I bought an Octavia 2012 from a skoda dealer 3 weeks ago. I was told that the car had one previous owner and that it came from Skoda UK.

 

Car is great. No problems so far.

 

BUT - V5C then arrives through post stating that previous keeper was a rental car company (not SKoda UK)

 

Garage salesman accepts he gave us incorrect information (am sure this was a genuine error), however his boss is not keen to do anything for us.

 

Am not happy at all.

 

Any thoughts on where I stand legally or what I could expect from the dealer? I would not have purchased the car knowing it was ex-rental, but I didnt specifically ask as they said it was from Skoda UK. Next time i'll check the V5C beforehand...

I don't think there is a lot that you can do really. If there are not any faults with the vehicle and they have given you the warranty etc in the event of a fault then your a bit stuck. Did they not give you a 28day exchange offer (some garages do) and did you buy the car on finance? If you did then usually there is a cooling off period.

Not sure if any of that helps and I feel your pain. Everyone knows that rental cars are the fastest/best handling cars in the world. I'd at least be asking for some kind of discount as ex hire cars have a lower resale value for obvious reasons. Again depends on the deal you got as if it was priced to reflect that then again you could be stuck.

I would have thought the dealer would have known as they would see the V5..

It would have been sold to you "not as described" so you may be able to reject on that basis or to recover the difference in value. Why do you have a problem with an ex rental car but not a 1 yr old Skoda UK car? Both cars could have equally been abused or taken care of. How do you think hire fleets work? They tend to assist manufacturers in getting their registrations up, use of the car to them is free or at very low cost and the car goes back to the manufacturer at a set time or set low mileage.

 

Easiest way to settle if you are otherwise happy with the car will be to push for an extended warranty, free servicing or some similar thing that will not cost the dealer much but benefit you. 

Edited 6 December, 201312 yr by loskie

Any car bought can be ex Mobility, Lease, Rental, Driving School, Company Car, Fleet etc. Maybe serviced well,

valeted regularly, and cared for.

 

No saying they are treated any worse than a 1 owner little old lady owned, (or one Mature boy racer)

who lets her Son Drive it, and the Daughter in law & the Grand Children.

 

If unhappy pursue the matter, if you are buying as a Keeper then go on condition and the deal you got.

 

george

If everything is fine with the car and there's a warranty still in place then what's the issue? You said yourself the car is great and you were obviously happy with the deal.

Besides they probably did get the car from skoda UK once the hire firm handed it back to them.

How do you think hire fleets work? 

 

Most leased fleet's now have telematics systems that hold the driver by the throat, threatening your job with every input you make to the controls. :( 

 

dee128 if you search the forum this exact same issue has come up before, people buy from their dealers told 1 owner Skoda UK then find on V5C Hertz Europecar etc. Might be some more advice in those threads? 

The approved Skoda used car scheme offers a 30 day / 1000 miles exchange policy.

I have had a few of these cars and never had a problem, you still have the rest of the 3 year / 60000 miles warranty.

When you buy any used car you have no idea how the car has been driven by the previous user / users. One previous owner could have been a little old lady who over revved it, slipped the clutch and crashed the gears.

The alternative is to buy a new car and get the best deal you can. 

My last fabia 1.9TDI was an ex rental car and I never had any bother with it, I suspect my current Seat Leon is also an ex rental car but I am yet to get the V5 in the post...

No different to buying a second hand car from one lady owner.

 

 It is a car, it is designed to drive about and if you are happy with the way it drives then don't worry about it.

 

 If you are not happy take it back and see if you can buy a different one.

 

 Just a scenario, if the dealer had registered it to his company, you would never have known and would not have an issue.

It has actually jogged my memory in that Skoda provided management and course cars to the IRC Rally Scotland. These were standard Yetis and taken through the stages prior to the competitors. Even the 00 and 0 cars were standard Yetis. Rally driver Barry Clark was driving one. Although no safety equipment were going at speed. These would be your ex Skoda cars. They also support the Tour Of Britain Cycle Race in the form of providing numerous Superbs. Again I doubt if the drivers first thought would be for the car.

Same goes for cars supplied to press for evaluation.

 

So don.t be fooled into thinking ex Skoda UK cars will have been looked after.

Hasn't there just been another thread on a similar topic?

A mate of mine used to work for a Vauxhall dealership and would often have to deliver or pick up new cars to & from other dealerships. He told me that he and a colleague would thrash the nuts of these cars and race each other, until the day he stopped and his colleague didn't and totaled two new cars.

So even if you buy a new car with 'delivery' mileage you don't know how it's been treated.

Does it matter whether ex Skoda or Ex Hire - you are happy with the car and have (I presume) the usual warranty.

 

If ex skoda and was a demo car it is likely to have been" well tested" by most of those taking demo's

 

If it was a press car I suspect it was thrashed usless - I have a friend who is a new car dealer and he has told me never to touch ex press cars!

