Well, after a trip back to the dealer to query headlights not sitting correctly post aircon condensor change last week, it was suggested that the car had been in an accident at some point.

I explained that I HPI'd it and it was ok, but he said maybe fixed privately.

 

When the dealer looked under the bonnet, he immediately noticed my DTUK box -  It is a right PITA to keep removing and refitting, as my car has seen the dealer quite a bit recently, so I left it on as i'm not good at plugging in the boost plug!

He asked what it was and I told him, he did not mention it any further.

 

He did say that the bonnet was very slightly out of alignment, and looked as though it may have had front end damage. with possibly a bumper and NS headlight replacement.

 

He told me the definitive way to check is to look at the date stamp on the parts in the engine bay - apparently every part has a date stamp, and should all be within the same period of the build date.

 

I was surprised then to see that one headlight had a date of 2012, the other 2013, confirming their suspicion that the car had been repaired!

 

I was not best pleased with this, as I bought the car of a fellow briskodian, and when I asked if it had any prangs was told no!

 

So lesson learned - check engine bay and look for date stamps on parts - should all be around the build date.

 

Had I known this, I would probably haggled the price down or walked away!

 

End of lesson!!

 

 

Interesting - looks like someone has been telling porkies. 

 

maybe they hit something other than another car like a pheasant or badger or something. That might require a new bumper/headlight but the owner might not class as an accident (but of course that's something you would want to know about)

Are they still on the site, if so I'd send them a Pm for some details. You know nothing of what happened at the moment so any more info is a bonus.

 

I was not best pleased with this, as I bought the car of a fellow briskodian, and when I asked if it had any prangs was told no!

 

 

Well looks like they've commited fraud (if they knew about the damage) so you can soon sort them out in a small claims court.

Just because a headlight has been replaced does not mean its been in an accident, if the light has been damaged by a stone or other foreign object then it must be replaced as a whole unit.

A private sale is a case of caveat emptor, there is no comeback on the seller regardless of claim.

A HPI marker will only be recorded against a car written off. A car repaired by insurers and not written off will not have a HPI marker placed against it.

Just because a headlight has been replaced does not mean its been in an accident, if the light has been damaged by a stone or other foreign object then it must be replaced as a whole unit.

A private sale is a case of caveat emptor, there is no comeback on the seller regardless of claim.

A HPI marker will only be recorded against a car written off. A car repaired by insurers and not written off will not have a HPI marker placed against it.

 

Yep just what I was thinking.

Just remember that the bumper, bumper mountings, headlights and mounting brackets and front end has to come off if the condenser is changed.  They can be awkward to fit back together again if the bumper brackets positions are not marked. I changed mine once and didn't mark the position of the bumper brackets,  had a hell of a job getting the headlights lined up again. 

I changed both my headlights last week as the others we horrid, so your method won't always work.

I assume from OP that the lights were OK before the condenser was replaced. In that case, they should be OK afterwards. There is no reason to touch the headlights.

Just taking a couple of steps back here...

 

Is the lesson learnt to do more checks before buying a used car privately?

 

Or is it confirmation that a main dealer is trying to wriggle out of their ****-up?

 

Now that we have determined that the headlights have to come out in order to replace the condensor and assuming the headlights were perfectly aligned prior to the work then any possible accident damage or there being two headlights with two different dates codes is irrelevant.

 

The dealer hasn't lined up the headlights correctly and needs to do the job properly, simples.

 

Have I missed the point?

       Hi Ho silver      that's it  !

The compressor was changed, not the condenser. The dealer told me that they did it from underneath the car, so the they had no need to dismantle the front end, contrary to what their female assistant told me last week.

In fact, the wire mesh in front of the condenser was untouched, and still had all the original plastics ties that I had used.

None of the fixings on the slam panel looks like they have been touched either.

The dealer did say that the paint was not Skoda paint on the rear bumper last time he replaced a parking sensor, but I kinda dismissed this, and again he said the paint on the bumper was not Skoda paint. How he could tell by looking I don't know!

He took both lights out and refitted them to show me they only go in one way, to reiterate his point about the lights not refitted properly!

I do now believe that they didn't take the front off and what they are saying is correct!

This is my first ever car purchase, after 20 odd years of company cars, and as it looked ok, was HPI'd ok and still had warranty, I perhaps did not delve too deeply up under the bonnet!

If I were to buy another car, I will obviously check as many date stamps under the bonnet as possible.

I was under the impression that a HPI check shows if a vehicle has been subject to an insurance claim, so lesson learned there too!

The seller is no longer active on the site, I don't think there is any point contacting him as what could I expect to achieve?

Thanks for all your feedback

All the best

Paul

My bad, should have stated compressor in OP!

Contacting the previous owner might at least answer your questions about what level of accident damage it has had.

 

There will be no opportunity for recompense but it may well help you to decide whether you are wanting to keep it or sell it on?

I sent him a text earlier, so will wait and see what he says.

I am, going to keep it anyway as per my original plan to run it for as long as I can get away with under the company rules of 5 yrs or 100k.

Should take me up to March 2017.

Thanks

Headlight replacement does not mean its been in a accident, the headlight could of been faulty so got replaced. Also the date stamps could just mean the car was made at the begining of 2013 so 2012 parts were still used.

Headlight replacement does not mean its been in a accident, the headlight could of been faulty so got replaced. Also the date stamps could just mean the car was made at the begining of 2013 so 2012 parts were still used.

 

car was registered March 2012 so build date would have been before then. Also, dealer questioned some of the paintwork on both bumpers

I agree dating may not be conclusive in determining history, but coupled with misalignment on bonnet and questionable paintwork does raise a few questions.

It may be completely reasonable that a headlight until was replaced and no incident occurred, and the paint was as it left the factory.

On my previous superb there was a certain amount of orange peel effect, which the dealer is saying is down to a paint job with my VRS.

Anyway, I am still very pleased with the car and despite its questionable history will continue to improve and enjoy it.

Not had any reply from seller yet.

I went to look at a Golf GT TDi, the seller assured methe car was kosher and not been in anf form of accident and kept referring to being HPi clear.

 

Got there and it was a bit of a patchwork quilt where the blacks had been matched, overspray and a cracked windscreen and broken plastic in the engine bay.

needless to say I wasn't happy, so I got the Octy a few hours later as that was the back up car. Pleased as it's just as good as the Gplf and saved over a grand

 

For me, HPi is all about checking the non physical history of the car, including importantly:

 

Outstanding Finance

Logbook Loan Finance

Mileage

Previous owner history

Plate history

Serial number issue against the V5 document