WARNING Pirelli buyers-Dishonest Seller

[hookedondsg]

Hi all. I have found some very helpfull information from this site and would like to thank all that have contributed. I want to also help out by warning others about a recent transaction I have had and hope they can avoid the same dramas I have had.

I have been looking to purchase a Pirelli Gti and thought I had found a very good example at a bargain price. The add is here 2008 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTI DSG PIRELLI V MY09 Private Cars For Sale in NSW - carsales.com.au 1246 1247 1252 1282 4294962746 4294962677 4294789929&SearchAction=N&silo=1011&seot=1&tsrc=al lcarhome&__Nne=15&trecs=13&__sid=12C7305EAAC8 .

After checking the vehicle which looked to be fine and the owner promising everything was above board and there had been no issues or damage, I placed a sizable deposit on the car. Usually I wouldn't have rushed into it or placed as large a deposit on it (the owner actually wanted 10% as deposit but I didn't go that far thank f--k) but the owner was saying on the phone that others were coming over to look at the vehicle and there had been multiple calls on the car. I also missed a great price on an R32 by only a couple of hours the day before so didn't want to miss out again and uncharacteristically rushed into the deposit that evening without thinking.

Anyway the next morning I got all the VIN, engine details etc to check the RTA records only to find the vehicle is actually a repaired write off. I immediately notified the seller that I wasn't going to buy the car and they had deceived me by saying it had no damge and wanted my deposit back. They claimed no knowledge of the write off and said they had also lost on the car now that they know it is a repaired write off and may have trouble selling the car. They said they had called other potential interested buyers the night before to say they had a deposit and cancelled any appointments they claimed they had made to view the car and as such had lost the chance to sell the car and would keep the deposit (having the phone numbers would suggest they could also ring them back not 12 hrs later to say the car was still available).

After digging a little deeper, I find the current owners are the ones who re-registered the car so they knew of the damage and have lied from the start. I have emails confirming them denying any knowledge of the damage.

During the time before I found out about the write off they had been very pushy to complete the sale and wanted me to collect the car as soon as possible and even suggested paying most of it in cash which I said wouldn't happen and it would be a bank cheque. So alarm bells were already starting to ring before I found out about the write off but I had already paid the deposit.

Hopefully my expensive lesson can be a warning to others not to stupidly rush into a deposit without checking the RTA details before hand and not taking any seller on their word no matter how convincing and honest they initially sound. Also, obviously stay well clear of this vehicle.

P.S.
If anyone knows of anyone who is 'persuasive' at 'debt recovery' please PM me as I am happy to share part of the deposit if recovered.

(Moderators: Please post this thread where it will be the most help to others as a warning)

[NabzGTI]

ouch.. sorry to hear dude :/

if its any consellation, I would have put a deposit on it just as you did. Thats a bargain price if it was for real.

I know it might sound stupid, but try to found out why it was a writeoff in the first place? It could have been as simple as the airbag going off after a minor hit.

[rs73]

well if the airbag and other parts are replaceable at a reasonable cost in proportion to the car value it should not have been written off...
didn't you feel anything out of whack wobbling etc when test driving? could be felt sometimes on higher highway speed if usually things get misaligned after a serious crash that wrote the car off in the first place?

[mikinoz]

I suggest contacting you contact your local police command and lodge a statement of facts and ask them to assist you.

[fuzion]

I suggest contacting you contact your local police command and lodge a statement of facts and ask them to assist you.

agree with mike in this one.

you definitely can get your money back as the agreement of the deposit was based on the information that they provided was true and fact which was not..

have a google, theres a few things you can do legally to get it back.. illegally as well but i never said that .. did i ? lol

but good on you for letting else know and i would personally call carsales or email them about the ad as well to protect others

[Dyldo]

I thought Pirellis only came in the Pirelli Yellow and Black?

Defo go to the cops and well done for having everything documented.

Cons are usually good, which is why we get caught in them. Sorry to hear about the bad news and bad luck, but its not over yet and you should be good.

[PhillipAudiDealer]

A write off could be cause it had seen a body of water.. like flooding and alike.. So maybe accident damage was undectable cause in theory it had not had any. . Still a repairable writeoff is a repairable rightoff.. Dodgy.

[OilBurna]

car sales should make it mandatory to state it has been a repairable write off

[PhillipAudiDealer]

I think laws are in place or coming into place where u can no longer sell a Repairable Writeoff any more. depends on states..

[triode12]

I thought Pirellis only came in the Pirelli Yellow and Black?

Defo go to the cops and well done for having everything documented.

Cons are usually good, which is why we get caught in them. Sorry to hear about the bad news and bad luck, but its not over yet and you should be good.

They came in four colours - Silver, Black, Yellow and Blue Graphite.

So the saying goes... if it is too good to be true...it probably is.

[NabzGTI]

well if the airbag and other parts are replaceable at a reasonable cost in proportion to the car value it should not have been written off...
didn't you feel anything out of whack wobbling etc when test driving? could be felt sometimes on higher highway speed if usually things get misaligned after a serious crash that wrote the car off in the first place?

To my knowledge, if the airbag goes off, that automatically makes it a writeoff? And then depending on chasis and structural damage, determines if it's a repairable/unrepearable writeoff. Because it's assumed that if the airbag goes off, in most cases its a pretty damn hard hit. Maybe I was being told fibs.. or I had too many beers that friday after work and didnt understand properly :/

[jazd]

Thats a bargain price if it was for real.

There's another listed with 18000 ks on it for $36k. If I was in the market I would be looking at this R32 though, only $35000 with 43000 ks on it.

[ian]

To my knowledge, if the airbag goes off, that automatically makes it a writeoff? And then depending on chasis and structural damage, determines if it's a repairable/unrepearable writeoff. Because it's assumed that if the airbag goes off, in most cases its a pretty damn hard hit. Maybe I was being told fibs.. or I had too many beers that friday after work and didnt understand properly :/

Lucky your in NSW where we have strong consumer protection laws, I'd be on the phone to them and explain how you were deceived , i wouldn't wait a minute to ring them.

[hamza]

Just my 2 cents, having previously bought a repairable write off, you would be surprised at what could be classed as a repairable write off (the scratches he mentioned could have been) i bought a Barina for my sister and the door needed replacing, thats it! 2007 holden tk barina, that a door needed to be replaced. It may be worth having a look at the paperwork the owners should have declared for the inspections and re-registering of the car, as the damage may not have been that serious, and in the process save your self a decent amount of cash.

[Dyldo]

Lucky your in NSW where we have strong consumer protection laws, I'd be on the phone to them and explain how you were deceived , i wouldn't wait a minute to ring them.

to help the OP, who is the "them" you refer to?