As per the title I've bought a car (only paid deposit so far) and I've just found out it's a cat-N. This was undisclosed by the dealer and I obviously wouldn't have purchased it otherwise. Where do I stand legally?
Run - as a dealer its potentially misrepresentation and of course the price you have agreed is presumably based on it being a (non-repaired) vehicle ?....also if you get an insurance quote on basis its a Cat N . Insurance may increase premium.
Many current Cat N - are flood / water damaged so can become a can of worms later down the road..
thats before you cross the sticky subject of trying to sell it later on....
If the dealer has lied by omission you can demand your money back, you could consider how much you want that car, the buy price and how long you intend to keep it, IE if its a thousand pound banger and you intend to drive it into the ground it might not matter.
Take a screen shot of the ad, details where it doesn't disclose Cat N, check your deposit isn't non refundable but even if it is with the non disclosure I would push for it back.
very sneaky and no doubt the dealer has "please make all necessary checks prior to purchase" as if this changes anything.
Thanks for the advise guys. I've contacted the dealer who was surprised to hear the cat status. He said he's running his own check and will get back in touch. I'll report back
Fingers crossed for you chef - all the dealers I've noticed advertise £99 to reserve, fully refundable......
That’s naughty- Any decent dealer would be carrying out due diligence prior to offering anything for sale. At the very least he should have carried out a full HPI. Like others have suggested, just ask for your deposit back, if you’ve paid by card they’ll refund you if he starts playing silly buggers.Originally Posted by mr.chef
Dealer should know what he’s selling really.
Unless you really want the car, I’d just get your deposit back and there shouldn’t be any issue in getting that either.
As above - and I wouldn’t consider anything else on their forecourt either!
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We have our deposit back and it looks like we dodged a bullet!!! Thanks again for the help
I wouldnt buy from a dealer, i used to be in the trade and dealers would brag about how many thousands they made from a single car.
Better off buying private from a Gran who bought it from new lol.
good Job
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The 'dealer' should have declared the Cat N to you. As he did not you are entitled to a full refund of your deposit as the car was not 'as described', even if the dealer was unaware of that fact.
On a seperate note, it is possible to get a Cat S or N removed from a vehicle by having it independantly inspected and if it passes then the vehicle will be reclassified.
R
Last edited by ralphy; 19th March 2021 at 11:35.
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Trouble is, you’ve got to find that gran. And hope she hasn’t smashed into every wall in the neighbourhood.
Dealer margins (on the whole) aren’t as peachy as you may think.
Good advice if you have a fetish for the Honda Jazz. Terrible if you want something else.
Really, I have been "in the trade" for 40 years and the main gripe dealers have is how little profit is in a used car, especially since the advent of the internet, price comparison has never been easier and the bulk retailers work on very short profits, hoping to "tuck up " a victim with finance, paint protection, tyre insurance, GAP insurance etc......
Thousands of pounds profit from a single car? Couldn't be further from the truth.
Are you talking about the headline profit or after the dealer has thrown everything he can in as supposed overheads
I have spoken to several local dealers recently about a cash discount on specific cars (with no trade in) on their forecourt and NONE of them would budge on price! I've never experienced that before when buying a used car!
Same for me in December. Absolutely no price budging for a cash deal at all. I got GAP thrown in, but that was it.
Hi
Exactly my experience when dealing with both Mini & BMW main dealers late last year....it's just not right , you always get to negotiate on price !
I did however get them to drop the finance % , include delivery to my driveway ( a couple of hundred miles ) and got the cost of 2x new rear tyres ( £265 each ) out of them following a complaint.
Best Neil
Unless you own a Porsche franchise.
Ain’t that the truth. A friend of my brother developed Dementia at a young age his car a 911 997 with 12k miles from new purchased from them. His wife telephoned them to come and see the car with a view of buying which they did for 44k a week later on their website at 55k
Under COVID rules it just about all comes under distance selling rules so even if you’d bought it you could have returned it
have had the same happen to me multiple times with dealers when looking at cars over the last 12m - one openly admitted they make all their money with finance these days.
The dealer has a legal duty to disclose whether the car is Cat rated. Just get your deposit back and buy elsewhere.
