Hi everybody, we bought a car on Wednesday from a used car dealer, Saturday afternoon it breaks down, spoke to garage yesterday they said" its out of there hands" I have to get the car back to them and there's no courtesy car available and no recovery, what can I say to them we paid 4250 for the car with 3 months warranty. They also knew it was for running an ill family member about. Any help greatly appreciated

Hi all, I have trawled through the web as much as I possibly can regarding used car sales, I have purchased a car and will be collecting on Saturday, the dealer has offered me a warranty with WMS for 12 months at a cost of £150, bargain I thought, until I wadded through pages and pages of negative responses to used car warranties in general, this put me off spending the additional funds, however, I understand that the Sale of Goods act gives me some form of protection up to 6 months with any repair bills through the dealer the car is being purchased from, but I am not able to find the specific paragraph that relates to this, would it be possible for some one to highlight this for me. Also with reference to paying for the car, I am using my old car as a PX and funding the rest with cash (to the total sum of £10,895), however reading some of the protection advice would it be prudent of me to fund about £150 of this on my credit card in case any dispute in the future, and can the dealer refuse, as he was reluctant to process my deposit through my debit card. I want to try to avoid any pitfalls that will expose me to any liability should there be a problem, not that I am expecting any, but just in case I want to be in the best position possible Thanks for any advice / help given

hello please help. my mum passed away 2008 and last year I opened up an account in her name as I was sick of getting people still calling and sending things with her name on. It was just see if it would allow me to it did with a credit limit off £500. I just left it. I used this account to see if would allow me to and it did a pair of shoes and a laptop all confirmed I couldn't believe how easy it was. I also opened one up in my dads name he is 84 and they immediately gave him £1000 credit I could not believe it. I ordered a laptop and at first it was accepted then rejected I closed account immediately. after I had done this the laptop on my mums account was then rejected after having a delivery date I had no intention of keeping the laptop I just wanted to see how easy it was to obtain credit this way. stupidly I kept the shoes on mums account. I received a letter from company to contact them about the account which I haven't as its in my mums name. I have paid for the shoes so there is no outstanding balance and I've asked for the account to be closed down. will they investigate further or just close the account am going out my mind I no it was stupid but I was so fed up still now I get letters from companies in my mums name as if isn't bad enough dealing with loss. i just still get very upset with the loss and when letters come through the door from catalogue companies it brings it all back and i thought i would test them now my nerves are being tested instead as i thought i could show them how rubbish there security was. sorry for rambling i just so worried

I bought a used car in December from my then employer, it had electrical problems before it was ready for sale. I had problems with it cutting out then engine on light on and then back to normal? They said it was E.C.U issues but didnt want to fit one. They put a new throttle body on and had it reprogrammed but its still doing the same thing. They then found it to have a cracked head and gasket. Fixed that but still cutting out/engine light on. As I worked there they only looked at fixing it while they were not busy so its taken a lot longer than it should have. Now the 3 months is up and the problem is still there. Do they have to fix it free of charge or am I now having to pay?

Hi I just thought I'd introduce myself first as I'm new here. I bought a used car from Evans Halshaw a couple of weeks back and boy is it giving me problems:oops: To start off with the clutch is on it's way out so Evan's Halshaw have offered to fit in a new clutch. Secondly, each time I push the clutch in to change gears, for some reason the revs go up :S Thirdly, one half the dashboard lights don't work at night which I think is a simple fix as a bulb/wire maybe loose. Also, the car is very rough at idle which my local mechanics said is due to the engine box (or whatever it's called, it's the area where you put your oil top ups into ) not having washers on so the engine keeps rattling as it's not being held still. Another problem is the 1st gear is veryy stiff sometimes and doesn't seem to want to go in, all the other gears seem fine. Then another problem I just identified was the extremely low mpg for a small Toyota Corolla, it's only averaging 17-18mpg on the trip meter :/ The car's going in for repair next week but I doubt Evans Halshaw will be able to solve all of them problems so I was just wondering where I stand since I've owned the car for less than 30 days? I've been told there was some 30 day law in which I can give the keys back to any car I've purchased and demand a full refund?

