I Messed Up and Accidently Bought a Written Off Car

LSoShy on 04/01/2017 - 01:01
Last edited 04/01/2017 - 06:31 by 2 other users

I was in a rush and agreed to buy it, and deposited 1k with the seller today.

After the meet up about hours, I realized there was no way the car would be this cheap and did a ppsr check and… realize I Mod: Removed Profanity up big time.

I came to inspect with my mate, the seller told me the car did have accident but very minor. So at least I have someone to confirm he was telling lie because the car had quite serious accident according to the ppsr.

I haven't paid him in full, is there anyway I could get out of this case peacefully? Any suggestion would be welcome, thanks.

Add my ppsr report:

Automotive

Comments

shaiguy on 05/01/2017 - 10:28

+1

FYI - I did buy a repairable write-off in the past. I had mechanic friends check it though and they said it was fine - hence the price. We did know what was done to it and it did need a tweak to the headlights. It is still going well 10+ years later.

In your case, it looks like a fair bit of damage has been done. Just say that he was supposed to inform you that it was a write off rather than a minor prang and that it is law and you, your father, etc. are lawyers (even if it is not you need to threaten him with it) and ask for your deposit back. If someone is already that dodgy, they are not going to want to deal with the law and at worst you will only use your deposit (he will not go to the courts to enforce it as he only claimed it was a minor prang).
JimB on 05/01/2017 - 11:04

Caveat Emptor.

When buying a secondhand car and putting a deposit on it, I specifically state that 'if the car does not pass XYZ mechanical tests or has been involved in an accident, the deposit is refundable in full'.

It's not practical that you go check the PPSR prior to checking out each car. However I remember in the past, you could check on the VIC Roads website if it was written off or under finance for free. Now you have to pay for it.

$500 is an expensive lesson, though cheaper than $1,000.
- xuqi on 05/01/2017 - 12:48
  
  -1
  
  The seller disclosed this info to the OP:
  
  "I came to inspect with my mate, the seller told me the car did have accident but very minor."
  - JimB on 05/01/2017 - 15:23
    
    If the seller admits it's been in an accident (as many vehicles are), then change it to passing pre-purchase inspection.
Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 05/01/2017 - 12:59

Valuable lesson learnt.
serapax on 05/01/2017 - 18:37

+2

Pro-tip I learned when searching extensively for the right car last year - get the VIN and Google it.
I found many of the cars on Gumtree with lines like 'belonged to my wife for five years', 'always garaged and serviced' etc etc. were actually picked up at auction with many many tens or even hundreds of thousand Km more on the clock. Some of them 'repairable write-offs'.
I even went to a couple of auctions myself and saw the cars pop-up on Gumtree a week later - again with the stories as above and much much lower km.

For fun, I rang a couple and had them spread their story along, digging themselves deeper and deeper until I drop the 'so how come this car was sold at Pickles last week then' to have them hang up. Google map their address and the backyard is often full of cars.
- serpserpserp on 05/01/2017 - 20:37
  
  How do you get the VIN if the guys know that just by a simple google search you'll find the KMs?
  - zfind on 06/01/2017 - 11:05
    
    They're not the sharpest tools in the shed and usually not tech savvy.
    
    My questions is how does winding back KMs even get by the authorities these days?
  - Ridiculous Panda on 06/01/2017 - 22:42
    
    You can get the VIN by running the rego on the TMR website in Queensland. Not sure about other states.
    - serapax on 07/01/2017 - 08:55
      
      Same in VIC - if you have the rego, you can get the VIN.
      
      As for the odometer, I believe the most common method is to swap out the speedo panel from a wrecked car.
serpserpserp on 05/01/2017 - 20:36

+1

Don't worry about it, is the car in good condition? I got duped into buy a write off many years ago (the seller bought it from QLD and went to NSW to register it after he fixed it to avoid detection on the car at the time.) But the car was in really great condition and it was 8 grand instead of the cheapest 10k I could see for the car at the time. Often write offs are just rear ended so the engine can be unharmed (to a degree). It is buyer beware, but if you took a good look at it and know what you are looking for, you might end of with a great car. I did, I had it 10 years and it never skipped a beat and never needed repairs outside of normal servicing.
wukachuka on 05/01/2017 - 23:55

+1

Geez, i hope the seller isn't in one of those dodgy neighborhoods where kids roam around at night breaking all the windows in random peoples cars for fun…
That kind of thing could cost a poor guy $1000, even if they left the tires alone!
I fu$%ing hate vandalism!
ian895 on 06/01/2017 - 08:18

I had a very similar situation. Put a deposit on a car (in another state), finance got knocked back because the car had previously been written off (bank didn't stipulate repairable or not). Finance was later approved but not against that car in particular.

I found this out just before my flight interstate, so I was pretty shattered.

I met up with the guy, explained that I can't buy the car due to it's history and not wanting any trouble when it comes to pit passing etc.

He was frustrated because as far as he was aware, I was meeting up with him to hand over $17,000 and take the car, not turn around say "Yeah, nah, not buying it". I was frustrated too.

He agreed to return half the deposit ($500 out of $1000). Not ideal, but $500 is cheap compared to possible issues when trying to get it registered at home.

I ended up finding something else in another state (on the way home) and brought that instead.
[Deactivated] on 06/01/2017 - 14:54

Another question after reading some of the replies. Do you guys think that the seller asking for $1000 deposit is a red flag? Why so much? It doesn't even cost that much to list the car. I've got a few secondhand cars and the only time i've even had to leave a deposit was at the a used car dealer and I felt I had to do that because I was arranging for a mechanic to come inspect the car.
- keverns on 06/01/2017 - 17:51
  
  going by the ops sold car… seems reasonable for the total value he was selling it for.
  depends on many factors such as demand for the car i suppose.
  
  if i was a seller: i'd say 10% should suffice a deposit… this would remove time wasters.
  otherwise i'd just say no holds…come inspect…i'd be the one driving if its not by some qualified insured company…like it, bring the full amount and buy it.
  
  if i was the buyer: sure the seller may as for $XXXX dollars what not/ if i was real keen i'd give, if thats less than 10%. but the real wordings come from term and conditions, subject to finance if needed/getting someone qualified to check that its the way you expect the car condition to be in. if fails, deposit back.
  
  if the seller say no refunds… i'd be worried.
  - [Deactivated] on 06/01/2017 - 21:57
    
    Yea I suppose the car I was buying were fairly run-of-the-mill cars at either weird locations or unpopular models. I have been successfully bargained face to face or over the phone then basically made arrangements to return with the full value to buy the car (usually within a few days). I would not ask them to take down the add or anything.
    I would say I'm a fairly hassle free buyer too. I don't make ridiculous demands or bargains and the only additional request is a mechanic's inspection.
Mrbean007 on 08/01/2017 - 21:04

Lol when I was beater I remember a guy bought a car had a little accident just tapped the front bumper and brought it to us to get fixed we inspected it not much then popped up the bonnet and noticed cracks in the firewall noticed it was full bogged up he said he just bought it recently when we asked where did you buy it and what did he say backstown it figures even his insurance didn't want to pay $500 job would of turned out to be a $10,000 job insurance company told us and the owner to quickly boggy it up and get rid of it I would hate to be the next guy that bought it

I Messed Up and Accidently Bought a Written Off Car

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