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Old 10th December 2018, 13:45   #1
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CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

Needed a used AT for local commutes so ended up buying a Ford Figo AT from a dealer- In hindsight, I should have got the service history checked by a Ford dealer before paying but then got it as is as vehicle was certified by cartrade

Couple of months later, i started having issues with the car overheating

Long story short, turns out that the car was a flood damaged car which the owner first claimed a total loss on then sold it to cartrade after refurbishing it.

While the dealer has promised to help out, what options do I have now?

Update 1:
Quote:
Originally Posted by abhi182 View Post
Update: The Ford workshop gave me the number of the old owner!
Surprise surprise, he turns out to be on team-bhp!

Correction in my original post - he never sold it to cartrade - he claimed a total loss from the insurance company and that was it from his end.

The scrapped car subsequently somehow made its way from the insurance company to cartrade who then certified it and sold it as good to go!!
Update 2:
Quote:
Originally Posted by abhi182 View Post
oh well, thanks to a fellow member, I do have a mail trail that clearly shows that cartrade picked it at salvage value and then sold it as a certified car i.e. cartrade were aware that
a) the car is scrapped and they picked it up as alvage..
b) Insurance has already paid IDV to owner

Subsequently they sold it as a certified and insured car
Thus there is clear evidence for legal recourse which is what I intend to use as a threat..
Let's see what it yields

Last edited by GTO : 11th December 2018 at 10:30. Reason: Adding both your updates to the opening post too :)
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Old 10th December 2018, 14:01   #2
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

Even I was about to land in a similar soup with a Toyota Corolla AT, it was a Cartrade certified vehicle. I just went ahead with registration number to check the service details a Nandi Toyota and it was fortunate that the Total Loss cropped in early during the service history check.

Immediately, backed off the deal and brought it to CarTrade's notice. The reply I got was - "Sir we have certified the vehicle service history only. Total loss is not something that we highlight"

Lesson learnt - Started looking with vehicles from Toyota Utrust
Advantages
  1. Warranty for used cars upto 1 Year
  2. Inspiring confidence via 203 checkpoints
  3. Easily approachable in case of minor niggles - they are very supportive and fix it immediately
  4. Good room to negoitate as well

It may be few thousands buck additional than market price but they provide peace of ownership

Last edited by navin : 11th December 2018 at 15:51. Reason: typo
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Old 10th December 2018, 14:24   #3
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

Most of cartrade certified cars are from dealer cars and are never individual cars.
Avoid them at all cost. Their certification mean nothing in the market.
It is always best to check the car with the service centre before purchasing any used car.
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Old 10th December 2018, 14:40   #4
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

Quote:
Originally Posted by abhi182 View Post
Needed a used AT for local commutes so ended up buying a Ford Figo AT from a dealer- In hindsight, I should have got the service history checked by a Ford dealer before paying but then got it as is as vehicle was certified by cartrade.
Can you share dealer name so others can be more careful out there? Also if you have the TnC booklet, do share so some of us can go through it and see if anything can be done.
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Old 10th December 2018, 14:47   #5
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

Quote:
Originally Posted by abhi182 View Post
Needed a used AT for local commutes so ended up buying a Ford Figo AT from a dealer- In hindsight, I should have got the service history checked by a Ford dealer before paying but then got it as is as vehicle was certified by cartrade

Couple of months later, i started having issues with the car overheating

Long story short, turns out that the car was a flood damaged car which the owner first claimed a total loss on then sold it to cartrade after refurbishing it.

While the dealer has promised to help out, what options do I have now?
This is blatant cheating, nothing else. See if you can get your money back. What if the repair bills are very high and you end up spending more than the value of the car ?

I had a bad experience while selling my late father's Innova. Most websites (quickr, car trade, OLX, etc) want to come and valuate your car. They send a a so called "expert" who decrease the value of your car on the very first sight no matter how well it is maintained.

I took down the ad on all these sites after seeing their review and valuation of the car. These valuations are complete false and done by incompetent frauds.
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Old 10th December 2018, 15:01   #6
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

Update: The Ford workshop gave me the number of the old owner!
Surprise surprise, he turns out to be on team-bhp!

Correction in my original post - he never sold it to cartrade - he claimed a total loss from the insurance company and that was it from his end.

The scrapped car subsequently somehow made its way from the insurance company to cartrade who then certified it and sold it as good to go!!
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Old 10th December 2018, 15:13   #7
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

There are individuals and second hand car dealers who specialize in scouting around for total loss declared vehicles. They would have purchased it from the insurance company and refurbished it at a local garage and sold it off.

This is quite a common practice where even some corrupt insurance officials are also hand in glove to get a total loss declaration. Sadly there is nothing much that can be done with our legal system. Check how much the repair is going to cost you and if you can live with that, get your car repaired and move on with your ownership !
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Old 10th December 2018, 16:00   #8
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

That is quite an unfortunate situation which you have found yourself in. I doubt Cartrade will help you in any way. They will just wash their hands off. Your only hope is the Ford dealer or a competent FNG. If the cost quoted to bring the car to acceptable levels is reasonable then that is your least costly option. Else, it will be better to book losses and find another good used car.

