HELP!!! ive been sold a catagory A1 write off car and dont know what to do!

nikkisixx69 · 29-08-2011 08:28PM #1

hoping you guys can help me with as much info as possible

yesterday i bought a silver 1999 volkswagon passat tdi , had a major look over the car and everything seemed fine , has a 2 year test and 1 months tax on it

nothing seemed out of the ordinary on it.

so went to transfer my insurance onto it today (quinn) and they told me the car was a catagory A1 write off (meaning it can not be used on the road and should be crushed or something along those lines)

FFFUUUUCCCK!!

tried to call the seller , but he hung up within 5 seconds and turned off his phone (he obviuolsy new about this all along)

is there anything i can do about this?? like how does this car have a NCT if its a write off???
ive had a major look over the car and it seems perfect , chassis numbers match , no signs of crash damage etc the car itself is fine!

what can i do about this? please help , im down money i dont even have

mickdw · 29-08-2011 08:37PM

Private sale I guess. Should have done your homework.

One thing I would say is that if it was a cat A, it must have been when the car was relatively new to make the repair worth while financially. If that was the case, it is possible that it has been repaired to a good standard. That would also mean that it has been insured too since repair so it should be possible to get insurance cover on it.
I have heard people get an engineers report on such cars to prove them roadworthy and then the insurers will allow them on the road again.

If it is a recent writeoff and the car looks pefect, there is a strong chance that it is a cloned car as a cat A of that age wouldnt really be worthwhile to repair even if botched together.

First thing, get a motorcheck report to see what they have on it

Was the car in the sellers name? did you meet him at his home, the same address as on the logbook?

Voodoomelon · 29-08-2011 08:37PM

Was it a dealer or a private sale?

msg11 · 29-08-2011 08:39PM

A cat a1 write off , and you had a good look over?

Are you sure it's not a clone of a wrote off car .. As in your car is stolen? Check to see if the Chassis code and the engine code match the log book if there even is a log book!!

Also I would contact the Garda, this is a case of been sold something that could have put you and other road users at serious risk, it's far from a case of tuff luck.

nikkisixx69 · 29-08-2011 08:40PM

mickdw wrote: »

Private sale I guess. Should have done your homework.

One thing I would say is that if it was a cat A, it must have been when the car was relatively new to make the repair worth while financially. If that was the case, it is possible that it has been repaired to a good standard. That would also mean that it has been insured too since repair so it should be possible to get insurance cover on it.
I have heard people get an engineers report on such cars to prove them roadworthy and then the insurers will allow them on the road again.

If it is a recent writeoff and the car looks pefect, there is a strong chance that it is a cloned car as a cat A of that age wouldnt really be worthwhile to repair even if botched together.

First thing, get a motorcheck report to see what they have on it

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Was it a dealer or a private sale?

private sale guys!

what do you mean by cloned car?? thanks for the info , would an engineers report prove it road worthy?? how the hell does it have a NCT if its apparently a write off?

msg11 · 29-08-2011 08:44PM

nikkisixx69 wrote: »

private sale guys!

what do you mean by cloned car?? thanks for the info , would an engineers report prove it road worthy?? how the hell does it have a NCT if its apparently a write off?

A cloned car is a car which is stolen, but the number plates are from a car which has been wrote off. The car that was wrote off is the same colour, car and year as your car. The log book will tell you if it's stolen, check the engine number because the chassis code could have also been changed along with the plates.

Sounds like a clone if it passed the NCT or it could be repaired very well.

nikkisixx69 · 29-08-2011 08:45PM

msg11 wrote: »

A cat a1 write off , and you had a good look over?

Are you sure it's not a clone of a wrote off car .. As in your car is stolen? Check to see if the Chassis code and the engine code match the log book if there even is a log book!!

