Where do i stand with a fraud car i've just bought???

ancuncha

I just bought a 01 passat and have found out it was a taxi for 6 years
it has 135k miles on the clock, so i brought it to a computer guy who showed me it has 190k

i met the guy in a car park (before you say anything, i know ) and i spoke to him and he said he would take the car back, but now he isn't answering the phone, the line is dead

so where do i stand with it? i'm going to the guards in the next day or two i don't know what they will say

help!! anyone

cadaliac

You need to talk to the Guards, not much else you can do.
I would speak to them today btw. Not tomorrow.

Gophur

ancuncha wrote: »

I just bought a 01 passat and have found out it was a taxi for 6 years
it has 135k miles on the clock, so i brought it to a computer guy who showed me it has 190k

i met the guy in a car park (before you say anything, i know ) and i spoke to him and he said he would take the car back, but now he isn't answering the phone, the line is dead

so where do i stand with it? i'm going to the guards in the next day or two i don't know what they will say

help!! anyone

cadaliac wrote: »

You need to talk to the Guards, not much else you can do.
I would speak to them today btw. Not tomorrow.

You will be wasting your time going to the Gardai, this has nothing to do with them, it being a Civil matter.

OP, if you want recourse, you will have to take Legal action which, for an eleven year old car, will not be worth while.

Chalk this down to a lesson learned.

Atomic Pineapple

Unless you asked was the mileage correct and asked if it was a taxi and the seller denied this (and you can prove that) then I don't think you have any comeback.

ancuncha

draffodx wrote: »

Unless you asked was the mileage correct and asked if it was a taxi and the seller denied this (and you can prove that) then I don't think you have any comeback.

i did ask about being a taxi and he advertised it with the mileage, i'm not 100% sure did i ask about the mileage, but it is a question i usually do ask i think i did

but trying to find the guy is the big problem now

Anan1

I wouldn't even bother trying to find the guy - you most likely won't be able to, and even if you did then I don't think you'd get anything out of him. You still have the car; i'd treat it as a lesson learned and move on.

Henry Ford III

Why do folk only check out cars after they've bought them?

Atomic Pineapple

ancuncha wrote: »

i did ask about being a taxi and he advertised it with the mileage, i'm not 100% sure did i ask about the mileage, but it is a question i usually do ask i think i did

but trying to find the guy is the big problem now

Can you prove you asked about it being a taxi?

Also advertising the mileage doesn't count as anything you have to have asked if it was changed by the seller and if he knew about it and again prove that.

It would probably be a pointless pursuit as Anan1 says.

ancuncha

gonna see what the guards say, post later

Punchy1969

ancuncha wrote: »

gonna see what the guards say, post later

I think you'll just have to accept it. The Guards can check the reg for the previous owner but it's probably not the guy you bought it from. It is a civil matter and not worth chasing up really. The fact it was a taxi for 6 years means the driver more than likely looked after it well with servicing etc, more than your normal Joe. I would ask a mechanic to check the time belt and see when it was last done. Lesson learned my friend.

thirtythirty

I'd spend the next 6 months finding the cnut out of principle. Even if just to tell him he's a cnut and nothing else.

Presumably you have his full name from the change of ownership form - first stop is Google, web crawlers, and name registry look ups. Phone books too.

Secondly, you could ring the Dublin taxi companies asking for him with some excuse as to why you need to speak to him.

There are more avenues after that, but that's for yourself to think about!

Marquis de carabas

As regards it being a taxi or not you don't have much of a case as far as i can see.

However while clocking a car is not illegal selling a car that has been clocked and not informing the new owner that this is the case would be fraud.

You should inform the Gardai of this but be prepared you may need to pay more money to a garage to get written proof of this.

Also while the Guards might be able to find and prosecute this guy other posters are right when they say its a civil matter. At least as far as getting your money back.

Anan1

spottyelephant wrote: »

Presumably you have his full name from the change of ownership form -

Sounds like a back street dealer to me, it won't have been his name on the form.

@OP - Apart from the issues you mentioned, does the car still appear fit for purpose?

MarkR

If it was me, I'd google his number. Find another car they're selling. Bring friends. Block in car.

See if you can reason with him. It's always nice to have a snack while you talk, so I'd bring some nice chestnuts. Now you can't have chestnuts without a fire, so make sure to bring some thing you can start a fire with. And a hammer to crack the nuts, in case they are too hard. And a knife to cut the sandwiches.

