backed into corner by dealer refusing to pay for repairs......HELP!!!

[ludlum]

Hi all, please could you help me.

 

On the 27th October I purchased a Peugeot 407 1.6 HDi from a local independent dealer. The car was in lovely condiditon and had very good near perfect main dealer history.

 

I had not even got the car home when the engine management light came on and the computer said "depollution system faulty." I took it straight back to the garage and they had a look at it and declared that they were unable to fully diagnose the fault and that it would need a Peugeot garage to look into it.

 

They paid for an hour and will be having to oay for another hours worth of labour to fully diagnose the fault which basically boils down to a fault with air flow and the turbo charger.

 

The car came with platinum RAC warranty which only cover £40.00 +vat /hour for labour which is half of what Peugeot charge, the garage that the Warranty company pointed me to saif the problemm was too specialist for them to deal with and the local diesel specialist is charging more than the warranty will cover.

 

The dealer who soled me the car has flatly refused to "put his hand in his pocket" any more as he know full well how much a new turbo will cost. Thw warrantry company has also said they do not cover faults with the turbo if it is due to carbon build up.

 

The dealer just wants to give me my money back which I dont really want as its such a nice car apart from the current faults. If the warranty wont pay up and the dealer is refusing to fund repairs, what can i do? Can the law force him to fund the repairs?

 

Please help wise folk!

 

Thanks.

 

Lud.

[sailor sam]

Well the warranty is irrelevant for a start as you have only had the car a few days! Your claim lies fairly and squarely with the seller.

 

Under SOGA, the seller should have the opportunity to rectify any faults which develop within the first 6 months of purchase. If the seller refuses you can either have the repairs done and send him the bill or reject the car and demand a full refund. As you wish to keep the car I suggest you write to the seller formally to request that he arranges the repairs at no cost to you. State in the letter that if he refuses, you reserve the right under the SOGA to have the repairs done yourself in which case you will be sending him the bill. Give him 7 days to respond and send the letter by recorded delivery.

 

Let us know if and when you get a response.

 

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 reputation button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[Boro]

Sailor sam i thought with used cars its up to the seller whether they refund or repair? could be wrong of course

[sailor sam]

Sailor sam i thought with used cars its up to the seller whether they refund or repair? could be wrong of course

 

Actually I think that you are right. If the seller chooses not to repair but offers a full refund, I believe that he would satisfy the SOGA. But as the OP wishes to keep the car, he may as well send the first letter in any event because the seller will have to respond accordingly and the correspondence will be necessary to show in court should the seller play silly buggers further down the line.

 

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 reputation button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[Boro]

Thanks sailor sam it was at the back of my mind!, personal thoughts here try not to get too heavy handed with the seller, they are being reasonable by offereing you a full refund on the car and could simply become awkward or drag things out if you wind them up

[ludlum]

Problem is, its otherwise a really nice car, immaculate condition inside and has had full main dealer service history.

 

Ive looked all over the place for a diesel estate in good condition that I can afford and does not mean travelling across the country to look at etc.

 

I have not long been through a similar problem with a garage whereby I had to tell them to take the car back and give me a refund. i was delighted when I found this one and it will be such a shame if I have to start from scratch.

 

If the law is on my side with them having to pay for repairs then hopefully that will be the best way to go.

[Boro]

The problem is the seller has the choice to either refund you and have the car back or to repair it, if they want to take the car back rather than repair there is not a lot you can do about that, if you really want to keep the car try as people have suggested in your other thread or find someone who can diagnose the problem with the car then knowing exactly what the fault is and the cost to repair try and work something out with the seller, they may be willing to have it repaired (rather than refund) if its a simple issue

[ludlum]

CCCCCRRRRRAAAAAAZZZZYYYYYYY! Spoke to the dealer and advised him that it was a non warranty item that would costs £232 to repair, a small percentage of the value of the car hence I requested he pay for the full amount. He replied "I dont see why I should have to dip my hand in my pocket" to which I replied "well neither do I. " He then said, "to be honest, £4500 is nothing to me to I am quite happy to give your money back" to which I replied, "if £4500 is nothing to you, then you should have no problem funding the fault with the car you sold me" After a few words exchanged, I said "look, we are going round in circles here, I stated that either I expected him to pay for the repair or I would pay it and then pursue him via a small claims court hearing in order to get my money back. He then turned into a freak and started ranting and raving at me saying, "god, your making me swear and pace around, do you do this to everyone you talk to, argh, its made me really angry, I cat belive your making me like this."

 

I was confused by this as all I had done was point out my statutory rights and suggested a couple of options. He then said, "right, ill pay for this repair but thats it, I dont want to hear from you again, no more. You making me mad, and if you carry on, ill take YOU to court." I tried to ask him what he wanted to take me to court for but I never did get a answer to that one.

 

What is wrong with some people!

[Surfer01]

I am not sure where my posts have gone but this is a common problem with the DPF or Diesel Particule Filter. All the car needs is a good rev on a motorway for about 20 minutes to clear the fault. The fault only manifests it self because the car has been driven on a number of short journeys. A search on Google on DPF will bring up thousands of hits on this problem as it is common across all cars with diesel engines thanks to EU regulations. The fault is akin to have a dirty air filter and washing the air filter. in the case of the DPF the soot is burned off as the higher revs make the engine hotter. Instead of using 5th gear keep it in 4th gear for 20 minutes travelling at about 70mph. In effect thsi in my opinion is a "forced" design fault on diesel engines!

[ludlum]

Will bear that in mind, but in my case its defo a split in one of the parts on the EGR system.

[scaniaman]

Hello Surfer, reference your post "9". You claim that DPF problems are widely known, but this information, and that of FAP systems, are not being brought to the attention of Punters by car salesmen. Some of us buy diesels for reasons other than fuel economy, and are not advised at time of purchase that these modern diesels are not suitable for sustained short journeys. Traditionally, most people buying diesels know that they need a "Turin Tune Up " occassionally, but are unaware of the dire consequenses of not doing so on modern cars.

What is your opinion of this situation, and who's responsiability is it to inform the car buying public about this potential problem?

[Surfer01]

Under the SOGA this is basically an inherent fault and the only way around it would be for some one to challenge it in court. I raised the question on the peugeot and Qashqai forums and both were in agreement with my thoughts. I don't understand why the consumer should be paying to rectify an inherent design fault. Once more people become aware of this problem, the value of second hand diesels vehicles will plummet. It will only be worth getting a diesel if you can afford it brand new and if it is on lease.

[scaniaman]

Thanks for your views Surfer. IMO, as many of us as possible should write our MP's describing this situation and DEMAND that action is taken to alert the car buying public---especially those buying used cars, who presumably can't afford new cars every 3 years or so. The ones least able to afford it are the ones most likely to be faced with these huge bills---same as VAG customers with this Teves MK60 brake module.(£1500 parts and labour)

It would be most effective if we knew which MP's don't agree with these ludicrous EU regs on emmissions.

Under CPUTR 2008, it is an offence NOT to mention anything which might influence a decision to buy, but Trading Standards shy away from doing their duty under section 3 sub 6&7 of these regs.

At present, i am going through the TS complaints proceedure as my local TS failed to take action when i informed them about breaches of the CPUTR .