I'm very sorry if this has been posted in the wrong forum, but I do find it a little confusing. Anyway. A few days ago I bought a used car from a dealership. It was advertised as having electric windows, electrically adjustable mirrors and air conditioning. So I picked it up, and have since found it has none of the above. Now I know some of the blame has to come down to me, but I was so embroiled in the cars mechanical and cosmetic condition, I really didn't think to check the switches, I am happy with the car and do not want to reject it, but do feel a little hard done by as I paid top money, and if I'd sussed it didn't have the extra's listed in the dealers add, I might have haggled on the price. Should I let the dealer off scott free over their misdescription of what was included, or should I try and get some money back. Hope to get your thoughts.

Hi all, New to the forum, just after some opinions really. I am buying a used Audi S5 from a local dealership who received the car from a local VW main dealer as they have an agreement to take in their P/X vehicles. The VW dealership has yet to receive the v5 from the previous owner, thus the dealership I am buying the car from also have yet to receive it. I have carried out my own HPI check, and confirmed the VIN matches the VRM thru the DVLA database. I need the car pretty soon as mine is sold. I have agreed to pick the car up later today, but with a clause in the invoice that once received, if there is anything wrong with the v5, or any discrepancies, they will refund me in full for the car. I trust the dealer selling me the car, but obviously as it was a PX, have no contact with the previous owner who has assured that he will send the V5 to the VW dealer asap, who will then send it on to the dealer from whom I am buying the car. Would you say this is enough cover to go ahead with the purchase? Thanks so much in advance.

Hi All, Evening all, Back in late October I purchased a 2007 Audi TT with a DSG/automatic gearbox. Recently the car has started to drop into first gear whilst slowing down for corners. The car is still travelling at 15mph ish and would ordinarily be in third gear at these sorts of speed. The car only does this 5% of the time at the very most and many journeys can be completed without the fault occurring but it has begun to get more frequent. The car is going into a local Audi specialist for a full service and diagnostics on Friday. It is suspected that the fault is a faulty mechatronic unit on the gear box (a fairly well know fault). The repair would be in excess of £1000. Could anyone tell me where I stand legally in terms of the garage coughing up on this fault? The car cost circa £13k, and I feel it is reasonable to expect the transmission to last longer than 4 months, particularly as it is an automatic where human error cannot be blamed. The garage are telling me they only supply a 2 months parts and labour warranty. Any advice gladly welcomed. Thanks

Hi This is my first post so please bear with me, I'll try and keep this as concise as I can. We bought a 2006 Ford Focus Estate around 6 weeks ago from a dealership, and afer having it for around 2/3 weeks we started to experience problems. Initially this was the interior heater not working, and then followed by a raft of other issues (I won't bore with the details!). We have reported all of the issues to the seller who thought it was best for a local garage to carry out repairs (we live an hour from him) and he would pay them directly. We were happy with this and took the car to a trusted and established place to close to our home. Fast forward another two weeks and the same problem happened again, followed by the car seizing up completely. We informed the seller immediately who, still believing it was nothing serious, advised us to take it back to the same garage and that he would liaise directly with them to resolve the issue. At this point we were happy that considering the situation things seemed to be straightforward.......that's until it was diagnosed with a blown head gasket! The seller refused to believe that this was the case and arranged for it to be towed back to his garage. Naturally, we requested a replacement vehicle - either in the form of a courtesy car or him hiring us a vehicle. He refused saying, quote: 'I don't do replacement cars'. We argued the point to the stage where he was hanging up on us and not answering our calls. My husband is self employed and relies on a vehicle to be able to work and having already missed one days pay wasn't keen to miss any further so we reluctantly hired our own vehicle. Fast forward again slightly and after repeated phone conversations, they finally agreed that the head gasket had in fact gone and set to work replacing it. As of today, the car is still not fixed and they are claiming that it may be another week at least. We have now paid out for a total of 3 weeks hire car totalling hundreds of pounds, not to mention the loss of work time and the cost of getting the car towed to the local garage when we broke down. We have requested repeatedly that he reconsiders reimbursing us for the hire car costs but he completely refuses and to be frank, doesn't show much sympathy towards our situation. He can often be found claiming: 'I am spending a fortune on this car' - 'we can't afford any extra costs'. Well, neither can we. With this in mind, my plan is to write to him on Monday (and send by recorded delivery) stating that we require full reimbursement with 14 days, if no response/says no) I will write to him a final time before lodging a claim through the Small Claims Court. We are torn as to whether or not to just request a refund for the car: can anyone give me any advice? Also, we believe we have grounds to say that the car must have be sold with defects in order for this to have happened so quickly, and according to the local mechanic, in his opinion, the car had not been adequately checked/serviced (I understand this is his words against theirs, though). Through this whole situation I have kept a spreadsheet detailing conversations and actions, as well as emailing the seller with things we have discussed requesting he respond so that we have a record - this has been a bit hit and miss! I'd really appreciate anyones take on our situation as a whole and any advice anyone might have as to if we are going about things correctly and if we can realistically expect to get our money back. Many thanks PS excuse my complete lack of car/technical knowledge.

