Fiat 500 - Car from dealeship accident damage repair

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Thu 19 Jul 2012 13:16
Fiat 500 - Car from dealeship accident damage repair - Clara-Bell
Hi all
I wondered if someone could shed some light on where I stand with this...I brought a 60 plate Fiat 500 from and APPROVED Fiat dealership less than a month ago. I brought it outright at just over £8k. Within two weeks there was a knocking whenever I drove off or reversed and a really loud knock on the window...I rang Fiat who I was waiting to call in regards to a missing 'part' for the blue&me bluetooth to be fitted and they said 'probably nothing to worry about and bring it in'. My partner then had a look and we noticed that a few things didnt look right.
In light of this I took it too Fiat and they have booked it in for repair this weds, it also came to light that it had been a BSM car and this wasnt discolsed to me at sale as I wouldnt have purchased it and that it was HPI clear (which I had already checked).
I have just had an independant AA report done and the car has had a new door, a new wing (front and back) and the bonnet and roof have been repainted (badly). There is also a problem with the suspension also.
I dont even want Fiat to have the car back to repair as I do not want it, I feel it was missold to me and I do not want a 2 year old car that has had that much bodywork done...HPI is clear but the car has clearly been in an accident.
Not sure where I stand legally and wondered if anyone had any previous experience with something like this or could shed some light on it professionally. Thanks

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Thu 19 Jul 2012 20:57
Fiat 500 - Car from dealeship accident damage repair - lordwoody

Citizens Advice, local Trading Standards or a solicitor specialising in consumer affairs. You need proper advice on this.

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Thu 19 Jul 2012 21:40
Fiat 500 - Car from dealeship accident damage repair - daveyjp
Unless you have it in writing that the car has never been involved in an accident you may be in the realms of caveat emptor as there is no requirement to record repaired cars with HPI.

Take it up with Fiat, but chances are they will just rectify any issues with the less than perfect repair.
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Fri 20 Jul 2012 10:43
Fiat 500 - Car from dealeship accident damage repair - tony g
Hi ,you may have a case that the dealership failed to disclose material information when they sold the car .Ie the car had been used for driving instruction prior to your purchase ,does it show that BSM were the first owners of the car ,it would certainly affect the value of the car .

Tony g
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Fri 20 Jul 2012 11:27
Fiat 500 - Car from dealeship accident damage repair - Clara-Bell

Yeah it is on the logbook, and in all fairness I should have checked it when I recieved it but it wasnt until I checked the service history and the first service was done by a fleet company that I investigated.

The definately didnt tell me, but I suppose its my word against his...

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Fri 20 Jul 2012 14:43
Fiat 500 - Car from dealeship accident damage repair - MondeoMonkeyMagic
agree with the posts wrt trading standards, but would also add contact the dealer principal of the garage, plus contact the local newspaper as they maybe short of stories and it may help your arguement wrt negative publicity.

Let us know how your get on and how you achieve it
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