i sell cat d cars for a living and all i can say is i understand that the seller should have told the buyer but whats to say that he did know as sometimes it takes time for it to come on the register and at the time he sold the car it may have been clear awaiting the marker...

but then again as i said earlier its up to the buyer to do the right checks as its no law stating you have to disclose any type of history of the car....

 

1. Making it a criminal issue is unlikely to be of any direct help to the OP - it will almost certainly not result in any award to him. At best, it means a fine for the dealer.

2. Whether there is a civil claim depends on whether the OP paid more for the car than it was worth, believing it to be a "clean" car and not a Cat D. The extent of any loss depends on what the difference in value is and what the market price would have been had he known it was a Cat D and paid accordingly.

3. Just because its a Cat "D" doesn't mean the damage was severe. A lot of cars get this category because of the cost of parts and labour make repair uneconomical. It does not follow, therefore, that there will automatically be a significant difference in price between a "clean" car and a Cat D.

4. Can you point me towards the legislation you refer to below which puts a positive obligation on a trader to disclose that it is a Cat D? (I'm not saying you're wrong - I just don't do a lot of consumer law and would be interested to know what the authority for your proposition is).

In civil terms, it's usually a case of "caveat emptor" in terms of there only being a remedy for misrepresentation if you ask a question and get a false answer, as opposed to you not asking the question to begin with and so the dealer not offering information on a given point.
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Hi.
1-The surgestion of the possibility will possibly put more pressure on the dealer to settle the matter.
2-I agree the buyer will have to provide evedence ads etc to show there was a difference in price.
3-Again I agree, but the fact that CAT D cars generally sell for less than a non CAT D could be be an issue when reselling.
4-The trader gave a false impression by showing a clean report to the buyer, that he needed to disclose or not is not the issue, he has given a false impression to the buyer. It is covered by the sale of goods act, implied terms.

Your last point the OP stated he was offered the information by the dealer whilst inquiring about the car, if you bought a TV for example and then found it had been an ex-display model when the seller said it was BNIB, you would have the same rights, a reduction or refund. And the threat of reporting to trading standards and being subject to their powers would do no harm.
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I think regarding 4 a lot will depend on what the trader said about the report. If he said "I guarantee this is a clean car without any CAT D history and here is some proof", then OP might have a case (if he can prove it) - it might be misrepresentation or a breach of warranty. If the trader said "Here is an s2000, I think it is a clean car because I have checked on this website and here is a printout" then OP may struggle - no false impression given, just the trader's belief about the car.

 

Thank you all for your interest and advice.

I have the printed copy of the HPI check dated 22 March 2010 in the name of the dealer, the car was Cat D in September 2009 - 6 months previous. My solicitor
is looking into it and I'll let you know the outcome.

 

I agree with what you're saying, I was trying to simplify it all a bit I suppose. I feel that sometimes people get scared a little too easy by the "cat C/D" scenario. In this case, the car isn't of high value (less than 15k at a guess) , so I doubt the repairs would have been that extensive.

My opinion is given partly on my own experience working in a refurb bodyshop where we repair over 200 cars every week and I get a general "feel" about what sort of repairs end up attributing to certain categories.

I do apologise however if the comment was misleading, I hope the OP gets things sorted.

 

Good for you, looking forward to hearing the outcome, if it's any consolation CAT D can also be a stolen/recovered with no damage. But still worth pinning the bast**ds for misrepresentation.

 

Legal position is outlined here:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/englan...escription.htm

I have written to the garage requiring they pay me the difference between what I paid and what it was worth as a Cat D at the time of sale - just less than £4,000.

If they fail to do so I will take it to the small claims court. Will keep you informed.

 

wish you luck!

 

good for you. it's a very simple process & just takes a bit of your time.

in my case honda replaced my soft-top under warranty, when the soft-top ripped within 3 months the car was out of warranty; honda told me to take a hike when i asked the local honda garage to make good what must've been a bad replacement. i had a solicior offer them the chance to make-good before i took the car to another upholsterer to replace the soft-top, gave them one final warning then took them to the small claims....they paid for the replacement, costs & compensation.

give the garage in question reasonable oportunity to make good by a certain date, keep copies of everything & take names & time/date when having personal or telephone conversations.

best of luck.

 

The dealer will have indemnity on the hpi if its a genuine ferkup

 

Spoke with dealer today after 2 letters - seems a genuine cock-up. He's agreed to buy the car back at a fair price so result.