Car History Check - SIMI

Bombbastic22

I read that all SIMI dealers are issued with a car history check, details of which can be found here http://www.simi.ie/consumer_informat...ory_check.aspx.

It says "you should ask for a Car History Check certificate, these are printed with information directly from the system". It also says these are available to all SIMI dealers.

Is it thus unreasonable to ask for same before handing over your cash?

I asked for one yesterday and the salesman just threw me a filthy look and says he would only give me that when I had bought the car. I said I would do my own online and asked him if he would knock the price of it off the price of the car (at 35 euro I don't think that is much of a discount to ask for), he said he wouldn't come down a penny on the price. I asked him why he wouldn't give me it before hand and he told me "that's just my prerogative".


He told me the car belonged to his "mother in law" and he knew the whole history (funnily enough - on a previous visit to the same garage - a totally different guy told me a car I was looking at was sound and he knew that because it belonged to his brother - what is with these lines??? Do they learn them in car salesman school???? I've lost count of how many times I've heard this!) and he recommended it because of this. I asked how come it said two previous owners on the website and he said it was a mistake. I then asked for the log book and surprise, surprise, he said he'd have that for me when I bought the car.


I wouldn't mind but I was 90% sold on the car and even if I decided not to but this one, there was another couple more in the same garage I had my eye on.


Needless to say - I walked out. First time a salesman has ever talked me out of buying from him.



I really don't get the attitude of some of these people.


So, to recap - is it unreasonable to ask for the SIMI CHC before you hand over your cash?

oregano

The simi check is free. It is also untrustworthy, which is why so many still use cartell. Cartell costs me 7 euro a go (trade account). You were right to run away!

VolvoMan

oregano wrote: »

The simi check is free.

It's not free to me anyway.

oregano

VolvoMan wrote: »

oregano wrote: »

The simi check is free.

It's not free to me anyway.

It's free to simi members from recollection. They just pay for the hpi per vehicle.

Our man in Havana

Yet another reason why I would not p1ss on a SIMI member if it was on fire.

Fishtits

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Yet another reason why I would not p1ss on a SIMI member if it was on fire.

+1

Bombbastic22

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Yet another reason why I would not p1ss on a SIMI member if it was on fire.

Ha, don't get me started. No more than the NCT, I used to believe a garage being a member of SIMI meant something. I've had reason to doubt both in the last couple of years and am very nervous of a salesman who tries to reassure me by pointing out either.

dr.fuzzenstein

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

I asked for one yesterday and the salesman just threw me a filthy look and says he would only give me that when I had bought the car. I said I would do my own online and asked him if he would knock the price of it off the price of the car (at 35 euro I don't think that is much of a discount to ask for), he said he wouldn't come down a penny on the price. I asked him why he wouldn't give me it before hand and he told me "that's just my prerogative".

That just says it all, really.

-Chris-

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

I read that all SIMI dealers are issued with a car history check, details of which can be found here http://www.simi.ie/consumer_informat...ory_check.aspx.

It says "you should ask for a Car History Check certificate, these are printed with information directly from the system". It also says these are available to all SIMI dealers.

Is it thus unreasonable to ask for same before handing over your cash?

IMHO, absolutely not. At the very least they should pull the report up on screen and show it to you.
They may not want to hand over a printed document that details chassis number, reg, mileage, etc. etc. through fear of cars being cloned.

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

I asked for one yesterday and the salesman just threw me a filthy look and says he would only give me that when I had bought the car. I said I would do my own online and asked him if he would knock the price of it off the price of the car (at 35 euro I don't think that is much of a discount to ask for), he said he wouldn't come down a penny on the price. I asked him why he wouldn't give me it before hand and he told me "that's just my prerogative".

He didn't want to sell you the car.
I'm not basing that on whether he wanted to print the report for you, but rather the fact that he wouldn't budge on the price. Every car price is negotiable.

