Bought undeclared Cat N car is there anything I can do?

[TW]Fox · 7 Nov 2019 at 18:14

SquirrelMadness said:
The boot I can fix as I'm handy but the Cat N I can't clear

So? It's a cheap Golf - provided the car looks and drives fine and is safe (Get a mechanic to inspect it if you are worried) then why do you care so much? You screwed up but it's not the end of the world. Y

Amos91 · 7 Nov 2019 at 18:39

https://www.vcheck.uk/ is the best check to use. It scans salvage records for everything including non categorised write offs and ex-taxi searches etc. Plus you'll get to see pictures of the damage etc if it was fairly recent.

The amount of hpi clear cars that are totally destroyed in a previous life is pretty staggering. Have a look at their social media for some examples.

Dis86 · 7 Nov 2019 at 18:45

MrRockliffe said:
That’s not how consumer law works; he’s in breach of contract, and is fully entitled to take him to court, even if it is a private sale.

Having read the thread, OP has made some other critical errors that would go against him in a court of law, however.

No he's not. The law works on a very simple sold as seen basis with the emphasis on the buyer to check the history of the vehicle. It doesn't have to be declared by the seller however if asked the seller of course has to tell the truth. The seller wasn't asked until after the sale. Too late.

Nasher · 7 Nov 2019 at 18:46

You should really get any used car inspected tbh, though I don't myself :/. Any car be crashed and repaired (badly) off the books and have hidden damage.

SquirrelMadness · 7 Nov 2019 at 19:32

Amos91 said:
https://www.vcheck.uk/ is the best check to use. It scans salvage records for everything including non categorised write offs and ex-taxi searches etc. Plus you'll get to see pictures of the damage etc if it was fairly recent.

The amount of hpi clear cars that are totally destroyed in a previous life is pretty staggering. Have a look at their social media for some examples.

That site is wicked. So he tells me in a text he bought the car on Jan 31st 2019 and in a call that he didn't know it was in an accident.

Then I find these pics:

Sale date Jan 26th? So this was the state of the vehicle 5 days before he bought it? Looks like he knew it was Cat N, or even bought it as damaged to fix up?

tom_nieto · 7 Nov 2019 at 19:38

So the boot lid is a complete red herring? New bumper and wing +/- headlight. Why are you bothered? Are you secretly a trader looking to turn a quick profit on the car?

SquirrelMadness · 7 Nov 2019 at 19:39

He told me he did the damage to the mirror himself whilst parking... but the mirror is damaged in those pictures before he bought the car :eek:

tom_e · 7 Nov 2019 at 19:40

Someone else could have bought and flipped it in 5 days, you're grasping at straws go and find a new hobby.

Kenai · 7 Nov 2019 at 19:41

tom_nieto said:
Why are you bothered?

He regrets buying the car and is looking for any reason he can find to try and bully/harass the seller into giving him some money back.

He's exactly the type of buyer that has made webuyanycar so successful, nobody wants the potential of dealing with this sort of nonsense trying to sell a cheap old car.

SquirrelMadness · 7 Nov 2019 at 19:52

Kenai said:
He regrets buying the car and is looking for any reason he can find to try and bully/harass the seller into giving him some money back.

He's exactly the type of buyer that has made webuyanycar so successful, nobody wants the potential of dealing with this sort of nonsense trying to sell a cheap old car.

No I believe I was conned as more and more evidence is pointing to him knowing the car was Cat N but didn't list it as such. The guy has connections in Luton, he could have bought it and had it repaired there for resale. I am thinking about making him swear on his religion that he's not lying (Muslim) because he seems pretty devout judging by his FaceBook.

Kenai · 7 Nov 2019 at 19:54

SquirrelMadness said:
No I believe I was conned

You weren't conned, you just didn't bother checking anything until it was too late - ie the point at which you started regretting it and looking for a way out imo.

tom_e · 7 Nov 2019 at 19:54

SquirrelMadness said:
I am thinking about making him swear on his religion that he's not lying (Muslim) because he seems pretty devout judging by his FaceBook.

I can't tell if you're just trolling now.

SquirrelMadness · 7 Nov 2019 at 20:00

Kenai said:
You weren't conned, you just didn't bother checking anything until it was too late - ie the point at which you started regretting it and looking for a way out imo.

Nope. I dunno if I mentioned earlier but I did the HPI check after I found issues with the boot being misaligned and started to think it was crashed into. I was actually pretty excited to refresh the car and mod it a bit before this.

ivrytwr3 · 7 Nov 2019 at 20:00

You're wasting a lot of effort on what many, many, posters here have been telling you - private sale, move on.

Stop stewing on this and either sell it on yourself or chalk this up to experience and learn for next time.

SquirrelMadness · 7 Nov 2019 at 20:01

tom_e said:
I can't tell if you're just trolling now.

Why would I be trolling? Or are you implying that he would just lie anyway?

Gibbo · 7 Nov 2019 at 20:02

SquirrelMadness said:
No I believe I was conned as more and more evidence is pointing to him knowing the car was Cat N but didn't list it as such. The guy has connections in Luton, he could have bought it and had it repaired there for resale. I am thinking about making him swear on his religion that he's not lying (Muslim) because he seems pretty devout judging by his FaceBook.

If I was this guy and you mentioned my religion and swearing stuff to you I’d just be like get lost and don’t speak to me again. Absolute worse nightmare.

I sold the VW High Up this week private adverts for similar age and mileage were £4700-£5200 let we buy any car have it for £4100 as just could not be arsed with hassle of people like you, no offence.

But way too many tyre kickers about I only sold the F Type Private As got several grand more and I pre warned the guy if he messed me about in anyway or tried to offer less he’d be told to leave. He accepted my terms and came, made bank transfer and left.

V_R · 7 Nov 2019 at 20:04

This thread screams of buyers remorse.

Nasher · 7 Nov 2019 at 20:08

Just wing and bumper damage. So nothing really.

But yea it looks like he bought it damaged and fraudulently sold it after swapping the damaged parts. If you can see how many owners it had at the time vs now then you could prove he bought as cat N and damaged and not someone in between.

SquirrelMadness · 7 Nov 2019 at 20:13

Gibbo said:
I sold the VW High Up this week private adverts for similar age and mileage were £4700-£5200 let we buy any car have it for £4100 as just could not be arsed with hassle of people like you, no offence.

I'm sure you wouldn't be hiding things like this in your listings though. Like I said, the guy explicitly stated he damaged the wing mirror... but it's there damaged before he bought it. If he's lying about that he's probably lying about the Cat N thing. I bought the car with the hope I could sell it for a similar price a few months after owning it but the Cat N mark gives its value a hit. I've been driving an MOT failure for some time and had to buy something quick as I work 7 days and am too worn out for this car rubbish.

ivrytwr3 · 7 Nov 2019 at 20:13

SquirrelMadness said:
I am thinking about making him swear on his religion that he's not lying (Muslim) because he seems pretty devout judging by his FaceBook.

You're trolling.

But even so, you are gathering all this evidence and you prove he knew it was a Cat N, what then?!