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AIBU?

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Original poster

They've sold us the wrong car!

77 replies

pandarific · 10/03/2017 19:18

I am Shock. Fiancé came home yesterday to tell me that during the service of the 2 year old car we bought 7 months ago it has come to light that they have sold us a car that has the wrong plates on it! The log book and V5 are for a car with a completely different set of plates.

So we have been driving around in a car with effectively no insurance, massively breaking the law, for seven months! We took the thing to Europe and drove around in it for 2 weeks! Shock Angry

It's not stolen, but when the car was new and having its plates fitted they were somehow swapped and the mistake was never discovered. Not so bad, but the previous owner had it for 18 months and it was never picked up in any of the services - and then the kicker! We bought it as part exchange from a VERY fancy dealership (of much more £££ car makes) and at no point, either when they bought the car from the other person, or sold it to us, did they check it!

We are being fawned over by the dealership and have been given a very nice car to drive around in while they sort the whole mess out, but this is a really bad error on their part - apparently the director of the chain dealership has been called about it.

WWBU to take the feckers to small claims court for this? We're so bloody lucky we didn't get stopped by the police.

OP posts:
WildwestWind · 10/03/2017 21:08

Yep I realise that rainmaker that's why I said similar.
But I guess I didn't really add anything to the post that was helpful.

GeorgeTheHamster · 10/03/2017 21:20

Audi did this to me last year. Luckily I noticed that the paperwork stating the reg didn't match the reg plate when I had picked the car up. I was buying second hand and they insisted on taking the plates off while it was at the dealership and then putting new ones with Leeds Audi (not the real franchise) at the bottom to advertise themselves on my car. And someone was careless. I bet it happens pretty often.

They gave me champagne and a tank of fuel, I noticed the evening I picked it up.

Smurfpoo · 10/03/2017 21:32

Something criminal???!
No someone just put the wrong plate on the wrong car when screwing the plates on.

Leave the dealer to sort it there will be nothing you can do or worry about. You'll potentially need a new service book and the manufacturer will need to be told to update their service records for warranty.
But they will sort it. They should also contact the supplying dealer to track the other owner down. This dealer should have picked it up on hpi but I'm guessing the other car is the same colour and model so it was missed.

TheHedgehogCanNeverBe · 11/03/2017 07:35

Spoke to DH about this last night-his first instinct was 'something criminal' smurfpoo. He said it's a possible way of passing on an unsafe car.

Ginmakesitallok · 11/03/2017 07:40

Well if your dh says it's something criminal then who are we to argue thehedgehogcanneverbe Hmm

AnitaPallenbergsKnees · 11/03/2017 07:53

Mmm could be an innocent mistake or a calculated crime but like ginmakesitallok says now a dh has decided - case closed Hmm

babypossum · 11/03/2017 08:03

It's highly unlikely to be anything other than a genuine mistake as others have said. Why on earth would pp's think it's a deliberately criminal act? They'll cover any additional costs you have with your insurance company etc but it doesn't seem you're otherwise out of pocket.

Smurfpoo · 11/03/2017 08:24

Well I don't think your dh has worked at a car dealership trying to get 40 cars out on March 1st, all pdi'd, plated, taxed and registered. When at least half of them are the same colours and models.

It's not plate cloning, that is criminal

AnitaPallenbergsKnees · 11/03/2017 08:59

Amen to that smurfpoo
I used to dread August
Hopefully it will all be rectified soon OP

dowhatnow · 11/03/2017 09:09

Just hanging round for a nosey at what they eventually offer you in compensation.

Original poster
pandarific · 11/03/2017 10:30

Thanks everyone, this thread has been really helpful. I'll wait and see what happens, and come back and update you all when I hear.

In the spirit of making lemonade, we're going for a drive in the fancy temporary car today. Grin

OP posts:
SoulAccount · 11/03/2017 10:51

I wouldn't even know where to look to check the chassis number. Where is it? I would like to add this to useful life skills learned from MN.

Original poster
pandarific · 11/03/2017 11:10

Apparently it's on that little bit of writing on the right hand corner on your front window.

OP posts:
LIZS · 11/03/2017 11:16

Can they not just transfer the details of both cars with dvla, like when you buy personalised number plates and re-register it.

phoenix1404 · 11/03/2017 11:25

This happened to me, though it was picked up way earlier. It was a bit of a nuisance getting the plates switched, but no more than that. Never even occurred to me to take them to court!

Original poster
pandarific · 27/03/2017 12:56

Hi all, wanted to update and ask for help with next steps. The dealership have been a bit shit - we sent them the below email addressing all our points and nothing for a few days, then when Fiancé called them they said they will just sort it all out and give the car back and it won't impact on the cars value etc. Hmm

Dear XX,

Following our recent communications I am writing to you to request an update on the situation with my car.

