Bought a faulty second hand car, what next?

[F1fan]

sorry moved it over to correct forum

Edited April 10, 2013 by F1fan

[F1fan]

Will try and keep this as short as possible but I also need to give all the required info, so apologies in advance.

 

I bought a car at the start of February for just shy of £3000 from a local dealer. The car is a 2002 with 80k, "FSH" and appeared to be in immaculate condition, certainly the bodywork is exceptional for the age which is why I was happy to pay top price.

 

On the test drive the car drove well but had an engine management light come on. The dealer assured me it would be fixed prior to collection, along with a service and new MOT. I paid approx 3k with about £800 coming from my part exchange, I also got a "Customer Protect Gold" warranty for 1 year. When collecting the car all seemed well.

 

Nearly 5 weeks later, having covered only 400 miles, the car developed a fault with a strong burning when up to temperature. I went back to the car dealer for advice and he basically said "bring the car to me on Monday and I will send it to a local specialist"

 

To cut a very long story short they have had the car back now since 11/03. almost exactly 1 month. I've been fed many excuses about it waiting to be looked at, the car will be ready before easter, after easter, next week.... it goes on. I have been chasing them up as much as possible but the owner is never there, always at auction or collecting a car or (I suspect) hiding in the toilet the last time I went up there.....

 

Basically from what I can gather the repair specialist is very busy and took a while to diagnose the fault, the garage I bought the car from are now trying to claim the cost of the repairs off the warranty company and as a result there a whole load of non-sense and non communication going on between the three parties as the warranty are requesting loads of documents/information. (repairer, sales garage, warranty co).

 

The end result is I've been without a car for 1 month having only owned it for just over 2. The repairer has just yesterday lent me a car to run around in, although this cost me £80 to insure. I still have no idea when my car will be fixed and I'm starting to lose my temper.

 

I paid top money, probably over the odds for the car & year and the reason I did this is because I thought the car was immaculate and the dealer I bought from is supposedly reputable with a strong customer service ethos. If I had wanted this aggro I could have bought one on ebay for £1000 less and saved the money for my own repairs.

 

Is it unreasonable to ask for my money back before they have had a chance to repair it? I'm honestly so fed up I don't even really want the car back now after all this stress?

 

Also, as a side issue: If the warranty refuses to pay out, can I get my money back off the dealer for the warranty (£200)? He basically told me it covered everything bar the kitchen sink, and if this breakdown isn't covered (failure of non-consumable part) then nothing will be.

[Conniff]

If you paid for this warranty, the seller has no right to try and make a claim on it. There will be a limit on what can be claimed and that is for you not a car dealer.

 

The repairs are up to the seller to sort out and pay for.

 

You should write a letter and send by recorded means, (or take it in and get a receipt), saying "I am making 'time of the essence' and you have 7 days in which to return the car or I will reject it and require a full refund and your old car back".

 

Mention the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) and stop him using the warranty you paid for.

[F1fan]

If you paid for this warranty, the seller has no right to try and make a claim on it. There will be a limit on what can be claimed and that is for you not a car dealer.

 

The repairs are up to the seller to sort out and pay for.

 

You should write a letter and send by recorded means, (or take it in and get a receipt), saying "I am making 'time of the essence' and you have 7 days in which to return the car or I will reject it and require a full refund and your old car back".

 

Mention the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) and stop him using the warranty you paid for.

Hi, thanks for the reply.

 

Yes I paid £200 separately for the warranty; on the day of collection he sold it to me as an upgrade, saying it was "gold cover" that would cover all mechanical & electrical up to £1000 for 12 months. The standard one that came with the car was £500 limit for 6 months only. I should have been more savvy and checked online, as this particular company (auto protect / customer protect) have a huge number of negative reviews which state they rarely pay out and use small print to deny any claims. I also wonder, given that the fault appeared so quickly after purchase, if he sold me this upgrade knowing a big bill was on the way..... or maybe I'm too cynical.

 

I was also surprised to get a voice mail from the warranty co about "my claim"..... it seems the dealer initiated the claim "on my behalf". He has given assurances that if the warranty don't pay he will.... but to be I don't trust this guys word after all that has gone on and 1 month + counting to fix a relatively simple fault (albeit costly) is unreasonable.

