Thanks for your input Conniff.

It is something we have considered as I assume it would be fairly straightforward when the business has a whole load of cars sat outside! just waiting now to see how he reacts. if we cant make the CCJ stick to the company with assets it will be good money after bad I suppose.

have a feeling this might take some time....

thanks again

Alex

just realised I have put direct debit as form of payment but that doesnt make sense! we paid in full with a debit card at point of sale.

have been reading through the legislation you mentioned and I think I have found the relevant area. it very much looks like he could be in breech as it was never explained that the company which advertised and premises we visited was not actually selling the car. have passed all the details and relevent paragraphs to my other half who now thinks I am very clever!

thank you so much. Will hopefully be updating with a success! good to know there is another route to go down should he still not pay up. I have regained some optimism!

Alex

we thought we were buying the car from the company we visited. the car was found on auto trader and we visited the website Johnsmith.com to get contact details and directions. we spoke to and dealt with the man John Smith. it didnt seem odd at the time (although now realise it was stupid not to question) that the receipt was different. we paid by direct debit and checking back on bank statements it also has the name of the other company as the person paid.

it would be fair to say that we were mislead

off to do some googling

thanks very much

apologies for my ignorance. hubby has been dealing with the legalities

both companies are LTD. they are seperate companies, with no parent company. all are registered at companies house with different numbers.

he is independant and not affiliated to any other big company

does that answer the question?

thanks

hi. thanks for the reply

good to know it looks odd to someone else, I wondered if my judgement was clouded. i dont know of course if all cars are sold through this business or just mine if he knew it was dodgy

as an aside a few months on I had a £3500 repair bill due to a warped head! was probably a product of the first problem but went undiagnosed at the time. only became apparent when the engine blew up! was too long after the sale and had done too many miles to pursue but I am certainly not giving up on recovering the first lot of money spent until all possibilities exhausted.

will look at trading standards in the area and get in touch..

thanks again

Alex

Hi everyone

quite some time ago I posted about my car which needed almost £1000 worth of work doing 3 and a half weeks after purchasing.

Other than the odd abusive phonecall we recieved nothing from the dealer we bought it from so took the case to court and won when he didnt defend it. he appealed and said he had never recieved any papers, filed a defence and we went to court. he never showed up, the application was struck out and costs were added to the sum owed.

problem has come lodging his CCJ. he is trading under 2 names. to simplify without giving too many delails, the man we dealt with from looking at the car until this point is john smith and his business is called johnsmith.com. that is the name advertising on auto trader, name of the website. all our receipts have a different name on. didnt seem odd at first as assumed that one was his trading name but he advertised with his web adress. I have put both names in google and they have identical websites (both with a johnsmith.com banner) same list of cars advertised, same phone number.

however johnsmith.com is a healthy business with assets and the one on my reciept is totally seperate and worth nothing. he is the director of a third as well, also worth nothing.

CCJ has "accidently" been lodged against johnsmith.com. we are waiting for him to try to counter sue to get it removed which will cost him a great deal as being the deffendant we would move the case to a court near us (we live at opposite ends of the country) forcing him to consider settling out of court.

what I am wondering is though, how is it possible? he must be moving money and assets from one company to another. would the tax man be intrested? I doubt he is the brightest of men as he not once sought legal advice. on the other hand he could be very shrewed after years on the fiddle?

help!!

Hi all

just to update really. The car is fixed and running perfectly! very thankfull to have the car back.

I wanted to thank you all for your offers for help and ideas re. a garage, please dont think I have ignored it. I weighed up my options taking into account the diagnostics I would have to pay for at the origional Audi garage, cost of moving to another place and time without my car and decided to go ahead with the repair where it was. if I had wanted to keep the option of rejecting the car, I couldnt of used it. added problem that I have holiday booked to visit family and further delays would of forced me to hire a car. Of course repairs have been paid for by myself.

I have sent another letter to the dealer that sold the car but have yet to recieve any repy. I have said I will pursue it through the court if required. I have sent copies of the invoice and given until Friday for a response.

As Im a member of the RAC I called them and they were quite helpful. I realise that he should of been given the option to fix the car himself or nominate a garage, but as he was at first ignoring me and then refuses to accept any responsibility I felt I had no option but to proceed with repair and then reclaim costs.

will let you know how I get on, but as it stands it looks like I am going down the long messy route to recover some of the money.....

Scarlett - I really feel for you and hope these lovely people can offer you some great advice too! will be very interested to see how you get on

alex

not as yet, But it is my next step.

