Sold an Ex-rental Car found out its been in an accident..what next

dario28

Any idea of our rights here ,

My girlfriend bought a corsa a few months ago and her bro noticed there was condensation inside the headlamp ,he opened the bonnet to have a look and found out that alignment is off on that side and at a closer look the panel has been resprayed , then on closer inspection on the inside of the bonnet there is the remains of a torn off Avis Rental car sticker

If you look at the link below where the top of the headlamp touches the black , its flush on both sides but in her car on the damaged side there is a couple of mm gap also the light beams are at different levels

Picture

She dropped the car in and they said they would fix the cracked headlamp but they said the car wasnt in an accident but it clearly was.

Do we have any rights here ?

(Before Captain hindsight storms in saying she should have had the car inspected , she prob should but they serviced it and gave a warranty so she took them at her word)

EPM

Get an independent assessors report to confirm the damage that was done.

tommy21

This might help - http://www.motorcheck.ie/ Never used it before though and costs I think 8€ - won't nesceassrily tell whether it has been in an accident, but will say if it was (registered as of course) resprayed, documentation forged etc. Maybe someone with more knowledge might advise on its use first though before you go running the plate through and paying €8.

R.O.R

Sounds like cosmetic damage was caused and repaired (not that well).

Get it fixed properly and drive on.

What year is it btw? Haven't seen a Corsa on the AVIS fleet for a good while.

Jayop

Who did she buy the car from?? Was it direct from avis What sort of warranty warranty was provided? Did you get any warranty book setting out what was covered and what wasn't? If you have a book check if it covers bodywork. Most likely they will have set out that any bodydamage that was on the car when you bought it is tough luck.

If you asked them a direct question 'was this car involved in an accident?' they are obliged by law to tell you. If you dont ask then again tough luck. If all else fails, get an assessor's report and see a solicitor. Unfortunatly is you bought froma second hand garage or privatly then your gonna be flat out of luck!

Jayop

R.O.R wrote: »

Sounds like cosmetic damage was caused and repaired (not that well).

Get it fixed properly and drive on.

What year is it btw? Haven't seen a Corsa on the AVIS fleet for a good while.

I'd guess its not Avis fleet services, but Avis rental as in short term rental from airports etc. They still have the compacts on hire. Mostly Toyota and Ford now though.

Menengroth™

dario28

Fook off captain hindsight !!!!!:D

She bought the car from rightprice cars with a 3mth warranty they said the car was perfect

It's an 07 corsa

tommy21

dario28 wrote: »

Fook off captain hindsight !!!!!:D

She bought the car from rightprice cars with a 3mth warranty they said the car was perfect

It's an 07 corsa

Have Rightprice tiles branched out?!

Nonoperational

May well have been very small cosmetic damage and no big deal if it's properly repaired. Get it checked.

dario28

dario28 wrote: »

Fook off captain hindsight !!!!!:D

She bought the car from rightprice cars with a 3mth warranty they said the car was perfect

It's an 07 corsa

They'll just claim they didn't know it was smacked, also there may well be nothing too much wrong with it. So it's not a huge issue.

JCDUB

Caveat emptor and all that.

TBH it wouldn't put me off, but I'd have preferred to know beforehand.

I don't understand people's aversion to ex-hire cars at all. They are serviced on the button and usually maintained well enough.

Fair enough they may have high mileage but if there's regular servicing this is not an issue at all.

Also there may be body damage from nudges and dings but it's usually visible and you can walk away.

I'd prefer an ex-hire car with history than what seems like a bargain with low mileage and no history, only to find the car has been driven with no oil for 10k kms because granny doesn't understand what the oil light is.

JCDUB

JCDUB wrote: »

I don't understand people's aversion to ex-hire cars at all. They are serviced on the button and usually maintained well enough.

Many of them are thrashed to death from new though, unless I got one a good bit cheaper than a normal car I wouldn't touch one.

dario28

I deffo would not have bought it knowing it was a hire car or at least got some discount and extended warranty

I'll bring that pic to them and if they can't explain why there is a gap I think it should be swapped for another corsa which we get inspected

I know there is no chance of a refund so maybe good faith and all that they will do a swap

colm_mcm

A quick google of tI'd garage would throw up the myriad of threads on the place, there's a reason the cars are cheap. Most of their stuff is ex rental or high mileage.
That would be covered under hindsight I suppose.

If the car was traded in and the previous owner didn't say or know about it being ex hire or previously damaged then the garage isn't expected to know. Just get them to replace the light and throw in a service or extension of warranty etc.
They're not the most obliging of chaps so don't expect too much off them...