Honda jazz with a near burned out clutch, only ever used in first and second gear at high rpm.
Never engine warmed up as journeys to pharmacy is a short trip. Tyres lots of tread, plenty of unnecessary servicing. Cam belt perished with age
Stained seat
Close but no cigar - would be an automatic.
He's had it back.
20% up lift doesn’t sound to bad. Especially as it will need to be set ices, then detailed, it might then sit on the forecourt for months and they might have to drop the price to get a sale.
Certainly not as a bad as buying a £11k Daytona and selling for £18k.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
That’s a 25% mark up so not excessive in my opinion.
Dealers have high overheads and have to work on margins, it just looks a lot worse with higher prices.
I recently got £1840 in part ex for a bike which is now up for £3290; that’s a 78% mark up but only £1450.
The days of discounts for cash are history. If you have cash then you can do a bank transfer. In fact, most dealers would probably refuse cash now as they would have to take piles of cash to a bank, which might be miles away, then pay to park for the privilege of going to a town centre. In fact you probably get charged by the bank for large cash deposits.
I'm not in the car trade but I do have my own business. I refuse cash (and the occasional offer of payment by cheque!!).
You do indeed get charged for any cash deposit if you’re a business and it’s not cheap.
When I said ‘cash’ I didn’t mean literal hard cash - I just meant bank transfer of full car purchase price* instantly rather than finance etc.
* less £500 credit card deposit just to get the buyer protection
I’d be leaving a trust pilot review if they are in there or some sort of Google review to warn others
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Some might see that as cake and eat it, I’d like a discount for cash but I’d also like to ensure I have maximum consumer protection. Not necessarily a bad thing but dealers need to make enough margin to continue trading.
I'd be doing this:
RTrading standards services are delivered by your local authority and consumer concerns should be reported to the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
When a car has a 'Category' it stays for the vehicle life. These days it is marked as such on the front of the V5c.
Insurance companies do not charge extra for categorised vehicles but if you have a claim for stolen or write off they will deduct around 25% from the payout.
Not quite true, see my earlier post.
R
Last edited by ralphy; 21st March 2021 at 19:30.
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Totally true, the 'marker' remains on the car for the vehicles life. What you may be confusing is that a category S (structural damage) needs to be repaired then inspected before returning to the road. A cat N (non structural) may be repaired and returned to road use without needing inspection apart from the normal annual mot if required.
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/b...ff-categories/
That’s totally illegal.. GAP is a regulated product and cannot be thrown in.. if I were you I would report that to the FCA.. and inform the dealer. Just ask Lookers what will happen!!!
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What do you think *thrown in* means?
To me it means included at no extra charge. Is that wrong?
Not illegal at all - if you negotiate a deal which involves the dealer paying for GAP insurance then that is fine, done it twice over the years. The process involves a questionnaire and GAP is one of the discussion points - when it gets to the end and you 'agree that it is a good idea' the negotiation to include it concludes.
Jeez, why be so nervous?.
Last edited by Chris_in_the_UK; 21st March 2021 at 23:45.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
I have to concur with the view that dealers are taking a hard nosed approach to negotiations at the moment (I've spoken to at least a dozen about specific vehicles over the past 2-3 weeks). I found it really surprising given the circumstances, but I guess they're just not allowing themselves to be bent over a barrel by everyone that makes an enquiry.
Back in the 90’s?
I’m not being confused at all. Both Cat N and S can be removed by HPI providing the vehicle meets certain criteria after being repaired.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Is it actually removed, or updated to show inspected?
Sorry it is against FCA rules, the insurance product cannot be offered as an incentive, you would be entitled to that discount without the insurance product, as there is a commission element to the dealer and the sales executive. That is a conflict of interest and as I said earlier it is not allowed to be thrown in.. it is cashed miss selling and the dealer or the executive would be barred from selling any further products or finance..
I know as I work in the industry... I’m not saying it doesn’t go on, but it is against the FCA rules and is a serious breach..
if the overpriced GAP product is say 300, then 50 of that is to the salesman, 80 to the dealer.. that’s why you cannot wrap it up in the deal..
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