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

He told me the car belonged to his "mother in law" and he knew the whole history (funnily enough - on a previous visit to the same garage - a totally different guy told me a car I was looking at was sound and he knew that because it belonged to his brother - what is with these lines??? Do they learn them in car salesman school???? I've lost count of how many times I've heard this!) and he recommended it because of this. I asked how come it said two previous owners on the website and he said it was a mistake. I then asked for the log book and surprise, surprise, he said he'd have that for me when I bought the car.

You're going to the wrong garages, I don't know any professional salespeople who would use lines like this (unless they were true).
If you get a line like this and it smells fishy, just walk away and don't look back (unless the car is particularly special).

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

I wouldn't mind but I was 90% sold on the car and even if I decided not to but this one, there was another couple more in the same garage I had my eye on.


Needless to say - I walked out. First time a salesman has ever talked me out of buying from him.



I really don't get the attitude of some of these people.

It's unprofessionalism, that's all. It exists in every industry unfortunately.

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

So, to recap - is it unreasonable to ask for the SIMI CHC before you hand over your cash?

Nope, just ask to see it on screen. If they have an issue with showing it to you, your spidey senses should start tingling.

Bombbastic22

-Chris- wrote: »

Nope, just ask to see it on screen. If they have an issue with showing it to you, your spidey senses should start tingling.

Lol. Plenty of motors out there really, plenty of dodge ones too.

Our man in Havana

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Yet another reason why I would not p1ss on a SIMI member if it was on fire.

Fishtits wrote: »

+1

.. so ye've avoided them totally and will do so going forward too?

Our man in Havana

For sure!

dr.fuzzenstein

Easy enough to avoid SIMI.
Buy private and service largely yourself, or by friendly local indy.
Dunno about buying new, never had that problem.

movesin

I have to laugh whenever I read that members of the car buying public in Ireland can be assured when buying a car from a SIMI member. My story is very simple, I bought a second-hand car from an SIMI member thinking my purchase was backed up by SIMI. However, when things started to go wrong with the car and I got nowhere with the car dealer, I followed the complaint procedure set out by SIMI.

I provided SIMI with independent proof that the car I purchased had a falsified service history and was clocked. This proof was in the service manual and I know I should have made more thorough checks before I handed over nearly €20,000.00, but I felt safe because I was buying from an SIMI member.

When things stated to go wrong I decided to thoroughly checkout my car’s history and it was then I found out the service book had false service entries and false mileage. In my detailed written complaint to SIMI, I provided them with a copy of the service log book showing the false service enters and the false mileage. Not only that, but I also proved SIMI with a “signed” letter from a garage that was entered into the service log book as having serviced my car months before I purchased it with more miles on the clock that what was on the clock when I purchased the car months later.

I also provided SIMI with written proof showing that their member had lied to me about three different garages their member claimed had carried out gearbox work on my car but these three garages said they did not carry out any gearbox work on my car.

You have to remember that I provided independent written proof to SIMI of what I am saying here so it was not hearsay on my behalf. With all the written proof I provided to SIMI, guess what decision they came up with? They said their member acted responsibly and fair with their offer to repair the car .

SIMI totally ignored the fact the car had a false service history!
SIMI totally ignored the fact the car had a false mileage!
SIMI totally ignored the fact that I had already given their member many, many opportunities to repair the continuos dangerous problems with my car.
SIMI ignored the fact that their member lied to me about three different garages who was supposed to have carried out expensive gearbox work on my carry, yet all three garages denied they done the work and I had provided letters from these garages stating that fact.

The simple fact that the car I purchased from a SIMI member was clocked and had a false service history should have been enough for SIMI to instruct their member to refund my money but SIMI didn’t do that. They said it was an independent panel who make the decisions. If that is the case, then I would suggest that SIMI put in place a proper system of dealing with complaints because even to this day, almost two years later, I am still not over what I went through for two years trying to get this issue resolved.

