Evening all,

 

I have a 'theoretical' question.

 

You buy a Approved Skoda Used Car, for example ex demo 3 months old type of used car.  You discover after purchase it was involved in a incident which Skoda Dealer was aware of and subsequently had the car repaired...is the dealer obliged to tell a future buyer of the incident and the repair undertaken?

 

Thanks all

No, they aren't obliged to volunteer that information. If you ask, they can't lie. 

4 minutes ago, Dr Zoidberg said:

No, they aren't obliged to volunteer that information. If you ask, they can't lie. 

 

Thanks for the reply.....

 

So to expand on my 'theoretical' question.  If the car purchased had faults which led to the incident becoming apparent, which the dealer denied at the time, but later admitted. Would the purchaser have right to some form of recourse? 

It's not clear whether the dealer would have known about this history or not. Is it something that they would definitely be aware of before selling the car?

42 minutes ago, Dr Zoidberg said:

It's not clear whether the dealer would have known about this history or not. Is it something that they would definitely be aware of before selling the car?

 

Yes they where aware the car had been involved in a incident before selling it.  The car was a demo car used from new for 3 months by one of the dealers staff, who had a incident which resulted in damage which was repaired by them.  Subsequent faults with the car revealed it had had been damaged and repaired, it then transpires the dealer was aware the car was in a incident. The car still has a few issues due to the incident (paint quality mainly), but the car is mechanically A1.

 

The purchaser is giving the dealer the option to 'put right any issues' however what is concerning is that if the purchaser had known about the incident he/she would have been able to make a informed choice whether to purchase or not.  It is worth adding the circumstances of how the incident occurred or the extent of the damage and repair undertaken is not yet known, but the dealer is due to respond regarding this shortly.

When you say the Dealer, i take it you mean Employees in the Dealership unless you are dealing with the Dealer Principal.

 

So you would ask the Organ Grinder in Writing if there had been an Incident with a Demonstrator prior to it being sold as a Skoda Approved Used Car and having Checks & Work Shop safety checks.  & there should be a health check and the condition should be as perfect as possible if a Demonstrator / Management car.

Some cars are damaged and repaired in transport before a PDI, and some might get damaged in the 3 months / 3,000 miles before re-sale.

 

What kind of Incident are we talking, mechanical or a bodywork accident.

 

EDIT 

Posts crossed over.

Body repairs should be to Factory Standard / Spec or actually better, because Factory finish can be crap sometimes.

Skoda Approved Used car, not a great recommendation really, just a Dealer making nice profits off loading Demonstrators often at a premium they do not deserve because the 3,000 miles could be as bad as a driving school car.

Sometimes they could be, or a hire car as some Dealerships.

Edited 19 February, 20179 yr by Offski

PS

Obviously if a Dealership receives a vehicle new and PDI's it and Registers and it stays at the Dealership and is used for Demos, Courtesy car, 

running messages to collect sandwiches etc and gets damaged, maybe a Flag Pole falls onto it as often seems to happen, 

then the repairs get done.  The car is inspected and a service is done, (or the boxes are ticket.) a cat is valeted and sold.

 

Sometimes 'Management cars' were never at the selling Dealership untill SKODA UK arranged them getting to the dealership.

Then sometime someone 'Borrowed the car', damaged the car, repaired the car to a standard that the 'Pre Delivery inspection' missed 

the 'Spray over & polish and wax over',  or sometimes that is a Dealership ' Spray Over & Polish / Wax' as done by their 

'Mobile Touch up Painter' that works on the premises.

15 minutes ago, Mattieuk said:

 

Yes they where aware the car had been involved in a incident before selling it.  The car was a demo car used from new for 3 months by one of the dealers staff, who had a incident which resulted in damage which was repaired by them.  Subsequent faults with the car revealed it had had been damaged and repaired, it then transpires the dealer was aware the car was in a incident. The car still has a few issues due to the incident (paint quality mainly), but the car is mechanically A1.

 

The purchaser is giving the dealer the option to 'put right any issues' however what is concerning is that if the purchaser had known about the incident he/she would have been able to make a informed choice whether to purchase or not.  It is worth adding the circumstances of how the incident occurred or the extent of the damage and repair undertaken is not yet known, but the dealer is due to respond regarding this shortly.