 

If ex hire it may have been similarly mis treated by some customers but I suspect not all.

Edited 8 December, 201312 yr by slider

My last fabia 1.9TDI was an ex rental car and I never had any bother with it, I suspect my current Seat Leon is also an ex rental car but I am yet to get the V5 in the post...

Got my V5 in to today... and my car as I suspected is an ex rental car but it does not matter to me who owned the car before me, it could of been a Goat herder from  Tazbekistan for all I care, makes no difference to me

Edited 9 December, 201312 yr by WeirdKerr

Got my V5 in to today... and my car as I suspected is an ex rental car but it does not matter to me who owned the car before me, it could of been a Goat herder from  Tazbekistan for all I care, makes no difference to me

 

Apart from the smell of goat I assume 

Apart from the smell of goat I assume 

 

yeah... as long as no goats were in my car....

There's a Yeti that's had the fire-bridge go through it and a helicopter land on it. I don't see a problem in buying that one

Worked in the main dealers for nearly 10 years in the late 90's and early 2000's and the vast majority of vehicles purchased as one or two year old examples will have been a short term lease vehicle. Often they are through day rental firms. The saleman saying they are from the manufacturer is actually right, the dealer will have got them through the manufacturers remarketing department. They may have been on a fixed term lease for a short period with a day rental or leasing company, and many with a 'buy back' clause with the manufacturer. Normally (with Skoda) start with the letters A* or K* on the reg number if memory serves.

 

It is the only way to generate a large number of nearly new stock for the forecourts, and in my time at Skoda we never had an issue with any of them.

 

As for the name of a day rental company lowering the resale value of the vehicle, in reality how could it? Glass' Guide or alike don't give valuation differences on number of owners, never mind who they are. The only way that a dealer would offer you less (or try to) is if they see the V5 before they do the deal on a new vehicle. Yes, if you sold it privately then it could be different, but if you have had the vehicle three years and there is one previous owner for the two years previously, what does it matter if it was Avis or the Santa Claus?

 

If I was being honest, I would always steer clear of ex demonstartors. I have seen these vehicles thrashed within an inch of their lives, and stripped for parts when needed too.

Worked in the main dealers for nearly 10 years in the late 90's and early 2000's and the vast majority of vehicles purchased as one or two year old examples will have been a short term lease vehicle. Often they are through day rental firms. The saleman saying they are from the manufacturer is actually right, the dealer will have got them through the manufacturers remarketing department. They may have been on a fixed term lease for a short period with a day rental or leasing company, and many with a 'buy back' clause with the manufacturer. Normally (with Skoda) start with the letters A* or K* on the reg number if memory serves.

 

It is the only way to generate a large number of nearly new stock for the forecourts, and in my time at Skoda we never had an issue with any of them.

 

As for the name of a day rental company lowering the resale value of the vehicle, in reality how could it? Glass' Guide or alike don't give valuation differences on number of owners, never mind who they are. The only way that a dealer would offer you less (or try to) is if they see the V5 before they do the deal on a new vehicle. Yes, if you sold it privately then it could be different, but if you have had the vehicle three years and there is one previous owner for the two years previously, what does it matter if it was Avis or the Santa Claus?

 

If I was being honest, I would always steer clear of ex demonstartors. I have seen these vehicles thrashed within an inch of their lives, and stripped for parts when needed too.

My old car's reg started with KU. I was told that this was a managers cars in the MK head office, it was actually registered to the Capita Group before  :think:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_the_United_Kingdom,_Crown_dependencies_and_overseas_territories#Local_memory_tags

 

KU would be Northampton, close enough to Milton Keynes.

K used to be 'undefined' - my Focus was supplied new from a Hinckley dealer with a K mark and my Octavia from Rainworth in Mansfield, also with a K mark.

Like you say....

Car is great. No problems so far.

....if it was my car, I'd accept that and move on. I've had two ex-rentals, the current of which is the wife's Golf (ex-budget), came to us at 1 year old and 13k, now on 106k and doing very well. I appreciate you're not happy and your entitled to your opinion but can't understand what the issue is. Yes Skoda dealership didn't give you the true story but to what effect really?

 

There's a Yeti that's had the fire-bridge go through it and a helicopter land on it. I don't see a problem in buying that one

I'm pretty sure that's owned by the BBC (or the TG production team). I saw it on the back of a lorry in the last 12 months with the helicopter on the roof.

It would have been sold to you "not as described" so you may be able to reject on that basis or to recover the difference in value.

+1

U have every right to demand a full refund under the consumer law.

But Skoda might ask for a admin/usage fee for the time u driven it.

I have a ex-leased Superb.

72k for a 2year old.

Full service history.

Now under warranty with Skoda.

Not skip a beat yet (touch wood)!