Helpful Advice wanted! bought a dodgy car!

[conorcook]

fairly new to the forum although i have used it in the past, 
so the story goes that i bought a MK7 fiesta from Peter Vardy, it was 64 plate (registered 15)  only had 11K on the clock and to the unsuspecting eye looked great, 
now over a year later the paint has all started coming off on the front bumper and I've had it repaired, annoyingly the body shop have told me its been in at least one accident if not 2, as the front bumper had been repaired and repainted in the past to a poor standard, paint on the surrounds of headlights, flaking lacquer etc. the rear wheel arch and rear bumper had been filled and painted badly to the point that you can actually see the filler line (after it is pointed out to you)  and the drivers door has some bubbles appearing in the paint making it seem like it had also been repaired at some point! they also said that it wouldn't be worth it to put everything right on the bodywork as it would almost be a complete respray! 
I've contacted Peter vardy and they very rudely said i can either bring it in and part exchange it or i can go to the ombudsman about them (apparently that is likely to take ages according to peter vardy)  
Any advice on what i should do? I paid £9K for the car 16 months ago and i really cant afford to part exchange and buy another! I am thinking of going down the ombudsman route but just wondering if anyone would have any experience or advice! 
thanks in advance and sorry for the long story! 

[iantt]

The trouble is you have only just noticed it, so in reg vardys eyes you could have had an accident any time in the last 16months and had it poorly repaired elsewhere. Ombudsman probably will take the same view unfortunately. 

[Jonro2009]

2 hours ago, iantt said:

The trouble is you have only just noticed it, so in reg vardys eyes you could have had an accident any time in the last 16months and had it poorly repaired elsewhere. Ombudsman probably will take the same view unfortunately. 

I’m glad you said that, I was thinking it but wasn’t wanting to be the one to ***** on his parade

[zain611]

Sorry to hear that. A car with little as 11k on the clock you'd think wouldn't have been in an accident or have any serious cosmetic issues. 

Probably won't hurt to ask ombudsman and see what they say. Sadly there are a lot of cars out there with hidden problems which sellers try to hide for maximum profit. Like they say money is the root of all evil. When I was searching for my car the first one I saw I found to have overspray on the rear quarter and had 7 fault codes. The car I have now I found a day later it had a leaking injector and that the owner lied about work being done on it. 

Is it possible to look at the cost of spraying the driver door, bumpers and arches if you plan on keeping the car long term or source second hand parts? Or could look at privately selling and getting something different or the same with the money. 

[WES180]

Why don't you write to the previous keeper and ask them what caused the damage? They might be happy to tell you or they might not reply as they knew about all the damage repair work and didn't tell the garage when they px'd it. They have no obligation to tell the garage though if it was only cosmetic damage just like the garage selling it on to yourself. There are a lot of used cars on forecourts with non original paintwork, as a buyer all you can do is hpi it to see if there are any insurance claims on it (Cat D etc) and then a visual inspection yourself. You could always ask the garage at the point of sale if the car has been involved in any accidents but you would only be answered with "Not that we know of"!!!

[Jonro2009]

11 hours ago, zain611 said:

Sorry to hear that. A car with little as 11k on the clock you'd think wouldn't have been in an accident or have any serious cosmetic issues. 

 

Any car can have an accident at any age/mileage. It’s not uncommon for a car with as little as 10miles on the clock to have been resprayed. The amount of brand new cars that get scratched OEM ended just driving off the forecourt is unbelievable. The new owners aren’t used to it and scrape it coming out of a gap they have misjudged. 

When I bought my new Golf 12years ago I was sat in the garage signing the papers there was a woman who was collecting her new Bora, I watched as she handed in the keys to her Polo and jumped into the new car. She proceeded to drive off the forecourt, clip the bollard at the exit and flip the car onto its roof! 

 

[TomsFocus]

Low mileage new cars are more likely to have been repaired after an accident, much more profit in it than repairing an older, higher miler car.  

Not all cars are recorded through insurance either.  Look on eBay for 'non recorded' salvage and you'll find loads on there, they can legally be fully repaired and put back on the road with no obligation to tell the new owner...yet could have far more damage than a car that has gone through insurance and has a Cat N/S status...  

State of this...2018...7k miles...once repaired the new owner will have no idea!  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2018-18-A5-2-0-S-LINE-SPORTBACK-S-TRONIC-UNRECORDED-DAMAGED-REPAIRABLE-SALVAGE/223208844278?hash=item33f848abf6:g:fdQAAOSwWotb1zJR:rk:2:pf:1