After listening to what Alan Nolan said on that recent TV3 programme, really got my blood boiling. He and his organisation ignored the mountain of written independent proof I provided to them so they could protect their member. When I hear Alan Nolan and other SIMI representatives advising members of the car buying public to only buy from a SIMI member because you have consumer protection, well, in my direct personal experience of dealing with SIMI, their organisation does not protect the consumer.

Henry Ford III

movesin wrote: »

I have to laugh whenever I read that members of the car buying public in Ireland can be assured when buying a car from a SIMI member. My story is very simple, I bought a second-hand car from an SIMI member thinking my purchase was backed up by SIMI. However, when things started to go wrong with the car and I got nowhere with the car dealer, I followed the complaint procedure set out by SIMI.

I provided SIMI with independent proof that the car I purchased had a falsified service history and was clocked. This proof was in the service manual and I know I should have made more thorough checks before I handed over nearly €20,000.00, but I felt safe because I was buying from an SIMI member.

When things stated to go wrong I decided to thoroughly checkout my car’s history and it was then I found out the service book had false service entries and false mileage. In my detailed written complaint to SIMI, I provided them with a copy of the service log book showing the false service enters and the false mileage. Not only that, but I also proved SIMI with a “signed” letter from a garage that was entered into the service log book as having serviced my car months before I purchased it with more miles on the clock that what was on the clock when I purchased the car months later.

I also provided SIMI with written proof showing that their member had lied to me about three different garages their member claimed had carried out gearbox work on my car but these three garages said they did not carry out any gearbox work on my car.

You have to remember that I provided independent written proof to SIMI of what I am saying here so it was not hearsay on my behalf. With all the written proof I provided to SIMI, guess what decision they came up with? They said their member acted responsibly and fair with their offer to repair the car .

SIMI totally ignored the fact the car had a false service history!
SIMI totally ignored the fact the car had a false mileage!
SIMI totally ignored the fact that I had already given their member many, many opportunities to repair the continuos dangerous problems with my car.
SIMI ignored the fact that their member lied to me about three different garages who was supposed to have carried out expensive gearbox work on my carry, yet all three garages denied they done the work and I had provided letters from these garages stating that fact.

The simple fact that the car I purchased from a SIMI member was clocked and had a false service history should have been enough for SIMI to instruct their member to refund my money but SIMI didn’t do that. They said it was an independent panel who make the decisions. If that is the case, then I would suggest that SIMI put in place a proper system of dealing with complaints because even to this day, almost two years later, I am still not over what I went through for two years trying to get this issue resolved.

After listening to what Alan Nolan said on that recent TV3 programme, really got my blood boiling. He and his organisation ignored the mountain of written independent proof I provided to them so they could protect their member. When I hear Alan Nolan and other SIMI representatives advising members of the car buying public to only buy from a SIMI member because you have consumer protection, well, in my direct personal experience of dealing with SIMI, their organisation does not protect the consumer.

When you consider the make up of SIMI is any of this a surprise?

johnos1984

Like any representative body or union these organisations are setup by the members to protect the members.

I'm still amazed people think they are there to protect a third party.

It's shabby I know but you are best off getting a solicitor to fight your corner. Going to SIMI is as useful as pissing in the wind

movesin

After my experience with SIMI nothing would surprise me with that lot.

johnos1984

movesin wrote: »

After my experience with SIMI nothing would surprise me with that lot.

Sorry to hear about the car and money involved btw.

Was the mileage out by much?

movesin

johnos1984 wrote: »

Sorry to hear about the car and money involved btw.

Was the mileage out by much?

Five months before I bought the car it had almost 145,000 miles on the clock according to the service log book. When I bought it, it stated 97,000 on the clock. Unfortunately, when I asked to see the service book before I bought the car, the car salesman seemed so genuine that I fell for the “the service log book is with the garage because we just had the car serviced and the garage has to write up the service book. Don’t worry, everything is in order. You can check when we get the book back”. When I did get the service log book back, I had already bought the car and I completely forgot to look through it. BIG mistake!!!

