Crash repaired Scirocco
Discussion
I'm not shocked. Now, that had no business being sold as an approved/certified pre owned VW. I know of no certified pre owned program in America that allows a car with unibody or frame damage to be certified. And that picture shows structural damage.
I'd want every penny back, or an identical replacement car that was I damaged and a comparable loaner car until one was located.
I work in the business, I took over. Used car department and the clown before me sold a used Hyundai Sonata that must have been eaten by a shark. I replaced it with a nicer one, no charge and no questions asked.
I'd want every penny back, or an identical replacement car that was I damaged and a comparable loaner car until one was located.
I work in the business, I took over. Used car department and the clown before me sold a used Hyundai Sonata that must have been eaten by a shark. I replaced it with a nicer one, no charge and no questions asked.
The Spruce goose said:
'The dealer has offered us our money back'
isn't that enough oh I forgot people always want more...
mistakes happen
LOL, wtf, do you work at this VW dealer? Did you read the original post? The buyer is out of pocket and with no car due to trading in theirs, how is getting the money back from the Scirocoo good enough? They've been driving round in a badly repaired, heavily crashed car, expecting VW to jump through hoops should be a given.isn't that enough oh I forgot people always want more...
mistakes happen
What's a little strange about this is the HPI clear status the car has. When the vehicle was pranged, I suspect the driver will have contacted the insurer RSAM and Motability. The insurer would have collected the car, paid out Motability, the driver would have ordered a replacement car, and RSAM would have disposed of it. At some point in this process, RSAM should have declared it Cat C or D to HPI.
The car has then been purchased by some remarketing company or bodyshop(possibly bought damaged direct from a car auction selling damaged repairable cars, such as Copart), fixed it up, and resold it through a mainstream car auction, where the VW dealer's buyer has picked it up as a HPI clear car, that they have only discovered has been damaged when they've inspected it in their workshop.
Had the car been on the HPI register in the first place, the VW dealer wouldn't have bought it. Depending upon the timeframe from when it was delivered to them, and when you bought it, it may not have even been inspected prior to it being sold to you.
It is very naughty of the dealer to say it only had light damage, especially when its very easy for a new owner to contact a previous owner. If they have offered money back, I would accept and put it down to bad experience. If you take it any further, all you will achieve is an apology.
The car has then been purchased by some remarketing company or bodyshop(possibly bought damaged direct from a car auction selling damaged repairable cars, such as Copart), fixed it up, and resold it through a mainstream car auction, where the VW dealer's buyer has picked it up as a HPI clear car, that they have only discovered has been damaged when they've inspected it in their workshop.
Had the car been on the HPI register in the first place, the VW dealer wouldn't have bought it. Depending upon the timeframe from when it was delivered to them, and when you bought it, it may not have even been inspected prior to it being sold to you.
It is very naughty of the dealer to say it only had light damage, especially when its very easy for a new owner to contact a previous owner. If they have offered money back, I would accept and put it down to bad experience. If you take it any further, all you will achieve is an apology.
80quattro said:
What's a little strange about this is the HPI clear status the car has. When the vehicle was pranged, I suspect the driver will have contacted the insurer RSAM and Motability. The insurer would have collected the car, paid out Motability, the driver would have ordered a replacement car, and RSAM would have disposed of it. At some point in this process, RSAM should have declared it Cat C or D to HPI.
The car has then been purchased by some remarketing company or bodyshop(possibly bought damaged direct from a car auction selling damaged repairable cars, such as Copart), fixed it up, and resold it through a mainstream car auction, where the VW dealer's buyer has picked it up as a HPI clear car, that they have only discovered has been damaged when they've inspected it in their workshop.
Had the car been on the HPI register in the first place, the VW dealer wouldn't have bought it. Depending upon the timeframe from when it was delivered to them, and when you bought it, it may not have even been inspected prior to it being sold to you.
It is very naughty of the dealer to say it only had light damage, especially when its very easy for a new owner to contact a previous owner. If they have offered money back, I would accept and put it down to bad experience. If you take it any further, all you will achieve is an apology.
Some good points raised, but I still feel if the OP shouted loud enough, VW would do something a bit more. I can't see the issue in them sourcing and supplying the exact same spec car at the same purchase price. They get a happy customer, without negative press, customer gets the car they wanted, everyones happy.The car has then been purchased by some remarketing company or bodyshop(possibly bought damaged direct from a car auction selling damaged repairable cars, such as Copart), fixed it up, and resold it through a mainstream car auction, where the VW dealer's buyer has picked it up as a HPI clear car, that they have only discovered has been damaged when they've inspected it in their workshop.
