Bought a used car thats not the variant advertised

[drew.h]

I just bought a cheep runaround for £700. I had it transported yesterday to save time. The eBay listing said it was a Saab 2.0t HOT. i.e., HOT as in High Output Turbo. The listing also stated the BHP was 205 (none HOT being 185). On checking the engine code it is not the HOT.

Unfortunately the sale was 'off the books'.

What are the chances of getting my money back legally? What about out of pocket fees such as transportation and insurance cancellation fee?

[drew.h]

Crafty_ said:

For a "cheap runabout" at £700 does it really matter?

Well, in truth I was willing to risk spending £700 on a car I didn't test first. But it should.

egor110 said:

If the sale was 'off the books' surely the seller will just deny it ever happened especially if his isn't the last name in the log book?

His name is filled in on the log book on the dealers section and money was bank transfer not cash. Lots of eMails regarding sale and I had it collected by a reputable car transporter.

Vaud said:

drew.h said:

Unfortunately the sale was 'off the books'.

How do you mean? Was it a trader passing on a trade in and claiming it was a private sale?

Yes. So he didn't pay VAT.

It has some issues, but I believe is down to lack of servicing, no knocks, bangs, smoke or warning lights, just running rough. Its not seen new oil in a long time. Slightly worried it may be a time and money pit.

[drew.h]

TooMany2cvs said:

So you bought it unseen, and you've found out something that you could quickly and easily have noticed when you inspected it before purchase?

Something I only found out while double checking the bits I need for a service and looked up the engine variant from the VIN number. Only difference between the cars is the turbo (as far as I'm aware) and I'm not a turbo expert, not that the turbo is easy to see without ramps anyway.

[drew.h]

The idea with this car was something to last while I sold the TVR, Blackbird and my compensation came through, then I'll look at something newer . I'll see if I can get anything back off the seller (e.g., the insurance admin fee for model change) and a DIY service.

I thought I was getting the HOT variant and fancied having a go at DIY re-mapping, but I'll not bother now.

[drew.h]

I think me and this thread got a little side tracked onto servicing. I expected putting some money and time into a £700 car, but there was another Saab convertible I looked at and the deciding factors were I though this was the HOT variant and the other one wasn't as original.

For what I want the car for HOT or not doesn't make much difference, but it would have been preferable to get what I though I was getting. I've emailed seller, but no reply. It was a classified advert on eBay so I don't think eBay protection covers it.