Also I would contact the Garda, this is a case of been sold something that could have put you and other road users at serious risk, it's far from a case of tuff luck.

yeah i know a fair bit about cars.

the log book is there , the chassis code matches the log book (obviously checked that at time of sale)

we have also had a word with the ex head of the traffic corp in galway (lives down the road from us , really nice guy) he said to get as much info off the insurance company as i can and then see if they will take an assessors report to sale its road legal

i just dont get how it has an NCT if it is a write off??? the NCT was got very recently

OldmanMondeo · 29-08-2011 08:47PM

How did you pay for the car? if cash, sorry to say but your f**ked. However if with cheque or a bank draft you might be able to stop the payment. If you did, call the sellers bluff and call to the seller, tell them you have stopped the payment and you are giving the car back. This might work in your favour. In the meantime, contact the bank and see if they can stop the cheque or draft.

nikkisixx69 · 29-08-2011 08:48PM

also the chassis numbner plate does not look tampered with

msg11 · 29-08-2011 08:49PM

nikkisixx69 wrote: »

yeah i know a fair bit about cars.

the log book is there , the chassis code matches the log book (obviously checked that at time of sale)

we have also had a word with the ex head of the traffic corp in galway (lives down the road from us , really nice guy) he said to get as much info off the insurance company as i can and then see if they will take an assessors report to sale its road legal

i just dont get how it has an NCT if it is a write off??? the NCT was got very recently

The NCT dosen't prove your car is roadworthy it even says on the form.

Personally I think it's a clone by the sounds of it. A cat A1 write off is not a bit of light damage it's full on mashed. Put it this way, if you are in a cat A1 car at the time of it been wrote off, you wouldn't be walking away from it nearly 85-90% of the time.

Personally I would report it to the Garda as it sounds like fraud.

mickdw · 29-08-2011 08:49PM

Did the guy own the car? as in have his name on the logbook? Address? Can you not go around to the house you bought it?

Tigger · 29-08-2011 08:52PM

A1 is not roadworty afaik and even a private sale has to be road worthy
Get a solicitor on this and you should be able to reverse the transaction

bijapos · 29-08-2011 08:57PM

An identification tag (chassis tag) can be easily changed, you need to look on the body of the car where the chassis number is stamped directly into the body. Like this:

Chasis%20Number1.jpg

You are probably checking a plate like this here:

Btw, did you meet the seller at his house or was it somewhere else? Is his address on the log book?

MugMugs · 29-08-2011 08:58PM

Isn't category A a char grilled blob of metal. As in not even repairable. Not even by manufacturer?

Tigger · 29-08-2011 09:02PM

UnrePairable at any cost

MugMugs · 29-08-2011 09:06PM

Also quite fascinated to hear Quinn running checks on vehicles pre inception! The Americans must be shaking things up in there.

Padraig Mor · 29-08-2011 09:10PM

MugMugs wrote: »

Isn't category A a char grilled blob of metal. As in not even repairable. Not even by manufacturer?

That's what I thought. Is it not just a burnt out shell?

MugMugs · 29-08-2011 09:17PM

Padraig Mor wrote: »

MugMugs wrote: »

Isn't category A a char grilled blob of metal. As in not even repairable. Not even by manufacturer?

That's what I thought. Is it not just a burnt out shell?

Yup. Could be Fred Flinstones one. Move it with your feet I suppose.

Dilbert75 · 29-08-2011 09:18PM

Could Quinn be mistaken? Could it have been a typo? Run a motorcheck and get an independent report.

jhegarty · 29-08-2011 09:23PM

Does a look like a car, or a heap of twisted metal ?

If it's a car, then I suspect it's either cloned or spent a few days underwater.

mickdw · 29-08-2011 09:57PM

jhegarty wrote: »

Does a look like a car, or a heap of twisted metal ?

If it's a car, then I suspect it's either cloned or spent a few days underwater.

Do flood damaged cars go cat A? If so, thats the greatest possibility.

MugMugs · 29-08-2011 10:48PM

mickdw wrote: »

jhegarty wrote: »

Does a look like a car, or a heap of twisted metal ?

If it's a car, then I suspect it's either cloned or spent a few days underwater.

Do flood damaged cars go cat A? If so, thats the greatest possibility.

Always assumed they went B. Not quite completely f*cked but close.

Atlantic Dawn · 29-08-2011 10:51PM

Was it originally a UK car? I was under the impression that in Ireland there is no rating system whatsoever for crashed cars and so getting a wrecked car back on the road is easy as there's no legal obligations.

Littlehorny · 29-08-2011 10:55PM

pre sale, did you ask the question "was it ever in a crash or small tip?", if he lied to you then you could claim disclossure but its a long shot.

Guy:Incognito · 29-08-2011 10:58PM

Littlehorny wrote: »

pre sale, did you ask the question "was it ever in a crash or small tip?", if he lied to you then you could claim disclossure but its a long shot.

