Sold a CAT D car without being told, private sale.

[FruitPoppet]

In early March I purchased a car from a private seller on Facebook. I paid £1800. At the time I spoke to the seller extensively about the car asked all the right questions and history, reason for sake etc. Including and notably, "is there anything I need to know about the car?"

Fast forward to yesterday, my car is in the garage having a service and the garage calls to say notable damage can be seen on the underside of the car that has been hidden by filler. The say it seems as if it's been in a serious accident and in there opinion isn't roadworthy.

They suggested we do the online search to see if it's ever been an insurance write off. We did the search and discovered it had indeed been an insurance write off.

We haven't contacted the person who sold us the car yet, but I am drafting a letter as I have their name and address. We're hoping to contact asking for a private resolution as they technically lied by omission as there was ample opportunity to disclose the CAT D status. If we don't get a private resolution we want to go to small claims. We are low income with a newborn baby and this car was all our money, so it's gonna be hard to lose.

Has anyone experienced anything similar with any success?!

What would happen if the seller claims they didn't know it was CAT D?

I'm in a similar situation looking to buy a declared cat s car. I would always buy or see sight of an HPI check first.

There is every chance there will be an additional insurance premium for this car.

"They suggested we do the online search to see if it's ever been an insurance write off. We did the search and discovered it had indeed been an insurance write off."

Not defending the seller, but why didnt YOU do the background/HPI status check before buying?

That would have flagged it up before you bought it.

"What would happen if the seller claims they didn't know it was CAT D?"

They could claim you still agreed to buy it.

You would have to prove that you didnt know or werent informed. Saying so wont be enough. You need some written evidence. He said/she said wont cut it.

Sans that, caveat emptor and all that. Expensive lesson for you.

The main issue here is that while technically you have recourse, in reality you would need the original advert to prove that it didn't say "cat D" on it. I imagine that is long gone (deleted by seller!)

Them verbally saying nothing wrong you have no proof of.

Cat D is an "uneconomic repair" so you probably can't claim it is not roadworthy either.

Moral of the story always do an HPI check as if the car is stolen, damaged or has outstanding finance you will lose out.

I bought a Cat D car (knowingly) and the insurance was not higher but they did say it it was written off again the insurance payout would be reduced by 25% (I think that was the percentage)

Apparently...

'When/if a Cat D vehicle is sold on by a trader, they would be required by law to declare its write-off status. However, a private seller is not required to declare Cat D status, which means you should do your homework when buying a secondhand car (or buy from a dealership).'

CAT C was replaced by CAT S
CAT D was replaced by Cat N

• Cat A meaning - Cars labelled category A have sustained such serious damage that they cannot be driven ever again. They are in such a poor state that even individual components cannot be sold off. Insurers deem category A as beyond repair.
• Cat B meaning - A category B car is also very badly damaged - and also can never be driven again. However, individual parts may be sold off, including, potentially, the engine. But the body shell can never be used again.
• Cat S meaning - Category S (formerly C) vehicles may have suffered some kind of structural damage but it is possible to repair them and put them back on the road.
• Cat N meaning - If a car is categorised as Cat N (formerly Cat D), no structural damage has been sustained. but it has suffered damage which must be repaired before the car can return to the public road.

You are assuming that the seller knew themselves

They may have bought the car without doing a HPI like you have

It’s a private sale, you won’t have any comeback unfortunately

How much less is the car worth, 30-40%? Luckily it’s not a high value car or you could have lost a lot of money by paying market value for a write-off

If the car is structurally sound it shouldn’t be an issue, other than you have paid more than you would if you had known

As PP has said a private seller only needs to disclose if asked. If you asked if it was a Cat car and they said no then you’d have a case in terms of misrepresentation.

Problem is it’s a private seller. If it was a dealership (even a tiny used care sales business) you would have more recourse. But all is not lost, https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/decision-trees/problem-with-a-used-car/ has some good advice.

I purchased a car from a small dealer that turned out had the warning lights on the dash covered up with tape from behind the dash. There many warning lights lit which were disguised and it was only when I took it to the garage that this was discovered.

I took them to small claims court after they refused to accept any responsibility and won, still have to get the bailiffs out to get the money out of them though!