Purchased Cat B Mondeo Mk3? Any Body/ Legal Experts,

[zetec4]

Hi, bit of a crappy evening! We seem to be out of pocket of a few hundred! Basically we have here a mk3 tdci, 2005 plate we bought if for £600,

Unfortunately we were concentrating solely on mechanical issues, the bodywork did not look at all out of line or show any cause for concern when we went to view, Not bothering we did not do a hpi check, however we now have a letter from Dvla stating we have to get the car Vic checked, then immediately text checked it came back as a cat b write off!

I have been inspecting the car all shut lines are accurate, boot is straight, chassis rails are straight, I checked the front slam panel on inspection all straight.. Can't see how it was a cat b? The car does however seem to pull to the right upon accelaration, and steering rack was gone on it..

I've checked websites who claim cat b cars should be scrapped and never resold, so do I have any legal standing against the guy who sold it to me? It's had only two owners from new

Any help much appreciated,

[Steelie600]

sounds like a dvla balls up to me. If that was a cat b it would have been proper smacked up and youd be able to tell easily.

I would contact DVLA and Vosa to organise something and try to figure out whats going on. Possibly your car was cloned and the cloned one smashed or you have the clone? Sorry thats worse case scenario. Dont mean to frighten ya.

Either way tho if something is awry when youve dealt with Vosa and DVLA get the police involved. As the people that sold you the car will have some answering to do

[wase16ll]

have to agree, from experience, its unlikely to be a dvla up

a cat b can be repaired, but reason its a cat b is the severe damage so unless somebody is seriously out of pocket, got a nasty feeling you could have bought a clone

[b1g_dav3]

Flood damage? Could have been dried out.

Catagory B cannot be repaired.

[wase16ll]

apologies....your right, B is non repairable but can be sold to official dismantlers and broken for parts,

[zetec4]

Ahh ... Clone?

How do I confirm it vin plate against the hpi check?

It was the hpi check that said it was a cat b and Dvla said they require a Vic check in the letter,

[DanGersFord]

Please try not to swear in your posts thanks :)

[Stoney871]

Just to confirm, a Cat B must be dismantled and sold as parts only, it's not necessarily damage that makes a Cat B.

The full list of categories-

Category A Scrap only - this vehicle should have been crushed. It should never reappear on the road and there are no economically salvageable parts. It is of value only for scrap metal - e.g. a totally burnt-out vehicle. Category B The body Shell should have been crushed. The vehicle should never reappear on the road, but it can be broken for spare parts plus any residual scrap metal. Category C Vehicle extensively damaged and insurer has decided not to repair. The vehicle should have an independent inspection before being allowed back onto the road. Category D Vehicle damaged and insurer has decided not to repair. Category F Vehicle damaged by fire and insurer has decided not to repair.

Basically if the seller failed to inform you that the car was a Cat B they have broken the law as the vehicle is classed as permanently unsafe to be on the road and should have been sent to a licenced dismantler.

Even if a visual check seems to be ok any slight misalignment of the chassis will make the vehicle unsafe for road use and all the jigging and pulling in the world won't help you.

You can request a DVLA/VOSA inspector to recheck the car and confirm their classification.

A VIC marker basically is a notification on the DVLA system to flag up if the vehicles VIN number is offered for taxing so as to stop Cat A/B cars staying on the road and avoid cloning by using a scrapped car's VIN, it's there for your safety but can be removed if the car is reclassified as Cat C/D and the car's identity is confirmed as genuine.

TBH I also reckon you've been sold a ringer.

Check with your local Police ASAP, if the car is a ringer then you will lose your money because if the car has been stolen then you have paid for stolen goods. (at least it wasn't a new car).

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-identity-check/overview

[b1g_dav3]

Just to add, you must also be approved to dismantle vehicles and dispose of waste to government standards if you want to sell the parts from a category B. So unfortunately you won't be able to recoup losses by doing that yourself.

[zetec4]

Yeah I'm convinced it's a ringer, in the hpi check it says scrapped "YES"

[Stoney871]

Police and trading standards should be called.

Did you buy from a guy at the side of a road or a dealers?

I'm guessing the former.

If you have any addresses, paperwork, contact numbers etc, keep hold of them, Police will require them.

Lesson to all is 'buyer beware'.

[zetec4]

Turns out after bit of research and some help I've found our it's actually a cat c on dvlas database, so hpi check 78888 seems slightly inaccurate!

Can't be bothered with this mondeo, hundreds out there so I'm just gonna strip it down and scrap it.

[jeebowhite]

hopefully you will lose very little if you can sell a few parts...

[Stoney871]

What damage does it have to class it as a Cat C?

[b1g_dav3]

What damage does it have to class it as a Cat C?

I was wondering this, perhaps its had a rebuild of the front end or something; flood damage is always Cat B due to possible contaminants.

[Turvey]

have to agree, from experience, its unlikely to be a dvla up

Why? Because DVLA never make mistakes?

http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=2409

http://advanced-driving.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2492

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?301535-DVLA-say-I-have-no-licence

etc etc ad infinitum

[Stoney871]

Remember also they lost over 2 million (yes MILLION) blank blue V5C documents being sent back to the printers as they had an error on them.

They still crop up all over the place when someone sells a ringer.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/advice/news/Archive/Innocent-motorists-buy-stolen-cars/

[wase16ll]

im sure they do make mistakes, but driving licences are a seperate entity to vehicle database, think you'll find on the vehicle database, far less mistakes are made as everything is computerised...if a car gets cloned and bought with a stolen v5, it should get flagged immediately the new owner sends for change...wont help the new owner but thats why the vehicle checks you can do before buying is worth every penny...that way you have some comeback for any mistakes from company that supplied the checks

the new measures have made a massive difference, but wouldnt be suprised if a few slip through the net...not perfect but a hell of a lot more secure than 5/10 years ago