Bought car from garage, possible dodgy past. What are my options?

Nephew

I bought a car from a garage nearly a year ago it was my first car so I didn't know much about cars at the time. I asked the usual had it been crashed, damaged etc. The salesman told me it hadn't, my father thought it was fine so I bought it. I've put 8000 miles on it, and haven't had a bit of bother. I had the timing belt changed and car serviced by the guy who deals with all our company cars. He thought it was in good condition, not that he was looking out for anything suspicious as he was doing it as a favour.

Today, a guy from work was checking out my car and he pointed out a few things which I hadn't noticed before. His English isn't the best but I got the gist of what he was saying. He used to fix up and sell cars around Europe for 25 years and at one point he was a fully certified spray painter.

Anyway, he pointed out my front bumper, bonnet, two right side doors and rear bumper were resprayed. There are quite a few small craters on the resprayed areas where the first layer seems to be peeling off. Some of the engine components are covered in an ever so slight mist of paint. The black plastic behind the radiator is practically dosed in paint which backs up his suggestion of a bad respray.

He even suspects the bonnet and parts of the car body around the engine bay are from another car due to the rust and how easily the paint has worn off compared to other areas to a black or red colour. He said without doubt the two hinges which hold the bonnet up are from a different colour car. There is a bit of the body structure which some engine parts sit on which was damaged and badly repaired.

He also pointed out the front wide-screen was changed, the date on the other windows suggests they are all the original. Normally, I'd think nothing off this as we replace a few wide-screens each year due to stone chippings causing a crack to form over time. But its the fact that the previous owner didn't put the receipt in with the service history like most people would that had me thinking. Its a pretty standard service history, just the usual oil changed, nuts tightened, tyres kicked etc, not a mention of anything from above.

Believe it or not, I was intending to put it up on carzone tonight until he pointed these things out to me today. Where do I go from here? I am now thinking of going to a few garages to see if they notice anything suspicious when valuing it for trade in value, and if they do I'd go back to where I bought it and kick up a fuss.

I'd appreciate any opinions.

Churchy

How old is the car?

Nephew

Its 5 years old, and I am the third owner.

CarLover

Nephew wrote: »

I am now thinking of going to a few garages to see if they notice anything suspicious when valuing it for trade in value, and if they do I'd go back to where I bought it and kick up a fuss.

I'd appreciate any opinions.

Are you happy for it to become someone elses problem?

IncredibleHulk

Nephew wrote: »

I bought a car from a garage nearly a year ago it was my first car so I didn't know much about cars at the time. I asked the usual had it been crashed, damaged etc. The salesman told me it hadn't, my father thought it was fine so I bought it. I've put 8000 miles on it, and haven't had a bit of bother. I had the timing belt changed and car serviced by the guy who deals with all our company cars. He thought it was in good condition, not that he was looking out for anything suspicious as he was doing it as a favour.

Today, a guy from work was checking out my car and he pointed out a few things which I hadn't noticed before. His English isn't the best but I got the gist of what he was saying. He used to fix up and sell cars around Europe for 25 years and at one point he was a fully certified spray painter.

Anyway, he pointed out my front bumper, bonnet, two right side doors and rear bumper were resprayed. There are quite a few small craters on the resprayed areas where the first layer seems to be peeling off. Some of the engine components are covered in an ever so slight mist of paint. The black plastic behind the radiator is practically dosed in paint which backs up his suggestion of a bad respray.

He even suspects the bonnet and parts of the car body around the engine bay are from another car due to the rust and how easily the paint has worn off compared to other areas to a black or red colour. He said without doubt the two hinges which hold the bonnet up are from a different colour car. There is a bit of the body structure which some engine parts sit on which was damaged and badly repaired.

He also pointed out the front wide-screen was changed, the date on the other windows suggests they are all the original. Normally, I'd think nothing off this as we replace a few wide-screens each year due to stone chippings causing a crack to form over time. But its the fact that the previous owner didn't put the receipt in with the service history like most people would that had me thinking. Its a pretty standard service history, just the usual oil changed, nuts tightened, tyres kicked etc, not a mention of anything from above.

Believe it or not, I was intending to put it up on carzone tonight until he pointed these things out to me today. Where do I go from here? I am now thinking of going to a few garages to see if they notice anything suspicious when valuing it for trade in value, and if they do I'd go back to where I bought it and kick up a fuss.

I'd appreciate any opinions.

National Consumer Agency say:

"The Consumer Protection Act came into force on 1st May 2007. Under this legislation it is an offence for a garage not to tell you if the car was crashed. However before this date you would have needed to ask whether the car was crashed in order to be told."

No offense but you should make a study of your rights before buying again
Read http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Hot_Topics/Tip_Of_The_Week/Tips_Archive/Second-hand_cars.html and click at bottom right to get a copy of buying a car
I do not mean to be smart at all but you need your eyes open dealing with dealers and even with them open its a minefield. Hope this
PS I remember once looking at a car with reg number etched into windows. The back hatch window had a different reg number to the car. I ran

MugMugs

IncredibleHulk wrote: »

National Consumer Agency say:

"The Consumer Protection Act came into force on 1st May 2007. Under this legislation it is an offence for a garage not to tell you if the car was crashed. However before this date you would have needed to ask whether the car was crashed in order to be told."

Lets say my car was crashed and I had bought it prior to this date and didnt ask at the time of purchase.....

If I turn around next year and claim that I did ask how can it be proved that I didnt ?

Potential-Monke

Go here and for a nominal fee you can have the car checked out. If it was ever crashed or written off, they will be able to tell you. If that is the case, they are in breach of your consumer rights. IncredibleHulk gave you the link, and you're saying that you did ask if it was creashed, so you're covered under legislation.

Nephew

CarLover wrote: »

Are you happy for it to become someone elses problem?

I meant it in the context of a garage would thoroughly inspect it before offering me a price, and would more than likely find a fault because they need something to offer the lowest price possible. For all I know it could be nothing other than a simple respray because some knacker keyed two foot obscenities on the car. This would save me shelling out a couple of hundred to a mechanic to inspect it.

IncredibleHulk

MugMugs wrote: »

Lets say my car was crashed and I had bought it prior to this date and didnt ask at the time of purchase.....

If I turn around next year and claim that I did ask how can it be proved that I didnt ?

Good question never thought of it like that;)

But how could you prove you did?

IncredibleHulk

Nephew wrote: »

I meant it in the context of a garage would thoroughly inspect it before offering me a price, and would more than likely find a fault because they need something to offer the lowest price possible. For all I know it could be nothing other than a simple respray because some knacker keyed two foot obscenities on the car. This would save me shelling out a couple of hundred to a mechanic to inspect it.

By the way did it have an NCT did not get to read all above.

MugMugs

IncredibleHulk wrote: »

Good question never thought of it like that;)

But how could you prove you did?

Use my good looks, honest face and dazzling smile ?

Yeah fair point.....

*goes and thinks about this for a while

Nephew

IncredibleHulk wrote: »

By the way did it have an NCT did not get to read all above.

Yeah, it came with a two year NCT which is up next summer. But having an NCT doesn't mean it wasn't damaged and repaired to an NCT standard. It's the fact that if it was damaged I wasn't told when I asked and there is no record of it in the service history.