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Is this Volkswagen Golf GTi Edition 30 an import?

I went to look at a 2008 57-plate Golf GTi Edition 30 yesterday. It looked like a good car, and as it was end of the month I got a good deal, as I paid cash and am to collect the vehicle on Saturday. Today, I am struggling to get insurance as I've been told it is an import. As it is a RHD model, why is this an issue to insurers and have i actually paid over the odds? If it was written off will the PAV be significantly less than a UK model? Should I cancel the payment and advise the dealer that I need to withdraw or am I panicking a bit?

Asked on 1 September 2010 by berg

Answered by Honest John
The Edition 30 was a UK model, so it could be that the insurer's database is wrong. But if it is an independent import and you were not told, that alone is grounds to cancel the contract. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) contains 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. www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/buying-selling/...l , www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2002/20023045.htm and www.consumerdirect.gov.uk

This creates an offence of misleading omissions which 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. As far as I know this has yet to be tested in court and there are no case precedents. As soon as there are, and I am made aware, I will include them.
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