Need Help Vauxhall Damage

Associate
Joined
5 Aug 2020
Posts
10
Hi,

I bought a car, as I had other problems my car was looked at by the garage he noted that my card had previously been accident repaired potentially.

He stated that the thing under the bonnet (don’t know what it’s called sorry) I have attached the link and marked the bit red. Is misaligned and has been screwed back on randomly. By looking at the picture is this clear and or correct.

Can someone that knows about cars make a comment on this if it is and how you can tell so I can pass it on to the garage.

Thank you

Pic link: https://ibb.co/ZL0s3k2

Will post it again

https://ibb.co/ZL0s3k2
 
Associate
OP
Joined
5 Aug 2020
Posts
10
Sorry also there is a bigger gap on one side of the bonnet which further shows that it may have been repaired. Is this noticeable I have attached another pic for that, if so can anyone comment on how and why that gap may be there if it was repaired or what can cause that.

thanks guys : https://ibb.co/ssbRMgH

garage is trying to blame me when I reported it to them stressed!
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Apr 2007
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7,262
Location
South of the Watford Gap!
Is that really the oil in the car, looks like thick porridge? If it is then I'd seriously get a flush and oil change done.

EDIT: As for damage, your pics aren't composed enough to say yay or nay. You really need to take a wider and clearer pic of the front from example so that both wings can be seen. For the bonnet line, maybe a pic of the other side etc...
 
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Associate
OP
Joined
5 Aug 2020
Posts
10
That’s the only pictures I have which were for from before when the garage told me I didn’t think nothing off it.

Car was collected and inspected and then I was told I damaged it!
Stressed why didn’t I take pictures or know much about cars!
 
Associate
Joined
19 Jul 2011
Posts
2,343
You bought a damaged car from this garage, or somewhere else? Or is the garage saying you have damaged the car? Very unclear from the OP.
 
Associate
OP
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10
I bought the car from an independent garage who I then gave it back to who claims I did the damage.

Prior to giving it back I went to another garage to change the light bulb ( this is the garage that asked me oh have u had an accident in the past, I was like no, he said it looked like it had been badly repaired) when I asked him why he says that he then told me about that panel I’m talking about the screws not being lined up and random screws holding it together.
 
Associate
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19 Jul 2011
Posts
2,343
So the seller of the car is claiming you a) damaged it and b) got it badly repaired.

How long ago did you buy the car, and what inspection was done at the time you bought it?
 
Associate
OP
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5 Aug 2020
Posts
10
I bought it in January it had clutch issues in February and the pictures are from then.

I don’t know what inspection was done when I bought the vehicle however I’m waiting on my finance company to ask for this.

Is there anything in particular I should be asking for?

Also is there any way I can request like an engineer and can they tell when the repair was carried out because I would want them to do that without delay. I am not taking liability for something that I didn’t do. The only damage I did was to the alloy and tyre by hitting into a high kurb.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2010
Posts
12,305
I bought it in January it had clutch issues in February and the pictures are from then.

I don’t know what inspection was done when I bought the vehicle however I’m waiting on my finance company to ask for this.

Is there anything in particular I should be asking for?

Also is there any way I can request like an engineer and can they tell when the repair was carried out because I would want them to do that without delay. I am not taking liability for something that I didn’t do. The only damage I did was to the alloy and tyre by hitting into a high kurb.

If you bought it in January i think your rights have timed out. IIRC final right to reject is 6 months from purchase date.

7/8 months is a long time to be going back to the garage you purchased the car from to enquire about the damage. What is it you're expecting them to do exactly? I imagine they'll just say it passed their inspections when they purchased and sold the car, and you've had the car long enough that you could have been in an accident yourself, and had the car repaired, and are now trying it on with the garage.
 
Associate
Joined
18 Apr 2020
Posts
767
OP - What's the actual issue here, a timeline of events might be useful. I know my vauxhalls but your pictures are too close for me to make out.

Accident damaged but well repaired isn't necessarily a bad thing.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
29,074
Location
Ottakring, Vienna.
You bought a car from a garage, took it to another garage, that garage told you it was damage, you took it back to the original garage and... then what, you tried to give it back? :confused:
The original garage said it wasnt damaged when you bought it, and now you want an engineer report to prove it was damaged all along? To what end? What are you hoping to achieve with this exercise ?

I can't be alone, your posts are really badly written and I don't really know what's going on.
 
Man of Honour
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19 Oct 2002
Posts
29,509
Location
Surrey
I can see the trim is misaligned from the slam panel. But from the pictures alone, and not having knowledge of that model of car, it's not possible to judge whether that's due to damage or not. It could have simply been work done in that area and a lazy mechanic not fitting it all back right. But if I'd seen that when viewing the car for purchase it would certainly have raised the question in my mind about any damage and I would have then looked further and asked a lot of questions.

Unfortunately, if it has had damage (and I'm not saying it has), then it's going to be very hard at this point in time to prove it wasn't during your ownership and that the car was misrepresented when sold. It's not illegal for a garage to sell a repaired car as long as it is road worthy and they have not misrepresented the condition.
 
Associate
Joined
19 Dec 2002
Posts
2,002
without seeing the car , its hard to tell. you could always hpi the car and see if it flags anything , but from your pictures i wouldnt be too worried , personally just changed a radiator on the daughters zaphira due to stone damage and would be really happy with those gaps:)

as said unfortunatly even if it has been damaged you probably have very little come back on the garage.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
5 Aug 2020
Posts
10
Hi,

So just to clarify (sorry the posts are badly written was busy at work and was writing on breaks) I bought the car in January it is a Vauxhall Astra 16 Plate.

I had issues with the clutch, the pictures I have attached above are from the inspection carried out by an independent engineer in February. The engineer agreed that there was issues with the clutch and that they would have been present when I bought the vehicle. Due to this reason I was able to reject it.

Due to the private dealership taking ages to arrange collection and not cooperating and the delays due to covid , it was only collected last week when the finance company decided to use there own collections company to collect it and take it to the private dealership.

Now that it is back at the dealership they are claiming that I have had a front collision (is this an accident) and that it has been badly repaired. Since the inspection in February till the car being collected it has only had a 100 miles added on. This was whilst I was awaiting the engineer report which took around 2 weeks. Once I knew I was in a position to reject it I didn’t drive the car.

Before the car was collected I realised one of the headlights had gone out, due to paying a deposit of £4000 I had gone to replace the bulb.(This is were the second garage comes into the picture). As he was replacing the bulb he was the one who spotted that the panel which I highlighted in the above picture (under the bonnet) looked like it had been repaired and put together not very well). As I don’t know much about cars I didn’t check under the bonnet when I bought the vehicle. Therefore I believe that the damage / repair would have been there before I bought the vehicle.

I am now awaiting on the finance company to investigate and see who is to blame, before I could get back my money if I am. I have not been involved in an accident the only damage I have done to the vehicle is to the alloy which I scraped of the curb.

I just wanted to know by the pictures I attached if anyone agreed with what the garage who replaced the bulb said was true. But as the pictures ain’t clear this ain’t possible.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
5 Aug 2020
Posts
10
I have just done a HPI check :


VAUXHALL
ASTRA SRI CDTI
Stolen: NO
Written off: NO
Exported: NO
Former Keepers: 1
Reg. Change: NO
 
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