Purchased a car in May on finance, car was £5k so not a small amount (7.2k after all finance is paid over 3 years - sub prime) I arranged the finance and was given a list of approved garages I could pick a car from. Went to see the car, signed the paperwork and it was delivered to me on the 21st May.

I found out after buying the car it had a reconditioned gearbox and made the finance company aware of it - I was not happy. Anyway, a week ago I noticed the coolant looked weird, it had gearbox oil in it. I have taken it to two local trusted garages and neither will touch it. The last garage have had me down there today to discuss the car, it has serious issues.

It has wrong parts fitted to it, parts have been blanked off, it has an intercooler fitted that it should not do and they are not even sure if the gearbox is the right one. They will not quote to fix it, they think it might have had a front end hit and been bodged up. It is basically a shed. (they have provided most of this in writing which I have forwarded on to the finance company who have yet to get back to me)

I have had the car I think a couple of days over 6 months however I have only done 2,000 miles in it since purchase. Surely the problems prove the faults were there at the time of purchase. I can't be expected to pay 7k for a car that has lasted 2000 miles and 6 months, can I?

What do I do!?

Hi sammymoo and Welcome to CAG

If you could clarify what type of finance was arranged and with which company ?

Andy

Even though the 6 months have passed since purchase or delivery you may still be able to claim an inherent fault, but the onus is on you to prove the faults are inherent. You may be able to claim back any costs that involved proving the faults were inherent.

Apologies for the delay, been trying to deal with the finance company. I believe it is a purchase agreement with first response finance.

From the day I took delivery of the car to the day the finance company opened the complaint is 6 months and 2 days. (The day I called AA out to the broken car was bang on the 6 month mark it seems, not that that will make much difference I assume)

As it stands so far - the finance company opened up a complaint on the 23rd and contacted the mechanic who inspected my car, he confirmed the issue once again and told them the parts were most definitely on the car before we got it due to how they looked/how much work had been done to make the wrong parts fit etc. The finance co then sent the complaint over to the dealer on the Friday and promised we would hear from them Tuesday or Wednesday by the latest. The dealer ignored them, they got hold of the dealer on the phone after another week (who told them some lies) and the finance co called me on Friday 30th to tell me they have decided the next step is to get a mobile independent mechanic out to write a report on the car to help them establish who is liable.

As it stands I have called yesterday and today for an update and there isn't one. Yesterday they were too busy and hadn't had time to do anything apparently and today they THINK the vehicle inspector has been called but they don't know as the person dealing with it isn't there.

What can I do at this point? My car has been sat outside unused for two weeks almost and I am no closer to getting anything sorted because the dealer is a liar and first response don't seem to care. I assume I have to continue the monthly payments for the car I can't use but how much longer do I give them to make any progress before I try something else and what else can I try? LBA? Letter to reject the car?

So Hire Purchase then ?

https://www.firstresponsefinance.co.uk/finance/

Yes, correct.

So report the HP Company...not the dealer.... to the FOS....Hire purchase agreements are consumer credit contracts that give the consumer the right – but not the obligation

The FOS will consider all claims from consumers for faulty goods, not fit for purpose or not as described. The FOS will go to great lengths to lend a sympathetic ear to consumers and they don’t cost you anything. At the end of the process you can still sue the company concerned, especially if you feel that severe damages should be awarded. The FOS is restricted as to how much compensation it can award.

Hire purchase agreements are covered by the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973. This says there are implied conditions in a hire purchase agreement, including a condition that the goods will be of satisfactory quality and will be fit for purpose. (Implied conditions are those that can be assumed to be included in the agreement, even if they do not actually appear in writing.)

So where a consumer has a complaint about faults in a car that was bought by means of a hire purchase agreement, we can consider the complaint if it has been made against the hire purchase business. We are not able to pursue such complaints if they are made against the dealer. This is not just because the selling of cars is not a consumer credit activity but because, under a hire purchase agreement, the dealer does not sell the car to the consumer. In our experience, some businesses encourage consumers to complain to the dealer in these circumstances, which adds to the consumer's confusion.

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/79/79-car-finance.htm

I have just realised that I have time stamped images of the fault, an AA call out/breakdown report and a garage print out from the day I first noticed the fault which is exactly 5 months and 30 days from the day I took delivery of the car. I didn't call the finance company until two days after (because I was struggling to get it diagnosed and had to book it into a second garage) which took me over the 6 month mark.

With all that proof could I not argue that this fault was present within 6 months and therefore there at the time of purchase? I already have a lot of proof that shows this car has not lasted a reasonable length of time but I am hoping this new info might focus the finance company a bit more.

yes good work you can...

dx

I was a little wrong with my dates.

I have time/date stamped images showing the fault at 5 months and 30 days and an AA break down report for the following morning which is exactly the 6th month mark.

I have also just taken it to Vauxhall to be inspected and they have quoted 6.5 hours just to diagnose it and think it might need a whole new engine.

This info was sent to finance company on Thursday.

Going to ring them tomorrow to see if any of this new information changes their mind about it being all my responsibility.

If they stick to their “wear and tear, you go fix it” what do I do next?

Is there a template for a rejection letter I can use anywhere?

Not been able to use the car for a month now.

Lost a temp Christmas job because I couldn’t get there after the breakdown.

Incredibly stressed and out of my depth.

not an issue

the AA report is good enough they wont argue over 1 day

cant be W+T as you've only done 2k!!

stop worrying.

Update -

We are now at the end of Feb and the car is still broken. Despite us telling them it was a bad idea as it won't fix it the finance co paid vauxhall £850 to flush the cooling system and we were told to keep driving it and bring it back when the oil was back in the coolant, which it now is. Vauxhall are now saying they cannot diagnose it without stripping the engine.

I feel I have given them more than enough time from Nov until now to sort this car out. Can I reject it and actually win?

Is there a template anywhere to reject a car on finance where the fault occured within 6 months?