liable

 

You say that you have been to "consumer rights". Who are they?

 

If you can show that with the correct service history then the car would be worth £15,000 – then that is the amount of money that you would be entitled to have either by means of the sale or in compensation.

 

At some point, it may turn out that you will be obliged to sell the car for what you can get for it and then sue the garage for the difference – but you would have to let the garage know all about this at the beginning so they could consider buying the car back from you for the price that you want.

 

Can you please tell us the name of the dealer. If the garage is different, then can you please tell us the name of the garage.

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6 services in 3 years seems a lot. Wouldn't this have been on extended service intervals - 2 years/20,000 miles, if the car is around 40,000 moles, then the second service is about due.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Apologies, i thought i would get an email notification whenever someone posted something here. I've managed to get most of the money back and returned the car to the car dealer/ garage (sorry in my mind this is the same although probably not correct...they are the biggest car dealers in UK actually). The finance company offered to repay everything minus £320 (which used to me my monthly payment to them) for every 1000 miles i've done whilst having the car. I was also been given back the interest charged so at the end all i've lost is about £650 but i got to use the car for 7 months so i was really happy with the outcome.

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Nice one.

Did the dealer put up a fight or was ok with this?

 

No fight at all actually. I've scratched the alloys quite a bit whilst i've owned it and i thought they would try to knock down the original offer i've had for them to take it back but they didn't. I think they didn't want this to get in the media as their reputation would suffer and they could have potentially lost a lot more. That's why i didn't want to name them as they've dealt with the matter verry politely and profesionally!

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Have they bought a gagging order from you?

 

As a consumer forum we aim to help everyone with good recommendations as well as bad, if a "Big" dealership is that inept that they can't even be trusted with the basics!, then consumers deserve to know imo Anca Stan.

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