Cloned bmw car please help me !!!

[rde20468]

Hi,

Bought a bmw from a bmw dealer and 2 weeks later when i got the reg v5 doc i found out that the car has been cloned !:( the dealer said the orly previous owner was BMW UK. The reg doc showed 4 previous owners!

But,the dates of when the last person who thinks she owns the car was changed one week before i puchased the car from dealer.

Cannot take car back as dealer says there is nothing wrong with the car and I have to go police, DVLA etc and sort out myself as they cant because of data protection - as car is now in my name. Have called DVLA who says send letter? Should i go to police - been told there is a chance my new car may be impounded until this is sorted out?? What do you think I should do???

[Conniff]

You should certainly report it, but at the same time, drop the BMW dealer a letter and let him know that the car was misdescribed and that it is ultimately his responsibility and that the soga applies.

 

See what his response is to that.

Either take the letter to the dealer personally or if by post, use recorded delivery.

 

Are there any adverts saying 'one owner' or any other paperwork with words to that effect, or was it verbal by the salesman?

[gwc1000]

I can see the dealer's point here. If somebody really has cloned your vehicle using a rogue car then the dealer is right, there is nothing wrong with the car he sold you. It is as described. It is not his fault that somebody is running around in a different car using your reg number and breaking the law which he has no control over. This is a matter for the police.

[Conniff]

They should have done presales checks before it went on the forecourt, it was described and sold as 'one owner' and turns out not to be so they will have to take responsibility for that.

[gwc1000]

They should have done presales checks before it went on the forecourt, it was described and sold as 'one owner' and turns out not to be so they will have to take responsibility for that.

 

But the car they have sold is one owner. Being a BMW Agent they will have a full record of the car since it was new.

Consider this. If today I cloned the vehicle that you own is it your fault and are you responsible?

[rde20468]

Thanks for your posts. My main concern is when I sell the car. I HPI'd it after this all came to light and it threw up loads of errors - ie. number of owners and mileage and a substantial decrease in value. I didnt do the HPI check before buying it as it is the car dealers policy to do this which obviously they didnt before I bought it !

[Conniff]

I didnt do the HPI check before buying it as it is the car dealers policy to do this which obviously they didnt before I bought it !

 

Well there you go then, if they had stuck to their advertised policy, then you wouldn't have had this trouble, unless of course they did do one and never let on.

 

If an HPI check is part of what they offer, then they either conned you or never did one, how will they explain that?

[gwc1000]

You cannot be sure that the dealer didn't hpi the car. It is possible he bought the vehicle showing one owner in the book, hpi'd it and it was all clear. Whilst he had it in stock a scally has applied for a reg doc for the car to clone an identical one. Even if DVLA wrote to the former keeper stating that somebody had applied for a new V5 the former keeper would have assumed it was due to the sale to the dealer and done nothing. When eventually the dealer sold the car (which could have been months later) to the OP and sent the V5 off to Swansea he obtained when purchasing the car, still showing one keeper, DVLA would have assumed this change of keeper was to be added to the list of keepers that had accrued on the rogue V5, they would not have been aware it was sitting in the dealer's premises. As I said before, if this is a proper BMW agent they will have a complete record of from when the car was new. The car the OP has bought is a "one former keeper". I cannot see how the dealer can be liable for the criminal actions of a third party.

[rde20468]

ok will keep you updated when i have written letter to dvla and see where that gets me?

[BVG]

Having worked for BMW Franchised dealers for many years I would advise you to call BMW Customer Care UK and get them involved. They will assist in sorting out this mess for you.

 

Depending on what dealer it is they may or may not be owned by BMW UK.

 

Either way, they will assist as they hate bad publicity concerning the dealer network.

 

As part of the sales hand over pack you 'should' have received or it what dealers call 'the deal bag' of 'deal file' will be a copy of the HPI cert - Ask to see it, they are date and time stamped and will show if one was carried out prior to the sale or not.

Edited May 25, 2008 by BVG
text

[rde20468]

hi,i have contacted bmw uk and they have got dealer to send out hire car 318d i have a 330i sport ! anyway only on hire.

cannot find hpi check by dealer,will chase up after b hol.

thanks for your input.

[crash3903]

hi,i have contacted bmw uk and they have got dealer to send out hire car 318d i have a 330i sport ! anyway only on hire.

cannot find hpi check by dealer,will chase up after b hol.

thanks for your input.

 

Along with reporting the car to the Police who should have a vehicle examiner examine the vehicle to confirm its true identity. If it is what BMW say it is then you are able to keep the car and the attention is turned to the other car

[raydetinu]

Demand your money back or take them to court, vehicle misrepresented as one owner and fraudulent V5, SAG act covers this.

check with trading standasds and go to cab for advice. dont swallow it fight!

[gwc1000]

Demand your money back or take them to court, vehicle misrepresented as one owner and fraudulent V5, SAG act covers this.

check with trading standasds and go to cab for advice. dont swallow it fight!

