Sold the wrong car

[username_checksout]

I'll try and keep this brief:

• New camper conversion VW found online, shown with 145,000 miles

• Contact made with dealer, £500 deposit put down to hold the vehicle until I returned from holiday to collect it.In the meantime, I ask for the reg so I can insure it. Reg sent over, van insured.

• Two weeks later I pick up the vehicle, mileage on the van is 177,000 - 20% more than originally advertised. Sounds wrong to me so check online but the description has been changed to 177,000. I can't access the original ad and screenshots of the ad showing 145,000 until I get home

• Dealer mentions they made 3 identical conversions of this colourway as all 3 vans bought from a fleet sell-off.

• Dealer asks if I'm insured to drive it home, checks on MID as it's not showing up. Checks reg - last digit is wrong. Van I insured ends ABC, van I bought ends ABD (for arguments sake). Call insurance company, change policy, dealer offers to cover cost of changing the policy (£30). He actually knocks £280 off. I thought that was overly generous and said you only needed to knock £30 off. 'No no, our mistake, sorry for the inconvenience' they say.

• Drive home, check details, realise why they took £280 off unprompted; they realised the van had a load more miles.

I emailed them tonight politely explaining that what I thought I was buying and what I bought are not the same. I would be happy with a further discount in light of the extra mileage. Your thoughts please.

[K4sper]

Just to be absolutely clear on the sequence of events (and you'll probably see where I'm going with this...), you noticed the mileage was 177k before you actually paid, took delivery and drove away?

[Wilmslowboy]

username_checksout said:

I'll try and keep this brief:

• New camper conversion VW found online, shown with 145,000 miles

• Contact made with dealer, £500 deposit put down to hold the vehicle until I returned from holiday to collect it.In the meantime, I ask for the reg so I can insure it. Reg sent over, van insured.

• Two weeks later I pick up the vehicle, mileage on the van is 177,000 - 20% more than originally advertised. Sounds wrong to me so check online but the description has been changed to 177,000. I can't access the original ad and screenshots of the ad showing 145,000 until I get home

• Dealer mentions they made 3 identical conversions of this colourway as all 3 vans bought from a fleet sell-off.

• Dealer asks if I'm insured to drive it home, checks on MID as it's not showing up. Checks reg - last digit is wrong. Van I insured ends ABC, van I bought ends ABD (for arguments sake). Call insurance company, change policy, dealer offers to cover cost of changing the policy (£30). He actually knocks £280 off. I thought that was overly generous and said you only needed to knock £30 off. 'No no, our mistake, sorry for the inconvenience' they say.

• Drive home, check details, realise why they took £280 off unprompted; they realised the van had a load more miles.

I emailed them tonight politely explaining that what I thought I was buying and what I bought are not the same. I would be happy with a further discount in light of the extra mileage. Your thoughts please.

Where was it listed (what site), occasionally you can see previous versions of sites (snapshots with old ads) here

https://web.archive.org

[the-norseman]

You knew it had more miles than advertised but still took it? I'd say no chance of you getting a penny more off now.

[h0b0]

I don’t think you picked up on the fact the dealer wasn’t hiding it was the wrong van. They told you there were 3 similar vans. They acknowledged they made a mistake. The extra money off was them making things right.

I think they thought you were on the same page but didn’t want to say it out loud.

[119]

One assumes you had a receipt for the deposit with the correct reg number on it?

[Legacywr]

What sort of money was it? Does it still represent good value?

[username_checksout]

h0b0 said:

I don’t think you picked up on the fact the dealer wasn’t hiding it was the wrong van. They told you there were 3 similar vans. They acknowledged they made a mistake. The extra money off was them making things right.

I think they thought you were on the same page but didn’t want to say it out loud.

This is what my gut feeling is too. I feel a bit annoyed that despite their claims of ‘transparency’ (a word that came up a lot), they didn’t openly acknowledge the error.

[LittleRemee]

I don't think the dealer did acknowledge their mistake. If they had they would have said 'this isn't the same car you put the deposit on,' rather than relying on insinuation and suggestion to get the point across, which it obviously didn't.

From your perspective - until you got home - the dealer had made a small error in passing you the registration (getting a single letter wrong) and had wrongly stated the mileage.

Ultimately you have bought a car which you believed to be a different car, had paid a deposit to hold, and the dealer said nothing of the swap.

I would think you'd be entitled to a full refund if you wanted it.

[username_checksout]

Legacywr said:

What sort of money was it? Does it still represent good value?

Just under £28,000. The van with 145,00 miles was being sold at the same price as the 177,000 mile one.

[InitialDave]

LittleRemee said:

Ultimately you have bought a car which you believed to be a different car, had paid a deposit to hold, and the dealer said nothing of the swap.

I would think you'd be entitled to a full refund if you wanted it.

I think this sounds about right, though perhaps the OP shouldn't have mentioned being happy with a discount as restitution.

If a number wasn't mentioned, I'd be inclined to say that in light of the 20% higher mileage, you want either a 20% reduction or to reject it.

Hopefully that's a big enough number to make them think it's less hassle to play nice with a refund.

[Richtea1970]

username_checksout said:

Just under £28,000. The van with 145,00 miles was being sold at the same price as the 177,000 mile one.

£28k for a van with nearly 200,000 miles on it? Jeez!

[username_checksout]

Richtea1970 said:

username_checksout said:

Just under £28,000. The van with 145,00 miles was being sold at the same price as the 177,000 mile one.

£28k for a van with nearly 200,000 miles on it? Jeez!

It’s a VW T6 Camper; van is 2018, professional conversion is brand new. Price is more or less what they go for.

[username_checksout]

InitialDave said:

I think this sounds about right, though perhaps the OP shouldn't have mentioned being happy with a discount as restitution.

I accepted the £280 as it was offered as ‘inconvenience for the hassle of changing your insurance’. I did state I was surprised at the amount, in light of the fact I told them it only costs £30 to change policy details.

[the benno]

Blimey I’d be getting a refund ! Mainly because £28k will buy you quite a nice Factory VW California with about half them miles !

username_checksout said:

Just under £28,000. The van with 145,00 miles was being sold at the same price as the 177,000 mile one.

[InitialDave]

username_checksout said:

I accepted the £280 as it was offered as ‘inconvenience for the hassle of changing your insurance’. I did state I was surprised at the amount, in light of the fact I told them it only costs £30 to change policy details.

Ok, to clarify, when you posted this

username_checksout said:

I emailed them tonight politely explaining that what I thought I was buying and what I bought are not the same. I would be happy with a further discount in light of the extra mileage. Your thoughts please.

Did you tell them you'd be happy with a further discount?

[username_checksout]

InitialDave said:

Did you tell them you'd be happy with a further discount?

‘I would be happy with a further discount in light of the extra mileage’ are my thoughts and possible resolution but I haven’t told them that; I want to see what how they respond first.

[downthepub]

the benno said:

Blimey I’d be getting a refund ! Mainly because £28k will buy you quite a nice Factory VW California with about half them miles !

username_checksout said:

Just under £28,000. The van with 145,00 miles was being sold at the same price as the 177,000 mile one.

Sure, but it'll be as old as the hills and not a T6. £28K for T6 new conversion isn't bad.

[username_checksout]

downthepub said:

Sure, but it'll be as old as the hills and not a T6. £28K for T6 new conversion isn't bad.

That’s what I thought too. I looked everywhere and this was the best value (at 145,000 miles).

[Belle427]

What a mess.
You should have really sorted this before driving it away, id personally have declined it as it wasnt the advertised vehicle id agreed to buy.
Seems like some rather large wool being pulled over ones eyes.