Just wondered what peoples opinions are on where I stand on this.

 

I bought my car from a private dealer and they were very honest up front and were quick to point out it only had one key...the dealer had not been supplied one from the auction but they suggested I check as they said they often get lost.

 

So, whilst at the dealers I managed to find the phone number of the previous owner in amongst the bills. When I called him he confirmed that he had sold the car to We Buy any Car only a week before with TWO keys. In that following week it had then gone to British car auctions. 

 

Next step was to call British car auctions. They were really thorough and confirmed 100% that the car was booked in with only one key, they had all the paper work to back this up.

 

So, I set about contacting We Buy any Car. It took a week or them to reply but when they did they confirmed the key had been received as part of the owner handover and then 'mislaid' prior to the auction. They then stated that they were unable to help any further, i.e. 'we cant be bothered to look for it'.

 

Now, I appreciate that I am not the direct customer of We Buy Any Car, however, they have admitted in an email that they have lost the key. I've sent them a very short 'not good enough' email and they are going to check with the franchise who registered the car, but where do I really stand? As the lost key represents a security risk, and they have admitted fault, do I have any recourse to follow them up about a replacement regardless of the fact that I was not involved in the original transaction?

 

Thoughts?

 

 

Unfortunately, your contact is with the supplying dealer so there is a chain to follow as you need to chase your dealer, they need to chase BCA and they in turn need to chase we buy any car.

Ian

Annoying as it must be for you the key is lost, you bought the car knowing there was only one key. Good detective work to work out where the key was lost but as far as I can see you would have zero recourse to get anything out of them.  If you are worried about a thief having the key and coming to steal the car fit a steering wheel lock.

As you didn't buy the car from WBAC, they are under no obligation to find the missing key or sort you out with a spare.

 

You should take some measures like having that key deleted from the immo log in the cluster and have the remote removed too.

 

Unfortunately the key blade would still be able to open the car, however they have to find the car first

New keys and locks all round, if the car gets nicked then found with no forced entry i.e. A key used, you have no cover.

I'd be more bothered about why the last owner give the car away to that bunch of cowboys.wbac have had a wage on it,auctions had a wage on it the dealers had a wage on it ...sorry just to make you feel good lol

My wife bought a Hyundai i10 2013 regd this year from a small dealer. It only came with one key, myself and the dealer did the same checks as you,but we could not find the key,as I had pointed this out to the dealer on paying for the car, he agreed to get a spare key coded and send for a new fob which was duly supplied,this fob would not code,I later discovered that it was a used ebay unit,as the new unit has to be completely blank it was never going to work.I then ordered a new one from hyundai,which dealer payed for.

I then took this to a main dealer to code it to the car and match the key,so far so good,BUT. They also needed the original key and fob to

Match the lot. They could not match the original fob,I presume this was because there had been a update on all new fobs purchased in 2014 re the software.They then ordered another fob as they said this should not happen,new fob came and the whole lot was reset.

I dread to think what this would have cost me, £65 for 1st key +£45 for first new fob,then £45 for the 2nd fob.Then there is the cost of re programming. All for a spare key and fob.

My advice would be never buy a modern car without a spare key/fob,or get them to knock £300 off because that's what some of these key/fobs cost.In your case the person who sold you the car should obtain them and have them coded to your car,unless he told you at purchase there is only one key. Then it's over to you, but be warned there are no shortcuts ebay etc.

My previous Octavia was bought with just one key from a couple who had just bought it 6 weeks earlier from a second hand car dealer. The wife couldn't get used to it so I bought it from them at a cheaper price. The service book had the first owners phone number in it so I rang him about the other key, it turned out he traded the car into a skoda dealership to buy a newer model with only one key but found the other key about 2 weeks later and took it to the garage. In the mean time the car had gone to auction so the key was put into a box of other odd keys and left at that. I phoned the garage and told them my tale about the key and they said by all means call in and we'll try them, lucky me as the last key I tried opened the doors and started the car, it was brand new and had never been used and obviously the numbers matched my existing key. Luckily he didn't charge me for the key.