Salvage Title

Author
Discussion

FIREBIRDC9

Original Poster:

746 posts

144 months

Monday 30th September
quotequote all
Hi All

After a bit of Advice/Legal insight here.


This all relates to my other half's Alfa Romeo Mito
Bought in 2020 , recently sold to WBAC as it was a dud and not worth the time nor expense.


Now , We bought the car in late 2020. This was done via Finance.

The Dealer , (Avanti Automotive Bristol) for those who are interested states that all cars are HPI checked , and full inspections carried out prior to sale.

Time goes by. Various issues along the way etc etc but these are dealt with and we move on.
I ran a HPI Check in 2021 out of suspicion but all was well. No mention of Salvage or write off.

Its now 2024 , Time to let the car go.
We sell it to WBAC , expecting around £500-£600 as we know the car was far from perfect.

WBAC run their checks , and discover that the Car has been previously Sold as Salvage. Meaning the value we had hoped to get is smashed. So my other half has to pay the outstanding finance out of her pocket , rather than the hoped value of the car.

I've since run a Vcheck , not knowing that HPI doesn't apparently check for salvage.
And Lo and Behold there is the Mito. In a yard in January 2020 with the front end completely smashed in......

January 2020 - Car is photographed in a Salvage yard with the front end Completely smashed in.
December 2020 - Car is sold by Avanti Automotive in Bristol with a repaired front end but no mention of any previous issues.
September 2024 - Car is sold to WBAC where previous Salvage is revealed , therefore affecting sell price considerably.


This can't be fair/legal can it? I feel like we have been fobbed off. As had the car had a crash category like CAT N , we wouldn't have touched it in the first place!

Feeling like we have been mis-sold a car here and feeling a bit cheesed off about it!

Anyone had any similar experience?











2 sMoKiN bArReLs

30,580 posts

242 months

Monday 30th September
quotequote all
Are you saying that the offer from WBAC has gone from £500-£600 to zero?

I'm guessing you could challenge the vendor, but for £2 per week additional depreciation over four years or so I think I'd forget it and move on personally.

Sometimes life is just too short?

Having said that, nothing lost in challenging vendor without getting to embroiled.


FIREBIRDC9

Original Poster:

746 posts

144 months

Monday 30th September
quotequote all
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
Are you saying that the offer from WBAC has gone from £500-£600 to zero?

I'm guessing you could challenge the vendor, but for £2 per week additional depreciation over four years or so I think I'd forget it and move on personally.

Sometimes life is just too short?

Having said that, nothing lost in challenging vendor without getting to embroiled.
Its more the fact that had the dealer disclosed this info , or had the car been a CAT S i wouldn't have touched it.

Dealership states they thoroughly inspect every vehicle so you would think that the evidence the vehicle had been in a previous incident would have been spotted.

Our mechanic spotted it.......

imagineifyeswill

1,233 posts

173 months

Monday 30th September
quotequote all
If it was subject to an insurance claim then it should have been categorised and noted on the V5, if it hasn't had an insurance claim but sold through a salvage auction I'm surprised it shows on any searches.

What car check site is it showing up as salvage on.


Richard-390a0

2,572 posts

98 months

Monday 30th September
quotequote all
imagineifyeswill said:
What car check site is it showing up as salvage on.
he's already said - Vcheck.

2 sMoKiN bArReLs

30,580 posts

242 months

Monday 30th September
quotequote all
FIREBIRDC9 said:
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
Are you saying that the offer from WBAC has gone from £500-£600 to zero?

I'm guessing you could challenge the vendor, but for £2 per week additional depreciation over four years or so I think I'd forget it and move on personally.

Sometimes life is just too short?

Having said that, nothing lost in challenging vendor without getting to embroiled.
Its more the fact that had the dealer disclosed this info , or had the car been a CAT S i wouldn't have touched it.

Dealership states they thoroughly inspect every vehicle so you would think that the evidence the vehicle had been in a previous incident would have been spotted.

Our mechanic spotted it.......
I completely get that. But the truth is in the scheme of things it's not been a disaster, just really annoying! (Just as well you didn't need to make an insurance claim though)

Sebring440

2,307 posts

103 months

Monday 30th September
quotequote all
FIREBIRDC9 said:
Our mechanic spotted it.......
But he didn't mention it to you? WBAC informed you.


FIREBIRDC9

Original Poster:

746 posts

144 months

Monday 30th September
quotequote all
Sebring440 said:
But he didn't mention it to you? WBAC informed you.
He said it looks like its been in a crash at some point. (This was after we had already bought the car)

This is what lead me to do the HPI check in 2021 , but this was clear so i didn't investigate further. I wasn't aware HPI didn't cover salvage.

WBAC bringing up the salvage title has prompted my investigation.

charltjr

283 posts

16 months

Monday 30th September
quotequote all
It will have been repaired outside of insurance, so no CAT marker and won’t show on HPI. Vcheck are great for catching dodgy cars like that but not widely used.

Probably not much you can do, dealer checked HPI, beyond that their “thorough checks” are generally just the obvious cosmetic and legal requirements.

OutInTheShed

9,302 posts

33 months

Monday 30th September
quotequote all
A 'cat' marker is for a car which has been 'written off' as not worth the insurer paying for repairs.
They'd rather pay out the value of the car than get involved, or they think the cost of repairs is not economic.

A car that's been heavily damaged is not always 'written off'.
Loads of people, including on here, either get badly damaged cars fixed, or take some sort of payment and keep the wreck.
Lots of people with e.g. classic bikes are keen to keep the wreck and rebuild it.
These vehicles have no cat marker and may be perfectly fine, or they may be death traps.
As the OP kept the car for some years, it was probably perfectly fine.

Conversely maybe the fact that it became troublesome in middle age was because it had been crashed and worked on?

There must be plenty of badly damaged, then repaired vehicles which don't get picked up by V-check either?
Where do v-check get their data?