I am aware due to the complications of the situation that it is unlikely to be a quick fix on your end and as I am keen to have a resolution soon, I would like to know what you intend to do to make the situation good?

I have sought professional advice from a contact within the the automotive industry and have been advised that:
Assuming we got the car back, we would suffer a financial loss, as the V5 log book will show an additional owner when we trade the car in, as well as other people who owned the other car in question. Therefore our car will have less residual value
Also, the service history will show a history for a car with a different registration number to ours - I'm aware that this can be fixed, but that this is a lengthy process and amendments will look suspicious to buyers/dealers, also lessening the car's value
Because of these points, the car is now worth less than when we purchased it so our personal finance is now also wrong

For these reasons, we do not want the car returned to us and would like to be compensated in a suitable manner

Most of all, we consider ourselves very lucky a) that we were never pulled over by police, particularly when we took the car to France for 10 days and b) that we never had cause to use our insurance which would have been completely void. If you could please give us a full explanation of how this error went undetected when the car came to you as part-exchange and when it was sold to us, I would appreciate it.

OP posts:
Original poster
pandarific · 27/03/2017 13:01

Fiancé asked for them to put what they're proposing in writing - nothing, the below is all they've sent.

This isn't going to be sorted for about 8 weeks I reckon, and there's an issue with the car they've given us in that it's utterly impractical - it's 5m long and impossible to park where we live. Also, we have nothing in writing from them on what's the story with insurance if it was damaged while we had it.

We're not really sure what to do next - we just want our money back really so we can get another car. We're getting married in 5 weeks and have quite enough stress and things to sort out already.

OP posts:
Original poster
pandarific · 27/03/2017 13:01

From dealership:

I hope you are well. We have had communication back from the DVLA. They require the vehicle V5 that you have. They will then send you out a new V5 after they have investigated the situation. You should then receive the correct V5 within 4-6 weeks. I will then be able to amend the details with the financed company and with Renault regarding service history reg correction (which will be amended very promptly).

Please could you send me the V5 so I can forward with a cover letter.

OP posts:
wasonthelist · 27/03/2017 13:11

I am not a lawyer but I seriously doubt you will get your money back - and certainly not in the short term.

I know that's not the answer you want but I am offering what I think is a realistic unbiased view.

Your point about insurance being void probably doesn't apply as others have said.

Your expectations are unrealistic.

onlyjustme · 27/03/2017 13:40

Missed the original thread...
Not really helpful BUT
When I bought my first proper car I was checking the documents and I spotted the reg plate was wrong...
M112ABB was showing as M122ABB I pointed it out to them and watched the colour drain from their faces... but it was simply their dealer plates that they had made up incorrectly! So when I picked it up it had the correct plates on, all the paperwork was fine, etc.
Moral of the story... check the paperwork!

OlennasWimple · 27/03/2017 13:46

I check paperwork carefully, but I have to confess I have never ever looked at the chassis number on any car I have bought...

OP - what outcome do you actually want? Discussions when things go wrong are usually more fruitful if you have a clear (and realistic) idea of what adequate recompense would be.

Original poster
pandarific · 27/03/2017 13:50

Fair enough wasonthelist - I'm asking for advice here as I want us to be protected as far as possible, that's not to say we expect the moon on a stick.

We're happy to have our car back as long as it's the case that the value won't be affected, but upthread people have pointed out some concerns with the value of the car after we got it back and they've not addressed this in writing at all - a verbal assurance isn't enough, imo.

And I think it all being sorted in 4-6 weeks is ambitious, considering what people upthread said, it's going to be a pain for them to unpick and potentially easiest thing is they give us another car / money back and we go and get another car.

OP posts:
Original poster
pandarific · 27/03/2017 14:00

We did check the paperwork - just not the chassis number.

OP posts:
Original poster
pandarific · 27/03/2017 18:33

Bump?

OP posts:
purpleprincess24 · 27/03/2017 19:24

You wouldn't have had a problem with insurance

Why don't you tell them that the only way it's acceptable to you is if the V5, service book etc were all reissued showing the correct information and the accurate number of owners

Getting the service book sorted shouldn't be a problem

However if getting the correct V5 is impossible they need to compensate you for your potential financial loss when you sell the car. Although you may find this amount is less than you anticipate. We bought a new car last year from a main dealer advertised as only one previous owner, however when we received the V5 it showed there had actually been two previous owners. To cut a long story short they paid us £500 in compensation, which when we did our own homework was about right. To put this into context we had paid £35k

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