# car auction - one owner not true



## moneygrower (24 Feb 2009)

Hi,
We bought a car at Merlin car auctions on Saturday. We realised that this was a pig in a poke way to buy a car but thought it was worth the risk when we saw a ten year old BMW advertised as having had only one owner. We set our max price and won the bid. On the journey home while looking through the service history we discovered the car had four previous owners in the U.k. and was then purchased by a dealer in Kildare. This would make us at least the fifth if not the sixth owners. We simply wouldn't have bid on a car at auction that had four previous owners. We rang Merlin straight away and they say they are entitled to advertise it as one previous owner as they don't have to count U.K. owners. Is this true? I have contacted the comsumer connect organisation and am waiting to hear back.
btw - The car overheated on the way home so god knows what's wrong with it.


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## tiger (24 Feb 2009)

Interesting. This doc covers importing a vehicle into Ireland (deals mainly with VRT)
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/c...to-live-in-ireland/importing_car_into_ireland
It does have a link to the "declaration of registration form VRT 4", for used cars.
[broken link removed]
No where on the form does it ask for the number of previous owners.


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## jhegarty (24 Feb 2009)

What was the exact wording of the ad ?


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## iggy (24 Feb 2009)

Thats very interesting moneygrower.
I have been looking into buying something off Merlin recently and was keeping my eye on a few cars there but in light of this I wont bother with them and will spread the word!
I understand about buying at auction i.e. you pays your money you takes your chance but as regard things like previous owners etc..well thats just underhand and devious in my opinion.
I hope you get some satisfaction....keep us informed.


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## moneygrower (24 Feb 2009)

jhegarty said:


> What was the exact wording of the ad ?



You wondering if it said one Irish owner? nope, just one owner.

Iggy, I feel exactly the same. If it had only one owner and broke down as soon as I sat into to it, I'd say well you takes your chances tough luck. I do feel this is at best sharp practice. My husband has been trying to reach the operations manager who has been away from his desk rather a lot.


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## blackbrera (24 Feb 2009)

Would you contact the National Consumer Agency?  www.nca.ie

From what you've described, it does seem like sharp practice.


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## moneygrower (24 Feb 2009)

emailed them today and husband is meeting them tomorrow. Manager in Merlin refused all day to come to the phone.


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## babyspice (24 Feb 2009)

read their terms and conditions there is something about it in there.. i can't remember now off hand.. that's the joy of anauction now..


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## moneygrower (25 Feb 2009)

Some legal friends say it sounds like fraud. There are laws that overrule a company's small print. I'll be writing a letter and letting you all know.


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## cloughy (25 Feb 2009)

as far as I am aware when you import a car and reregister it, the vechile cert issued does not include the previous owners outside of the state, so it would be classified on the irish documents 1 owner, I could be wrong.

I am not saying that what they did is correect or not, but just saying that it would be difficult to know from the Vechile Reg cert the number of owners, and when I sold my car there, I had to fill in a report as to whether it was an import and the no of owners, but as mine was an Irish car I had to fill in the no of previous owners +1.


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## Caveat (25 Feb 2009)

Regardless, you could always start by contacting Merlin by letter and pointing out that you believe that they are acting unethically and/or are being misleading (choose your words carefully).

Tell them that you will be informing everyone you know about this 'anomaly' - maybe even direct them to this thread and point out the number of views. (416 as I type)

I assume you would ideally want to return the car with perhaps a commitment to buy an alternative at a future auction?


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## moneygrower (25 Feb 2009)

Caveat said:


> Regardless, you could always start by contacting Merlin by letter and pointing out that you believe that they are acting unethically and/or are being misleading (choose your words carefully).
> 
> This is what I intend to do, solicitor friend is giving me the wording.
> 
> ...



Ideally, I want to return it and take my time buying an old loved beemer from a private seller. I've discovered I really like BMW's, though I fear my arms will go flabby with the easy steering. My friend, a bmw owner, informs me this now makes me a pr*ck. Had been reluctantly considering a nissan primera as a budget/reliability option when this car caught our eye.

