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Garage selling on a dangerous motor....what to do?

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  • 18-08-2011 9:13pm
    #1
    BrokenSpiral
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭


    Hi Folks,

    Looking for a little advice here on a rogue garage!

    The very short version of this story is that I bought a car from a dealer and it had a few problems. I returned it to the garage a couple of times under warranty to get stuff fixed and the car then failed the NCT as they had not really carried out the work but they had pretended to me that they had.

    I then got my mechanic to inspect the car and it turns out that the car had been in an unrecorded accident and had serious safety concerns, cracks in the body, broken suspension, bad electrics that are a fire hazard, the list goes on. The car is a genuine deathtrap. The car would need tens of thousands of euro of work done and an engineers certificate before it shoudl be put back on the road.

    I managed to get a refund for the car as it should never have been sold in the first place.

    But, and here is the problem, a few hours later the owner of the garage put the car up for sale on a website as a private sale! He is knowingly selling on a dangerous vehicle and some poor sucker could end up buying it and getting killed on the way home!

    I am terrified of something happening to someone, what can be done?
    Gardai? RSA? Dept of Transport? Who should I report this to?
    Tagged:


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    #2
    Esel
    Registered Users Posts: 22,035 ✭✭✭✭Esel


    Local Garda Station would be my first contact point.

    Not your ornery onager



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    #3
    mickdw
    Registered Users Posts: 23,284 ✭✭✭✭mickdw


    Its not a blue mini convertible is it? Have not seen that particular death trap pop up for awhile.


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    #4
    Thatnastyboy
    Registered Users Posts: 1,254 ✭✭✭Thatnastyboy


    BrokenSpiral wrote: »



    I then got my mechanic to inspect the car and it turns out that the car had been in an unrecorded accident and had serious safety concerns, cracks in the body, broken suspension, bad electrics that are a fire hazard, the list goes on. The car is a genuine deathtrap. The car would need tens of thousands of euro of work done and an engineers certificate before it shoudl be put back on the road.

    I managed to get a refund for the car as it should never have been sold in the first place.

    But, and here is the problem, a few hours later the owner of the garage put the car up for sale on a website as a private sale! He is knowingly selling on a dangerous vehicle and some poor sucker could end up buying it and getting killed on the way home!

    I am terrified of something happening to someone, what can be done?
    Gardai? RSA? Dept of Transport? Who should I report this to?

    Tens of thousands???

    Is it 2 cars welded together?

    What kind of car is it?

    Im not sure where to report it, as said the Guards i suppose?


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    #5
    unkel
    Registered Users Posts: 64,960 ✭✭✭✭unkel


    BrokenSpiral wrote: »
    The car would need tens of thousands of euro of work done

    :eek:

    What car is it? What year?


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    #6
    BrokenSpiral
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭BrokenSpiral


    It's a Silver 2003 BMW M3 SMG.

    And yes the problems are huge money to fix.

    Either part of the back of the car is from another vehicle or they just did a terrible job welding it back together and a terrible repainting it! The car isn't worth the cost of the replacement parts for the mechanical problems, never mind the body repair and labour costs!

    For example, just part of the mechanical repairs required, it needs a new diff (1800 +vat + Labour), Gearbox Rebuild (1k-2k?), Top End Engine rebuild (massive labour cost and unknown parts cost), New Vanos (again a couple of grand), 2 Springs, SMG Clutch or Hydraulic Unit, and the list goes on.

    I went to a crash repair place I know, widely considered to be the best in the business, and they told me they wouldn't touch the repair as they'd have to strip the entire back of the car before they could even quote me as with damage such as that visible they couldn't guess as to the potential chassis damage etc and being an M3 you don;t really want one that has been repaired! If it was a simple case of welding up the back end properly it would have been still been more than 6 grand!

    I'll try and upload a couple of pics now too if that helps!

    I suppose the message here is that even if you are buying from a dealer you need to be very very careful and get the AA or your mechanic to inspect the car! There is even a place now, in Tallaght I believe, where you can rent a lift for an hour and get a look at the underside of the car yourself!


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    #7
    kildare.17hmr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,617 ✭✭✭kildare.17hmr


    I have to ask, did you even look at the car before you bought it???? you said the repair work was a very bad job, did you not notice it when you looked or did you not have a mechanic or someone in the know look at it??