Last edited by Aditya : 12th December 2018 at 07:18. Reason: typo
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Old 10th December 2018, 16:03   #9
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

oh well, thanks to a fellow member, I do have a mail trail that clearly shows that cartrade picked it at salvage value and then sold it as a certified car i.e. cartrade were aware that
a) the car is scrapped and they picked it up as alvage..
b) Insurance has already paid IDV to owner

Subsequently they sold it as a certified and insured car
Thus there is clear evidence for legal recourse which is what I intend to use as a threat..
Let's see what it yields
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Old 10th December 2018, 16:33   #10
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

Quote:
Originally Posted by abhi182 View Post
oh well, thanks to a fellow member, I do have a mail trail that clearly shows that cartrade picked it at salvage value and then sold it as a certified car i.e. cartrade were aware that
a) the car is scrapped and they picked it up as alvage..
b) Insurance has already paid IDV to owner

Subsequently they sold it as a certified and insured car
Thus there is clear evidence for legal recourse which is what I intend to use as a threat..
Let's see what it yields
Please do threaten them will legal action and get your money back, no "We will exchange it with some other car" option too if given, this is just unacceptable behavior and the company who practices such trade practices should be banned.
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Old 10th December 2018, 18:06   #11
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

When cartrade or any other used car dealer says they have done a 200 or unlimited points check up and attaches a ‘certified’ stamp to me it actually means nothing.
Please do not blindly believe them. A pre purchase inspection should be done by you at a competent garage of your choice at your cost. This is mandatory for all used cars purchases even if buying from the main dealer. If any seller does not agree to this simply walk away no matter how good the deal.

However, if your planning on taking action against car trade please see their terms and conditions (screenshot attached). They seem to have covered themselves against any liabilities that may arise. Do you have a copy of the certified inspection report?

Found this older thread also about car trade here
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...-reliable.html (CarTrade.com Certified Cars - How reliable?)
Some good advice given by few members there as well.
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Old 10th December 2018, 18:25   #12
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

Quote:
Originally Posted by cheap_deal View Post
When cartrade or any other used car dealer says they have done a 200 or unlimited points check up and attaches a ‘certified’ stamp to me it actually means nothing.
Please do not blindly believe them. A pre purchase inspection should be done by you at a competent garage of your choice at your cost. This is mandatory for all used cars purchases even if buying from the main dealer. If any seller does not agree to this simply walk away no matter how good the deal.
Which is why when handing over documents to the insurer I always send a copy to the RTO, and use that to ask for refund of my road tax. That way there is zero scope that the vehicle can be re-registered in this manner, and I get my road tax back. OK, I'll get it back months later but that's still a lakh or so in my pocket.
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Old 11th December 2018, 00:52   #13
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

Quote:
Originally Posted by cheap_deal View Post
When cartrade or any other used car dealer says they have done a 200 or unlimited points check up and attaches a ‘certified’ stamp to me it actually means nothing.
Please do not blindly believe them. A pre purchase inspection should be done by you at a competent garage of your choice at your cost. This is mandatory for all used cars purchases even if buying from the main dealer. If any seller does not agree to this simply walk away no matter how good the deal.

However, if your planning on taking action against car trade please see their terms and conditions (screenshot attached). They seem to have covered themselves against any liabilities that may arise. Do you have a copy of the certified inspection report?

Found this older thread also about car trade here
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...-reliable.html (CarTrade.com Certified Cars - How reliable?)
Some good advice given by few members there as well.
Umm, there is a distinct difference between plausible deniability and wilful fraud

i.e. an issue being existent when a certification test did not detect it (the former)
vs
an issue that was quite clearly known (as the salvage buyer) yet certified to the contrary (the latter)


In either case, I am fairly hopeful that the issue will be solved - albeit I may have to compromise on some incidental losses
Let's see how it pans out
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Old 11th December 2018, 03:08   #14
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re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

Sorry for your misfortune here. When it comes to cars, vast majority of dealers are scum, no matter what country you are in. Only the degree of 'scum-ness' differs.

I hope this is resolved. But if it doesn't, you have (& we all have) learnt that these certifications mean nothing. Spread the word, hopefully make them suffer. Brand means nothing if it has no value.
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Old 11th December 2018, 09:08   #15
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Re: CarTrade certified car turns out to be a flood-damaged, total loss vehicle - Now what?

Thanks to the Team-BHP fan (he prefers to remain anonymous) who sent this information in.

Quote:
Both the dealer and cartrade might have known that the Figo was flood damaged. These cars are auctioned through cartrade exchange. You have bank and insurance auctions there. Unless you have a login ID and password you can’t check the insurance listings but bank listings are always visible. A smart move from cartrade. The owner should cut his losses and move on, The terms cartrade has keeps them safe. They don’t analyse the history of the car.
My personal take:
I think as both buyers and sellers, it is imperative that one must take utmost care about what happens with our old cars when we sell. I have known only 1-2 cases where RC was cancelled incase of total loss / scraping the vehicle. I still don't understand why we have to sign over the transfer papers / hand over the RC book when disposing of scrap / total loss cars.

I think such situations will keep happening till the buyers do due diligence and sellers do the requisite paperwork. Its upto us to change this.

Last edited by GTO : 11th December 2018 at 10:20.
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