Can someone advise please? just bought a car and has broken on way home

[donkey123]

Ok so just bought a car for £4k drove it home and engine management light has come on, also i noticed the air con doesn't work it doesn't blow cold, I've read through the standard 3 month warranty which states they don't cover labour on stuff they do cover and don't cover the air conditioning. At the moment they've taken it back for their mechanic to have a look at, and given me a lender car. But if they come back and say its gonna cost me, i'm stuck as i can't afford it and am gonna be stuck. I just wondered how i actually stand legally as they did advertise it with air conditioning, but it doesn't work and i wouldn't have bought it if i'd had known that. Also i suspect the labour for the engine isn't covered also by their warranty but again its not in a fit state to be sold for £4k. Can someone advise please?

 

Also is the cooling off period from when you sign the documents or when you receive the car as it took 6 days just for the finance to go through before i could even drive the car home after signing documents. If they refuse to fix the car can i legally hand it back and ask for a refund?

[ACSUK]

Hiya,

 

Can you tell us who you bought the car from, and what kind of car is it?

 

A dealer can't simply sell you a car without any recourse, if something goes wrong that is why the SOGA is there; you would need to go through the right process first but there are laws in place to protect buyers to an extent.

[vizzo]

Remember that the fact that they give you a warranty doesn't negate your legal rights. Did you check the aircon before you bought the car? Did you test drive it?

[donkey123]

i did test drive it but i didn't check the air con and the engine management light wasn't on then, i'd rather wait and see how they handle it first before i post their name online, but i just wanted to know what laws there are so i could quote them in an argument if it came to that

[vizzo]

Fair enough to give them a chance - also good to know your rights in advance!

[sailor sam]

The fact that the warranty dosn't cover this and that is irrelevant in this case. It seems from your post that they are attempting to rectify the problems so give them the oppotunity to do so before taking matters further. In any event (as already been pointed out), SOGA applies here. They are obliged to make good the car as advertised otherwise they either offer you a replacement or a full refund. My advice is only accept the car back if it all works as it should.

 

Lets see what happens.

 

__________________

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

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[heliosuk]

You also need to treat SOGA in the way it was intended. It is not the be all and end all that people think in relation to used cars. One would expect the air con to be working though depending on it's age and mleage.

[sailor sam]

You also need to treat SOGA in the way it was intended. It is not the be all and end all that people think in relation to used cars. One would expect the air con to be working though depending on it's age and mleage.

 

If it was advertised as having air conditioning then it seems reasonable to expect it to be working. So if it is not then its highly likely the car was wrongly advertised which would become contary to SOGA would it not? But as I said in my previous post; lets see what happens. Personally I don't want to waste my time debating issues which may not be relevant.

 

__________________

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my scales at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice usefull.

[donkey123]

ok garage said they had repaired it but obviously had just regassed it, and now a month later there is no cold air. I asked the garage to repair it properly as it obviously has a leak and they have said no because the warranty specifically says it doesn't cover aircon. I have had a quote from a garrage (£240 and it is the condenser that has gone from corrosion).

The dealer did however pay for the gearbox and ECU to be repaired on the car already so don't know how i stand legally?

[sailor sam]

ok garage said they had repaired it but obviously had just regassed it, and now a month later there is no cold air. I asked the garage to repair it properly as it obviously has a leak and they have said no because the warranty specifically says it doesn't cover aircon. I have had a quote from a garrage (£240 and it is the condenser that has gone from corrosion).

The dealer did however pay for the gearbox and ECU to be repaired on the car already so don't know how i stand legally?

 

The warranty is irrelevant! The car was advertised as having air con so it should be working air con. If you have identified the fault and have a quote, contact the seller and give him the option to either carry out the necessary repairs himself or allow you to have it fixed and they accept the invoice. Remind the seller that up unitll 6 months of ownership, any fault within that time (and you have already proved that the air con was faulty at the point of sale) is assumed present at the point of sale under SOGA. The 3 month warranty does not replace your statutory rights. Tell him that you will also put this in writing (even if he tells you to go fourth) giving him 7 days to respond. Keep copies of all correspondence and dig out a copy of the original advert showing the bit about air con if you can.

 

If the seller refuses to play ball you have one of 2 options, You can either have the work done and send him the invoice anyway or you can formally reject the car and ask for a full refund. Either option may require an application to the small cliams court which will encur further costs and interest to the seller if your claim is proven.

 

__________________

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my scales at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice usefull.

[heliosuk]

I'd be a bit careful here as they got the air con working as required and it worked for a month. Now the condensor leaks. If it had been leaking at the time of repair then it wouldn't have lasted a month. As you know it's a pressurised system. Very easy to defend this one so go carefully. You cannot assume that at the time of repair the condensor was leaking. In fact unlikely. More likely a seal which is impossible to prove and is a wear/tear/time sensitive part. Condensors are very vulnerable due to their position.

[sailor sam]

Agreed helio, but the OP states the condensor was corroded which suggests it had been faulty for some time. They may have got lucky with the 'repair' they carried out. Lets be honest, they carried out a bodge job to attempt to get the OP off their backs. They were bound to have noticed the condition of the condensor.

 

I'm not sure SOGA would consider that just 1 month operation of the air con would be adequate.

 

__________________

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my scales at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice usefull.

[heliosuk]

You're jumping to conclusions again Sam. A corroded condensor is not necessarilly faulty and you cannot under any circumstances claim they carried out a "bodge job". You don't know what has caused it and as pointed out, the vulnerability of condensor position inherrantly makes it a high risk to damage item without anyone being aware.

 

The clue would be in the deteriation of the air con efficiency over a set period of time i.e. if the air con was fine and went down in performance over a few days then the odds are it has been damaged.