Crash Damaged Car

[brt1919]

I bought an Avensis Verso privately a week ago via an advert in Autotrader. I did an AA check which confirmed everything was fine in the sense of not stolen written off etc. On the way home i felt it was pulling a little to the left, so as it has a service coming up anyway, booked it in. Toyota dealer says it has recently been involved in a major crash which has been repaired badly & I could end up paying a few thousand pounds to have it sorted out. I've rung the previous owner who is denying it has been involved in a crash & says it must have been from before he bought it. However it was owned by Toyota GB before him so I doubt very much whether Toyota would have bodged a repair job, the service dept say that it looks recent anyway as there is little dirt where it has been fixed.

Do I have any form of comeback available to me? Service dept obviously suggest whoever did the fix needs to be contacted to find out why they did it so badly, but I can't do this if he says he hasn't had an accident in it.

Is there any point in me contacting the police or do I have any other options open to me to get my money back?

Thanks

[Phoenix999]

As the Latin goes.... Caveat Emptor - Let the buyer beware!

It seems that the previous owner kept the crash away from the insurance system by getting the bodge job done himself. I'm sorry but unless you are prepared to seek legal advice with a view to suing him then I doubt you have much recourse

[gar]

I bought an Avensis Verso privately a week ago via an advert in Autotrader. I did an AA check which confirmed everything was fine in the sense of not stolen written off etc. On the way home i felt it was pulling a little to the left, so as it has a service coming up anyway, booked it in. Toyota dealer says it has recently been involved in a major crash which has been repaired badly & I could end up paying a few thousand pounds to have it sorted out. I've rung the previous owner who is denying it has been involved in a crash & says it must have been from before he bought it. However it was owned by Toyota GB before him so I doubt very much whether Toyota would have bodged a repair job, the service dept say that it looks recent anyway as there is little dirt where it has been fixed.

Do I have any form of comeback available to me? Service dept obviously suggest whoever did the fix needs to be contacted to find out why they did it so badly, but I can't do this if he says he hasn't had an accident in it.

Is there any point in me contacting the police or do I have any other options open to me to get my money back?

Thanks

Did you do a 'proper AA check? If so and they failed to spot damage, they may be liable, unless they warned you not to buy.

Even a private owner is bound by law to be honest though. If you asked if it was involved in any accident and they said no, you may be able to sue, if you can show they lied. If you did not ask, they had no obligation to tell you though!

Try threatening to sue, they may give you your money back, although I think they may be able to keep some for the 'use' you got out of the vehicle.

[T V O R]

Two things:

First off, see if you are covered with the AA (read the small print) and if they are liable.

Secondly, put it down to experience and sell it on ASAP. Either way you have bought a lemon, also the integrity is now compromised in the event of another collision, are you willing to risk the safety of yourself and your family in a vehicle that has been bodged?

Question is how much money can you get back from it.