# HELP in dubai used car fraud



## bsj (Oct 26, 2013)

Hi, I am living in Dubai as an expat and purchased the vehicle a month ago through Dubizzle personal dealing... 

The vehicle looks great and got RTA pass,,
However, I went to official service center to have general inspection (not offical inspection) before I bought, and engineer said that it seems accident free with normal condition. I trust him and decided to purchase this.. (AED 65000)

The problem is coming after a month,, its engine sounds weird and sometime fail to start..
Thus, I made a book for a official inspection to the same service center and..
the result was totally different.

The result was..
1. This car had a seriously big accident
2. Is not repairable (and will cost more than AED 40k minimum and cannot guarantee after fixing)
3. Driving could be danagerous


I made a complaint to service center, but they said the general inspection they performed was not official one, and do not have any responsibility for that.. 

Also,, those lebanese guys (pre-owner) disapeared and cannot contact them.. 

Now.. 

I totally have no idea what I should do.. 
Please kindly advise or please help me if you can..please.. 

1. If I report police, it would work? and can I get my money back? 
2. Does the service center really not have any responsibility, since previous inspection was not official?? 
3. Is there any legal process that I can proceed with my lawyer? 
3. Is there any way that I can compensate as per customer protection law or something?? .. Should I do same thing to sell this trash to others? This must be crime.. No way. 


Please kindly and urgently share your experience and idea what I should do this. 
Thanks in advance.


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## FlexRay (Feb 12, 2013)

I think your biggest mistake was not getting the official vehicle check before you bought? sorry for pointing out the obvious!

Craig


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## travertine (Aug 10, 2010)

Hi. I'm not sure how you could have purchased the car and transferred the registration without the official government accredited inspection. One of the key things they look for is major accident damage and repair (e.g. welding of new panels). However if the problem is with the engine I'm not sure how this relates to an accident and such high repair costs. I would definitely speak to the garage and get them to define what is official and not official. Did they make it clear when they carried out the check? And I would get a check and quote for the suggested repairs from a reputable garage. It may be that the first garage is trying to profit from the whole transaction. Lastly take the matter to consumer affairs. At the very least there appears to have been incompetence relating to the initial inspection. Getting your money back? I doubt it. I hate buying cars and your story only reinforces the reasons for being very careful. Best of luck!


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Few more things
Garage:-
Did the garage charge you for the inspection and did you get a receipt for this?
Did they explain what the inspection covered before they did it and did they provide a written quotation or any other documentation explaining the process and what they covered?
Car seller:-
You say you bought the car through Dubizzle - do you have a screenshot of the advert or copy of it still?
To claim fraud - you need evidence that the car was not sold as described - maybe the seller did not know the previous history of the car.
Where did you view and purchase the car from - a physical address or a mall car park?
Do you know where the seller lives?
All the above will help you to get a better idea as to whether you can go for either the seller or the garage or maybe both?
Lastly what make and model of vehicle was it, age, mileage and condition
Did you pay going rate for similar car or was this one much cheaper?

Cheers
Steve


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

UAE is very much a 3rd world country when it comes to consumer protection.

I seriously doubt that you will ever be able to get your original money back, and (hate to say it) will have to pass the car on to someone else at your lost.

Buying used car anywhere in the world will be based mostly on faith and trust. Trust but verify is the motto.

The best way (but still not guarantee) is to have the manufacturing dealer check, and verify against the maintenance records to MINIMIZE the risk, but there is no way to eliminate as no one will take full responsibility for a used vehicle - other than from a reputable (not small independent) dealer who includes warranty with the vehicle.

Never go to a dealer recommended by the seller, he could have easily made prearrangements with the inspector. An inspection is just that, a look and see plus opinion from someone. That person could have been influenced or not even qualified.


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## NjxNA (Jan 13, 2013)

Hard to hear for you but... you won't see your money back, period.
I would go to the dealer anyway with the receipts of the two inspections and mentioning about reporting them to the police even if, as said above, I don't think you'll see your money ever again.


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

NjxNA said:


> I would go to the dealer anyway with the receipts of the two inspections and mentioning about reporting them to the police...


He mentioned person-to-person dealing so no dealer, which is even worse since you can't find the seller - except via police from last owner record in the system.

Even if you could find the seller, what can the buyer do anyway since the seller isn't responsible for the inspection by a third party.

It sucks, sh*t happens... just fix up as much as you can and sell it at a lost.


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## mehranR (Jul 27, 2013)

Somethings don't make sense. A mechanic can tell if the car has had an accident by just looking at certain areas of the car. 
What does he mean by irreparable damage? 
How can the car be fine and then be irreparable in one month?
I understand that you said you just had a general inspection done, does general inspection mean just walking around the car in general?
I think the car inspector is at fault.


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## ash_ak (Jan 22, 2011)

didn't the RTA do an inspection on your car? Go to the rta, Check on this, they may have the previous owner information, see if you can file a police complaint based on that.


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## Budw (Oct 14, 2013)

I have never hearth that anything like an non-official inspection with RTA exists, very strange. I would suggest taking the car to another garage, or the official agent to get the car evaluated again. 

When you let them do the evaluation, make sure they document what is wrong with the car (a high level statement like the car is dangerous does not help that much, you need to know why, and what is precisely wrong). Hopefully it will turn out more positive for you. Unfortunately, from a law perspective, once you have done the deal, you have no protection that I am aware of. But you can try consumer protection and see if they can advise (dubairights.ae)


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## Berliner (Jul 18, 2013)

I still don't understand how a "major" accident was not noticed by the people who inspected the car. Even a minor one can be picked up by the professionals. I have bought and sold around 10 cars during my 4 years in Dubai. Never had an issue with any of the transactions. All of them were via Dubizzle. The key to it all is getting a pre-purchase inspection which can cost up to AED 500. Yes, I was able to avoid some major lemons by doing this and I would strongly suggest to anybody who plans to buy a used car.


