Do those checks
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crankedup

Original Poster:

25,764 posts

272 months

Thursday 16th May 2019
quotequote all
Spotted a lovely used car for private sale, phoned vendor and asked for reg plate number, which he gave me. Done my HPI check to find the car, on a 2017 plate, is a insurance write off
which they decided not to repair. Obviously somebody has repaired it and it’s now for sale without mentioning the write off problem.
Well worth my £19.99 fee.

Is it not illegal to fail to mention history in car ad’?

Frimley111R

19,162 posts

263 months

Thursday 16th May 2019
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Not if you're a private seller I believe.

RazerSauber

2,892 posts

89 months

Thursday 16th May 2019
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I believe it's illegal to advertise a car as not written off when it is. When it's not mentioned though, I don't know. Mercifully, Auto trader and Gumtree perform these checks on cars when advertised making it a bit harder.

As you say, well worth the £19.99 check. Being 2017, I assume there's a substantial difference in value between written off and non-written off. Is it priced nearer written off vehicles?

crankedup

Original Poster:

25,764 posts

272 months

Thursday 16th May 2019
quotequote all
RazerSauber said:
I believe it's illegal to advertise a car as not written off when it is. When it's not mentioned though, I don't know. Mercifully, Auto trader and Gumtree perform these checks on cars when advertised making it a bit harder.

As you say, well worth the £19.99 check. Being 2017, I assume there's a substantial difference in value between written off and non-written off. Is it priced nearer written off vehicles?

The car is a Honda Jazz ad’ on gumtree for £7190, finished in red colour.The ad’ mentions nothing about being a cat S car just about how good the condition is. Tried to make use of the HPI. checker on gumtree but couldn’t get passed the pay now section, so went direct to HPI web site.
So gumtree failed to flag this car as a insurance write off but I smelt a rat as the price is £1500
under book. No such thing as a bargain!

davek_964

11,214 posts

204 months

Thursday 16th May 2019
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Years ago, I found a car at a dealer that I wanted to buy. Put a deposit on, then did HPI.

Discovered it was stolen (not recovered) - from quite a few years previously! Dealer claimed he'd bought it at auction and that they were supposed to do the relevant checks, hence it was their fault not his. No idea if that's true, but I'm glad I checked.

Butter Face

34,698 posts

189 months

Thursday 16th May 2019
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Have you got the reg as I notice it has been blanked out (an absolute pet hate of mine) so I wonder if the reg/info is incorrect?

crankedup

Original Poster:

25,764 posts

272 months

Thursday 16th May 2019
quotequote all
Yup, I asked the vendor for the reg plate number which he offered : LB17 WTU
Done the MOT check and it confirms MOT not yet due on the car.

Butter Face

34,698 posts

189 months

Thursday 16th May 2019
quotequote all
Yes definitely a Cat S. In June 2018, owner change in Nov 2018 so maybe the seller doesn't know?!

crankedup

Original Poster:

25,764 posts

272 months

Thursday 16th May 2019
quotequote all
Maybe? but I found that the seller has the story that his son placed the ad’ , the address of the ad’ is not the address where the car is and looking again at the images, I don’t like the look of the rear hatch lines. One side seems slightly wayward looking at the shut lines. The HPI also flag the mileage as inaccurate? All in all it’s one not for me, I hope that nobody else gets this lemon.

RBS Bob

368 posts

173 months

Thursday 16th May 2019
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This is a very good site for checking vehicles.

Full damage reports and pictures if available.

https://www.vcheck.uk/search/LB17WTU/

crankedup

Original Poster:

25,764 posts

272 months

Thursday 16th May 2019
quotequote all
Very useful site, thanks for link. Still looking for a car he site may well come in handy in the future.
When I was having payment difficulties earlier for the hpi check I said to myself ‘sod it, I’m sure the car will be fine’. A fleeting thought thankfully persisted which saved me a lot of cash.