Had the car been on the HPI register in the first place, the VW dealer wouldn't have bought it. Depending upon the timeframe from when it was delivered to them, and when you bought it, it may not have even been inspected prior to it being sold to you.
It is very naughty of the dealer to say it only had light damage, especially when its very easy for a new owner to contact a previous owner. If they have offered money back, I would accept and put it down to bad experience. If you take it any further, all you will achieve is an apology.
80quattro - the vehicle did go to the company you mentioned but was withdrawn from sale before the auction and returned to RSAM or Motability (we don't know which). The 'registered keeper' got a new Scirocco.
We just want the dealer to supply the vehicle he was contracted to supply - ie a 'nearly new' approved used VW Scirocco in Candy White. Not a vehicle that someone has fraudulently hidden a Cat C / Cat D status from HPI.
VW had promised to call me back yesterday morning - but I'm now about to call them !
We just want the dealer to supply the vehicle he was contracted to supply - ie a 'nearly new' approved used VW Scirocco in Candy White. Not a vehicle that someone has fraudulently hidden a Cat C / Cat D status from HPI.
VW had promised to call me back yesterday morning - but I'm now about to call them !
zedx19 said:
Some good points raised, but I still feel if the OP shouted loud enough, VW would do something a bit more. I can't see the issue in them sourcing and supplying the exact same spec car at the same purchase price. They get a happy customer, without negative press, customer gets the car they wanted, everyones happy.
Why would VW feel obliged to do anything? It is the dealer who has purchased and sold the vehicle not VW.But agreed the dealer has a clear responsability to at least put op back into the position he was in before he purchased the car. That means more than just refund of the purchase price.
Look at the actual damage. The car would have been worth a fair bit when the accident happened so it obviously wasn't bad enough (expensive enough) to be declared a write off. It looks worse than it is, as do all modern cars when they take a knock.
I agree with the majority of the points in the thread btw, just explaining why it won't show up on the HPI register... Because it wasn't written off.
I agree with the majority of the points in the thread btw, just explaining why it won't show up on the HPI register... Because it wasn't written off.
SMcP114 said:
Look at the actual damage. The car would have been worth a fair bit when the accident happened so it obviously wasn't bad enough (expensive enough) to be declared a write off. It looks worse than it is, as do all modern cars when they take a knock.
alanSC said:
both airbags had been deployed and the doors were jammed, but some how it managed to get badly repaired and into a VW dealer.
Takes more than a small shunt to make the doors jam on a modern car.To be honest VW seem to be losing it.
I've always thought that they were good at customer service but at work we have had VW Vans for a while one a VW Crafter on a 09 plate flattens the battery in seconds wven though nothing is left switched on they keep insisting there nothing wrong with it.
And we have just purchased a top of the range Amarok which was supplied with a free hardtop for the back the demo had a Truckman top fitted with central locking etc and looked really good. When the truck turned up there was a tear in the leather seat, a scratch on the door (these were sorted by the dealer but the top supplied was a VW item the rear hatch doesn't s
t ot has a gap around it doesn't work on the central lock and is basically rubbish the dealer is blaaming VW and VW are saying sort it with the dealer. we are still waiting for them to ring us back after they promised to ring back yesterday.
I appriciate these are no where near the scale of the OP's issues it high lights issues with VW cusomter service
I've always thought that they were good at customer service but at work we have had VW Vans for a while one a VW Crafter on a 09 plate flattens the battery in seconds wven though nothing is left switched on they keep insisting there nothing wrong with it.
And we have just purchased a top of the range Amarok which was supplied with a free hardtop for the back the demo had a Truckman top fitted with central locking etc and looked really good. When the truck turned up there was a tear in the leather seat, a scratch on the door (these were sorted by the dealer but the top supplied was a VW item the rear hatch doesn't s
t ot has a gap around it doesn't work on the central lock and is basically rubbish the dealer is blaaming VW and VW are saying sort it with the dealer. we are still waiting for them to ring us back after they promised to ring back yesterday.I appriciate these are no where near the scale of the OP's issues it high lights issues with VW cusomter service
zedx19 said:
Some good points raised, but I still feel if the OP shouted loud enough, VW would do something a bit more. I can't see the issue in them sourcing and supplying the exact same spec car at the same purchase price. They get a happy customer, without negative press, customer gets the car they wanted, everyones happy.
