I've bought a Toyota Yaris which has turned out to be an ex-rental car. Do I have any recourse?

I bought a nearly-new Toyota Yaris from a Toyota dealer. When the logbook came through I found it was ex-rental. I wouldn't have paid so much had we known. Does the dealer have a duty to disclose or have we been caught out?

Asked on 1 September 2010 by ian douglas

Answered by Honest John
They do now, only the dealer may argue (and I would support him in this) that an ex-rental car is worth no less than an ex-privately owned car, and I actually prefer them because the variety of drivers they get runs them in better. 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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