Hi

 

I have posted under the legal/insurance section but wondered what this section thought, after giving me lots of useful help previously.

 

I bought a 2012 Octavia 3 weeks ago. Skoda main dealer. Happy with car. Was told by dealer that there was 1 previous owner which was Skoda UK.

 

However, V5C just arrived in post from DVLA.

 

Previous registered keeper is a National car Rental company car firm, not SKoda UK.

 

I never would have bought an ex-rental car, just don't feel comfortable with it. Was clearly told "one previous owner, car is from SKoda UK"

 

Has anyone else been stung like this and can they recommend an appropriate course of action?

seems like a clear case that you have been mis-sold and the vehicle was misrepresented. Contact your local trading standards office.

It's recourse back from the dealer really?  (before going down trading standards / contacting Skoda UK etc)

Many dealers source ex rental for their used forecourts its very common; guaranteed stock of young fairly low mileage cars at decent prices.

Agree the dealer has mis-sold but it depends how much of a stink you want to kick up. If you are otherwise happy with the car and paid reasonable money for it id probably just let it go. For the reason of health and safety rental cars (in the UK at least) do tend to be meticulously maintained; id have also thought the dealer would have had to address any obvious faults/damage before being able to sell it via the Skoda Approved Used programme.

"For the reason of health and safety rental cars (in the UK at least) do tend to be meticulously maintained" - Hmm.  Bought an ex-rental Renault Clio with just over 15K miles on the clock for my wife from a Renault main dealer.  Discovered one tyre was a Chines ditch-finder and also a different size to the other 3 tyres.  Went back to the dealer, who had claimed car had been through a meticulous checking procedure as it was sold under Renault's approved used car scheme.  Dealer apologised profusely, sourced and fitted a  tyre matching the other 3 (Conti Contact 2 195/50-16) while we waited and gave us a voucher for a free service.

Not meant to cause anyone any anguish with this post but i used to work for one of the main hire car companies and the cars were never serviced as they used to be sold on before the "1st service" was needed. They were also never driven carefully by the staff or customers.

If it was me i would try to return it to the dealer as i think there is a case for it being mis-sold !!

I think you'll find a large proportion of the used cars on Skoda forecourts under 2 yrs old are ex car hire stock possibly financed via skoda.

They wont have seen a service, as they are dumped when they reach that time, but the dealer should service them before selling them on.

Edited 4 December, 201312 yr by xman

In the last couple months I've seen 4 posts all of this nature on various forums.

 

Its a bit of a scam IMO. Apparently the dealer leases out the car to the hire company & they put it in the lease companies name BUT they never actually own it. Skoda always own it. They agree to take it back after 6 months/1 year for a very good price and then sell it on as an ex '<insert manufacturer here> car. Someone posted on one of the other forums from a legal point that its all done 100% 'to the rules' obviously the rules are favoring the manufacturers, Legally Skoda will have owned the car throughout so it is an 'ex-skoda' car.

 

The only recourse would be if you have specifically asked if it has been used as a rental car of any kind. Then they would have mis-sold you the car.

 

If your lucky Skoda will take it back.

 

As for whether they are well maintained. I think its a mixed bag. If they know they are getting rid of them quickly there is no incentive to properly service them. Equally who knows who has been driving it. You know the old saying. The best car is a rental car because you can thrash it to bits

My Yellow Vrs has on the V5 that Skoda owned the car from new.

 

I think they did as the inside was immaculate and no panel damage and none of the wheels were curbed. The Engine bay was spotless. Looks to have been well looked after, but you never know

How bad is it really that you bought a hire car?  It has only been used to do what it was built for even if it wasn't a hire car you could have bought the car not knowing if the previous owner was a terrible driver anyway.

 

 Having bought lots of cars, one lady owner or five previous keepers it really doesn't matter that much, if you  are happy with the car apart from the niggle of its past I would keep it, I am sure the doors won't fall off in a few weeks or the engine drop out the bottom of it.

 

 A casing point, I spotted a Passat I used to have as a company car from 2004 to 2007, it had a 134K miles on when I sent it back, now in 2013 it has 200k on it and is obviously still running, lets just say I used the Passat a lot more than a hire car would have been.

It should be well Run-In.

I'd be much more concerned if it had 1 careful little old lady owner, and never even got warm.