It's only my second car, first was 1998 Rover 200, really liked it, great at 30mph, but you work hard to drive it , nearly dislocated my shoulder on the gear stick, and feck all power out of the city. 

Anyhow that's OT, I will be in touch with their response to the letter.


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## Pique318 (25 Feb 2009)

cloughy said:


> as far as I am aware when you import a car and reregister it, the vechile cert issued does not include the previous owners outside of the state, so it would be classified on the irish documents 1 owner, I could be wrong.



You are 
The Vehicle Reg Cert has details of the previous owners from abroad.


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## cityboy (25 Feb 2009)

Whatever about the technicalities of the registration of Irish/Uk owners, surely the ethical thing to do is simply state the number of Uk & Irish numbers. 

Merlin are trying to market their auctions as a good place to buy cars, however this is just sharp practice and won't help them to improve the image of car auctions.


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## CCOVICH (25 Feb 2009)

moneygrower said:


> My friend, a bmw owner, informs me this now makes me a pr*ck. Had been reluctantly considering a nissan primera as a budget/reliability option when this car caught our eye.



Keep the Bimmer.

I agree with you on the easy steering though (I don't drive one myself, but 2 of my friends have 320 coupes).

Right pricks they are too


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## z101 (25 Feb 2009)

Can you say things like that on here??

Iggy, have you still not sorted a car. Thought you were bringing one in 6 mths ago..


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## Mr Bishi (25 Feb 2009)

This is very interesting to me I must say. I've been to an auction and have been thinking about going soon to source a van for work but i don't like the sound of what's going on there. I know it might just be a case with a small few cars but the fact remains they find it so easy to do it. I'd like to see how this turns out for you.

Also I've never heard of sharp practice. Can someone fill me in please?


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## iggy (25 Feb 2009)

Ceatharlach...The more I look at changing my car the less inclined I am to do it!
I have driven lots of cars in the past few months, Toyota celicas, hyundai coupes, bmw 320`s and none of them come close to my old `97 Rover 600 (Honda accord engine)...honestly.It runs like a dream ,it`s got ABS, lekki windows, aircon, sunroof etc so the only reason to change it is because of the 97 on the regplate...sheer snobbery!!
I think I just have too much time on my hands.
I also had a family illness which curtailed my search for a while but I am still on the lookout for the right car.


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## Caveat (26 Feb 2009)

Mr Bishi said:


> Also I've never heard of sharp practice. Can someone fill me in please?


 
Operating (usually only just) within the law - but in a way that is perceived to be to the detriment of the supplier/customer etc. General 'sneakiness'.


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## RedTop (26 Feb 2009)

I was considering buying a car at Merlin Car Auctions, but after hearing this story, I will be staying well clear of them.  There are enough other bargains out there from more reputable sources.


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## redo (26 Feb 2009)

me too


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## moneygrower (19 Mar 2009)

Hi, just to update. Got a letter today from Merlin's solicitors saying as a gesture of goodwill and without prejudice (not admitting liability) they are offering a full refund!


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## baldyman27 (19 Mar 2009)

moneygrower said:


> Hi, just to update. Got a letter today from Merlin's solicitors saying as a gesture of goodwill and without prejudice (not admitting liability) they are offering a full refund!


 
Just read this thread and glad I did. Was going to go to Merlin for a van in the next few weeks but have changed my mind pretty quickly now. Well done for posting the problems and even though Merlin have agreed to a refund, the fact that they are only doing so 'as a gesture of goodwill' shows that they are engaging in sharp practices IMO. Hope someone from Merlin is following this thread and realsises how many potential customers they have lost. Well done AAM.


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## iggy (19 Mar 2009)

Amazing coincidence, about 10 minutes ago I decided to log on to search for an update on this thread to see if you had any feedback.
Glad to hear that it is being sorted in the best possible way for you.
I have been at a few of the auctions just to get the hang of what goes on and am much more wary now anyway.
There seems to be lots of high mileage cars and I haven`t seen any _great _bargains considering the risk you take when buying at auction, most are moved on as unsold after not meeting the reserve price which in some cases is as high as a high street garage price anyway.


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