This ^^^^I had a recent situation with a wedding ring breaking after only a few days of it being worn. I looked up my rights under the various consumer acts and it looked like I could only get a repair out of the company. I however no longer had any confidence in the company and wanted a full refund but knew this was unlikely. I sent them a strongly worded letter stating my issues, my rights and my expectations and they sent me a cheque within a few days.
OP should write to the dealer stating his demands and should also reinforce the message that a loss of 2-3K on a single car is a lesser hit than the loss of 2-3 sales of new or approved cars. If I was the dealer I would try to limit the damage to my reputation as much as I would try to limit the damage to my profits.
Go f
k that dealers st up OP!So, mobility supplied the car and got it back post accident.
I reckon they repaired it out of their own pocket and then got it back in to the dealer network.
Are there any regulations that insurers are meant to follow eith regards to registering a vehicle thats been involved in an accident ? Seems they didn't do their job properly ?
For their part the VW dealer obviously did not complete their checks properly, this (besides the disgruntled customer) is the main concern for VW themselves.
If they can offer a refund they can offer a replacement vehicle, simple as that. If they have to buy outside of their chain, so be it.
I reckon they repaired it out of their own pocket and then got it back in to the dealer network.
Are there any regulations that insurers are meant to follow eith regards to registering a vehicle thats been involved in an accident ? Seems they didn't do their job properly ?
For their part the VW dealer obviously did not complete their checks properly, this (besides the disgruntled customer) is the main concern for VW themselves.
If they can offer a refund they can offer a replacement vehicle, simple as that. If they have to buy outside of their chain, so be it.
Update to this saga.
At the moment everyone is trying to close ranks. RSA (the insurers) say they can't tell us who they sold the car to. The dealer has yet to tell us how they acquired it.
VW having promised to call the dealer on the 20th November are now only just getting around to it (23rd) and say the matter is between us and the dealer, so they want to wipe their hands of the issue.
Someone somewhere has something to hide here and no one wants to reveal who that is.
Is this just the tip of an iceberg ? Are hundreds of 'written off' cars getting back into the dealer networks without Cat C or Cat D notifications ? Is this a great scam run by the insurance companies ?
How many unsuspecting members of the public are driving around in potentially lethal cars ?
At the moment everyone is trying to close ranks. RSA (the insurers) say they can't tell us who they sold the car to. The dealer has yet to tell us how they acquired it.
VW having promised to call the dealer on the 20th November are now only just getting around to it (23rd) and say the matter is between us and the dealer, so they want to wipe their hands of the issue.
Someone somewhere has something to hide here and no one wants to reveal who that is.
Is this just the tip of an iceberg ? Are hundreds of 'written off' cars getting back into the dealer networks without Cat C or Cat D notifications ? Is this a great scam run by the insurance companies ?
How many unsuspecting members of the public are driving around in potentially lethal cars ?
alanSC said:
Update to this saga.
VW having promised to call the dealer on the 20th November are now only just getting around to it (23rd) and say the matter is between us and the dealer, so they want to wipe their hands of the issue.
Pretty shocking behaviour, its their name above the door after all.VW having promised to call the dealer on the 20th November are now only just getting around to it (23rd) and say the matter is between us and the dealer, so they want to wipe their hands of the issue.
Methinks its time to start shouting as others have previously advised, lets see if they want to wash their hands of it then.
alanSC said:
Update to this saga.
At the moment everyone is trying to close ranks. RSA (the insurers) say they can't tell us who they sold the car to. The dealer has yet to tell us how they acquired it.
VW having promised to call the dealer on the 20th November are now only just getting around to it (23rd) and say the matter is between us and the dealer, so they want to wipe their hands of the issue.
Someone somewhere has something to hide here and no one wants to reveal who that is.
Is this just the tip of an iceberg ? Are hundreds of 'written off' cars getting back into the dealer networks without Cat C or Cat D notifications ? Is this a great scam run by the insurance companies ?
How many unsuspecting members of the public are driving around in potentially lethal cars ?
I'm not sure of the scale of the problem but they are certainly there.At the moment everyone is trying to close ranks. RSA (the insurers) say they can't tell us who they sold the car to. The dealer has yet to tell us how they acquired it.
VW having promised to call the dealer on the 20th November are now only just getting around to it (23rd) and say the matter is between us and the dealer, so they want to wipe their hands of the issue.
Someone somewhere has something to hide here and no one wants to reveal who that is.
Is this just the tip of an iceberg ? Are hundreds of 'written off' cars getting back into the dealer networks without Cat C or Cat D notifications ? Is this a great scam run by the insurance companies ?
How many unsuspecting members of the public are driving around in potentially lethal cars ?