 

My take on it is that they aren't obliged to volunteer that information as I originally said, but if you [1] had asked "has the car ever been in an accident" they should have answered truthfully. What *should* have happened though, is that before being sold the car should have had a proper inspection, which should have highlighted the poor repairs and allowed them to fix that.

As they didn't do that I'd be inclined to either ask for a full refund as you wouldn't have knowingly bought a damaged & repaired car, or allow them to make repairs if they are giving you something suitable by way of compensation. I don't believe that legally you can insist on the former (others may have different opinions) but that doesn't mean the dealer won't agree.

How long have you had the car since purchase and how many miles has it done, and how obvious were the problems? If we're talking a few weeks and a few hundred miles you'd have a much better case for demanding a refund. Equally, if the damage was obvious and something that you could have reasonably noticed, a dealer unwilling to play nicely may say that you had every opportunity to check the car yourself.

 

[1] for "You" read "whoever owns the car"

The car was purchased 3 weeks ago and has been back to the dealers 3 times for headlight washer and fog light replacement.  In terms of miles on purchase it had done 3900, now it's on 4300.

 

The incident though not yet clear in terms of cause and extent appears to be a minor impact to the drivers side corner of the bumper (hence headlight washer / fog light issues).  No other damage to the front of the car is apparent. The purchaser only got suspicious when the headlight washer failed on the day of purchase.  On further inspection over this weekend (car was cleaned) evidence appeared in the form of overspray / masking marks on the bumper / bonnet.  The purchaser went into the dealer yesterday to discuss.....this is the best bit.  While the purchaser was outside with the dealer, his / her partner was in the showroom and overheard 4 of the sales staff discussing the car and the incident the staff member had in it.  which the dealer acknowledged when confronted with the info.

Friend of mine bought a Ford Galaxy people carrier from Arnold Clark. Couple of weeks after getting it he noticed overspray around the windscreen and it was then clear that the car was accident damaged.

 

I wish I could give the details of what he did but this is quite a while ago, but the end result was that he returned the Car to AC after about 4 months (took that long to settle)and he got a full refund. He was happy since he'd effectively had a free car for that period.

Edited 19 February, 20179 yr by Aspman

You do not mess about with the Sales Staff in a case of a previously damaged vehicle, 

you get the Principal Dealer and the Finance Director to look at the vehicle with you and ask if they want an Independent Expert to examine and do a report on the vehicle 

or do they want to take it back for professional repairs, a buy back or an exchange for an undamaged vehicle.

 

Sales staff are not always making Senior Management aware of Incidents with vehicles.

 

*

Then once all is sorted out you give out on here the name of this Dealership of Motor Group that did the right thing eventually after trying to take the p!th and treat a customer like a fool.*

Edited 19 February, 20179 yr by Offski

Although fairly rare, new vehicles do get damaged prior to and after reaching the dealer. 

^^^ They get damaged in Transit, in storage and in the hands of employees or customers, they get flooded and dried out and refurbished and all sorts.

There must be youtube film someplace of a finished car leaving a factory and getting eventually to a paying customer.

If nobody has done hidden cameras then they should.

'Simply Clever' Skoda could, or maybe better not do, as somethings are best unseen.

 

Trackers fitted to Demonstrators & Media Cars are common now, as are the Dealerships that check customers Satnavs or Radios for 

'Marketing Reasons'....

Edited 19 February, 20179 yr by Offski

Whilst they're in the hands of humans, there will always been damage. Mostly small flying debris, zip scratch etc but my job is to investigate all damage. I've seen some real shockers!

 

Ignorance it bliss.... I doubt I'll ever buy a "brand new" car....

They've got a bodyshop at the docks where the new cars are offloaded do they not?

They do.

And some manufacturers do the Options in buildings at the docks, fit leather interiors, body kits/ spoilers etc and paint them.

 

Up in Kirriemuir Richard Lawson had a facility that new Hyundai arrived all wrapped and ready to be prepped to then distribute back all over the UK.

Never had Kirrie marked as a centre of Korean manufacturing in the UK

1 hour ago, Offski said:

They do.

And some manufacturers do the Options in buildings at the docks, fit leather interiors, body kits/ spoilers etc and paint them.

 

Up in Kirriemuir Richard Lawson had a facility that new Hyundai arrived all wrapped and ready to be prepped to then distribute back all over the UK.