I wanted to give the dealer a chance (thinking he may of been on holiday) but Friday was the first day I spoke to him. I thought I would try calling consumer direct as a first port of call and see where I go from there.

he seems to sell allsorts, from fiesta's to ferrari's, but does not offer a warranty. In fairness to him, he wasnt to know there was a problem but that does not excuse his behaviour since finding out. I hadnt even demanded 100% of the bill, just ask that he call me to discuss coming to an agreement between ourselves

thanks

Alex

No warranty at all.

It has not come from a main dealer, but an independant place that offered no warranty. not knowing about cars I thought I was being clever getting the AA to do a full check on it but they only check what they can see (parts wise).

I thought i had taken all the steps to be a clever car buyer, but it turns out thats not the case. Did the HPI check and the VOSA checks.......... didnt get me anywhere, just cost me more money.

On that note, Im going to go for it! He ignored me for well over a week, emails and calls. Strangely an unknown mobile number to call rather than my own home, office or mobile and he is there after all.

Will keep you up to date on how things go. in the meantime, if anyone has anything to add that may be of use I would be very grateful

thanks again

Alex

ah... good to see a fellow sceptic.

I too didnt quite believe it myself, but searching for possibilities I found it was a common problem for this engine and car to have the oil pumps fail. something to do with the build of the engine and the oil getting too hot against the turbo, it causes the oil to become gunky (for want of a technical term!) and ruin the pump. In America it is seen as a fault and the engine has a warrenty of 8 years....... unfortunatly not in the UK.

only synthetic oil should be used and regular oil changes are needed.

I also phoned the Audi dealer closest to my home to talk to him about the verdict and he was confident it was the problem. The pressure switch should not cause the engine management light to come on.

thanks for your input, it is much appreciated

the oil pressure was at 2.2 and it should of been at between 3.5 and 4.0 according to Audi. The car has done about 68,000 miles

whats the verdict Conniff??

Hi all

finally got a reply......... but it was not good. A lot of abuse and then he hung up on me!

he says being in the motor trade for 20 years he knows his rights and that Im not due a penny.

Happen to have a friend at the company I work who has a degree in law who said he will take it on for me BUT, consumer law is not his thing, let alone cars! he does at least know how the system works

So, opinions folks! before I throw a lot more time and money at this, do you think its worth doing?

many thanks

Alex

I know what you mean about the prices:eek:

We didnt even think about the permission from Vendor. the oil light was on, so was the engine management light, the car couldnt be driven at all. I have left it at a place near my work as I couldnt risk driving it home. As I said, I really cant be without my car for work and needed it fixed ASAP

To be honest, everything has been so busy and I love the car, It was only that evening that I realised I had only had it 3 weeks!

had it been a faulty switch, I would probably just have paid up.

He still has not got back to me 2 days on now, so not looking very good.

will keep you updated on how I go.

Thanks again

strangely, my Seat Leon which this car was bought to replace has a dodgy oil pressure switch, so I thought I was jinxed and history was repeating itself! faulty switch was my own first thought.

I took it to an audi main dealer on tuesday, where they have done diagnostics on it and the oil pump is the problem.

they are keeping it there waiting for parts. if I end up out of pocket doing it myself, thats what I will have to do. I cant be without a car for work and am getting by for a few days with lifts to the office and train journeys to meetings. Added problem that I have 3 kids and its the school holidays!!!

thank you for the offer to name and shame, although I dont think it will be the same dealer, this is a small independant? I would like to give it a chance to sort it out amicably first. there was no warrenty given with the car, although what I have read seems to say that the sale of goods act covers you for 4 weeks at least........ it all seems a fairly grey area.

the car cost almost £8000, so its a fair sized percentage to put on the price. to make matters worse I saved and bought it outright so as you can imagine the final push has drained all reserves for such a big repair bill

thanks for all your suggestions and advice

Alex

Thanks for the reply

Sorry, I left out quite a major piece of info in my opening post. I am in Essex but I bought the car from Scotland. as the car risks the Engine totally seizing if it is driven it would have to be taken on a low loader all the way back to return to the seller.

for that reason I dont think he will want to recover the car.

really hoping he will stump up for repair

hi there

just over 3 weeks ago I bought a 2004 Audi a4.Igot an AA inspection carried out, for piece of mind. Now, I LOVE this car. I have wanted one for ages and am so pleased with it...... well I was until the oil pressure light kept coming on and beeping at me. to cut a long story short the oil pump in the sump is broken and the repair bill is almost £900!