My S3 was from the highest rated independent Audi dealer, won the award year after year. When I had the tracking done I was told the rear camber was out but that it wasn't adjustable. Odd you might say. I had the paint thickness checked and the whole rear quarter was made of filler and the boot shut line was hand welded. You live and learn.
A mate at work bought a brand new Audi TTs when they were first released, the first time he cleaned the interior he noticed broken glass under the seat. A little investigation revealed it had been in an accident at the docks. In fairness to Audi, they took the car back, ordered him a new one and gave him a TT 3.2 to use until his arrived.
VW customer services have now washed their hands of this case, saying the contract was between ourselves and the dealer. Great, thanks guys !
They did however confirm that RSA Motability (the insurer) had the car repaired themselves having pulled it back from being auctioned. RSA then sold it to an unnamed trader. The Surrey based VW dealer then bought the car from that trader and sold it to us as nearly new.
If this car should have been Cat C'd (look at the picture on my first post and decide yourself) then it should not have been sold to a trader without it being correctly flagged on the insurance databases.
At the very least the inspection that the dealer made should have discovered some of the tell tale signs that we found and raised their suspicions.
At the moment the only offer on the table is cash back, leaving us without a car. This does not 'undo' the contract.
I can see this story getting some further press soon.
They did however confirm that RSA Motability (the insurer) had the car repaired themselves having pulled it back from being auctioned. RSA then sold it to an unnamed trader. The Surrey based VW dealer then bought the car from that trader and sold it to us as nearly new.
If this car should have been Cat C'd (look at the picture on my first post and decide yourself) then it should not have been sold to a trader without it being correctly flagged on the insurance databases.
At the very least the inspection that the dealer made should have discovered some of the tell tale signs that we found and raised their suspicions.
At the moment the only offer on the table is cash back, leaving us without a car. This does not 'undo' the contract.
I can see this story getting some further press soon.
alanSC said:
VW customer services have now washed their hands of this case, saying the contract was between ourselves and the dealer. Great, thanks guys !
They did however confirm that RSA Motability (the insurer) had the car repaired themselves having pulled it back from being auctioned. RSA then sold it to an unnamed trader. The Surrey based VW dealer then bought the car from that trader and sold it to us as nearly new.
If this car should have been Cat C'd (look at the picture on my first post and decide yourself) then it should not have been sold to a trader without it being correctly flagged on the insurance databases.
At the very least the inspection that the dealer made should have discovered some of the tell tale signs that we found and raised their suspicions.
At the moment the only offer on the table is cash back, leaving us without a car. This does not 'undo' the contract.
I can see this story getting some further press soon.
Not really surprising that VW are not taking anything to do with it, really its nothing to do with them it's a used car.They did however confirm that RSA Motability (the insurer) had the car repaired themselves having pulled it back from being auctioned. RSA then sold it to an unnamed trader. The Surrey based VW dealer then bought the car from that trader and sold it to us as nearly new.
If this car should have been Cat C'd (look at the picture on my first post and decide yourself) then it should not have been sold to a trader without it being correctly flagged on the insurance databases.
At the very least the inspection that the dealer made should have discovered some of the tell tale signs that we found and raised their suspicions.
At the moment the only offer on the table is cash back, leaving us without a car. This does not 'undo' the contract.
I can see this story getting some further press soon.
Insurance loss categories only apply if the insurance company decided not to repair. A car should not have been classed as 'Cat C' based on the amount of damage if the insurance company then decided to repair the car. If as you mention the insurance company pulled the car back from auction then repaired it themselves then there is no need for insurance write off status to be put on the car.
Re: the dealer checks, to be honest it was a 2,000mile car that was HPI clear, aside from checking the bodywork was straight there would not have been that many checks the dealer would have carried out. Okay it had a Ford battery fitted, but looking at the Scirroco engine bay the battery is in a battery bag thus not something that is noticeable unless your looking, and you say yourself it took a while for you to notice the paint issue on the bumper (Im not saying your situation is not a s
t one by any means just making some observations which may help your approach on this).I was recently speaking to a chap who is in the bodyshop trade and the repair of cars with second hand panels is now becoming a bigger and bigger problem, as insurance companies continue cost cutting poor insurance repairs will no doubt become a bigger issue.
2DDav said:
Not really surprising that VW are not taking anything to do with it, really its nothing to do with them it's a used car.
Insurance loss categories only apply if the insurance company decided not to repair. A car should not have been classed as 'Cat C' based on the amount of damage if the insurance company then decided to repair the car. If as you mention the insurance company pulled the car back from auction then repaired it themselves then there is no need for insurance write off status to be put on the car.