Please though, be very careful you don't threaten to burn out / break windows or slash the tyres of whatever piece of shíte they are selling now. That would be an awful shame and make santa put you on the naughty list.

Hopefully it will all be sorted with a nice chat over a cup of tea.

TestTransmission

MarkR wrote: »

If it was me, I'd google his number. Find another car they're selling. Bring friends. Block in car.

See if you can reason with him. It's always nice to have a snack while you talk, so I'd bring some nice chestnuts. Now you can't have chestnuts without a fire, so make sure to bring some thing you can start a fire with. And a hammer to crack the nuts, in case they are too hard. And a knife to cut the sandwiches.

Please though, be very careful you don't threaten to burn out / break windows or slash the tyres of whatever piece of shíte they are selling now. That would be an awful shame and make santa put you on the naughty list.

Hopefully it will all be sorted with a nice chat over a cup of tea.

Don't post crap like that in here again

cadaliac

Anan1 wrote: »

I wouldn't even bother trying to find the guy - you most likely won't be able to, and even if you did then I don't think you'd get anything out of him. You still have the car; i'd treat it as a lesson learned and move on.

I hate this attitude.

Nothing personal Anan1 but this "I wouldn't even bother" attitude does absolutely nothing for the OP.

OP, Bother, and go to the Guards.

Going to the Guards will not do any harm and you might be able to get "some" advice from the Guard.


I think the OP has learned already.
It might be legal, but that doesn't make it right.
Out of principle I would find the w*nker. It just depends how much you want to find him OP.

spottyelephant

spottyelephant wrote: »

................

Presumably you have his full name from the change of ownership form...........

Presumably the seller has that

veetwin

cadaliac wrote: »

I hate this attitude.

Nothing personal Anan1 but this "I wouldn't even bother" attitude does absolutely nothing for the OP.

OP, Bother, and go to the Guards.

Going to the Guards will not do any harm and you might be able to get "some" advice from the Guard.


I think the OP has learned already.
It might be legal, but that doesn't make it right.
Out of principle I would find the w*nker. It just depends how much you want to find him OP.

It is a civil matter. Gardai will not/cannot get involved. Also they know as much about civil law as the next man so any advice they give is as useful/useless as the advice given here. OP you are banging your head up against a brick wall on this one.

Unless you can prove the seller knew it was a taxi and it was clocked and lied to you about it you are wasting your time.

David09

Unless you could find out the last registered owner and from there find out who he sold it to...

ancuncha

TestTransmission wrote: »

Don't post crap like that in here again

Guards can do nothing

does it mean if i sell a car i can do what i like to it, say anything without any come back??
where are the laws in this country

i know is not right but i do feel like what veetwin said, the only thing is it would be me that wound up in trouble *shrug*

ancuncha

David09 wrote: »

Unless you could find out the last registered owner and from there find out who he sold it to...

guards won't tell me, neither will shannon or nct

up creek without paddle

mgbgt1978

Without knowing (WITH PROOF) which owner had the car clocked and whether the seller knew about this (again, with proof) then I'm afraid you are going nowhere.
Somebody with the proper diagnostic equipment will probably be able to tell you when the car was clocked but this still wont tell you who clocked it and whether the owner was aware of the clocking.........

To be honest, if the car is driving fine just put it behind you and don't let it bother you every day. Next time do your checks before you buy.

Atomic Pineapple

A simple licence plate check would have thrown up these issues before you bought. A must when buying privately!

ancuncha

i got thru to the guy i bought from using another phone, he told me if i don't like the car bring it to the scrap yard
needless to say there was a lot of bad language

looks like all i can do is keep it or sell it:mad:

Bigus

Look at the bright side , the main reason to find out if it was a taxi is so that it hasn't got 490k miles on it.

It only has 190k on it so why worry, also a taxi has to be better maintained for its more frequent tests;)

Drive it away, and get your value out of it, hopefully if you didn't pay too much for it, you'll have learned a cheap lesson for when you can spend bigger money in the future.