Henry Ford III

movesin wrote: »

Five months before I bought the car it had almost 145,000 miles on the clock according to the service log book. When I bought it, it stated 97,000 on the clock. Unfortunately, when I asked to see the service book before I bought the car, the car salesman seemed so genuine that I fell for the “the service log book is with the garage because we just had the car serviced and the garage has to write up the service book. Don’t worry, everything is in order. You can check when we get the book back”. When I did get the service log book back, I had already bought the car and I completely forgot to look through it. BIG mistake!!!

A huge mistake. Did you take any legalaction?

Bombbastic22

movesin wrote: »

I have to laugh whenever I read that members of the car buying public in Ireland can be assured when buying a car from a SIMI member. My story is very simple, I bought a second-hand car from an SIMI member thinking my purchase was backed up by SIMI. However, when things started to go wrong with the car and I got nowhere with the car dealer, I followed the complaint procedure set out by SIMI.

I provided SIMI with independent proof that the car I purchased had a falsified service history and was clocked. This proof was in the service manual and I know I should have made more thorough checks before I handed over nearly €20,000.00, but I felt safe because I was buying from an SIMI member.

When things stated to go wrong I decided to thoroughly checkout my car’s history and it was then I found out the service book had false service entries and false mileage. In my detailed written complaint to SIMI, I provided them with a copy of the service log book showing the false service enters and the false mileage. Not only that, but I also proved SIMI with a “signed” letter from a garage that was entered into the service log book as having serviced my car months before I purchased it with more miles on the clock that what was on the clock when I purchased the car months later.

I also provided SIMI with written proof showing that their member had lied to me about three different garages their member claimed had carried out gearbox work on my car but these three garages said they did not carry out any gearbox work on my car.

You have to remember that I provided independent written proof to SIMI of what I am saying here so it was not hearsay on my behalf. With all the written proof I provided to SIMI, guess what decision they came up with? They said their member acted responsibly and fair with their offer to repair the car .

SIMI totally ignored the fact the car had a false service history!
SIMI totally ignored the fact the car had a false mileage!
SIMI totally ignored the fact that I had already given their member many, many opportunities to repair the continuos dangerous problems with my car.
SIMI ignored the fact that their member lied to me about three different garages who was supposed to have carried out expensive gearbox work on my carry, yet all three garages denied they done the work and I had provided letters from these garages stating that fact.

The simple fact that the car I purchased from a SIMI member was clocked and had a false service history should have been enough for SIMI to instruct their member to refund my money but SIMI didn’t do that. They said it was an independent panel who make the decisions. If that is the case, then I would suggest that SIMI put in place a proper system of dealing with complaints because even to this day, almost two years later, I am still not over what I went through for two years trying to get this issue resolved.

After listening to what Alan Nolan said on that recent TV3 programme, really got my blood boiling. He and his organisation ignored the mountain of written independent proof I provided to them so they could protect their member. When I hear Alan Nolan and other SIMI representatives advising members of the car buying public to only buy from a SIMI member because you have consumer protection, well, in my direct personal experience of dealing with SIMI, their organisation does not protect the consumer.

Had a bad experience with a motor from a SIMI dealer a year or two ago and wrote all about it in a previous thread.

Heard of a few cases of people taking legal action and going to SIMI and not getting very far so I knew that wasn't going to get me very far - not to mention the fact that I couldn't really afford it anyway. Two solicitors I contacted weren't particularly supportive of the idea of taking it on and in a "successful" case of someone I know who took one of these things to court - that person still ended up losing money.

If this were the states, these guys would be sued big time. In Ireland however, threatening legal action doesn't seem to make these guys bat an eyelid. They are well used to it and have way more resources than the average Joe.

YOUTUBE did the trick though.

I think making your complaint as public as hell is your best weapon, worked for me and another person I know.

movesin

Henry Ford III wrote: »

A huge mistake. Did you take any legalaction?