I have contacted the dealer to explain the problem and told him I dont want to return the car (not that it can drive anywhere anyway - its stuck in the garage until parts come)

I would much rather deal with it on a "friendly level" rather than making threats. what are my rights? should I be looking to reclaim the entire cost of repair or is this un reasonable? Im waiting to hear back from the dealer, but would like to not sound like a gibbering idiot when I do!

should also mention that the AA insection does not cover the part which is faulty.

any ideas on how to proceed would be great

many thanks

hey there Ida

I cant believe they think im paid off with £60! they marked my credit file for 2 years and I have paid interest on around £800 for 18 months when I shouldnt of had to. this is on top of trying to convince me im going mad, telling me iv not set up direct debits!!!

thanks for the reply

alex

Hi everyone...... I have further developments:D

I have recieved a letter today from Abbey asking me to sign a form for a full and final settlement of a £60 goodwill gesture.

in the letter there is one paragraph I would really apreciate your advice on:

Further to our conversation, I can also confirm I am unable to provide you with a signed copy of your credit agreement for the above noted account. I am able to provide you with a blank copy of our standard agreement at your request - please advise me if you would like me to send you a copy. when you began using the credit card, you were in agreement to the terms and conditions of the account.

like I sid in my first post I have never actually used the card, just paid the minimum payment on the balance transfer

Is this correct?

thanks

alex

thanks for that ida:)

I requested it while dealing with the initial complaint. I know they recieved it as they replied to the letter and it was sent recorded delivery. I didnt provide a fee, they never asked for one. They kept phoning to say they hadnt found it yet and then finally phoned last week to say they didnt have one.

I have not yet recieved the "blank" agreement they said they would send.

I really dont want to find out m in trouble through my own ignorance, but cant find the info I need.

Alex

Have put my letter together telling them I will stop the direct debit as they have not provided a CCA.....

Before I take a trip to the post box I just wanted to clarify that I am going down the correct route for an after April 6th debt. Im giving them one last chance and Im going to the ombudsman so really want to do things properly. Thing is I really cant afford to keep paying all this interest each month, its eating away into what I have to offer a final settlement.

Any input would be very much apreciated, there is so little info for debt after april 6th 2007

thanks:)

hi there.

I have already tried to be fair and ask that they refund the money I am out of pocket. they refuse to agree that I am!!! I have been offered £60 as a goodwill gesture.

For example, they refunded all the late payment charges that were their fault but they refuse to consider the extra interest I have paid because they were applied to my account.

the whole thing is driving me mad!!!

thanks for the help

wow! thanks for that!

so it still aplies to credit applied for after the 6th april '07. Great!

have done so much reading today, my eyes are complaining. I wondered about going down this route

Unfair relationships between creditors and debtors After section 140 of the 1974 Act insert—

“Unfair relationships 140A Unfair relationships between creditors and debtors

(1) The court may make an order under section 140B in connection with a

credit agreement if it determines that the relationship between the

creditor and the debtor arising out of the agreement (or the agreement taken with any related agreement) is unfair to the debtor because of one or more of the following—

(a) any of the terms of the agreement or of any related agreement;

(b) the way in which the creditor has exercised or enforced any of

his rights under the agreement or any related agreement;

© any other thing done (or not done) by, or on behalf of, the

creditor (either before or after the making of the agreement or

any related agreement).

im out of pocket as they didnt set up the direct debit and then randomly cancelled it!

dont think I have the agreement. Im pretty keen on my shredder but will have a hunt for it. its a fairly huge thing to stop paying them, so will give it some thought but either way, with the time its taking I think putting it in dispute will be a good idea.

thanks again!

hmmm..... I had considered that they could easily knock one up and post it, wonder why they didnt think of that!

when I did on online application, would that have doubled as an agreement then? sorry, its probably a really daft question. I remember they sent an agreement through the post but when it showed it had all transfered I didnt send it back.

getting fed up that the account has been in dispute since feb and its costing me £100 a month while they think about it!

thanks again for your help

hi supasnooper, thanks for the welcome

they have so far only said over the phone, but am writing to them to ask that they put that in writing for me.

they did also say they would send out a blank credit agreement instead so I could see the T's and C's.

Im mainly wondering if I should stop the direct debit due to go in a few days?

any ideas will be a great help? most of the companies I have found online say nothing can be done for agreements after 06/04/07, but maybe they are just trickier and not so much money can be made by them........... then again, maybe im just clutching at straws! (not going to use a company, just hunting for info)

to be honest, Im not trying to write it off (because I dont think I stand a chance), but im aware that although they claim to have tidied up the unfair black marks on my credit file, any credit between then and now would of been affected, plus I was paying too much interest while they disputed the 0%. I just want some bargaining power to settle at a fair sum.

all ideas gratefully recieved!!