Copart - £40,000 vehicle Sold as Unrecorded but Cat B in Australia

[CarTrader89]

Hi, i'm looking for some advice on where I stand with regards to a vehicle purchased at a online Copart Auction please.

 

 

The vehicle was advertised as Unrecorded and in the additional information stated that it was an import, it has never been UK registered, additional charges may apply to register in the UK and it's history cannot be guaranteed.

 

There was no mention of where the vehicle was imported from, so was extremely difficult to trace back any history. I purchased the vehicle believing it to be a UK car, it was right hand drive and sold through a UK company. It was only when I had paid and sent a driver to collect the car that I realised it wasn't a UK car. Not only this, but the damage was much worse than photographed on the website, someone had basically polished a turd.

 

I accepted this and cracked on and repaired the vehicle. The retail of the car here in England was £42,000 and after its repair I have around £40,000 in it. Because the speedometer was in Kilometres, I then had to order brand new clocks before the vehicle would pass an IVA Test, these were on backorder and took 4 months to arrive.

 

Speedo arrived, the vehicle was completed and passed through its IVA Test with no issues. From here is where I tried to register the vehicle with DVLA. I was told by them this would take 10 days and after 6 weeks of waiting I finally received a response from them to the tune of... We have been liaising with Australian Authorities and the vehicle was a statutory write off, because of this we cannot issue a logbook under it's original VIN number. It must have a replacement VIN number and be on Q Plates because of a it's questionable history.

 

I looked into this more now I knew where the vehicle was from and a Statutory Write Off in Australia means "A statutory write-off is too badly damaged to be repaired to a standard that is safe for road use. The vehicle identification number (VIN) is recorded as a statutory write-off, and the vehicle is not allowed to be registered. These vehicles are only suitable for use as parts or scrap metal." - What's known in the UK at a Category B vehicle. These are worth around 10% of a cars retail value as they should never be allowed on the road again - only dismantled for parts and crushed.

 

I have since spoken to Copart who have told me that because the vehicle has never been registered in the UK, that the car is "Unrecorded" and they have not misrepresented it on the advert. They have said they will look into the documentation and come back to me.

 

I was looking to get opinions on this. As I have £40,000 in a vehicle which is worth around £8,000 as a breaker and probably £15,000 - £18,000 as a vehicle with "Q Plates". Not only this, but I am now concerned for my safety as it's been deemed unsafe by an assessor previously. Copart are saying the vehicle is unrecorded, yet I have a certificate confirming it is, although not in the UK.

 

What has happened here is a [problem]mer has purchased the vehicle in Australia as a parts only vehicle, exported it to the UK then sold it as an unrecorded right hand drive vehicle for maximum profit. Surely Copart should have done the due diligence before advertising this car as unrecorded? I have been told international titles will confirm if the vehicle is for destruction or not - something Copart will have asked for before making the vehicle available for auction.

 

Any advice and thoughts would be appreciated.

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

People should be along over the course of the day with advice for you; some of them have day jobs, so please bear with us until they're able to get here.

 

Best, HB

[CarTrader89]

Thanks very much.

 

Just so people know, I purchased the vehicle at the end of October.

The whole situation would've come to light much sooner had I been able to get ahold of the speedometer.

 

The vehicle was paid for by debit card and the repair work carried out was done with new genuine parts from the dealers.

[sgtbush]

Couple of things firstly.

 

Your username.

I will assume That your a car trader by profession. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

 

. I purchased the vehicle believing it to be a UK car

 

 

And the moral of the story is " you believed"

Never never assume anything.

Just by the description of the vehicle red flags were waving at me.

If indeed you are a car trader you should know this already.

 

Unfortunately I cant see as the car was mis sold. They told you its unregistered and unrecorded and you took a gamble.

[CarTrader89]

I believed this as I’ve never known the company sell imported vehicles and I buy 100’s per year and have done for over a decade.

 

I didn’t read the additional information on the lot, I accept that and it’s a mistake that’s probably going to cost me 20 grand or more.

 

My argument is the vehicle was sold as unrecorded, meaning it has no bad history.

Yet it was recorded in Australia as a vehicle which is not fit for the road.