No didn't take legal action because I know even though I would have won hands down, I wouldn't have got a cent from the dealer and I would have been left with massive legal bills. The best way to deal with these matters is to make them as public as you legally can without getting yourself into legal mire. I am totally disgusted with SIMI with the decision they came to.

I read over some of my letters and emails regarding this matter earlier today and it is just unbelievable how they could find in favour of their member. I had forgotten some of the letters from three garages who denied doing expensive work on my car even though the SIMI member I bought the car from told me they had done the work.

I fully intend to put in the public domain the content of all the documented proof and letters I provided to SIMI in this matter and to highlight SIMI’s shocking decision and let the car buying public decide if SIMI were right or not and if members of the public should feel confident in SIMI. I have already registered a web site address and I will market this web site at my own expense and time to highlight to Irish car buyers just how SIMI dealt with my complaint and the mountain of independent written evidence/proof they completely ignored. I can speak from direct experience of SIMI and I can say with 1 million percent certainty that I for one will never respect or trust SIMI ever again. They were an absolute disgrace in how they handled my complaint and came to the decision they did.

movesin

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

Had a bad experience with a motor from a SIMI dealer a year or two ago and wrote all about it in a previous thread.

Heard of a few cases of people taking legal action and going to SIMI and not getting very far so I knew that wasn't going to get me very far - not to mention the fact that I couldn't really afford it anyway. Two solicitors I contacted weren't particularly supportive of the idea of taking it on and in a "successful" case of someone I know who took one of these things to court - that person still ended up losing money.

If this were the states, these guys would be sued big time. In Ireland however, threatening legal action doesn't seem to make these guys bat an eyelid. They are well used to it and have way more resources than the average Joe.

YOUTUBE did the trick though.

I think making your complaint as public as hell is your best weapon, worked for me and another person I know.

I am delighted you got a result without having to take legal action. Congratulations and well done

movesin

Perhaps we should have a poll on whether or not people trust SIMI. No prizes for guessing what my vote will be

Bombbastic22

movesin wrote: »

Perhaps we should have a poll on whether or not people trust SIMI. No prizes for guessing what my vote will be

Ah ya. Several months of hassle and it all went away after getting rather angry and posting reviews of the garage all over the place.

Everyone I know warned me not to do it and said I'd be sued - but hey - you can't get blood from a stone and sure they'd only be bringing more bad publicity down on themselves. Plus - I know I was right.

The motor industry seem to be a very tightly networked group, so one needs to be very very careful....and even then.................they all seem to p*** in the same pot..............

Henry Ford III

movesin wrote: »

No didn't take legal action because I know even though I would have won hands down, I wouldn't have got a cent from the dealer and I would have been left with massive legal bills. The best way to deal with these matters is to make them as public as you legally can without getting yourself into legal mire. I am totally disgusted with SIMI with the decision they came to.

I read over some of my letters and emails regarding this matter earlier today and it is just unbelievable how they could find in favour of their member. I had forgotten some of the letters from three garages who denied doing expensive work on my car even though the SIMI member I bought the car from told me they had done the work.

I fully intend to put in the public domain the content of all the documented proof and letters I provided to SIMI in this matter and to highlight SIMI’s shocking decision and let the car buying public decide if SIMI were right or not and if members of the public should feel confident in SIMI. I have already registered a web site address and I will market this web site at my own expense and time to highlight to Irish car buyers just how SIMI dealt with my complaint and the mountain of independent written evidence/proof they completely ignored. I can speak from direct experience of SIMI and I can say with 1 million percent certainty that I for one will never respect or trust SIMI ever again. They were an absolute disgrace in how they handled my complaint and came to the decision they did.

I've highlighted the important thing. You never had a chance. SIMI are funded by their members, and won't find agaimst them. They aren't impartial.

You could have gone small claims court, or maybe have found a solicitor who'd have taken the case on a no win/no fee basis.

movesin

Henry Ford III wrote: »

I've highlighted the important thing. You never had a chance. SIMI are funded by their members, and won't find agaimst them. They aren't impartial.