 

I intend to hand deliver a letter tomorrow stating I wish for a full refund on the car and warranty (but not tax) and if not received in 7 days I will pursue legal action. I will also send a copy via special delivery so I have proof of delivery.

[Conniff]

Five weeks before you had a problem, that might put you into the category of having accepted it, so don't be surprised if he rejects your demand.

 

Appeal Court Case law (Bernstein v Palmerston Motors 1987) has held that the supplier must be given three chances to rectify the fault for which the goods are rejected and must have failed to do so.

 

I don't think you said what was actually wrong with it?

Edited April 10, 2013 by Conniff

[F1fan]

Five weeks before you had a problem, that might put you into the category of having accepted it, so don't be surprised if he rejects your demand.

 

Appeal Court Case law (Bernstein v Palmerston Motors 1987) has held that the supplier must be given three chances to rectify the fault for which the goods are rejected and must have failed to do so.

 

I don't think you said what was actually wrong with it?

The "transfer box" has failed.

I agree 5 weeks is a fair amount of time, although I would counter I barely used the car in that period.

 

How long are they allowed for each "chance to rectify" ? At what point does it become unreasonable?

[Conniff]

If you want to use the Sale & Supply of Goods to Consumers regulations 2002, that says:

 

the goods are repaired or replaced within a reasonable period of time

without causing significant inconvenience to the consumer

with the seller bearing any necessary cost of repairing or replacing the goods.

 

Like all the regulations, a reasonable period is not specified in the regulations. In most cases 28 days is considered reasonable.

[F1fan]

If you want to use the Sale & Supply of Goods to Consumers regulations 2002, that says:

 

the goods are repaired or replaced within a reasonable period of time

without causing significant inconvenience to the consumer

with the seller bearing any necessary cost of repairing or replacing the goods.

 

Like all the regulations, a reasonable period is not specified in the regulations. In most cases 28 days is considered reasonable.

 

This is what I intend to send, any thoughts?

 

[dx100uk]

if you paid ANY part by a card

 

use section 75 too

 

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/31/creditcards-31.htm

[F1fan]

if you paid ANY part by a card

 

use section 75 too

 

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/31/creditcards-31.htm

 

Not on a credit car though, I paid 200 deposit via visa debit.

[dx100uk]

works with debit cards too.

 

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases

[F1fan]

works with debit cards too.

 

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases

 

The link you sent says quite clearly that it doesn't cover debit cards, only credit and store cards?

 

Further reading suggests I may be able to do a chargeback on the basis 'the goods were faulty'. But I cannot find out if this is for the full amount of simply the £200 deposit I left.

Edited April 11, 2013 by F1fan

[dx100uk]

that's int they've changed their advise then

since I got that link last year.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

http://www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk/individual/consumer-credit-act.asp

 

last bit might help

 

dx

[F1fan]

http://www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk/individual/consumer-credit-act.asp

 

.

Sigh, so the saga drags on. I returned the documents & gave them the letter on the 11th, (image attached post #7) and had no reply, no phone call no anything.

 

Was contacted on the 15th to say the car was ready,

by the repairing garage not the seller,

 

I accepted it back and went around to the seller get the documents back

- at this point it is obvious they are unhappy with my letter & have accused me of being 'rude',

tell me trading standards said they don't have to refund, etc etc

(moot point since I had taken the car back anyway).

 

all seemed fine for a day,

but the problem is now 3 days later the car showing the same issues as what it had before....

..... and additionally it has now developed a clunk/click from the front drivers side!

 

Mileage covered is now approx 600 since buying...

..owned it 2.5 months

but in that time it was in their possession and being repaired for 1 month 4 days!

 

I know I have probably weakened my case by accepting it back after it took so long for them to repair,

but I was trying to be reasonable.

 

Any further suggestions ???

 

I've not yet contacted them about the fault still being there,

but I can't see it is a conversation that will go down well at this point.

 

 

oh: and the repair that was done was pushed through on my warranty...

.. kinda impressed they managed to get them to pay out considering the circumstances

and the poor online reviews of customer protect.

[dx100uk]

trading standards?

 

dx