Advice needed - Car caught fire mins after selling off..

[Sp4wn]

jialat liao.. car dealer now asking for $23,000 SGD for repairs to the car, so they can take back the car and sell off.

 

 

brief summary of what went on in the past 2 months:

 

- car towed to dealer's workshop, our insurer (one of the big companies internationally) investigated and concluded they will not consider our claim. because driver was the car company's dealer at the time of fire, and the car already handed over to them in b&w. their repair cost quoted was 25k

- car dealer said their general insurance do not cover fire and only cover third-party accidents.

 

 

as mentioned in my first post we still didn't want any bad blood between us and the company. so we offer to split the repair cost into half, we each pay 11.5K. but they totally refuse to pay even a single cent. angry sia.

 

we also consulted a friend working in the industry for many years already. he kindly offered to talk to the company's representative for us to negotiate the costs. when they talked on the phone, after the company's representative knew that he wasn't part of our family, she got agitated and shouted at him over the phone to stay out of the matter, or to meet face to face to talk about it. after he handed back the phone to me she was still shouting non stop

 

now we feel like they are just being unreasonable and trying to shirk off all responsibility, even though the car already handed over to them. they also refuse to transfer the car to their name, and the bank is still chasing for payment from my mum

 

also, the car dealer is accredited under Casetrust-SVTA. also named sgcarmart premium dealer. which is one of the main reasons why we chose to do business with them, but unfortunately things turned sour

 

stay safe and if u are selling or buying ur car from second hand dealer this weekend, pls be careful and pm me if u want to know which company is this.

 

i will just throw to my lawyer. if you want to still be nice and give them half .. so be it. ask your lawyer to write in, and give a deadline, and if they fail to accept your more than generous offer, ask them go fly a kite.

 

i seriously wouldnt give them a cent with their attitude. they already took over. and what kind of business doesnt have fire insurance? even my tiny weeny tenants also cover fire insurance .. it's dirt cheap in sg.

[Mockngbrd]

They prob trying to scare you into paying 20+K worth of "repairs" in cash, thereafter, they will scrap the car and take back whatever paper-value of the car. Money in the bank!

 

 

 

 

 

- car dealer said their general insurance do not cover fire and only cover third-party accidents.

 

Who's to say that they really don't? What if they did? And they CAN get it fixed but along the way, take some extra cash from you.

Edited August 28, 2015 by Mockngbrd

[Ahseng]

if the car that you bought, caught fire after taking over, instead of the civic, who's responsibility?

 

I'm sure the dealer won't half half with you...

[Mcf777]

I think the GOLF TS bought still under the dealer name.

 

That's why dealer dare to ask for sky high prices.

[PSP415]

TS, any conclusion on what caused the car to fire, I mean burn?

 

Is the Golf under yr name or u signed a document that says u have taken over it on date and time?

 

Technically and lawfully, once civic was signed over to the dealer, it's theirs liao hence no need be nice if they dun reciprocate your sincerity in wanting to maintain goodwill in business relationship. If your insurance siam responsibility surely it is unfair that they expect you to fork out the repairs. Why didn't they have their insurance to cover fire? Since reputable, I can assume they hv been in car business for donkey if not monkey years, they shd know once discharge firm signed, the burnt civic is their bbq metal liao.

 

Safe ride. Hope there's an amicable ending here. They could be really upset because they trusted you not to sell them a car that will go up in smoke so soon after taking over.

[Mustank]

Agree with the above.

 

You are being too nice.

 

The fact that your insurance will not pay out indicates that contractually you are no longer responsible for the car. Its not your fault that the dealer elected to save money by not taking out fire and theft insurance to cover his risk.

 

As the dealer is casetrust accredited your first step should be to submit a complaint to case with a request that the dealer immediately proceeds to transfer ownership and make payment for the vehicle. Whilst its an unfortunate set of circumstances for the dealer, legally you are in the clear.

