Sold A Wrote Off Motorbike

KinsellaJ

Bought a motorbike from a very reputable dealer in Ireland last year for what would be at the time the right price for this type of price.

Recently went to trade it in, in another dealer in Ireland, only to find out that this bike had been wrote off in the UK.

I was never informed the bike was a write off and had no knowledge of it until the day I brought it to the new dealer to trade in and they done a check on it.

Very little mileage done as I don’t ride it everyday or on many long journeys.

Bike is pretty much in the exact same condition as when purchased bar a couple hundred extra miles.

The new dealer had offered me a price on the bike but since can’t offer me that price obviously due to the nature of the bike having previous write off history.

Does anyone know where I stand with this? Am I protected under any law or what should I be looking at doing?

Many thanks!

Sir Galahad

Get a copy of the vehicle report that show it as a UK write off and go back to the dealer you bought it from. They wont admit any sort of liability initially but with the potential of it going the legal route they will settle in some way. I wonder if it was a "Cosmetic write off" where it was plastics and fairings etc that needed replacing ? A good outcome would be the difference between the before accident valuation & after accident valuation.

colm_mcm

Usually you need to prove that they knew it was a write off. If going the legal route.

goblin59

Do you know the uk reg number of the bike, The Bike wasn't a Q plate by anychance?

You might be able to get information that way on who the dealer bought the bike through.

I've heard of this being done though with Cars, alot of vehicles with a written off marker get through our import system and the marker isn't transferred.

Friend of mine got a cheap car only for it to fail the NCT a year later. All the solid brake lines were rusted to **** and pitted

D3V!L

Can I ask who the dealer is ?

Henry Ford III

I can't see much good coming from this tbh.

Your mistake was not running a HPI (or similar) check at the time of purchase OP.

mondeoman72

I bought a cheap beemer from a UK dealer which was a technical write off. Ok, it was priced as such, but there was not a thing wrong with it. The cost of plastics for some bikes are more than the value of the whole bike, so in that event, it was a paper write off. There is nothing to stop someone buying it and fixing it up.

However, if it is a structural write off, that just means it should be crushed or similar. Do you know which it was?

rock22

Have you gone back to the dealer? And what did they say?

A dealer will certainly owe a greater duty of care than a private seller. The bike should of been of merchantable quality . Assuming you bought it before Nov 2022 you are still protected by Sale of goods act 1980 (Protections are stronger since Nov 2022)

From Citizens information website

Under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980, the goods you bought must meet standards of quality, performance and durability.

Goods must be:

• Of satisfactory (merchantable) quality taking into account durability and price
• Fit for the purpose you bought it
• As described, matching any description advertised or other information the seller gave you

On thr face of it , it would suggest that the bike fails the first test, of satisfactory quality

You need to check out these categories here and determine which Category the write off falls into.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/know-how/what-is-an-insurance-write-off/

And be aware that the categories have changed since 2017.

goblin59

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120415726#Comment_120415726

a scratch to the paint on a subframe can be a write off too if you ask them to repaint it under insurance.

I was warned about that before, so redid the paint work myself.

I'd find out why it was a write off,

D3V!L

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120418244#Comment_120418244

I found out to my detriment recently that the sale of goods act is worthless when it comes to bikes from dealers. They can and do put their fingers in their ears when it comes to faults with them.

Unless you plan on taking legal action against them to the tune of thousands they can hide behind their business and ignore you.

newmember2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120415726#Comment_120415726

However, if it is a structural write off, that just means it should be crushed or similar....

This is incorrect.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120418244#Comment_120418244

If it's been repaired properly then it's of satisfactory quality so you won't get anywhere with that.

'As described' - yes if they explicitly stated it was not previously a write-off but that seems unlikely unless the buyer asked them straight out.