Registration date V Warranty date

[Ghibli]

Just discovered that the registration date 22/09/23 is not the same date the car warrenty was activated 01/08/2022. As you can see this robs me of several months manufacturers warrenty.
Is this legal anyone had it done to them?
Thanks all.

[Ham_and_Jam]

Was it purchased as a pre-reg / discounted car?

[loskie]

if it was PRE reg surely that would be the warranty date then?

OP: seems very underhand.

what manufacturer is it?

[Ghibli]

The car was the dealers test drive car. Only 1320 miles on the clock.
Was advertised as first registered 22 Sept 2023, but warrenty card says activated 1 August 2022. That's a lot of warenty to lose.Tge car looks as only done 1320 miles. It does look very new. Dealer says Maserati instructed them to activate warrenty.

[Ghibli]

Car was not purchased as a pre reg. I paid full market price for a 2023 low milage model.

[charltjr]

Sounds like it was sat around in the showroom before eventually being registered for test drives, they’re not exactly quick selling cars.

What’s the cost of extending the warranty? A fair response would probably be for the dealer to give an appropriate discount on an extended warranty.

[Ghibli]

That's what I will be angling for. Have told seller I will be writing to Maserati as he claims it was Maserati who instructed the early warrenty registration. Thanks.

[loskie]

Was it being used for test drives when unregistered on trade plates? Thus covering the 1300 odd miles? If so is that correct? Should it not be correctly registered to be a demo?

OP on the reg doc are you the SECOND keeper?

[Earthdweller]

Ghibli said:

Car was not purchased as a pre reg. I paid full market price for a 2023 low milage model.

Your posts dont make sense

The car was either brand new, registered to you as first keeper and with delivery mileage in which case the warranty would have started on that date

Or

It was a second hand car with 1320 miles on the odometer, in which case the warranty would have started on the date of registration and you would be shown as 2nd keeper on the V5


Or

The dealer has been using an unregistered car for 13 months and 1320 miles as a demo car and then sold it to you as a new car, but that sounds unlikely as you say you paid market price for a low mileage car .. which indicates to me you knew it was a 2nd hand car

So which is it ?

Edited by Earthdweller on Monday 4th March 08:16

[Ghibli]

Sorry about the confusion. I knew I was buying a one owner used car, the dealers demonstrator. I was sold the car as a first registration 22/09/2023. I also have an unqualified statement that the car was a 23, no mention that the car was at least 22.
The only statement that might cloudy the waters is when I asked a number of questions including one about the period of warenty. I got an email which states the completion of the warrenty is 01/01/2026. As I had already worked out a termination date of September 2026 the shortfall did not register. Picki g up on the 26 but not the earlier date in the year. That aside this 26 date provided by the dealer also has to be wrong. The official date as I see it based on the warrenty registration activation 01/08/2025 for the end of warrenty.
I appreciate your taking the time to give me your view on the matter.
I have now written to the dealer to let him know I will be writing to Maserati on the matter. I'm hoping this might prompt him to give me the months I have lost. I'm also concerned that when the time comes to sell my value could be based on August 22.and not September 23. Now that is a lot of money. Regards

[MustangGT]

Ghibli said:

Sorry about the confusion. I knew I was buying a one owner used car, the dealers demonstrator. I was sold the car as a first registration 22/09/2023. I also have an unqualified statement that the car was a 23, no mention that the car was at least 22.
The only statement that might cloudy the waters is when I asked a number of questions including one about the period of warenty. I got an email which states the completion of the warrenty is 01/01/2026. As I had already worked out a termination date of September 2026 the shortfall did not register. Picki g up on the 26 but not the earlier date in the year. That aside this 26 date provided by the dealer also has to be wrong. The official date as I see it based on the warrenty registration activation 01/08/2025 for the end of warrenty.
I appreciate your taking the time to give me your view on the matter.
I have now written to the dealer to let him know I will be writing to Maserati on the matter. I'm hoping this might prompt him to give me the months I have lost. I'm also concerned that when the time comes to sell my value could be based on August 22.and not September 23. Now that is a lot of money. Regards

What was the registration plate?, a 22 registration cannot have a 23 plate, although a 23 can have a 22 plate.

