Sold a Written-Off Car by a SIMI Dealer

I think the dealer offering 66% back on what you paid has some neck to be honest. Used car values have increased since last year because of Brexit and in many cases people are getting more for their cars now than what they paid for them last year. You can be sure that dealer wouldn't make that offer if he didn't think he could sell it on for more again and probably not inform the next owner of it's history either.

As for the SIMI, I wouldn't hold my breathe with them, they will sit on the fence at best I'd imagine and won't want to rule against one of their own members and run the risk of them not renewing their annual membership fees.

This is a civil matter and has nothing to do with the Gardai.

OP, ask the dealer to give you a better refund than 66%. I would imagine that if they gave you a 100% refund they may still be able to sell the car on for more.

If this fails, contact Citizens Advice and CCPC. They will guide you on exactly what to do next.

Can you please tell me what business is it of the gardai and under what criminal codes would they take action.

The dealer would tell you to eff off if you even attempted to threaten the gardai. Nearby as stupid as saying you'll call Joe "whine away" Duffy

A category D write off simply means it is deemed uneconomical to repair. It is the "better" type of write off and is effectively an insurance company deciding not to go to the expense of repairing a very repairable car.

I'd have no issue buying a category D write off.

Here's a classic example of a cat d write off.

Car gets side swiped. Side of rear bumper, rear panel, door panels and front panel all have small damage.

No other damage and car drives perfectly.

Value of car €7,000

Cost of new panels and bumper and spraying is €4,000, cost of hire car for two weeks is another €1,000.

Insurance decides it's an uneconomical repair, pay the €7,000 and sell the car to the trade for €2,000.

Dealer fixes it up at trade price and it is perfect condition and sells it on.

That's a category D.

Uneconomic from the insurance point of view.

Another example is a car with minor damage, but which the insurance is for a new replacement.

Again, what basis whatsoever is there to take action? Please please enlighten us

There is no requirement to mention a category D write off. Even the car reports may not mention it.

The garage said that there was repaired damage. They were up front about it

Cat D write off is not something to be concerned about. The other garage just doesn't want a car with a minor blemish on its history.

OP is facing a big financial hit only getting a refund of 66% of the original price of €16.5k but who is going to give him the real value of the car if he is upfront about the write off status.

Maybe shopping around would get an insurance quote.

Buddy of mine bought a Cat D car privately 3 years ago. Car had been fully repaired and drove like a dream. 2012 C Class Mercedes.

He did buy it cheaper than equivalent models were selling for at the time (the seller dropped price even more when buddy did the cartell check and found the cat d listing, which hadn't been mentioned).

Never had an issue with insurance,who were aware of the status of the car.

He recently traded in the car, and the dealer told him that cat d cars are worth about 50% of an equivalent non- categorised car. Dealer did take the car as trade-in, gave about 3500 for it.

A motor dealer does have an obligation to inform a buyer of any previous crash history when selling a car. They cannot mislead or claim ignorance either as they are deemed experts in their field of profession - i.e. a motor trader who buys and sells vehicles. Saying the car was damage repaired is a very vague way of getting around that and imo a sharp practice by the dealer. There are too many of these type traders out there who were buying write offs from UK auctions for knockdown prices and then selling them onto customers over here at full price and claiming they only had a bumper painted or replaced.

Also while a Cat D might be the lowest classification of damage it certainly should have concerns when it comes to insuring it and selling it on as the OP has found out. It's listed as write off on any history report for as long as it's on the road now. And the other garage doesn't want it not because it's a blemish but because they don't want the hassle of a customer coming back to them looking for their money back or gaining a reputation for selling "write offs".

They also got to drive the car for a year & taking deprciation into account - And if it took years to sort ll this out....still think he'd be better taking the 66% now & keep driving the car.

Going to court can take time/money & a lot of effort to get very little back overall in the end...

I agree they shouldn't be out of pocket ideally but this could drag on trying to get a full refund & end up costing them through time off to be in court, solicitors fees, delays etc on top of only getting the original price back - Just have to weigh up if it's work all that when they are being offer 66% now without the hassle of it all. They were sold a cat d - Plenty of them on the road (They can be repaired & put back on the road so not dangerous cars!)

OP should jsut learn from this -Always do a car check & don't take any dealers word...ever....going forward...

Practically speaking, are you fuckin nuts?

On one hand you have 11 grand in your pocket and are free to buy whatever you want. You've taken a hit but you're a cash buyer with no ties.

On the other hand you have a rotting lemon sitting on your driveway that you can't sell and can't insure, depreciating faster than Armenian Drams.

I think you are very lucky to get a fair dealer who would actually refund you, most would fob you off.

Jump at the refund and move on.

OP please just refer back to my post about contacting Citizens Advice and the CCPC. The CCPC have a section of their website dedicated to buying cars and you will get sorted there. Everything else is just opinion and there is a lot of bad advice being given here

can we have clarification please is it 66% back n keep the car or 66% back and return the car?

Certainly a degree of confusion...

Category D cars exist and are bought and sold and insured.

As long as the buyers, sellers and insurers know the status of the cars there is no problem.

Well then obviously there is a problem as evidenced by the OP's predicament.

Again, if owner doesn't know his car is a cat d.... Is his insurance null and void.? A simple yes or no please..

I just said in a post (#41) which you replied to that buyers, sellers and insurers not knowing the status of a Cat D car is an issue.

In a post earlier today I linked to an insurance company that will insure Cat Ds and their conditions.