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Unknowingly bought a car with category D (finance) from a garage.


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Writing this on behalf of my friend looking for advice.

 

He bought a car in December 2014 from a garage, with Barclays finance. A couple of days ago he decided to check the car value on Autotrader and did the HPI check - turns out that car had a category D and was written off. The date for this is 19th of March 2015.

He contacted the garage and they told him all cars are HPI checked and the finance wouldn't go through if the car was written off - which could be fine, as the category was recorded 3 months later. he tried to contact DVLA, but as this is cat D - there's nothing on V5 and they've told him to contact the insurance company. He's current insurer wasn't helpful and there is no info on the HPI report as to what company has written it off.

 

Now the questions are - what can he do in this situation ? He clearly paid over the odds for a written off car, as the price was almost 8k on finance. How is this possible that the car had a category recorded 3 months later ? What would the next steps in this situation ? All help is much appreciated.

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I think that you need to try and contact the previous owner and see what info they are prepared to give you. They may be prepared to give you the whole story.

 

Are you saying that the car was listed as Cat D - having had the accident after your friend bought it?

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Thanks for the reply BankFodder.

 

Will the garage give info on the previous owner though ?

 

It looks like on the day of sale the car wasn't listed as category D, as the HPI came back with the 19th of March 2015 date for the category (car was bought 31st of Dec 2014) - i find it weird that cat D turned up 3 months later.

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Why did the garage not know of the history of the car ? Surely they would check paperwork from previous owners and give the car a thorough check before selling.

 

Think the next step is an independent engineers report on the car to see what repairs were done on the car and what condition it is in. They might also be able to advise on market value difference. If he is member of AA or RAC they may have a helpline to offer advice. They might offer such inspection reports.

 

It might be wise at this stage to send a letter to both the garage and Barclays finance advising them of the situation and that they may need to legal remedy for what has happened, as the car was sold on without the garage realising or advising the buyer it was a category d write off. The garage in not knowing or advising of this was a failure of their professional standards expected and a clear breach of sale of goods act i.e car was miss sold as the buyer had right to expect it was not previously a write off. Barclays would be responsible as well, as they were a joint party, having provided finance.

 

Armed with an independent engineers report, they would then have a basis to understand the true nature of the loss, which they could take to court, if the garage did not want to resolve outside of court.

We could do with some help from you.

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Thanks for the reply BankFodder.

 

Will the garage give info on the previous owner though ?

 

It looks like on the day of sale the car wasn't listed as category D, as the HPI came back with the 19th of March 2015 date for the category (car was bought 31st of Dec 2014) - i find it weird that cat D turned up 3 months later.

 

The car could have been subject to insurers salvage company taking it and the previous owner may not have full details, other than what they saw of damage, nature of accident. But it might not help take it forward on its own.

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Thanks for the reply BankFodder.

 

Will the garage give info on the previous owner though ?

 

It looks like on the day of sale the car wasn't listed as category D, as the HPI came back with the 19th of March 2015 date for the category (car was bought 31st of Dec 2014) - i find it weird that cat D turned up 3 months later.

 

You haven't answered my question

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well he didn't have an accident between December 2014 and March 2015.

 

Here is what i think happened.

 

Car has accident. Taken into salvage yard where it stays. After a long delay insurers settle claim for write off value, but they don't actually notify DVLA of write off category until they have closed the claim off. In the meantime the salvage company sold the car onto someone for repair or put it through auction.

 

If the garage that sold the car were not told about write off, i would still expect a professional garage to detect major repair works and to suspect it may have a history.

 

It is just a case of trying to get information that enables a way forward.

We could do with some help from you.

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Here is what i think happened.

 

Car has accident. Taken into salvage yard where it stays. After a long delay insurers settle claim for write off value, but they don't actually notify DVLA of write off category until they have closed the claim off. In the meantime the salvage company sold the car onto someone for repair or put it through auction.

 

If the garage that sold the car were not told about write off, i would still expect a professional garage to detect major repair works and to suspect it may have a history.

 

It is just a case of trying to get information that enables a way forward.

 

yes, that's what I was thinking actually.

 

I have no experience on stuff like that so not sure how to move this forward and even what are the actual options here.

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What does a Cat D entry say? Just the date of the entry? or more details of the accident?

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I think i would take the steps advised. Write to garage and Barclays warning them of the position. Get independent engineers inspection report to see what this reveals. Try to see if previous owner who had accident or previous owner who did repair can be tracked down. Ask the garage who they obtained the car from, as you need to make inquiries. If they won't say, then advise them that they may be asked to reveal this, if a court claim is necessary.

We could do with some help from you.

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What does plate change details mean ?

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Could this be a mistake by insurance company or DVLA. Recorded sgainst wrong registration ?

 

Perhaps DVLA can provide more information ?

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Could this be a mistake by insurance company or DVLA. Recorded sgainst wrong registration ?

 

Perhaps DVLA can provide more information ?

 

he was on the phone to DVLA and they're saying he would need to contact the insurance company that wrote it off.

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I think uncleb is spot on here. As total loss date is after purchase far more likely it was a vehicle with a similar registration and the handler entered it incorrectly at the insurer. HPI should release insurer details to you so you can make a formal written request for them to amend the entry.

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Right. He got on the phone with experian that did the HPI check and it turns out it actually was a mistake by the insurance company. They put a wrong VIN number... Oh, well. Thanks for your help guys.

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Right. He got on the phone with experian that did the HPI check and it turns out it actually was a mistake by the insurance company. They put a wrong VIN number... Oh, well. Thanks for your help guys.

 

Valuable lesson here, which is to check the accuracy of the data that was entered first, before thinking the worst. In the current age where computer databases seem to rule, if you don't keep an eye on these things, it might cause problems. If he had not done the HPI check and sorted it via Experian, it might have only been found out when he was trying to sell it or make an insurance claim.

We could do with some help from you.

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