Help required

[Nick]

A friend of mine bought a second hand mondeo just before Christmas, the car was listed for £3495 for after negotiation got them down to £2700 but with no warranty and also it was inplyed that the car required some minor repairs ( a new starter motor and 2 new tryes ). The car was looked at and discovered that there were major faults and the cost to rectify them will be in excess of £1000.

After talking to the OFT they suggested we take this line of approach. Can someone advise me if the letter is good enough, too strong or not strong enough. Or if there is anything I can add to it to get the right result

'Dear Sir

With reference to a vehicle purchased from you on 21st December 2007, A Ford Mondeo registration number XX02 XXO. I have attempted to speak to someone regarding this matter but obviously due to the Christmas period I was unable to speak to anyone regarding my concerns until 28th December 2007 when I was informed that you would be available on 2nd January 2008, however after travelling to the car lot the person required to discuss this serious matter was again unavailable and I was informed would not be available until Friday 4th January 2008.

The terms written on the receipt state ‘STRICTLY SOLD AS SEEN AND INSPECTED, NO WARRANTY OFFERED OR IMPLIED BY SELLER’ However under The Sale of Goods Act 1979 this is a potentially unfair and illegal contract term.

The vehicle is not of satisfactory quality. (Please see garage report attached). The vehicle was sold to me implying that the car only had minor faults that could easily be rectified.

I am rejecting the vehicle and am requesting a full refund. I have taken advice from the Office of Fair Trading and Leicestershire Trading Standards and will pursue this matter using legal methods.

You have 14 days to respond to this letter no further correspondence will be entered into if no satisfactory conclusion is reached I will be filing a civil action in the Small Claims Court. Resulting in unnecessary costs and inconvenience for both of us '


Tanks in advance

[gwc1000]

Speaking as a car dealer, I don't think you have much chance. (I know most on here will disagree) I agree putting "sold as seen" etc on an invoice means nothing and you can't sign your rights away. However, any legal action you take will be heard in a County Court where the judge will always be looking to apply common sense. A major factor here is that the dealer reduced the price by £800 to allow for necessary repairs. A large sum. The judge will take that into consideration. A dealer I know had a similar situation (admittedly about six years ago) and the customer lost the court action because the judge said the agreed price reduction more than covered the cost of repairs discussed with the buyer. I am not saying you would lose, and I await (and accept) other members here rubbishing my opinion, but I feel that you have to live in the real world.

[Hammy1962]

I'm with GWC1000. My advice would be to speak to them and get some idea of their response. Meet the person face to face.

I appreciate you want this sorting quickly but they might offer to fix the car for you or your freind. Personally i think it is a bit early in the dispute to reject the car as you havn't given them a chance to rectify the faults.

The last paragraph threatens court action and you don't even know how they are going to deal with it yet.

Hammy

[Nick]

Thanks for your replies. My friend has been trying to negotiate with the garage and obviously due to the Christmas and New Year break has had problems trying to speak with someone regarding the matter, however he was informed that the owner would be at the garage today, so after taking time off work to talk with the guy and driving a round trip of 40 miles on arrival lo and behold the owner was not there. After being brushed off by the original saleman who informed us that he was unable to make decisions and because of what was written on the original receipt there would be nothing he or his boss could do. I asked if he could contact his boss by phone which at first he refused to do but as we went to walk away I mentioned it was time we consulted with a solicitor, he phoned his 'boss'. after the phone call the reply was still the same. Sold as seen - nothing they could do etc - etc.

We wanted to sort it out amicably and my friend was quite prepared to accept another car of similar spec and value or full refund or an offer of helping towards the costs of making the car roadworthy

[gwc1000]

One question: Apart from the two tyres that you negotiated a price reduction for, could the car be classed as dangerous? And I don't mean something like a faulty stoplamp!
You mustn't lose sight of the fact that the dealer reduced the price by £800 not for the fun of it, but for repairs. These are now going to cost £1000 so technically you are only £200 short. Also you should get another quote for the work to be carried out.