    As regards reporting it the first thing would be to report it to the website its now advertised on, id also let the garage know i was reporting it and reporting him for being a scumbag. name and shame him

    We got landed with a damaged car that would have cost more to fix than the car was worth a couple of years ago, we were rightly pissed off obviously but ended up stripping everything of value off it, inteerier, wheels, exhaust ect and scrapped it. would never land someone in it like that


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    #8
    Alanstrainor
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 23,157 Mod ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    I saw this car on done deal yesterday. It was going for 8000ish, anyone who'd buy a car like that for that kind of money expecting it to be in tip top condition is mental.


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    #9
    BrokenSpiral
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭BrokenSpiral


    Apart from the paint issue which I did not spot (I don't think anyone would unless it was pointed out to them by someone who knows) all the bodywork issues were hidden until we got the car on the ramp as you can see from the photos.

    I couldn't get my mechanic up to inspect it unfortunately!

    I drove the car and it had a few faults but the garage said they had put all of them right before I bought the car a few days later. I didn't have it inspected as it came with a Guarantee and the dealer is SIMI registered so I knew if I had a problem I could bring it straight back. I had it back twice for a total of 7 days before the NCT.

    The garage initially said that they fired their mechanic because he was doing bad work and it was all the mechanic's fault....which would be believable initially, but not now....

    I don't think I can name them and shame them although there is a thread on here about people's experiences with them!! Do any of the mod's know if it is ok to name the garage? I'll happily do it to protect people if it helps!


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    #10
    BrokenSpiral
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭BrokenSpiral


    Hi Alan, I paid more than that and yes it is going for 8950 now on donedeal.....despite them telling me that they were getting a refund from the trader they bought it from....


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    #11
    BrokenSpiral
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭BrokenSpiral


    But yeah, people will expect it to be mint and they shouldn't!
    For 3 grand more they could buy an actual mint example.....


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    #12
    dell1211
    Closed Accounts Posts: 199 ✭✭dell1211


    subframe cracking in the E46 M3 is a common enough problem


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    #13
    r3nu4l
    Registered Users Posts: 17,399 ✭✭✭✭r3nu4l


    Have you contacted the gardaí? Also, a phone call to SIMI would not go astray. If you're that concerned about it stop posting here and make those calls...but do come back and let us know the outcome :)


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    #14
    needadvi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 151 ✭✭needadvi


    The Guardai? I was watching Judge Judy, a girl bought a car that went on fire and she wanted her money back from the dealer, as she did her research and found out that he had a record for selling dangerous cars. She talked about how she could have died and how her baby was in the back seat. The girl didn't get her money back because she chose to buy it without having a private mechanic check it out for safety, and she had the choice to buy or not to buy after inspecting it and she was also given a receipt saying sold as seen. Although that is America. Different rules over here.

    It's a good thing that you got a refund!!! Do you really want to take this any further now that you got your money back? If so, Why?


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    #15
    r3nu4l
    Registered Users Posts: 17,399 ✭✭✭✭r3nu4l


    needadvi wrote: »
    It's a good thing that you got a refund!!! Do you really want to take this any further now that you got your money back? If so, Why?

    Oh you know, to perhaps stop a dealer from selling a car that's unroadworthy, thus committing a criminal offence and putting the lives of the driver, passengers and other road users in danger. No other reason really.

    I accept that there are some completely selfish ****ers out there who only care about themselves and once they have their money back everything's 'okay' but there are also people with a wider social conscience too.


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    #16
    tallaghtmick
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,724 ✭✭✭tallaghtmick


    needadvi wrote: »
    The Guardai? I was watching Judge Judy, a girl bought a car that went on fire and she wanted her money back from the dealer, as she did her research and found out that he had a record for selling dangerous cars. She talked about how she could have died and how her baby was in the back seat. The girl didn't get her money back because she chose to buy it without having a private mechanic check it out for safety, and she had the choice to buy or not to buy after inspecting it and she was also given a receipt saying sold as seen. Although that is America. Different rules over here.

    It's a good thing that you got a refund!!! Do you really want to take this any further now that you got your money back? If so, Why?

    Imagine the OP didnt do anything about it and in the news a family where killed in this car I doubt any person could handle that.


