My car has a hidden accident history - what are my rights?

I purchased a used car seven months ago and have just discovered that it was involved in an accident. Water has also started to enter the car, causing damp and a bad musty odour.

When I purchased this vehicle from a main dealer they said that the car had not been in an accident and had had no body repairs. I have taken this car to be inspected by another Toyota main dealer and they have said that the repair was poorly done and would cost a lot to rectify. They also confirmed that from the evidence seen, the car has received a heavy rear end collision.

Am I within my rights to return this car to the dealer and ask for a refund?

Asked on 21 May 2016 by mgx19

Answered by Honest John
They were duty bound to inform you of the damage and repair under the 2008 CPRs. Your rights are here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights/

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. 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.

(The bit about the CPRs is quite a long way down.)
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