[WPA]

Ghibli said:

Just discovered that the registration date 22/09/23 is not the same date the car warrenty was activated 01/08/2022. As you can see this robs me of several months manufacturers warrenty.
Is this legal anyone had it done to them?
Thanks all.

This does not make sense, warranty starts from first registration date as that allows cars to be kept in stock, something is not right here, was your car in fact first registered 01/08/22.

Cannot see how a dealer can start warranty when the car has not been registered.

[Ghibli]

Fully agree with your prognosis. It makes no sense. I also understand that Dealers buy their stock using borrowed money. This would mean the dealer was paying out interest for over a year on a car that was doing nothing. Watch this space, and thanks again.

Edited by Ghibli on Monday 4th March 09:14

[Jader1973]

It might be that the car needed a repair under warranty after it was sold to the dealer, so maybe they had to start the warranty to get paid for the repair.

It would be a little unusual but is a possibility.

[TaurusMexico]

Funnily enough...I had pretty much exactly the same.

Bought a 2-year old QP only to find out that the 3-year manufacturer warranty had expired. Similar story, was the dealership demo car. Ultimately wasn't a big deal as the price was right and they gave me a 2-year warranty anyway with the car. I believe I actually own a 2015 car (based on warranty date) rather than a 2016 one (based on registration date). Can only assume that whilst run as a demo it was on trade plates only and not registered.
If/when you decide to sell I'd have thought that only the registration date would be considered when calculating value (unless they facelifted the model between the dates) as it's really not that unusual for a car to be built and then sit around for a considerable time before being registered.

Edited by TaurusMexico on Monday 4th March 09:50

Edited by TaurusMexico on Monday 4th March 10:35

[aeropilot]

Would indicate that Massa dealers are being a bit sly and running demo cars on trade plates, and selling as new cars later, when in fact they are not.......just not been registered to the dealer, even though they've got a lot more than delivery miles. Maserati says has to be warranty registered as being used on trade plates etc., which is understandable.

Crafty....and very dodgy dealer practice.

I'd be furious.

I'd be even more furious to have paid full price for a used car as well that doesn't have full manufacturers warranty.

[Ghibli]

Thanks to all again. When I say I paid full price I mean I paid fair price for a September 23 car. Not price of the car new.
Over all I'm not unhappy. I just don't like being hoodwinked. The internal exterior of the car looks pretty unused. We shall see what dealer and Maserati come back with.

[aeropilot]

Ghibli said:

Over all I'm not unhappy. I just don't like being hoodwinked. The internal exterior of the car looks pretty unused. We shall see what dealer and Maserati come back with.

I would think there would be some grounds for trade descriptions act non-compliance?

V5 states car declared new on date of first registration, which should mean date of commencement of factory warranty.
But, because dealer using it as demo on trade plates for 12+ months but warranty has started because of this, so its pretty dodgy practice by the dealers.
They don't want to register it though, like volume dealers do, as they put their ex-demo cars into the used sections at 3-4 months old, and they are keeping their demo cars for 12+ months because of sales volume.
They should at least chuck in a free 12 months warranty extension when selling the car on that basis, and be clear about what the situation is. Not saying anything is the Arfur Daley bit of the transaction.

[Ghibli]

Totally agree. If I don't get the missing year it's Trading Standards and Trust Pilot. Cheers

[MitchT]

I once bought a BMW which was an ex demo car. It was made clear to me that it came with the balance of the three years' manufacturter's warranty, not the whole three years, which I was fine with. I think that's usually the case. A demo car has a registered keeper and you'll be the second owner so the warranty starts when the car is first registered to its first keeper. If you've been told something else then it might be worth taking it up with them. Hopefully they'll give you a free year's extended warranty when the manufacturer's warranty runs out.