Thread: Big problems with a used car - what are my chances of getting a refund?

Hello everyone,

2 weeks ago on Saturday I purchased a Seat Leon (2001) from an independent dealer. Last week I had this car inspected by a garage near where I live and they found so many problems with it the list was literally endless. They quoted the potential work to be in the region of £2-3k which is basically the value of the car. The car does have an MOT which was only just completed. A lot of the repairs are due to the door seals not being intact and there being damage to the ECUs/Dashboard from condensation but there are many other small issues that total up to big problems!

I rang the dealer at the weekend and they weren't too helpful, I told them that I was rejecting the car as it was not of satisfactory quality and that I wanted a refund. The guy told me no chance I'd get a refund but they'd be willing to look at the car and perform some repairs. Now I don't particularly trust them to do any kind of decent job considering the condition of the car and I really just want my money back to get something less troublesome. I spoke to consumer direct who gave ambiguous advice so I don't really know for definite, will I get a refund out of this dealer?

I have put into writing that I reject the car and listed the reasons and all the faults and am going to send it recorded delivery tomorrow, I just wanted to check with some people who could advise me before I do so.

Any comments or help will be hugely appreciated.

James

Sorry i can't help you, but do us all a favour and complain to the OFT about service from consumer direct. There are quite a few of us have not received the help expected from consumer direct, which begs the question "What are they in being for"? I have complained to the OFT, but they won't act until they get several people voicing their concernes. Jobs for the boys??????

It was my intention to get it inspected as soon as I could to have it all checked out to make sure it was okay, the earliest the garage could fit me in was 1 1/2 weeks from the time when I bought it. So I'm acting as quick as I can. I believe the seller could have known about these faults as they claimed to have serviced the vehicle just before I bought it. With the extent of the repairs needed some of those must have been identified during that service.

The advice I got from the garage doing the inspection was, 'try to get your money back or sell the car on, its going to be more trouble than its worth.' They have been really helpful so I definitely trust the inspection they gave. They showed me how the door seals have failed and I have witnessed lots of condensation in the car. Also now the fragrance that it had been doused in is wearing off the car actually smells of damp and you can feel it on the upholstery. Another sign that the dealer knew about this problem. I'm not using the vehicle and haven't at all since I've bought it apart from to take it for this inspection. I think I've got no choice but to try to pursue a refund.

I have every sympathy with your problem. I have just purchased seat leon on the trip home the engine management light came on. Reported this to garage who turned it off and told me to see what happened. When it rained water poured into car and light came on again. They have fixed light but not cured leak, after reading your post I have got nasty feeling that i have same problem, they will also not take it back. I have paid for legal protection from home insurance company, have you checked that you didnt get that with yours some companies just add it on automatically. Good Luck.

I've posted this to Kimboo also, but FYI the "reasonable time limit" is specified within the Sale of Goods Act. Section 48 stipulates that where a fault that could not have been identified by reasonable inspection presents itself within six months of purchase, then it can be assumed to have been present at the time of purchase.

The law is clear on this guys, if you have been supplied with faulty / unsuitable goods then you are lawfully entitled to remedy and where that remedy is disproportionately costly to the vendor (if it would cost them too much to repair) then you are entitled to replacement, or repair. You can rescind the contract if the vendor is not fulfilling their obligations.

Good luck.