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Expensive Jeep

If you could help, I'd be extremely grateful. In the summer of 2007, my fiance and I bought a second-hand Jeep from an authorised Jeep dealership. The dealership had bought the car from its previous owner only 5 days prior to our purchasing it, and they ran an HPI check before selling it to us, which came back clear. Last week, someone from a finance company visited our house intending to repossess the car. He explained that the previous owner of the car had used it as security for a loan that he had taken out immediately before selling the car, and had defaulted on the loan. Having failed to find him, the finance company came looking for the car. They did not repossess it immediately, but asked us to send proof of our ownership to their offices, which we did. The finance company contacted us today to tell us that they now intend to repossess the car unless we settle the previous owner's loan. We have contacted the Jeep dealership, who have told us that although they ran an HPI check before they sold us the car, the facts that the previous owner took out the loan only just before selling the car, and that we bought it from the dealership within days, meant that the information had not filtered through to the HPI records at the time that they ran the check. As a result, the dealership does not see itself as responsible. And, since the HPI check was run nearly 2 years ago, we are no longer covered by an HPI guarantee. So, as things stand, we face losing the car. Is there anything that we can do, short of suing the dealership for selling us a car with outstanding finance? If there is any advice you could offer, we would be enormously grateful. I am currently pregnant, and the prospect of needing to make an urgent dash to the hospital without access to a car doesn't bear thinking about.

Asked on 20 June 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
Very simple. The dealer who sold you the car is liable to make good the finance or to supply you with an equivalent car. Despite his checks he still sold you a car that was not his to sell, so he is still liable. If he doesn't accept this you will need to sue.
Tags: buying finance
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