Hi, I viewed a used Citroen on Tuesday, and paid a £500 deposit by credit card. The deal was that if I paid in full by the end of the month (Thurs) they would prep the car ready for me by the following week, Tuesday (5 March) was suggested and I agreed. I emailed the (main) dealer on Wednesday with some concerns about the car, and told them that to get everything right I would be happy to wait and extra day and collect on Wed 6th. (a few minor bits of trim were missing/broken & I wanted them fixed) Had no reply to that, but Thurs I was duly phoned, told their email was not working but not to worry, they would do everything (but sounded a bit evasive) & Tues/Wed to collect would be fine, they would confirm which day tomorrow (Friday). I paid remaining balance of £8k part with credit card, part debit card. I called late Friday afternoon, couldn't tell me a day as they were too busy (1st March being a big changover day) but they would phone Saturday (today). Had no call, phoned them, too busy to talk again but would phone me back, but never did. I'm beginning to think that they aren't going to deliver the car (either in the condition or time) as promised, and am going off doing business with a dealer who takes my money then can be bothered to phone me when promised. What are my rights here, if they don't get the car ready in time, would I stand any chance of getting my money back? Or would late delivery by one or two days not be regarded as a serious enough breach of contract for that? The contract I signed BTW, gives and estimated delivery date of 28/2/13, presumably as that was when they wanted my money by. Thanks for any advice!

Hi I used a Freedom Pass illegally, the 1st letter has come through saying that they are looking into it but one of my names on the letter is spelt incorrectly (a middle name). Can I send the letter back saying no-one of that name lives here ? Thanks

Hi Guys Bought a car from a dealer in november 2012. Developed gearbox fault straight away, given back and repaired, took 2 weeks. Then a week later developed a intermittent turbo related problem. Bought a vw for £7,700 Since then been at the garage (before christmas) They have given me a crappy courtesy car to drive Down hill since then: They keep saying took it to this garage, this is wrong with it etc then a week later something else needs doing, then a turbo problem we found it, then we not found the problem etc Had enough. What should i do? I just want to contact solicitors and get back by £7,700 hard earned cash or send a letter of intent via a solicitor Any help will be good

Location = Scotland My Sister bought a Renault Scenic for £3,000 from a small dealer 100miles away (day 1). On day 2 it broke down with INJECTOR FAULT displayed on the dash, and was recovered to a small local garage who managed to get the car going (this work was authorised by the dealer and has been paid for by the dealer). Day 5 the car broke down again, and local garage attended and got it going. Day 7 the car broke down again and sat at my Mother's until it was recovered on day 14 by local garage, and they got it going. Day 18 the car broke down again, and local garage attended and got it going. My Sister then visited a local small Renault specialist for advice, and they advised returning to the small local garage and having a "pump" swapped from a donor vehicle as a first course of action; further advising that if that didn't rectify the problem then it would indeed be the "injectors" which needed replacing at a cost of over a thousand pounds. Having the "pump" swapped, the car broke down again on day 20. My Sister wrote to the dealer she purchased the car from, a "standard letter" dictated by Trading Standards (Sale of Goods Act 1979 etc). After a week or so they recovered the car the 100miles to their location, and kept it for several weeks before telling my Sister it was ready for collection. My Sister travelled the 100miles by Train to collect the car and when she got there the dealer wouldn't let her take the car away unless she signed a letter waiving her rights to any further warranty claim. As my Sister is the sole carer for my other (wheelchair confined) Sister, and my elderly Mother, she reluctantly signed and drove off. The car has broken down several times since, and has been got going by local garage. The dealer gives my Sister and my Mother abuse when they phoned to complain, and told them not to ring him again, further threatening to take my Sister to Court, and saying the fault with the car was caused by UNAUTHORISED REPAIR from my Sister's small local garage, which the dealer in fact authorised AND paid, and from the car being used WITH FUEL TANK EMPTY/ALMOST EMPTY. My Sister had to hire a car whilst hers was back at the dealer for several weeks as she has to have transport to care for my other Sister and Mother (the 3 of them live separately). My Sister has seen a local Solicitor who has been less than helpful, and keeps fobbing my Sister off onto her trainee. What are my Sister's options regards refund, forcing a repair, getting it repaired herself and claiming from dealer, costs for hire car, etc.... Any and all advice would be much appreciated.

