Advice please: been sold a dodgy import by a VW dealer

[f1fan]

Very interesting reading. I hope you get a good financial settlement in the end.

Apologies if this has been said earlier, a I haven't read every post, but as the car is on a 58 plate but was registered in Denmark 6 months earlier, doesn't this mean that Motorpoint must have falsely declared this car as new at first registration in the UK. I.e it is illegally displaying a number plate that makes it look newer than it is? For me this us the biggest issue with the car, not that the spec is wrong. Won't the OP need to contact DVLA to get them to reregister the car as an 08?

VW UK were a bit hazy about the Danish history.  I think their exact words was it was made in Feb 2008 and shipped out to a Danish dealer (that he could pronounce on the phone) in Mar 2008. I asked if it had been registered, he assumed or guessed so but actually that's probably not the case.  The only way to to be sure is to check the VIN number with the Danish equivalent of the DVLA.  it was shipped to the UK but I don't know when.  I believe Motorpoint imported it and then had it sitting in the UK until it was sold and then registered in Nov 2008.  So I think legally its fine as it was first registered as new in the UK in Nov 2008, when it was made and how long it took to get to the first owner is irrelevant really.  It's not much different to buying a car made in the UK that sat in a compound for months.

I remember when I bought my GTI 6 years ago that Motorpoint had brand new GTIs for about the same money. I went as far as giving them a call to check the specification at which point they told me the cars were imported. They had loads of them at the time and I was very tempted until they told me it didn't come with a 3 year warranty because it was an import but instead they gave a 30 day (yes i do mean day) warranty. There was no way I was going to spend nearly £20k on a brand new car and only get a months warranty.

I think mine is one of those Motorpoint cars!

[scooba]

I think ,If it was me id just want my money back  and buy something else

[f1fan]

That's how I originally felt, but to be honest that's not very likely.  I love my car now and am happy to keep it as long as Ive paid the price it's worth!

[jbc]

VW UK were a bit hazy about the Danish history.  I think their exact words was it was made in Feb 2008 and shipped out to a Danish dealer (that he could pronounce on the phone) in Mar 2008. I asked if it had been registered, he assumed or guessed so but actually that's probably not the case.  The only way to to be sure is to check the VIN number with the Danish equivalent of the DVLA.  it was shipped to the UK but I don't know when.  I believe Motorpoint imported it and then had it sitting in the UK until it was sold and then registered in Nov 2008.  So I think legally its fine as it was first registered as new in the UK in Nov 2008, when it was made and how long it took to get to the first owner is irrelevant really.  It's not much different to buying a car made in the UK that sat in a compound for months.

OK yes, as long as it was never registered in Denmark then it is all fine. I suspect the delivered to Denmark, shipped to UK theory is probably right as this is how most imported cars make there way through the system from manufacturer to forecourt. It's perfectly believable that it took 6 months from being delivered in Denmark to being sold in the UK as new car sales were a bit slow back in 2008.

Good luck with your claim.

[Gazza747]

That's how I originally felt, but to be honest that's not very likely.  I love my car now and am happy to keep it as long as Ive paid the price it's worth!

You are after £3750, they have offered £1250 so maybe suggest to them you would accept somewhere in the middle say £2500?

[RedRobin]

That's how I originally felt, but to be honest that's not very likely.  I love my car now and am happy to keep it as long as Ive paid the price it's worth!

You are after £3750, they have offered £1250 so maybe suggest to them you would accept somewhere in the middle say £2500?

.... x 2

As previously said, they are admitting being at fault (or being responsible for the issue) and therefore are opening negotiation with a low offer.

Stay calm in your negotiations.  

[f1fan]

Well after 4-5 months I finally have a resolution.  The dealer agreed to pay me £1875 as final settlement in my complaint.  It's a bit less than I had hoped for but I don't think I have done too badly in the end.  I've basically paid £10375 for a 3.5 year old 26k mile GTi (well it was back in September when I bought it!).

Thanks for the help and advice everyone.... I can now spend some of that money on changing my car, new stereo and some metal number plates are the first purchase.

[Kalpsn2000]

^^^
Good to hear you finally have a conclusion to the issue and can now 'properly' enjoy the motor

[mk4gti-t]

Glad you have reached a 'satisfactory' resolution and now have £1875 to spend on mods