What was the milage when you bought the car?

"Nothing performs better than a hire car!" - I'd rightly be concerned.

All my cars that I have bought at 2-3 years old have been hire/contract/lease cars. I have never had a problem with any of them other than the miles have generally been higher. They have all the reciepts, good tracability, and maintained perfectly.

Just goes to show that even when buying from a dealer there are certain checks that you should still carry out.....ie a good look through the paperwork.

 

I had a similar experience last year when looking at an Octavia at the dealers. It looked good, but I noticed a small no smoking sticker in the car. I immediately suspected it had been a taxi or similar....a good rifle through the paperwork revealed it had been owned by a national car hire firm, so I walked.

 

Ultimately, no matter what anyone tells you, as far as a lot of people are concerned if they don't own it they don't give a damn about it. 

Edited 4 December, 201312 yr by booke23

My Yellow Vrs has on the V5 that Skoda owned the car from new.

 

I think they did as the inside was immaculate and no panel damage and none of the wheels were curbed. The Engine bay was spotless. Looks to have been well looked after, but you never know

My Superb was the same.  One owner, Skoda UK, car was very tidy inside and out.  I guess at 9 months old it likely wasn't a rental but a demo perhaps?  Didn't really matter much because the car was (is?!) in good condition and the price was good.

 

These things often come down to 'what have you lost' kind of questions (i.e. damages).  You could argue for a full refund & return the car, or perhaps some money back or other recompense in lieu of it having been a rental car.  Need to see what they say.  I fear it will come down to how honest the dealer is.  The upside with the Skoda Approved scheme is you have more rights than a straight private sale of course.  Are you still within the time/distance in which you can return it?

Just had a quick look and you get 30 days / 1000 miles within which you can return it (quite apart from any other reason like misrepresentation etc.).  But there's some small print, so you'd need to read that through.

 

HTH

Edited 4 December, 201312 yr by Yearofthegoat

You've been given misleading information and you've not been able to make an informed choice based on that.

 

It's mis-selling - plain and simple.

 

Whether or not an ex-rental car is a good purchase is a completely moot point and not valid. Because you weren't able to give that due consideration before the purchase because you weren't told about that aspect of the car's history. You were told something completely different and as it turns out, untrue.

 

I would return the purchase for a full refund and purchase elsewhere.

Time was you wouldn't buy a nearly new car since it was likely a lemon being off loaded by the private owner. Now it's most likely an ex fleet car. Mine was. Four and a half years later I still think it was a good choice.

That still isn't the point. If the purchaser receives correct and accurate information prior to the final sale, they can then make their own mind up.

When I bought my car and traded my old car in

 

I had to sign a form stating that my car wasn't used as a:

 

Taxi

Learner Car

Hire Car

 

so it gives you a good case for complaining

 

Although most nearly new cars, even if owned by Skoda or any other make are going to be used and abused. If it is not your  own car most people will rag the guts out of them

Has anyone else been stung like this and can they recommend an appropriate course of action?

 

I wasn't stung, the dealer told me 'one previous owner' and I failed to ask who that was. The clue was probably 14600 miles on an 8 month old car, but for whatever reason my brain was off that afternoon. When I bothered to look at the V5C properly a while later and saw hire company I thought "you div, it'll probably fall apart a week outside of warranty".

 

In your shoes, assuming I was mis-sold and I felt strongly enough about the matter, I would be back to the dealer stating the grievance and quoting the 30 day cooling off period (assuming T&Cs are met). In my shoes, I'm still wary of hire cars, but my opinion has somewhat altered in light of my inadvertant blind study and what is now 3 years of happy motoring.

My Mondeo was on the hire fleet of the Ford dealership I bought it from and my wife's car is ex-Budget, both cars bought at 1 year old with approx 13k miles on them. Neither of them gave us any headaches.

While it does appear that there may be cause for a complaint, you should check with the CAB or Trading Standards to find out your rights before going back to the garage.

 

If there is nothing actually wrong with the vehicle, you may not have any legal right to get your money back.

 

Just because they didn't disclose who the previous owner was doesn't mean they have mislead you or misrepresented the vehicle. If they had told lies, then that's different.

 

BTW, I hope you do get some sort of satisfaction from this.

 

Good luck.

So rather than all this speculation has the original posted spoke to the dealer yet? what was the result?