hi i have signed a used vehicle order form and i think the seller has mislead me by not telling me about the excisting finance on the vehicle can i get out of it

Hi, I'm new to the forum so I hope I can get some help and advice here. My story is about used car sales and I'm sure my questions appear on many forums across the internet but I was told this was the best forum for straight up honest and more importantly FACTUAL info and answers. I traded in my 2007 estate car for a 2002 4x4 vehicle. The trade took place at a regular dealership with all the paperwork you would expect, a totally honest genuine swap. The 4x4 was priced up on the forecourt for £3000 and I was happy to let my estate car go for £3000 so all involved were happy. I have had the car for 5 weeks and have had nothing but problems, the first was a water leak, a nightmare but easy fix and as I hadn't spent £millions on the car I kind of expected minor issues. The next problem was a fuel leak (perished seal on the top of the fuel tank) dumping fuel all over the floor when tank was filled, again I am very reasonable and guessed that in the world of cheaper 2nd hand cars there would be issues. BUT now a major component has gone and the 4x4 is broken! The 4 wheel drive system has broken (I don't know all the technical terms). My issue is this: the paperwork I have reads SOLD AS STRAIGHT SWAP, NO WARRANTY. Where do I stand legally ????? I have owned the car for 5 weeks and according to the paperwork and current clocks I have covered 1055 miles. Can I take the car back ? Can I get my money back or demand the dealer covers the costs ?? Please help. dprice999

I bought a used car from a garage on 8th December - paid a £200 deposit on that day with agreement for the garage to put in a new clutch and replace the dash digital dispaly as we'd identified these faults during the test drive. garage agreed with no problem. day before we were due to collect, garage contacted us to say they had found an oil leak. a week later they said had fixed it so we collected the car and paid remaining balance of over £3k. drove an hour home and warning lights flashing - insufficient oil pressure, when we got back. garage came and collected it (they drove it away) and gave us a courtesy car. we havent seen the car since!! we have had numerous telephone conversations and each time they say the fault could be something but next time we speak to them it could be something else!! they've told us the car has been looked at by a specialist and the fault could be a number of other things !! we have a list of 12 things they've said it could be but these include some major repairs - engine compression, oil pump, ECU ..... latest thing was theyw ere replacing the engine!!! as far as we are aware that hasnt happened. I told them a week ago I wanted a full refund as i think they have had adequate time to repair it and they havent yet even identified the specific fault. Under SOGA I feel I am entitled to the full refund - I rejected the car by them having it back, agreed to repair on initial problem but now - a month later - there is still no news as to what is actually wrong with it. they admit there is a problem but they can't seem to find it. Spoke to Trading standards and they werent of much use apart from telling me to put it in writing. Which I've done and will beposted recorded delivery tomorrow. I spoke to the garage today and had a heated conversation - asking again when i am getting my refund ( I stated i wanted refund nearly a week ago) and THEY said, they were going to take advice from trading standards!!! my partner was told yesterday 'dont stress mate, you'll get your money back'! they've also said will keep our money until new year and then find me something special !! Any advice welcomed as I can find losts of examples of faulty used cars being returned but no example of this situation when garage are trying to fix it but taken so long i now have no confidence in the car and as it still isn't fit for purpose I feel I am entitled to the full refund. makes me so angry!!