Errm. I think you may have misunderstood the gist of this thread.

Edited May 26, 2008 by gwc1000
the older I get my spelling is getting worse!

[rde20468]

Along with reporting the car to the Police who should have a vehicle examiner examine the vehicle to confirm its true identity. If it is what BMW say it is then you are able to keep the car and the attention is turned to the other car

contacted ploice and they have noted it down,might come back to me if itel team think something is wrong?!

sending letter to DVLA to see what happens next,watch this space.

[gwc1000]

crash3903 is right. All attention will turn to the other car.

[crash3903]

in the short term ask the BMW dealer to plug the car into the equipment in their workshop to get the chassis number up and compare against that displayed on the car - that will also be a definitive answer

[gwc1000]

in the short term ask the BMW dealer to plug the car into the equipment in their workshop to get the chassis number up and compare against that displayed on the car - that will also be a definitive answer

Now that is a good idea. I never thought of that!

[crash3903]

Now that is a good idea. I never thought of that!

 

[rde20468]

Hi all,

 

Ok,the latest is that i have had a call from the police and they are looking in to it.?

 

They called BMW dealers and may get my car marked? whatever that means?

 

See what happens next?...

[LancerQRL]

if the car is a newer vehicle, the car key itself will actually hold your vehicle details, mileage and service history. just plug it into the reader at bmw and there you go

[rde20468]

if the car is a newer vehicle, the car key itself will actually hold your vehicle details, mileage and service history. just plug it into the reader at bmw and there you go

 

ok will do thanks alot

[rde20468]

still waiting fro V5 form from dvla,how long will they take to get right one to me? anyon eknow? thanks,been 10 days already...

[Audi A6]

Hi,

Bought a bmw from a bmw dealer and 2 weeks later when i got the reg v5 doc i found out that the car has been cloned !:( the dealer said the orly previous owner was BMW UK. The reg doc showed 4 previous owners!

But,the dates of when the last person who thinks she owns the car was changed one week before i puchased the car from dealer.

Cannot take car back as dealer says there is nothing wrong with the car and I have to go police, DVLA etc and sort out myself as they cant because of data protection - as car is now in my name. Have called DVLA who says send letter? Should i go to police - been told there is a chance my new car may be impounded until this is sorted out?? What do you think I should do???

 

I think I've just had the same thing done to my car!!! Okay, a bit of a long story...

 

I bought a car at a well know auction house! It had a "warranted" 65k on the clock! and came from a big finance house. I paid for the car the next day with a bankers draft(as if you pay with a credit cars you incure a 2% charge)

 

The day before I picked up the car I phoned the main dealer (where the car originated from and was serviced at) to find out some details of the car! to my suprise a "brand new engine" had been fitted some 180 miles ago at a cost of £12755.00!!! "WOW I thought" I've dropped on!

 

So with that I went to pick up the car with a massive smile on my face, but hang on! there is a sting in this tale.

 

When I got the MOT it stated that the car had covered 81k! but the car said 65k!(and I knew that the car had a new engine fitted by the main dealer because I had a print out of all the work that had been done and the mileage and dates) I asked to see the general manager who checked the cars VIN and number plates.

 

The VIN number on the car was the same as on the MOT, and the reg was also! So I took the car and thought that the MOT station that had done the test must have mixed up two cars and written the wrong mileage down.

 

I decided to contact VOSA(Vehicle & Operator Service Agency) the goverment agency that police the MOT stations by email to ask if they could look into the mileage for me, as I had purchased the car 11 days ago and found it hard to believe that the car had covered 16k in such a short time? And the car's MMI was telling me that only 100 miles had been covered and didn't need a service for 184 days.

 

 

The man from VOSA went away to try and find out the history of the car... In the mean time I was on the phone to the main dealer to find out what they knew about the car! The car originated from them and had all the warranty/service work done there so they knew the car very well! It turns out that the car was sitting at the dealership from Jan to June (08 waiting for a new engine to be shipped from Germany! But my MOT said it went for a test in March 2008

 

Thats just not possible as it didn't have an engine in it! So the emission test must have been the cleanest in the world!

 

Okay! so now i'm getting really worried:confused: I tried to contact VOSA again to find out what they've found out, but I couldn't speak to the manager who was dealing with it!

 

Today I get a phone call from the manager at VOSA saying this is not quite as straight forwards as a "wrong" mileage on an MOT. He's told me that there is another car(same make, model, color) out on the roads with the identical number plate/ VIN number as mine!!!!!!! And the MOT I have isn't for my car but the other car! even though the VIN is the same.

 

So to cut this very long story short! VOSA are sending someone up North to have a look at his car, and someone to have a look at mine! One could be a "Clone" or their are two cars out there with the same VIN. If they can't get to the bottom of it the Police will have to be informed and a possibility that the cars could be seized!!!!

 

Has anyone ever been through anything like this and can offer advice to what I can do please?

Edited July 24, 2008 by Audi A6

[crash3903]

yes dealt with it hundreds of times and you are in for a long wait!