Is a dealer legally obliged to declare a car as an import?

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Is a dealer legally obliged to declare a car as an import?

We bought a new Porsche Macan through an independent dealer 12 months ago and later found out that the car was an import from Cyprus. We are not happy with this as the information was not given to us at the time of sale and only came to light after a year into ownership. The seller has also put a made up name in the maintenance book to register the warranty (which is of course much shorter than a normal UK car), does the dealer have to legally advise a buyer if the car is an import?

Asked on 5 December 2016 by Andrew

Answered by Honest John

Yes he does under The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations May 2008 (CPRs) that contain a general prohibition against unfair commercial practices and, in particular prohibitions against misleading actions, misleading omissions and aggressive commercial practices. The Regulations are enforceable through the civil and criminal courts.
It creates an offence of misleading omissions that would not previously have been an offence if the consumer had not asked the right questions. So if a salesman knows a car has, for example, been badly damaged and repaired and does not tell the customer, he could later be held liable if the customer subsequently discovered that the car had been damaged and repaired.
Whether legal action against him will succeed is another matter because he may simply declare himself bankrupt, then start up again afterwards.

Tags: legal and consumer advice imports