Wrong Mileage

[Zulfica]

Please help bought car yesterday from private seller through auto trader, the advert stated full dealer history, and miles was stated as 72.500, i puchased the car and on way home had turbo problems on motorway, i returned to the house and they left, and on phone told me that the car was fine, this was in the space of half hour, also i did a dvla check and mileage was 0ver 175 thousand, they gave me a dealer history book and mot that was not correct mileage as stated on auto trader, please help as I've paid more for car thats was not genuine and they refuse to discuss and need new turbo, when i drove the car local it seemed fine but when on motorway problems occurred straight away, i phoned police outside their house but refused, saying its a civil matter? The owner only purchased in may, and told me he was getting a company car through promotion thats why he was selling it, i paid for the car at the low mileage rate? What can i do?

[inksplotter]

This is kind of a problem with usual private dealers, you have no idea what you're getting.

Maybe you should have taken someone with you to check it over?

Not sure what you can do about it now, other than scrap it.

[woofgang]

Go and talk to your local trading standards, but I think you may find that you are stuffed.

[Peaspeculiars]

I'm sorry to hear this Zulfica, but you have to also consider that the seller may have been 100% genuine with you and had not known the car was dodgy either! The turbo may have been working up until that point - did you properly test drive it?

Can you imagine selling a car to someone in good faith, then buyer turns up on their doorstep demanding the money back and calling the police? Would you answer the buyers calls?

'Buyer Beware' - Always check the car before you buy, not afterwards.

[EDDIE51]

No point talking to trading standards, as the name suggests they only
deal with traders private sellers.
Sorry but there is nothing you can do, you should have done the DVLA check before you bought the car that would have told you straight away there was a problem.
Only possible action would be to see if the person you bought the car from is really a trader pretending to be a private seller this does happen

[murraymints]

Caveat emptor !

[murraymints]

Advise auto trader of the mis selling and dodgy ad....you could sit outside their house in car with a placard ..if you have time....don't buy from this person...I did it outside a carpet shop with a friend , Sat on rolled up faulty carpet ...soon worked !

[CheekyChops]

Did you not see what the mileage was as soon as you got into the car and turned the ignition on?

[hc4361]

Investigate the seller first. Do a web search of his phone number and see if he has had a lot of cars for sale - many dealers try to pass cars off as private sales. If you find he has been selling a lot of cars, go to your local council and trading standards.

What is the mileage on the car display? A private seller also has responsibilities under the Sale of Goods Act - the vehicle must be 'as described'. If you can prove the advert stated 72,500 (keep a copy of the advert) and the car display said 72,500 you will have a good case in the Small Claims Court.

[stoofur]

I got caught out with a similar problem a couple of years ago. I called Autotrader as the guy said he was a private seller but he had other cars for sale. Autotrader said that he was actually a trader. So I called Trading Standards and they were very interested. I then called the "Private Seller" and told him that I knew he was a dealer and that I had contacted Trading Standards. He gave me my moneyback. So it may be worth double checking that this person is not a dealer.

[zebo]

If it took a DVLA check to confirm the mileage, rather than a look at the odometer then you may have a case for fraud. If Trading Standards and the Police are not interested, it may be worth a go in the Small Claims court depending on the level of loss, I'm not sure what the limit is these days.