Oh dear, another car dealer thread. I feel that this time it is a little different so please bear with me. On Saturday my daughter and her husband went to a car dealer in Torbay to test drive a Peugeot 307 that he had advertised for sale. They drove the car (with the salesman as a passenger) on a mixed route, town, B roads and a dualcarriageay and they liked it so left a deposit and agreed to return on Tuesday with the balance. They had arranged to pick the car up from the dealer after work, so I drove them to Torbay to get the car. The first thing they noticed was that the fuel gauge was showing empty, so they stopped at the first petrol station and put £70 worth of diesel in. After leaving the station and travelling around 100 metres the engine just stopped, my son in-law coasted over to the side of the road and tried to restart the car. The engine turned over fine, it almost started then stopped, and he tried again and got exactly the same result. His first thought was “I’m sure that it was diesel that I put in”, he rummaged through his wallet, found the receipt for the fuel. Although the receipt stated the amount of money that had been spent and that it was fuel that was bought, it did not say which type of fuel. So, he got out of the car, removed the filler cap and had a smell of the fumes and he could only smell diesel, which he was obviously relieved about. All of this occurred within 4 miles of the dealer’s premises. He then phoned the dealer to explain all that had happened, and was told that someone would be with him as soon as possible. Sure enough, within the hour the salesman arrived, had a quick look but admitted that there was not a lot that he could do. After looking he decided the best thing to do was arrange for the car to be “recovered”. He suggested that my daughter and son in-law continue their journey home with me and the boss would have the car looked at the next day and telephone as soon as he new what the problem was and discuss the options. The options were 1/ The fault would be something minor. It would be repaired and returned to my daughter that day. 2/ The fault would be bigger, or perhaps they would have to wait for parts. In which case they would supply a loner for the duration. 3/ If the worst happened my daughter and her husband would be offered a replacement car from the dealers stock or a refund. It turned out that there was water in the fuel system. There was no suggestion that the fuel my daughter had bought was contaminated, but that a customer had brought their car into the dealer’s workshop, the week previous, for a service and the Peugeot had been loaned to them as a courtesy car. The dealer then went on to say that this customer must have driven through some deep water, we did have a lot of rain last week, and the water had found its way into the air intake and then into the fuel system. He was now left with a car that needed a new engine and he would be “chasing” the customer for recompense. My daughter was offered a different car or a refund. None of his stock was acceptable, so a refund was agreed on. £1450 (the price of the car) in cash was handed over to my daughter. It was a shame about the car as it would have been ideal, but these things happen and up until this point the dealer had been fine. My daughter enquired about the £70 of diesel that she had put in the car. At this point the dealer’s helpful and considerate attitude that he had portrayed changed, he became very guarded and almost aggressive. He said that he had not told her to put fuel in the car and asked why she had put so much in? Surely 5 pounds would have been enough? He said that the fuel would now be contaminated with water and would be of no use to anyone there was no way that he would refund that as well. After a long conversation he suggested that we come to his workshop at the weekend and siphon the contaminated fuel out of the car and keep it. The fuel that he had already admitted was of no use to anyone. He then appeared to take great pleasure in pointing out to us that the whole conversation was being recorded by his cctv equipment, which not only recorded video but audio as well. We were perfectly ok with this as we had not said anything that could be viewed as “out of order”. However, he had admitted that the contaminant was already in the car when he sold it. So that must mean that the car was sold as “unfit for use” I am guessing here, but the dealer doesn’t seem to do very much advertising, there are no sign’s out side his house, although he claims to have 20 or so vehicles at any one time only three or four are visible to passing traffic and these do not “appear” to be for sale as they are not marked with a price or any kind of for sale sign, so it would seam that his reputation and word of mouth is good enough to provide him with the success that he obviously has. Surely, when a dealer has a quick turnover with this type of car he must be aware that one day something will not go to plan. I know that he can not cope with every one of his customers asking for a refund, his business could not stand it, but its not every one of them, only one. Dealers must prepare themselves for this kind of thing, customers don’t. My daughter cannot afford to lose this money, she feels that she might as well have put £70 in cash into an envelope and posted it through his letterbox, she could not have afforded that either. The whole point of buying this particular car was it was cheap to buy, cheap to insure, cheap to tax and cheap to run. If she had money coming out of her ears she would have bought a more expensive car. On this dealers web site they claim to pride themselves on providing a good quality service, they appeared to be a safe bet. Yet their car only covered less than 4 miles and lasted no more than 15 minutes before it broke. What I am asking you is; Under these circumstances is the dealer obliged to refund the £70? If not, is there a way that I might be able to convince him that it is not worth tarring his seemingly good reputation for £70? Any help or advice would be greatly received and appreciated. Many thanks, Mick.