Re: the dealer checks, to be honest it was a 2,000mile car that was HPI clear, aside from checking the bodywork was straight there would not have been that many checks the dealer would have carried out. Okay it had a Ford battery fitted, but looking at the Scirroco engine bay the battery is in a battery bag thus not something that is noticeable unless your looking, and you say yourself it took a while for you to notice the paint issue on the bumper (Im not saying your situation is not a st one by any means just making some observations which may help your approach on this).
I was recently speaking to a chap who is in the bodyshop trade and the repair of cars with second hand panels is now becoming a bigger and bigger problem, as insurance companies continue cost cutting poor insurance repairs will no doubt become a bigger issue.
I have to agree. The original owners have no obligation to catagorise the car if it was repaired in house, I think you are misunderstanding the CAT requirements relating to damaged cars and write offs, if you had crashed the car yourself, had it repaired out of your pocket the car would have no CAT status as in this case.Insurance loss categories only apply if the insurance company decided not to repair. A car should not have been classed as 'Cat C' based on the amount of damage if the insurance company then decided to repair the car. If as you mention the insurance company pulled the car back from auction then repaired it themselves then there is no need for insurance write off status to be put on the car.
Re: the dealer checks, to be honest it was a 2,000mile car that was HPI clear, aside from checking the bodywork was straight there would not have been that many checks the dealer would have carried out. Okay it had a Ford battery fitted, but looking at the Scirroco engine bay the battery is in a battery bag thus not something that is noticeable unless your looking, and you say yourself it took a while for you to notice the paint issue on the bumper (Im not saying your situation is not a s
t one by any means just making some observations which may help your approach on this).I was recently speaking to a chap who is in the bodyshop trade and the repair of cars with second hand panels is now becoming a bigger and bigger problem, as insurance companies continue cost cutting poor insurance repairs will no doubt become a bigger issue.
I expect the dealer didn't inspect the car closely enough based on HPI clearance and such low mileage, and probably had a relationship with the trader, it's a pretty poor show in hindsight. I think all you'll get is a refund and possibly another car if they can source one.
2DDav said:
Not really surprising that VW are not taking anything to do with it, really its nothing to do with them it's a used car.
Re: the dealer checks, to be honest it was a 2,000mile car that was HPI clear, aside from checking the bodywork was straight there would not have been that many checks the dealer would have carried out. Okay it had a Ford battery fitted, but looking at the Scirroco engine bay the battery is in a battery bag thus not something that is noticeable unless your looking, and you say yourself it took a while for you to notice the paint issue on the bumper (Im not saying your situation is not a st one by any means just making some observations which may help your approach on this).
Except the establishment that sold the car has the VW name above the door and was sold under the assurance of their approved vehicle check, clearly either the check had not been completed properly (and therefore VW need to have a chat with the dealer) or the approved check is worth precisely nothing and VW should admit that.Re: the dealer checks, to be honest it was a 2,000mile car that was HPI clear, aside from checking the bodywork was straight there would not have been that many checks the dealer would have carried out. Okay it had a Ford battery fitted, but looking at the Scirroco engine bay the battery is in a battery bag thus not something that is noticeable unless your looking, and you say yourself it took a while for you to notice the paint issue on the bumper (Im not saying your situation is not a s
t one by any means just making some observations which may help your approach on this).Franchises have a big book of rules that they must abide by to keep the franchise. For example: Audi demand at least 2 free car parking spaces at all time near the door of the dealership. If they come from inspection and can't park you fail the inspection, they will simply drive away. Fail an inspection twice (for any reasons) and the bosses come down for a very serious chat.
Except the bodywork wasn't straight - it had been poorly repaired, read the OP's post again - paint could be removed by simply wiping it, should of failed the checks. The missing dashboard fixings should of failed, the battery should of failed.. I wouldn't be surprised if more evidence of crash damage could be found if the car was properly inspected.
As a naive youngster back in the early 80's I bought a SH golf GTi that had supposedly been through some 90 point check on the VW used approved scheme..
Within 3 months it needed brakes all around, a new exhaust, a new rear seat belt, and the icing on the cake, a new engine when the oil pump failed...
VW were a total pain in the arse to deal with, and I had to fight tooth and nail to get some recourse.....
I've never owned a VAG product since, and never will.....
Within 3 months it needed brakes all around, a new exhaust, a new rear seat belt, and the icing on the cake, a new engine when the oil pump failed...
VW were a total pain in the arse to deal with, and I had to fight tooth and nail to get some recourse.....
I've never owned a VAG product since, and never will.....
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff