Bought van NEW with wrong chassis number

Donkathon

Ok so bought a van brand new 2005 from a main dealer

8 years later and I bring the van in for the doe and it fails because the chassis number is different from log book is only wrong by one digit, like in the middle of the chassis number on the van its a 1 but on the log book the same digit is an 8 everything else is correct just that one digit

Now the doe retesting deadline is due next week and short of a miracle no way this is going to be sorted before the retest so now I will have to pay for another full test.

Thats just part of the pain in the ass, I've had to take two half days off work going back and forth between the dealer trying to sort this. From next week im going to have to hire a van because it cant be driven on the road and the tax is out end of month as well and can't tax it without doe

The dealers argument is and I quote "the van is 8 years old my responsibility for its finished"

They were the ones who registered it with revenue so is can only be their faults they can't blame anyone else but a very unhelpful with correcting their mistake.

The did fill in a form for the central vehicle office to say it a clerical error thats all the help they said they would do and to sort it out ourselves with them

Any thoughts on what to do?
Should they/ can they be held liable for any out of pocket expenses, lost wages, hire van & full retesting costs?

Its always been doe'd so don't know why they never copt it before but that aside the mistake is still here to deal with

mgbgt1978

Is it the same place doing the DoE again this time ?
If so, ask them to explain why they are only now noticing this small discrepancy.
Ask them to explain how they passed the van several times already.
I would ask them to let it pass this time (as they did before) and that you will have it sorted for the next test.
If that doesn't suit them then explain that you will have to get on to the DoE and tell them all about one of their appointed test centres negligence.

corktina

solicitors letter to the Dealer I'd say...it's clearly their error and responsibility

Guy:Incognito

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Is it the same place doing the DoE again this time ?
If so, ask them to explain why they are only now noticing this small discrepancy.
Ask them to explain how they passed the van several times already.
I would ask them to let it pass this time (as they did before) and that you will have it sorted for the next test.
If that doesn't suit them then explain that you will have to get on to the DoE and tell them all about one of their appointed test centres negligence.

So threaten to expose a mistake unless they deliberately falsify the cert? genius.

Hootanany

It happened to me its a pain, got the run around from everyone. So I demanded that someone in the Car tax office change it.
I had to be very forceful but eventually they did it.

Hope you get it sorted. did the DOE centre was it on the Northside of Dublin by any chance?

mgbgt1978

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

So threaten to expose a mistake unless they deliberately falsify the cert? genius.

By that logic the test centre have falsified test certs before...or else are too incompetent to do the job they are appointed to do. It's one or the other.
It's passed previously, it's only out by one digit, it's obviously a clerical error.
The world won't stop turning if the test centre gives the OP a break by letting him sort it out as soon as he can (within the speed limits of the DoE).

slimjimmc

What chassis number is quoted on your insurance policy OP?

joewicklow

Just bring the van to another test centre. Chances are it wont be noticed. When the van has its new cert you will have time to deal with the issue.

Drummerboy08

Id imagine its the distributor at fault, not the dealer. Usually the chassis number is already on the system for the dealer.

mathepac

The OP bought from the dealer, not the distributor. The dealer needs to sort out his PDI processes as well as resolving an awkward issue he created for his customer.

Drummerboy08

My point is, the dealer didnt make the mistake, the distributor more than likely.

In saying that, why didnt a DOE centre pick it up before now?

Stinicker

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

My point is, the dealer didnt make the mistake, the distributor more than likely.

In saying that, why didnt a DOE centre pick it up before now?

DOE testing is gone ultra mental in the last few months, presumably the troika told them tighten things up and start failing as many vehicles as possible like the NCT, my fathers van failed it last week for a rip in the drivers seat which saw the cushion exposed and a bit of the steel also. The same rip was on the seat for the last 4 DOE tests since he bought and it sailed through without an issue on the seat. The same place made him put 4 new tyres on the same van despite 3 of them being a little worn but in no way illegal either as they all had more than the minimum thread depth.

Voodoomelon

Looking for lost wages, hire van etc is a bit rich IMO. Maybe ask to pay for retest would be reasonable.

lifer_sean

Other than being a pain in the ass, it shouldn't be a big deal to get sorted. The Central Vehicle Registration office in Rosslare will sort you out. I'd e-mail them (phone first to find out the right person) a photo of the VIN tag on the van, a scanned copy of the VLC, and the note from the dealer about the clerical error. Shouldn't take more than a few days. Had this problem on a UK import a while back, wasn't difficult to fix.

Given the circumstances, I can't see you having problems at a garda checkpoint etc for a DOE failure for this reason, or for tax being out by a week or so. Just bring all the supporting documentation with you in the van. It's not that big a deal.

Insurance policy will go by the reg so that's not an issue.

visual

Most of the digits in the VIN are covering year made model sub model market it was made for and its only the last few that are the id of that van.

Surly if they checked with manufacturer it could determine quickly what the single wrong digit is.
It obviously an administration error when first registered.