I buy used vehicle from dealer. ('05 Ford for £3300) Faults are discovered on journey home and I email dealer next day rejecting vehicle. My local garage confirm faults with diagnostic check. Dealer declines to pay for repairs but offers to take vehicle back for refund but refuses to refund my necessarily incurred consequential losses (tax, insurance, travelling costs etc) or collect the vehicle as we are a long distance apart. I take vehicle to another garage for second opinion who diagnose faulty brakes and advise not to drive vehicle until repaired. Insurers say I'm only covered for theft until vehicle is repaired or collected by dealer. I can't return vehicle and dealer won't collect - hence we're at an impasse. I decide to keep vehicle so instruct that garage to proceed with repairs. I claim cost of those repairs off dealer under the terms of the Sale of Goods Act 1979. Dealer refuses to refund sighting that he had originally offered to take vehicle back. I argue that it would have been impossible for me to have returned* vehicle given issue with brakes and his refusal to reimburse my costs.. Thoughts appreciated before I issue a small claim specifically how the dealer could defend my action. PS There are no relevant t&c’s on the dealers invoice. * SoGA Section 48B (2) (a) (b) “……without causing significant inconvenience to the buyer.” Posts: 6Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2012 11:31 am

Hi I put a deposit on a car £500, non-returnable option to buy. My circumstances have changed and while I do not wish for it back require to be transfered to another cheaper car than i can afford. I am now being told that the deposit is Non-Transferable. Is this a new express term that voids the agreement or is this allowed. There was no mention of non-transferable on the receipt Anymore detail i will happily oblige, he told me today it was non-transferable. regards

At the beginning of September I bought a car from a used car sales centre local to me. The car is a Seat Alhambra, it cost £2500, of which I paid £1900 and traded in a 2004 Mondeo to cover the rest. Having taken the car for a test drive before leaving a deposit, I could find no faults aprt from some loose trim, however within a few hours of collecting the car (5 days later) I had noticed a few faults. I was told when signing the paperwork that there was a 3 month warranty, I wasn't made aware of any exclusions of any kind, and was told that anything needing to be done would be sorted. So I sent the car back in for the work to be done a week later. The faults I had found were - Knocking from o/s/f suspension, Rear wash wipe not working, Squeal from power steering at low revs, Aux heater not working, Air con not working, (advised it needed regassing) All the issues bar the knocking noise had been sorted within a week, the suspension issue was taken care of by another local garage at my request (the garage used by the sales centre were unable to rectify the fault). In the meantime, another couple of faults appeared, a faulty brake pad sensor and faulty wiper mechanism or motor, along with the air con issue being diagnosed as a fractured pipe. So, I requested that the sales centre rectify these last few faults under warranty, only to be told that they (the manager) was not prepared to be spending much more money on the car, as it is 11yrs old and they cant justify spending the sums required. The 'sums' in question are £167 wiper mech, £155 Aircon pipe, £16 brake pad sensor, although he offered to source and fit a recon wiper mech, but is only prepared to supply and fit the air con pipe and wiper mech as new parts if I make a contribution to the cost, which I'm not prepared to do. It has been 2 weeks since I spoke to the manager about the parts, it being left that he would look into the matter and get back to me. My question is, where do I stand here? I was planning on visiting the manager and finding out what is happening, but given that I have now waited 2 weeks, (parts are available new and recon and able to be supplied within days) and nothing has been done, I was wondering if I can verbally give him a time limit to rectify the problems (followed by a letter), then take further action? And if so, what is the next course of action? Court? The bit that gets to me is his comment 'its 11yrs old and I cant justify spending too much money on it', I bought the vehicle in good faith with the understanding that any faults would be fixed under warranty, and now he's trying to go back on what was said. It states on the sales receipt that there is 3 months warranty, but gives no exclusions, although I assume the usual consumables aren't covered - tyres, brake pads, clutch etc.