Which either Copart or the seller using them to move his vehicles did know.

[sgtbush]

No. Unrecorded means unrecorded.

No data, nothing, no history known.

They cant tell you one way or another.

 

Now I do have some sympathy with your situation and yes, it does smell of a bit of a s cam but your a car trader, you should know not to buy a car without knowing its history. If you do you take the responsibility and unfortunately you've been bitten on the bum with this one

[CarTrader89]

But my point is that it is recorded, I have the Australian Certificate proving this.

does that not count because it's not within the UK?

 

I presume it's only fair then that Copart resell the vehicle on for me, again as unrecorded?

[sgtbush]

Out of jurisdiction unfortunately

 

But you cant do the same without possible consciences.

 

You now know that its basically a cat b write off and if you sell it without declaring it you might open up a whole can of worms for yourself.

 

I must say for someone who claims to e a trader buying and selling 100's of vehicles, your knowledge on the law in regarding car purchases and sales of cars is, to say the least,lacking.

[CarTrader89]

I wasn't saying that was the route I was going to choose,

I was just curious to see if unrecorded would still be accurate in your opinion.

Which, although morally you don't agree - theoretically it is right?

[sgtbush]

Theoretically, no.

Whether selling privately, which you cant do, or as a trader these laws apply

 

Whichever option(s) you choose,

your advertisement must by law describe the car accurately and include the following details:

 

•Colour

•Mileage

•Condition

•Your contact details

•List of equipment/taxes

•Full service history (or not)

•The exact make and model

•The year of manufacture and registration identifier (eg ‘09’ or ‘59’ plate for 2009)

 

You're stuck on condition

[Siv1988]

Hi im new to this forum and ive been stung by copart too ive just finished all paperwork and thought i was waiting for my new Reg and Logbook instead they send me my new VIN and trying to Register My audi Q7 on a Q Plate, has anyone got any more info on this and is it worth taking it up further with copart?:-x:-x:-x:-x

[honeybee13]

Hi im new to this forum and ive been stung by copart too ive just finished all paperwork and thought i was waiting for my new Reg and Logbook instead they send me my new VIN and trying to Register My audi Q7 on a Q Plate, has anyone got any more info on this and is it worth taking it up further with copart?:-x:-x:-x:-x

 

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

You need to start a new thread of your own please, to avoid advice for you being mixed up with advice for Cheung.

 

Best, HB

[Siv1988]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

You need to start a new thread of your own please, to avoid advice for you being mixed up with advice for Cheung.

 

Best, HB

 

Hi im after the same advice as Cheung i just thought id let everyone know where i am with my vehicle

 

thanks

[DarkAtmosphere]

All I can say is what already has been advised:

 

Copart only has to perform 1 check, its legal right to sell the vehicle in the UK which means so long as there is no finance outstanding (in which the agent in Australia also has to clear) and not stolen co part.

 

Any check prior to UK registration will return as unknown as its not a uk registered car there will be nothing held on file how could there DVLA don't know of its existence in the UK at this stage. Copart has no vested interest in registering the vehicle for themselves in the UK so no in depth checks from the DVLA will be performed.

 

If you take them to court your going to be asked several difficult questions. Such as Why you didn't perform your own investigations into the vehicle you were buying, why did you accept the vehicle from copart did you inspect before you signed on the dotted line and what you describe as "history unknown/not known" means to you why this is different to any other auction house purchase.

[afcwben]

looking on the internet it seems there is quite a lot of people who are complaining about Copart they all feel they have been ripped off

[DarkAtmosphere]

It seems this way.

Copart are a international chain just like a ASDA.

When you import a car yourself you can do all the checks you need to do by communicating with importer, IF buy one through copart that's listed as having no history, and perform no checks in order to confirm or deny its status then you have issues,

 

Law states that Co part have no obligations to perform any checks on a car other than to check they have legal right to sell it.

Copart are a salvage and AUCTION company, they are not a dealership in which you have full consumer protection.

 

With auction houses you have very little protection infact, just about as much protection as if you bought a car from a private seller.

I think the two here think they should have full protection of that of a dealership for buying through a auction house a salvaged vehicle to repair that was also imported from OZ.