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    #17
    BrokenSpiral
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭BrokenSpiral


    needadvi - how can you even ask that?????

    We're talking about a car that is unsafe and they are knowingly selling it on and putting someone's life in danger!

    And yes there are a few known faults with the M3, but this is more serious than that!
    I could upload another 50 photos for the other problems but I think the point is made...it's a lemon!

    Have spoken with SIMI and my local Garda station.
    SIMI are looking into it but I will not hear back on what action, if any, they take.

    The Gardai would love to help but can't! The reason being that they cannot prove the garage intentionally did something wrong......

    I spoke with my insurance company to see if they could pass the reg along to other insurance companies and flag the vehicle as defective but they can't!

    Shocking that in Ireland we lack a system to deal with this kind of thing, I would have thought that somewhere there would be a register of defective vehicles or something!


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    #18
    needadvi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 151 ✭✭needadvi


    I didn't say that what the dealer was doing was morally correct. Just saying, some of them are so bad they would even refuse to refund you without a court hearing. I got sold a car years ago, twas in bits, so I don't agree with these practises.

    I was just saying it was good that you got a refund. :D


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    #19
    johnos1984
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,096 ✭✭✭johnos1984


    BrokenSpiral wrote: »
    Shocking that in Ireland we lack a system to deal with this kind of thing, I would have thought that somewhere there would be a register of defective vehicles or something!

    PM Motorcheck and he may be able to help with highlighting it on the car backround checking system. He's done it in the past in fairness.

    Someone should really report the ad to donedeal as well and not make it an easy sell for the dealer.............. ;)


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    #20
    BrokenSpiral
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭BrokenSpiral


    Thanks Johnos, is Motorcheck the username on here?


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    #21
    johnos1984
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,096 ✭✭✭johnos1984


    BrokenSpiral wrote: »
    Thanks Johnos, is Motorcheck the username on here?
    Ya, that's his username.

    He should be able to flag it on the system (I think)


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    #22
    Muckie
    Registered Users Posts: 1,763 ✭✭✭Muckie


    Jesus frighten stuff OP. Keep going with this, don't let this shower
    pass this car onto someone else, because this mightn't be the only
    car they done it too.

    It'd be great if they could be shamed, what would it
    take, someone to die in their cars. Even then they'd be looking for "loopholes" to get thru.


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    #23
    EPM
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,822 ✭✭✭✭EPM


    mickdw wrote: »
    Its not a blue mini convertible is it? Have not seen that particular death trap pop up for awhile.

    That's going around Cork. Same blonde driving it all the while...


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    #24
    johnos1984
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,096 ✭✭✭johnos1984


    EPM wrote: »
    That's going around Cork. Same blonde driving it all the while...

    Has nobody bothered to tell her yet?


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    #25
    listermint
    Registered Users Posts: 33,722 ✭✭✭✭listermint


    I believe some of our members viewed this car previously with a view to buy.

    There were some very telling signs that all was not right with it from the get go.


    (bmwdriver.net)


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    #26
    EPM
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,822 ✭✭✭✭EPM


    johnos1984 wrote: »
    Has nobody bothered to tell her yet?

    Quite hard to do when the times I've seen it it's been travelling against me in the opposite direction. I'll try a dukes of hazard move next time:D:p


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    #27
    sealgaire
    Registered Users Posts: 734 ✭✭✭sealgaire


    This it?

    http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2448898


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    #28
    johnos1984
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,096 ✭✭✭johnos1984


    EPM wrote: »
    Quite hard to do when the times I've seen it it's been travelling against me in the opposite direction. I'll try a dukes of hazard move next time:D:p

    :D
    Could end up with a nice date out of it too if you play it right


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    #29
    johnos1984
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,096 ✭✭✭johnos1984


    sealgaire wrote: »
    This it?

    http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2448898
    It's the only one....


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    #30
    andyseadog
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,412 ✭✭✭andyseadog


    sealgaire wrote: »
    This it?

    http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2448898

    is it just camera angle or does it appear that the passenger side rear corner (wheel arch is nearly over the wheel) is sitting much lower than the driver side rear arch (looks to be an inch or two above the tyre).


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    #31
    sealgaire
    Registered Users Posts: 734 ✭✭✭sealgaire


    johnos1984 wrote: »
    It's the only one....


    Cleaver man . . . .


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