Not my words - but the words of the Court of Appeal. Dishonest without intending to be, apparently. Sent "semi-literate" letters No intention to bring legal proceedings at all!!!!! See the judgment attached for the whole grisly story. Of course this Court of Appeal judgment is about Parking Eye but you may find similarities in the way of doing business used by other private parking companies. Apart from anything else this is more evidence of the slack attitude of the British Parking Association to the behaviour of their own members. The BPA must be aware of this. What action have they taken against Parking Eye for their breach of the Code of Practice?? If anyone knows, then please let us know. The BPA is the outfit which pretends to want to set an Independent Appeals Service. Has Parking Eye's access to the DVLA database been suspended? I don't think so. If you have paid money to Parking Eye then you have a basis for claiming it back. certainly, if you have paid the so-called "full rate" then you have clearly paid an unenforceable penalty and you should go and get you money back Please note that the trial judge held that the initial sum was an enforceable charge. The Court of Appeal referred to it but did not consider it and made no finding which approved it . In other words, don't let Parking Eye or any other parking company tell you that there is binding authority for saying that the initial charge is valid. That would be a porky. Thanks to user:Tomtubby for discovering this judgment. Important rider - the Court of Appeal decision was based upon the Parking Eye arrangement as agreed with Somerfields in 2005. If their agreements are different elsewhere then that could affect the situation. Now original High Court judgment also available below. Thanks to Tomtubby again.

Hello there I have a small problem im hoping you can advise me My dad (trusting as he is) purchased a Renault grand espace 05 plate 120k from a used car dealer on 05/10/12 Now the car drives fine however it has a very loud whistle under acceleration, he was told after placing a deposit that a new turbo was going to be fitted and all would be good when he came to collect. He picked the car up yesterday and the whistle is still there, the seller claims it's just due to it being new and will go away in a couple of weeks and won't talk about it anymore, I know this is rubbish having previously worked as a Renault service manager. I've done a fair bit of googling and all the Renault forums (and a couple of RTE's i know) say the turbo is about to expire, a very expensive job. So i'm wondering what his rights are here, can he return the car now demanding it be fixed or a refund issued? or does he need to wait till the turbo expires? (is there a time limit on these things?) Thanks for any advice James

Hi everyone, I hope that someone here will be able to offer some advice. I recently bought a MK5 Golf from a private seller on Ebay. The car was described as excellent condition etc and the seller is a mechanic and stated that all repairs / modifications had been carried out by him. Got the car checked over by VW as a couple of Engine lights came on, and they have come back with a list of about 15 things wrong with the car, some of which are major parts that will cost a lot of money to fix. I know I don't have many rights as I bought the car from a private seller and I am fully aware that I might have to suck it up and get rid of the car. However I was just wondering if the fact that the seller stated that he was a mechanic and carried out all repairs himself (after saying that the car was in excellent condition) would give me any sort of right to complain that the car is falling apart a couple of weeks after I purchased it? If he did the work himself could it be his fault that the car is broken and do you think I could prove that he knew about the faults before selling it to me? Thank you in advance for any advice, all help is much appreciated! Kind Regards, Andy

Hi All. I recently bought a 55 plate Renault Grand Scenic 1.9DCi from a small dealer in Portsmouth. We have had the car for 8 weeks and so far we have had to charge the AC as it wasnt giving any cold air at all, taken the car back to the dealer to have an emissions fault fixed and now the car has lost all power and seems to have a failed turbo. We have spoken to the dealer and they have said that they will only pay for the first £300 of repair as per their warranty conditions. Now, as I see it we are covered under the SOGA as the car to us is only 8 weeks old and a failed turbo is a serious issue. We have spoken to our local mechanic and the quote is £950 using genuine parts. We are going to email the dealer to try to resolve the issue but should the dealer stick with only paying the first £300, should I get the car repaired myself and take him through small claims? Thanks for your advise!! EDIT: Just had a thought, the car was purchased using my Tescos credit card. How does this affect the issue and getting it resolved? J.

Hi. I'm new here and am desperately looking for help!! I brought a used car from a private dealer 6 weeks ago. Its a 06 reg diesel fiesta with 72000 miles. £3600. It was part ex for £3k and £600 cash. The dealer was selling from his home and had around 10 cars for sale. He had a website and gave me an invoice in a company name.... It was sold as serviced... but i have since found out that the dealer who 'stamped' in the book did not service the car! Today the turbo in the engine blew and the ford mechanic thinks this will have knackered my engine too. I was offered a private warranty at the cost of £200, but the small print said it had to have full service history and this was missing 1 service so it rendered it useless as the terms were broken so declined it. Having read up on the SOGA i think i may have a case as the car clearly was not of satisfactory quality when it was sold to me. I have had it 6 weeks (2 of which i was on holiday) and its done 1000 miles since i brought it. I dont believe a fault like this can develop in such a short time and therefore it must have been a fault when i brought the car 6 weeks ago. Can anyone give me any advice??? Thanks. Rachel xxx