Was it dear or cheap for what it IS ?

johnos1984

Google his number, find a car he is selling, get someone to go view it, check logbook..........get his name and address from it

ancuncha

it's not hugely expensive at €2000 (but still enough at the moment for me!!!!), i used to have an a4 with 210k miles, it's not the point of the mileage it's the lies you can be told without any sort of recourse

the car is clean and i didn't think it was going to be this way, no excessive wear in spots you'd look at to show the mileage (seats, steering, pedals, etc)

it's just a very bad lesson in what your rights are

i just feel cheated, i'll just have to suck it up and put down to being stupid!!

ancuncha

johnos1984 wrote: »

Google his number, find a car he is selling, get someone to go view it, check logbook..........get his name and address from it

he had a lexus for sale, sold now tho
no more for sale that i can find

johnos1984

ancuncha wrote: »

he had a lexus for sale, sold now tho

He may have something else for sale over the coming few days.......

You'll have to act tough if you want your money back as thats what he is going to do to try keep it

mgbgt1978

^^^if he's dealing in used cars his name wont be on the reg cert. Just the previous owner from whom he bought the car.

Atlantic Dawn

Give Revenue a call and tell them of his illicit dealings and undeclared income, perhaps call him first to tell him that's what your doing, will have him paranoid for months

ancuncha

already thought of that!!!

Anan1

cadaliac wrote: »

I hate this attitude.

Nothing personal Anan1 but this "I wouldn't even bother" attitude does absolutely nothing for the OP.

OP, Bother, and go to the Guards.

Going to the Guards will not do any harm and you might be able to get "some" advice from the Guard.


I think the OP has learned already.
It might be legal, but that doesn't make it right.
Out of principle I would find the w*nker. It just depends how much you want to find him OP.

No offence taken. Look at the facts here, though. The OP bought an 11 year old car, and the seller was economical with the truth. The OP is not going to get money back here, but they can decide how much (or little) more of their time to waste on a wild goose chase. It shouldn't be that way, but it is.:)

the_syco

Did you give him your address? Has he sent the log book out to you, and is the car now registered in your name, or not?

Anan1

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Give Revenue a call and tell them of his illicit dealings and undeclared income, perhaps call him first to tell him that's what your doing, will have him paranoid for months

Who is 'he'? I thought all the OP had was a disconnected mobile number.

Atlantic Dawn

Anan1 wrote: »

Who is 'he'? I thought all the OP had was a disconnected mobile number.

Yes that is a problem . Golden rule of private sale is verify who you are buying it off.

ancuncha

as i said before i got thru to him again, he told me if i didn't like the car to scrap it! then after a bit of verbal he hung up on me

It's registered to me now and i have the log book

couldntthink

Whenever I buy a VW or any other VAG group car, I automatically presume it's clocked. They are so easy to do, very little equipment required compared to most cars.

If it's driving ok, try not to think too much about it. It's a bit like finding out your new girlfriend used to be a slut when she was younger.

On a seperate note, are you sure the guy who read the mileage wasn't reading it in km from the computer? VW diagnostics read in kilometers, and 190 000km is 120 000 miles roughly. I have seen this happen before.

How did you find out it was a taxi?

JMJR

AFAIK the law differentiates between a dealer sale and a private sale. Private sale implies buyer beware, (and you should ask the right questions and have a witness with you to hear the replies.) A dealer sale implies that the vehicle must be safe and fit for purpose- you are allowed to make certain assumptions about the vehicle that you cannot if it is a private sale. What the legal definition of private versus dealer is I dont know. If the sellers name is not on the logbook you might ask why?

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

^^^if he's dealing in used cars his name wont be on the reg cert. Just the previous owner from whom he bought the car.

ancuncha

the girlfriend comment ROFL!!!
i found the old tax discs under the seat! that said taxi

JMJR good info, pity it wasn't suiting me better, still thanks

couldntthink

ancuncha wrote: »

the girlfriend comment ROFL!!!
i found the old tax discs under the seat! that said taxi

JMJR good info, pity it wasn't suiting me better, still thanks

If cars are women, then taxis are prostitutes. No one wants one, but they provide a service.

cadaliac

Anan1 wrote: »

No offence taken. Look at the facts here, though. The OP bought an 11 year old car, and the seller was economical with the truth. The OP is not going to get money back here, but they can decide how much (or little) more of their time to waste on a wild goose chase. It shouldn't be that way, but it is.:)

Yes, to be fair, you are right, and I know it....however......
It does make me mad though when someone gets had like this.
Personaly, I would.......(not for public viewing)

Nissan doctor

€30-€40 euro online check will tell you if a car has ever been taxed as a taxi and will have records of mileage at various NCT tests.

My mind boggles that people don't do this, especially when meeting a guy in a car park somewhere....does this ring no alarm bells with people?