The no claims court was not an option because of the amount of money involved. I think the claim limit for the small claims court is €2,000.00 and the amount of money involved here was almost ten times that amount.

Finding a solicitor to take this type of case up on a no win no fee basis would be impossible. The main reason I didn't go to court with this is because of the amount of money I would have to outlay in advance for legal fees and although I had no doubt about winning the case. Winning the case is one thing, getting the dealer to comply with the court judgement is a totally different thing altogether. That is why I decided to highlight the issue by setting an web site and getting that web site to rank above the actually car dealer's web site for all search terms related to his name and his business name . I got loads of letters from his solicitor threatening legal action blah blah blah but I simply pointed out that what was on the site are facts and facts I could prove and if they felt anything on the site was incorrect, incomplete or misleading to point this out to me and if they were right, I would remove it from the site. Needless to say, their solicitor never wrote back to me and the legal threats stopped.

You cannot sue someone for highlighting factual events provided they have clear proof and in this case, I had absolute clear 100% proof of what I was highlighting. I fully intend to highlight the facts of my dealings with SIMI in this matter. I intend to do this by setting up another web site and I have already registered the web site name and I will have this web site on the front page of Google and until it is indexed by Google, I will use pay per click marketing to put this web site at the top of Google for search terms related to SIMI and other car buying search terms.

I fully expect SIMI solicitors to write to me to tell me to take the site down or face legal action, but I am well prepared for their threats. They don't and won't frighten me as I will be simply highly facts, facts that I can prove. I know I can’t mentioned the site here but I will let you guys know when it is live and what search terms to use on Google to find it.

slavetothegrind

i am sure you could try advertising the site here in the motors section?

contact mods and maybe there is a proper way to go about publicity without contravening the rules here

Bombbastic22

movesin wrote: »

No didn't take legal action because I know even though I would have won hands down, I wouldn't have got a cent from the dealer and I would have been left with massive legal bills. The best way to deal with these matters is to make them as public as you legally can without getting yourself into legal mire. I am totally disgusted with SIMI with the decision they came to.

I read over some of my letters and emails regarding this matter earlier today and it is just unbelievable how they could find in favour of their member. I had forgotten some of the letters from three garages who denied doing expensive work on my car even though the SIMI member I bought the car from told me they had done the work.

I fully intend to put in the public domain the content of all the documented proof and letters I provided to SIMI in this matter and to highlight SIMI’s shocking decision and let the car buying public decide if SIMI were right or not and if members of the public should feel confident in SIMI. I have already registered a web site address and I will market this web site at my own expense and time to highlight to Irish car buyers just how SIMI dealt with my complaint and the mountain of independent written evidence/proof they completely ignored. I can speak from direct experience of SIMI and I can say with 1 million percent certainty that I for one will never respect or trust SIMI ever again. They were an absolute disgrace in how they handled my complaint and came to the decision they did.

Nice one!!! Looking forward to seeing this!! Would love to see the original site too. Can you pm me the link!

Also, an old phone call to the consumer show or primetime might be an idea as well...unless you're camera shy!

You will get your cash back in the end, I'm sure of it!

Big Nasty

You know the way Primetime do all this investigative stuff and have on more than one occasion done a dodgy dealer type thing?

I absolutely hate the 'I'll be on to Joe Duffy' type brigade but if you went to Primetime with the story and documented proof would there be any interest from them I wonder?

I know 99% of SIMI's interests are in their dealer network but when they're advertising the likes of 'buy a car with confidence from a SIMI dealer' they should be held accountable for dealer offences.

movesin

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

Nice one!!! Looking forward to seeing this!! Would love to see the original site too. Can you pm me the link!

Also, an old phone call to the consumer show or primetime might be an idea as well...unless you're camera shy!

You will get your cash back in the end, I'm sure of it!