 

 

 

I think what you say makes the most sense

whose property was it when the car caught fire?

I guess only lawyer can tell when did ownership change hands

paging for bro Yuan

[Winson93]

TS, any conclusion on what caused the car to fire, I mean burn?

 

Is the Golf under yr name or u signed a document that says u have taken over it on date and time?

 

Technically and lawfully, once civic was signed over to the dealer, it's theirs liao hence no need be nice if they dun reciprocate your sincerity in wanting to maintain goodwill in business relationship. If your insurance siam responsibility surely it is unfair that they expect you to fork out the repairs. Why didn't they have their insurance to cover fire? Since reputable, I can assume they hv been in car business for donkey if not monkey years, they shd know once discharge firm signed, the burnt civic is their bbq metal liao.

 

Safe ride. Hope there's an amicable ending here. They could be really upset because they trusted you not to sell them a car that will go up in smoke so soon after taking over.

 

thanks all for the input. the Golf was signed for a hand/take over on the spot, so its now under our name liao. the thing is my dad look through all the documents and he cant seem to find a document of us handing over the civic to them. he also dont remember signing a hand over form for the civic to the dealer.. but the police report of the fire was made by the dealer driving the car, stated that he was driving at the time of fire. insurance also say legally under their liability liao

 

told them this morning to send us an email stating in B&W that they are not willing to pay. so that we can take this further either to case/lawyers. they seem to take a step back liao, still havent sent us the email

 

also no official answer on what cause the fire... but workshop tear apart the car and say look like it started from the fuse box, but cant be entirely sure as everything burnt

this reminds me of the time when I sold a used fridge to a used goods dealer for $50...

 

frankly speaking it was a spare fridge and I haven't used it for about 1 year since I moved house.

 

I decided to sell it to remove the clutter. when he reached my house, I switched it on and offer to let him see its condition. he say it is ok and didn't check anymore.

 

more than 1 week later, he text me angrily to say I sold him a fridge that is not cold and wanted me to refund him the money. I told him I gave him the opportunity to check and seriously I wouldn't know if the damage is caused by him since the fridge has been with him for more than 1 week.

 

he was angry and parted with "see you in court"

 

my point is after the goods have been passed to dealer, it is not right for the dealer to claim you have sold them a faulty car. they are the professional and they would have been deemed by the court to be in better position than you to asses the condition of the car. as long as you have proved they have acknowledged they have taken over your car in satisfactory condition - ie the car caught fire after they duly acknowledged receipt, you cannot be held responsible as you won't know what they did to the car while in their possession.

 

you are not a dealer, not duty bound by the lemon law for the car you sold. find a lawyer....seriously 23k is worth the while to find a lawyer and your legal fees should be less than 23k.

 

 

 

 

 

ok thanks..! so ur fridge case really got go to court??

Got such thing as good relationship with car dealer meh? chiobu ah?

 

which reminds me of this morning on MRT got 2 chiobu xmm standing in front of me, one lian lian pixie face type with skinny nubile body, another NUS student make up gao gao. When she turn and look at me i coyly looked away and pretend to play phone. Her side boobs look quite ample. I think i will take the NUS mei mei.

 

[Mcf777]

 

Ts,

 

IMO, you shouldn't be discussing your action in the forum.

the basttard crooks may be lurking in the forum.

[Benarsenal]

Ts,

 

IMO, you shouldn't be discussing your action in the forum.

the basttard crooks may be lurking in the forum.

 

So? Let them read la. TS did nothing wrong what.

[Stooky]

TS please post which car dealer is this so that we can avoid this rude and unreasonable car dealer

[Wondertree]

1 to 10 chance that the legal system would side you, TS. If I were you lawsuit should have been filed. The whole thing sounds straightforward and legal fee won't be a lot.

 

More importantly, don't always be reactive. Make the move first, force the dealer to make wrong or un-deliberate decision which would very likely be in your favor. Don't just sit back and wait for them to compose and think and throw you their best shot.