Bought Saab Convertible from dealer - roof problems and big bill

[Organboy]

Hello there

 

After reading other posts I thought I might be able to get some of your splendid advice about this.

 

I bought a Saab 900 convertible a couple of months ago from a dealer. The car was described in the usual way FSH, MOT, etc. Whilst it has a service history it is not complete but I'm not worried about that as I've had it serviced.

 

Apart from a few issues the car had a reasonably clean bill of health from my local independent Saab specialist.

 

When we viewed the car the roof would not operate properly. The tonneau (the bit that raises up near the boot where the roof hides when it is down) was making a grinding noise. The chap at the car sales said it needed a bit of oil as the car had been stood for a while. On this advice I decided to buy it anyway. However, my garage has said it needs a new motor (common fault I now discover) which with fitting and the motor will cost around £500-600. This is one third of what I paid for the car at what I thought to be a reasonable price.

 

Do I have any redress here or should I have been more prudent? I bought the car about two months ago and the hood has now failed completely. It is only since joining this magnificent forum that I thought that I might have some redress at all. I don't know whether SOGA might help but any guidance would be much appreciated.

 

Many thanks

OB

[rebel11]

Hi organ

 

Have a read of 10,11 and 12 in my signature.

[Organboy]

Thanks Rebel.

Where is your signature?

[sailor sam]

Thanks Rebel.

Where is your signature?

 

Good question!

 

Anyways, you should first contact the seller to give him the opportunity to rectify. Don't mention that you have had it 'looked at' already... let them find out for themselves what needs to be done at this stage. Let us know 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 face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

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

 

[Organboy]

Thanks. The only problem is that it's already being repaired at the garage. Expect to get it back early next week. It hadn't crossed my mind to go back to the dealer until I was reading stuff on this site and realised that they should have rectified it particularly as my purchase was based upon a misrepresentation that the mechanism needed a bit of oil. I should in hindsight have asked them to 'oil' it and then see what happened when it wouldn't work. I usually buy cars privately so not used to having rights to send them back.

 

Once I get the bill next week I am just tempted to send a copy of it and ask them to pay it as they would have had to do if they had got it fixed. The problem really is that a convertible car is worthless if the roof doesn't work.

[sailor sam]

Oh dear, your only hope is that the seller has more morals than most 2nd hand car dealers. Under the SOGA, they are allowed to have the opportunity to mitigate their losses so in ercffect, the seller could say that they could of repaired it fo under £100! It seems that you havn't even reported the actual failure of the roof to the seller. This could be a very expensive lesson for you i'm afraid. Having said that, the seller may be have a good customer care policy so I would first contact him explaining what happend and add that you had to get it sorted quickly for fairly obvious reasons and ask him if he is prepared to contribute to the cost. Do remember though, that there is still nothing stopping you under the SOGA from making a claim in the small claims court if necessaary BUT it is highly unlikely that you will get the full repair cost awarded.

 

Keep us posted.

 

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 face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

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

 

[Organboy]

Thanks for that.

I'll write and see what happens. TBH I'd be happy just getting some of the money back although he clearly hadn't bothered to check it was working. They wouldn't have got it done any cheaper as the reconditioned motor is £300 in itself and if a SAAB garage did it would probably charge upwards of £1000 as they have a special calibrator for the roof. I'll let you know what happens but thanks for the advice which I'll certainly remember in the future.