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

Why is everyone overlooking the possibility that the seller colluded with the mechanic/garage that checked the car and gave it a clean bill of health ... far too common out here unfortunately ...

Sucks but as ccr said, fix it up best you can and try and get as much money as possible by selling it ...


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## Irfan the savior (Oct 26, 2013)

Alright. 

You messed up and now you need help.

A- Reporting to the police won't work. 
B-service center won't be taking any responsibility. 
C-no legal process, once bought you were required to check everything possible. 
D-customer protection only exists for firms no personal bought stuff (eg-dubizzle used) 

Now, to help you. I would require the below details - 

Car make - 
Year - 
Problem as per the report - 
Personally felt problem - 

Let me know sometimes the official firms mislead or scare drives off. So don't worry.


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## bonedoc (Mar 4, 2015)

I am in a same situation as the person who posted the thread. I bought a second hand jeep from AL - Futtaim motors and slightly higher price from the market , since I was told Al - futtaim provide you good quality cars and the warrenty.

The jeep was never right from the time I did the test drive. I was told It is a minor thing and will be repaired. I was told they dont sale accidnet damage cars and 80 points will be checked before the jeep will be delivered. Since It is a big reputable dealership I trusted the saleman that was my mistake. 

The jeep had history of two accidents in the past and I got report from Ministry of interior website, was full repainted , had damage to front suspension that continued to be a problem and I have to get it repaired twice from Al Futtaim before I found out the Jeep had two major accidents. 

Wrote to the salesman and his manager, why they did fraudulent sale, no reply for the sales team , wrote to the GM of Al Futtaim Motors but no reply from them either. I beleive they are part of the whole fraud as well. 

Wrote to the consumer affairs department but got a phone call to say they are unable to help me because what ever the reason.

I wanted to sale the jeep back to Al Futtaim and the accessor who assessed the jeep offered me half the price what I paid on further asking he mentioned the jeep is accident repaired and guide me to the ministry of interio web site. 

Reading this thread, I am fully aware of hazards of buying from individuals and smaller dealerships but I did not expected a company with a reputation like Al futtaim will be doing Fraudulent sale and the senior managment did not want even discuss why did they cheated me. 

I am not sure what course of action should I take but I am seriously considering passing the names of sales manager and salesman to the police for Fraudulent sales.

Will appreciate any help.


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## omrano (Jul 13, 2014)

You could send a complaint to gulfnews explaining what happened,may they publish it and sales manager then will reply, I have seen people do that when they had a problem with a telecom provider and bank and they had their problem fixed.
But I guess you should have documents that will substantiate your calims.


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## The Rascal (Aug 6, 2014)

Get your letter in 7days, then see what happens - if they print it. 

prior to that thought, and I say this so many times, go their with your Jeep, with all the documentation and don't take no for an answer, writing letters and emails is totally pointless here, if you want something done go there and get it sorted. If the car is financed go to the finance company and complain about it.

No point in being a keyboard warrior here, people only take notice if you're properly in their face.


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## TT365 (Oct 14, 2014)

I agree with Rascal Make a fuss in people face and get vocal, they very quickly try and calm you down as it is bad for business!


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## omrano (Jul 13, 2014)

The Rascal said:


> Get your letter in 7days, then see what happens - if they print it.
> 
> prior to that thought, and I say this so many times, go their with your Jeep, with all the documentation and don't take no for an answer, writing letters and emails is totally pointless here, if you want something done go there and get it sorted. If the car is financed go to the finance company and complain about it.
> 
> No point in being a keyboard warrior here, people only take notice if you're properly in their face.


You are absolutely RIGHT.


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## bonedoc (Mar 4, 2015)

Thank you for the suggestion. I have done that too but the usual response is We have escalated the matter to the senior management, we can not take the jeep back etc etc. 

I am worried about the money I will be losing but i am very annoyed by the way the this major company in this country deals with their customers. I want to meet the GM but I feel at this stage is a useless exercise.


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## The Rascal (Aug 6, 2014)

bonedoc said:


> Thank you for the suggestion. I have done that too but the usual response is We have escalated the matter to the senior management, we can not take the jeep back etc etc.
> 
> I am worried about the money I will be losing but i am very annoyed by the way the this major company in this country deals with their customers. I want to meet the GM but I feel at this stage is a useless exercise.


Don't take no for an answer, kick up as big a fuss as possible, let them call the police, you're not doing anything wrong.

It's the ONLY way you'll get anything done.


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## Froglet (May 7, 2014)

If you really care that much about the car you better start showing it! Go to the office, start making demands, raise your voice, escalate the issue!!!

It is totally unacceptable and you better start taking ownership of the situation you're in. Go get 'em boy...


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
Go with a few friends each day and stand inside the dealership - make sure you tell everyone that walks through the door to check very carefully any car they buy from the dealer - but decline to tell them your story (naming and shaming not allowed in this country).
Make yourself such a nuisance (within the law) - that they deal with your complaint properly to get you off their back.
As also mentioned - make a big fuss with the consumer sections of the newspapers.
Best of luck
Steve


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

There's a consumer complaints section at DM and they seem to be very effective according to people I know who have used them.


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## ryan neil (Feb 6, 2015)

The garage where you inspected the car was recommended by the seller or no


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

How about civil lawsuit? The buyer was cheated as far as I understand as the seller hid the truth about vehicle condition.

UAE laws enables victims to seek civil compensation | GulfNews.com


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