Without some form of unbiased credible witness, the rock solid defence card of "I said no such thing" will be played.

needadvi · 29-08-2011 11:01PM

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Was it originally a UK car? I was under the impression that in Ireland there is no rating system whatsoever for crashed cars and so getting a wrecked car back on the road is easy as there's no legal obligations.

I was sold a write off once and was told by an insurance company that the car was a write off and for that reason they wouldn't insure it, I just rang another company and they took me on no bother.

Atlantic Dawn · 29-08-2011 11:04PM

needadvi wrote: »

I was sold a write off once and was told by an insurance company that the car was a write off and for that reason they wouldn't insure it, I just rang another company and they took me on no bother.

Yes exactly no system, basically one insurance company has their way of recording and others use another so the motorist can be driving around in a death trap as no crash history needs to be recorded unlike in the UK and any other civilised country in the world.

Divorce Referendum · 29-08-2011 11:04PM

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Was it originally a UK car? I was under the impression that in Ireland there is no rating system whatsoever for crashed cars and so getting a wrecked car back on the road is easy as there's no legal obligations.

A&B write offs are recorded apparently: From motorcheck.ie

Motorcheck searches for any record of the vehicle being previously written off in Ireland or the UK, and reports this to you as part of our "full check" or "history check" reports (ie: Category A & B for Ireland and Category A, B, C, D & F for UK)

riccardo · 29-08-2011 11:06PM

nikkisixx69 wrote: »

hoping you guys can help me with as much info as possible

yesterday i bought a silver 1999 volkswagon passat tdi , had a major look over the car and everything seemed fine , has a 2 year test and 1 months tax on it

nothing seemed out of the ordinary on it.

so went to transfer my insurance onto it today (quinn) and they told me the car was a catagory A1 write off (meaning it can not be used on the road and should be crushed or something along those lines)

FFFUUUUCCCK!tried to call the seller , but he hung up within 5 seconds and turned off his phone (he obviuolsy new about this all along)

is there anything i can do about this?? like how does this car have a NCT if its a write off???
ive had a major look over the car and it seems perfect , chassis numbers match , no signs of crash damage etc the car itself is fine!

what can i do about this? please help , im down money i dont even have

Good news and bad news here so i will give you the good news first.
The sale of goods act clearly states that the goods must be of merchantable quality, this even relates to a private sale. Keeping the original advert would be handy as im sure it states theat the "its a good clean car etc" This can be used in your favour should things progress.
The car is clearly not of merchantable quality if you cant insure due to its Cat 1 status.
The bad news is that the seller even if he does contact you again can simply say that he told you so, and that he cannot vouch for the cars history as he's owned it for 2 months. Indeed he probably had it insured himself so he probably didnt realise there was a problem.
Carhistorycheck.ie cost €10.00 or so and it will give you loads of info on a used car.
Hope the seller contacts you and does the rigt thing however its a crazy world out there in motorland at the moment and even the professionals are being very wary of what they take in and will always carhistory check a vehicle before trade in // purchase. etc etc

Hiace. · 29-08-2011 11:56PM

As far as I know legally, in all private car sales it is buyer beware and there are no comebacks, unless he gave you something in writing saying the car was in order, it will be your word against his.

If the car is not cloned, and a good mechanic thoroughly checks it out as ok, you might be able to keep it and insure it and if so maybe you could just drive it into the ground, and don't bother too much about servicing and parts. I take it as it was a 99, it did not cost you a fortune anyway ?

Alternatively you could also break it for parts and maybe get most of your money back that way.

In fairness to the OP, is there anything other than a cartell type check that he could have done to avoid this ?

Hiace. · 30-08-2011 12:32AM

One thing we can all agree on is that insurance companies will screw you over given the slightest excuse, now can we get back to advising the lad about his car ?

OP As far as I know legally, in all private car sales it is buyer beware and there are no comebacks, unless he gave you something in writing saying the car was in order, it will be your word against his.

If the car is not cloned, and a good mechanic thoroughly checks it out as ok, you might be able to keep it and insure it, after clearing it with the insurance company, and if so, then maybe you could just drive it into the ground, and don't bother too much about servicing and parts. I take it as it was a 99, it did not cost you a fortune anyway ?

Alternatively you could also break it for parts and maybe get most of your money back that way.

In fairness to the OP he said he checked the car carefully and the chasis numbers etc., so is there anything other than a cartell type check that he could have done to avoid this ?

HELP!!! ive been sold a catagory A1 write off car and dont know what to do!

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