 

OT - You going to the old school to visit today George before they knock it down?

Ta,

I will take a ride passed.

The Leisure Centre was being emptied the other day.

15 hours ago, Mattieuk said:

 

Thanks for the reply.....

 

So to expand on my 'theoretical' question.  If the car purchased had faults which led to the incident becoming apparent, which the dealer denied at the time, but later admitted. Would the purchaser have right to some form of recourse? 

 

Did the purchase price reflect the cars condition and the fact that it had been repaired. IE was it cheaper than a purchaser would expect.

(Even though one was not made aware of the damage / repair).

 

If not a little cheaper, then I would say yes (in answer to your question). I am not a lawyer, though.

 

I, for one, would expect some form of reimbursement, as a gesture at least, possibly in the form of free servicing or the like, in the future, assuming I was still happy with the car generally, and happy that the garage was well enough established to still be there under the same management, and all current issues on the car were sorted to my approval.

21 minutes ago, Tilt said:

 

Did the purchase price reflect the cars condition and the fact that it had been repaired. IE was it cheaper than a purchaser would expect.

(Even though one was not made aware of the damage / repair).

 

If not a little cheaper, then I would say yes (in answer to your question). I am not a lawyer, though.

 

I, for one, would expect some form of reimbursement, as a gesture at least, possibly in the form of free servicing or the like, in the future, assuming I was still happy with the car generally, and happy that the garage was well enough established to still be there under the same management, and all current issues on the car were sorted to my approval.

 

The purchaser payed what would be considered the market price for the car, considering age, mileage, spec etc..

 

I suspect the buyer paid over the market value, ie a Premium to buy a Skoda Approved Used car that underwent the Finacial Checks and Workshop Safety checks, 

and the warranty and peace of mind buying a quality vehicle.

 

So they are taking the P1th really, and the matter can simply be resolved.

Skoda UK Customer Services will have a Communications Manager say it is between the Dealership & the Customer, 

and surprise surprise by Tuesday this week it can all be resolved by the Dealerships Principal.

 

So a call on Monday to Skoda UK Customer Services will have the ball rolling, if so far the Dealership are just messing about.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/424400-dealer-saying-impact-dealer-new-to-me 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/420903-vrs-4x4-haldex-transmission-noise

These type of threads about Dealerships are why Skoda are not at the top of Customer Satisfaction Surveys anymore.

The Skoda Approved Car can not be considered as a safe buy because they are Well Inspected and the maintenance is all up to date.

'Franchised Dealerships' need to get a grip and if Staff Training is poor address those issues.

Stop lying to customers or just panning them off. 'Simply Clever'.

 

It is not about faults, or issues with faults it is how they deal with the customer and rectify the faults.

 

THIS THREAD IS JUST ABOUT A 'THEORETICAL QUESTION' so no vehicles were hurt and no dealership has been taking the proverbial.

 

Edited 19 February, 20179 yr by Offski

3 hours ago, Offski said:

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/424400-dealer-saying-impact-dealer-new-to-me 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/420903-vrs-4x4-haldex-transmission-noise

These type of threads about Dealerships are why Skoda are not at the top of Customer Satisfaction Surveys anymore.

The Skoda Approved Car can not be considered as a safe buy because they are Well Inspected and the maintenance is all up to date.

'Franchised Dealerships' need to get a grip and if Staff Training is poor address those issues.

Stop lying to customers or just panning them off. 'Simply Clever'.

 

It is not about faults, or issues with faults it is how they deal with the customer and rectify the faults.

 

THIS THREAD IS JUST ABOUT A 'THEORETICAL QUESTION' so no vehicles were hurt and no dealership has been taking the proverbial.

 

Hi Offski, although the OP did originally say that it was a "theoretical" question, there appears to be far too much detailed information given subsequently -  Perhaps the OP was being cautious in case SUK is monitoring this.   

No problems though with Defaming online when you tell the honest truth in threads, you can not reduce the reputation of someone that is doing the damage to the good name of the VW Group, the VW Group that admitted 11 million cheats.

 

Skoda UK and Dealership employees often say do not believe the internet, but funnily when Skoda UK or Dealerships are at it or employees are and fibbing things are sorted out rather quicker than before posted online.