think we were sold a doozer! help!

awman

think this is the right place for this, sorry if its not.

we bought our car (BMW 3 series) over 2 years ago off a fairly big garage (it was 4 yrs old when we bought it) (we had previously bought two cars there so trusted them).
Anyway before we bought it they told us that the previously owner (which we were told was a lady) had had a "little tip" in it but that the only damage that was done was "cosmetic" and "no internal damage was done". We were told that the front passanger side had needed some cosmetic work and paint work etc (and that nothing mechanical was damaged). So, we bought it (traded in our car and forked out another 15k).

We had the car no time when we noticed that it seemed to be driving a bit eratic (steering seemed to be off and it felt as if front of car was pulling front left to right). So we brought it to our local garage to have it looked out. They told us that it needed a new part (sorry cant think of what it was called) so we got that done (cost us almost 900). Car was still not driving right but i started to think it was all in my head (everyone else that drove it couldnt figure out what i was on about).

Anyway brought it to another garage to have it serviced etc and asked them to have look at it and see could they figure out what was wrong (they couldnt find anything).

So yesterday we brought it for a service again and told them that we still felt the car was not driving properly. They told us to bring it to car to a crash repair garage and see what they thought. As soon as they looked at it they told us it had definitely had a lot of work done to it and that it had obviously been badly crashed.

We straight away went on a car check site to see if we could find out anything about its history. It turns out the car was off the road for 2 and a half years! so.... we went to the garage that we bought it from and explained what we had found out and that they never told us the car had been so badly damaged. All they told us was that the car had received some minor body repair work and nothing internal was damaged. He acted all shocked and said he'd get back to us today... havent received any phone call yet. i'm distraught! car is going to cost ALOT of money to put right (if it'll even ever be able to be put right) and we still owe alot of money on our loan that we got for it.

Does anyone think we have a leg to stand on? Did the garage we bought it from have to inform us of this kind of damage? They told us it was only cosmetic but that's obviously not the case.

Any advice or comments would be great. Thanks in advance. ps. sorry for such long post.

Tigger

geta solicitor on it

seems a log time has poassed tbh

EPM

Full independent inspection is what you now need - in writing. Then go back to the supplying garage. You may not need a solicitor just yet depending on if they play ball or not. If they don't get one then

langdang

I agree with EPM, tis all very well for the crash repair place to say "ah shur there was a heap of stuff done", but tis no good unless it's in writing!

tossy

Why would you go to boards.ie before seeking legal advice? its a no brainier get a solicitor on the case,the 100 conflicting opinions you'll receive on here (some based on facts and experience most based on idle pub talk) will not solve the mess you are in.

Sorry for your troubles,hope you get it sorted

rccaulfield

Why didn't you bring it straight back to them -instead you brought it to your local mechanic and paid 900 euro for it- Why wud you do that? Also its been 2 years theres no way the garage will stand over the car!

Always check the history of the car... Buyer beware.

enviro

Get some professional legal advice ASAP

mickdw

If you can prove that it was seriously damaged such as a write off, you have a case as this will be recorded as having happened before you bought.

cadaliac

EPM wrote: »

Full independent inspection is what you now need - in writing. Then go back to the supplying garage. You may not need a solicitor just yet depending on if they play ball or not. If they don't get one then

+1
This is the way forward. Unfortunately, you will need to have a conversation with a solicitor to find out if you need their services or not.
Best of luck.