I took the original site down as the dealer said he would change the car for a replacement car if I took the site down. I shouldn't have accepted but I was that stressed out about it going on for two years, I just wanted an end to the whole matter. It was affecting my whole life so I reluctantly accepted the dealers offer to replace the car with the same type car of the same year. Needless to say, the dealer done everything he could to avoid his legal responsibilities and it was only after I set up the site and had it ranking above his own site that he decided to change the car. As for SIMI, I proved to them that the dealer did not follow their own code of practice but they weren’t interested. They tried to hide behind “it was an independent panel who decides on these issues”. If SIMI were serious about the image and message they portray to consumers, they would have instructed their dealer to refund my money. I was even prepared to accept a lot less money than I paid for the car. I know SIMI are or will read these posts so I would just like to say this to SIMI, the site I am in the process of setting up will only highlight my dealings and correspondence with you guys. It will detail the letters from garages confirming they didn’t do the work on my car your member informed me they did. It will detail the entries in the service log book that showed a false service history but what was even more damming was that the service log book showed that the car had been clocked and this was proved by a signed letter from the garage who was alleged to have made the entry in the service log book which clearing showed the car had almost 50,000 more miles on the click 5 months before I bought the car. This garage denied they had ever done any work on the car and the service entry in the service logbook was not made by them so they were more than happy to confirm this in writing to me. SIMI totally ignored this letter and to this day, I cannot understand why. So SIMI, perhaps you would like to inform everyone reading these posts why you ignored the proof I provided to you?

movesin

MCMLXXV wrote: »

You know the way Primetime do all this investigative stuff and have on more than one occasion done a dodgy dealer type thing?

I absolutely hate the 'I'll be on to Joe Duffy' type brigade but if you went to Primetime with the story and documented proof would there be any interest from them I wonder?

I know 99% of SIMI's interests are in their dealer network but when they're advertising the likes of 'buy a car with confidence from a SIMI dealer' they should be held accountable for dealer offences.

Actually, I will give primetime a call now and see what they say. I will let you know how it goes.

movesin

movesin wrote: »

Actually, I will give primetime a call now and see what they say. I will let you know how it goes.

Email sent to Primetime. I'll post update if I get a reply from them.

Bombbastic22

movesin wrote: »

Email sent to Primetime. I'll post update if I get a reply from them.

Tis no harm at all. I think it would make an interesting show.

Whether or not they'd bother is a whole other thing.

Ah well, at least they changed the car for you.

It's all very stressful though - for something which should be straightforward consumer law - I mean, I always thought you were safe to buy from a garage and if something went wrong - they had to fix it or refund you - like any other thing you buy.

Seems a different kettle of fish though.

dr.fuzzenstein

OP, did the whole thing remind you of this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Lq771TVm4

movesin

Bombbastic22 wrote: »

Tis no harm at all. I think it would make an interesting show.

Whether or not they'd bother is a whole other thing.

Ah well, at least they changed the car for you.

It's all very stressful though - for something which should be straightforward consumer law - I mean, I always thought you were safe to buy from a garage and if something went wrong - they had to fix it or refund you - like any other thing you buy.

Seems a different kettle of fish though.

When it comes to buying a car, you have basically no rights. I mistakenly thought buying from an SIMI member gave you some level of protection but I was hugely wrong. In my experience, whether you buy from an SIMI member or not doesn’t make any difference, you have little or no protection. SIMI go on about buying from their members because you can have confidence that their members will act in accordance with their rules and if not, you have them to fall back on.

In my particular case, SIMI not only failed me, but absolutely showed they have no interest in an SIMI member selling a car with a false service history and false mileage on the clock as well as a whole host of other problems with the car. As far as the SIMI are concerned, I was supposed to ignore the false service history and ignore the false mileage. My car was totally worthless but the SIMI didn’t care.

They felt that because their member tried to fix my car, many, many times I might add and failed but not only that, but the garage lied about the work that was supposed to have been carried out and told me three different garages carried out the work and all three denied doing the work the SIMI member said they did.

