CALGARY- An Alberta couple who thought they were protected by buying a used car at auction have gotten a nasty surprise.
Danielle Pageot and her boyfriend picked up a 2009 Jaguar for $27,500 last October, at Michener Allen Auctioneering in Calgary. After parking it for the winter, Pageot decided to trade it in for a new truck—but got quite the shock when the dealer searched the vehicle history.
It turns out the car had been in a serious crash in 2010, and underwent $35,000 worth of repairs.
“Because it’s a Jag, you know, it sustained that much damage,” says Pageot. “What we thought was a $35,000 vehicle is virtually worthless.”
Records show that last August, the vehicle was sold by a dealer at Michener Allen Auctioneering Edmonton, and the crash report was disclosed. But in October when another dealer sold the Jaguar at the auction house in Calgary, the collision damage was not brought up.
Pageot says she wants both the dealership and the auction house to be held accountable.
“The dealership that brought it to Michener Allen in Calgary didn’t disclose the issues with the vehicle. In turn, we probably wouldn’t have bid on it.”
Alberta legislation states that dealerships must disclose a vehicle’s history before it’s sold.
“We want to make sure that dealerships aren’t using auctions as a back door to get rid of poor vehicles that they don’t want to tell people about,” explains Mike Berezowsky, from Alberta Consumer Services.
After several calls from Global News, Michener Allen Auction contacted Pageot to say the dealer has agreed to buy the Jaguar back. A complaint has also been filed with the province, and the Motor Vehicle Council is investigating.
Tip sheet for buying and selling at auctions: http://www.servicealberta.ca/pdf/tipsheets/Auctions-buying_and_selling.pdf
Comments