I doubt Primetime would be interested in this but if in the future they do a similar theme investigation, they have my contact details because I would love to show them the independent written proof I provided to the SIMI that clearly showed their member sold a clocked car with a false service history and had done everything they could to avoid responsibility for the car and completely lied about work carried out on the car and who done this work. Another point, the SIMI member lied three times about when I actually reported the serious problems with the car and I also provided independent written proof of that too but again SIMI totally ignored this.

movesin

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

OP, did the whole thing remind you of this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Lq771TVm4

Ah, good sketch . If this whole matter wasn’t so serious and stressful it would be funny because you really couldn’t make up what happened. It is so crazy and unbelievable I still cannot to this day understand how SIMI came to the decision they did.

Chimaera

I'd have reported this to the Gardaí and the RSA too. It's a clear case of fraud, which is a criminal offence. Falsifying the odometer reading can lead to missed servicing too which may lead to roadworthiness issues which I'm sure the RSA would like to hear about.

Tea 1000

Just a question I have. I thought it was illegal to sell a car that was clocked without disclosing that information? Also, doesn't the sale of goods act protect you from being deliberately mislead about the product you're buying? Maybe you should have just taken a case against the dealer in question rather than wasting your time with the useless shower that are SIMI?
Or am I missing something? Hope you get sorted though.

movesin

Chimaera wrote: »

I'd have reported this to the Gardaí and the RSA too. It's a clear case of fraud, which is a criminal offence. Falsifying the odometer reading can lead to missed servicing too which may lead to roadworthiness issues which I'm sure the RSA would like to hear about.

I did ring the Gardaí but they said it was a civil matter even though I explained to them that according to the car’s service log book the car was clocked and had a false service history. Didn’t make any difference, they didn’t want to know. Never thought of the RSA.

Our man in Havana

They won't want to know either.

movesin

Tea 1000 wrote: »

Just a question I have. I thought it was illegal to sell a car that was clocked without disclosing that information? Also, doesn't the sale of goods act protect you from being deliberately mislead about the product you're buying? Maybe you should have just taken a case against the dealer in question rather than wasting your time with the useless shower that are SIMI?
Or am I missing something? Hope you get sorted though.

Just a question I have. I thought it was illegal to sell a car that was clocked without disclosing that information? Also, doesn't the sale of goods act protect you from being deliberately mislead about the product you're buying? Maybe you should have just taken a case against the dealer in question rather than wasting your time with the useless shower that are SIMI?
Or am I missing something? Hope you get sorted though.

It is not illegal to reduce the mileage on a cars odometer but it is illegal to sell a car knowing the car’s mileage has been reduced. You have to disclose that information to the buyer prior to them purchasing the car. Believe me, I thought I had the law on my side and I had but it would have cost me a lot of money up front to sue and my solicitor advised me that even though I would most likely win my case, there was no guarantee that the dealer would ever pay me any money, which is why I took the route of exposing my experience with the dealer and highlighting everything that happened. I was able to do this because I had independent written proof of everything that happened. Nothing was hearsay or personal opinion based or assumption no matter how obvious it was.

If anyone is considering taking a similar course of action as I did, I would certainly encourage you to do so but there are some guidelines you must follow before you put anything in the public domain. Stick only to the facts you have independent written proof of. Don’t publish personal opinion and let the reader make up their own mind of what they think of your experience.

I’m reading over letters, emails and faxes to do with this matter in order to select what I can and can not publish on the site I am setting up about SIMI’s part in this matter and I came across a very threatening legal letter from the dealer’s solicitors trying to force me to take down the web site I had set up. I am not sure if I can publish this letter even with blocking out the dealers name but if I can, I will because the solicitor was full of BS. I simply outlined to this solicitor what was on the web site were facts of events that happened and if he felt anything was not factual or was incorrect in any way to let me know and if he was correct, I would remove it from the site. He never replied because he couldn’t find one single thing on the web site that was not factual.