Faulty car on finance

[tyallm]

I bought a car on finance about 6 months a go now. I found out recently that the compressor is faulty and needs replaced. The car had only done about 19000 miles and was just over four years old when I bought it.

 

When I had an air con specialist look at it he told me he was very surprised it was the compressor causing a leak due to it being rare to fail on my type of car and because of the age and mileage. I found out about this just before I had the car for 6 months so first contacted the dealer I bought it from who said they could look at it and fix it but because I'd nearly had it for six months would not pay to fix it.

 

I then made a complaint with my finance company who have sent me a letter as a final response saying that they won't repair the car as air conditioning is a wear and tear issue so is not covered under the sale of goods act. I don't agree with this as I have not been able to cool my car in the summer and I can understand if they meant something like the car having no refrigerant but a main component like a compressor which will cost around £500 or more to fix is not a wear and tear issue on a car that I bought less than six months ago.

 

After doing research I've found out that this problem is normally caused by the car not being used for at least 2 weeks or more. It had only done 19000 miles in just over four years and I know it had been sitting at their dealership for weeks before I bought it as well so I believe I have a strong case.

 

I'm now going to make a complaint to the financial ombudsman service but was also wondering if I got the car repaired would claiming the cost of the repair back at a small claims court be a possible option?

 

I'm really annoyed with my finance company as I think they're being completely unreasonable.

[Conniff]

Who is the finance company ?

Ask them to name one single item on a car that is not a wear and tear item. What they are saying with that statement is that SOGA does not cover cars at all.

 

Get back on to them, with threats if necessary. It is their car and up to them to get it fixed. You can tell them if they don't you will get it fixed and send them the bill. It is up to them to liase with the seller and sort the problem out.

 

Try not to use the phone, it's never on your side as you can't prove a single thing they fob you off with unless you record the call. Use letters or email, much better.

[tyallm]

The finance company is moneybarn.

 

I've made a complaint with the financial ombudsman service today so I'll wait to hear back from them.

 

I do agree though that they've completely ignored everything I've said. If I do fix this myself I plan to try and get them to give me the money back.

[heliosuk]

Hold on. Op says about six months ago! Air con compressors fail due usually to a lack of maintenance, natural gas loss etc so potentially it could be argued that a failure to check the service history of the car and or the gas system has contributed to the failure of the compressor.

Op needs to state make, model and year of vehicle as for a specialist to make a statement as to its unusual is pretty nebulous and subjective.

[tyallm]

Ford fiesta 10 plate. First registered January 2011 and had done about 19000 miles when I bought and had been serviced three times and then I serviced it a month later after I bought it in March. It has now done about 23000 miles since I bought it. The servicing is overkill considering how little it's been used. When I got it serviced at the dealership they said it was in really good condition and didn't need anything done to it but once again that's not a surprise considering the age and mileage. All the parts are official ford parts as well.

 

I don't think I'm being unreasonable in expecting the compressor to work. I'll admit the only reason it's taken this long for me to get someone to look at it as I assumed it wasn't a major issue and the weather has been very mild since I bought it. If I had any suspicion it was the compressor I would have had it sorted sooner. This is not an obvious issue so I don't think it's surprising I didn't know considering this is my first car and I don't know much about cars.

 

You're using the weak argument that the dealership and finance company are using. The dealership said to me well you've used the air conditioning in six months so that could have caused it, ridiculous. This problem is caused by lack of use. If you believe it's reasonable to buy a car of this age and mileage and within six months find it has a faulty compressor then that's fine but I don't.

[Conniff]

There is one other thing that has been overlooked. The regulations say that problems you are told about or you could resonably be expected to notice at the time of sale are not covered.

I made an error there, the six months didn't really sink in.

 

If you had taken it for a nice long test drive, you would have had a play with the ac as you would have played with all the bits and pieces, or you should have, that is what a test drive is for, and you would then have noticed it wasn't working.

 

They could also come back with the same as I said first here, it is a fault that could have reasonably been expected to have beeen noticed at the time of purchase.

[tyallm]

If I had noticed it earlier though they would have just done what I did and had the air conditioning serviced because they would have assumed just like I did it was something basic like the refrigerant levels being low. A few weeks later it would have stopped blowing out cold air like it has done now and I would be in the same position.

 

Why in March would I use the air conditioning to blow out cold air, it was freezing! They would have probably just said it needs an air conditioning service which is what I did anyway. I think my position is far more reasonable than the one you're taking. Not everyone is a car expert sadly and I think your arguments are scraping the barrel a bit. How many people really properly check the air conditioning when they buy a car?

 

I know the car has never properly blown out cold air since I bought it which is the only reason I'm going this far with this.

[Conniff]

Not use it, test it. That is why test drives are offered and taken so you can test everything to see if it's working ok.

[tyallm]

That would have just resulted in what I already said though. The sale of goods act also says it's up to the dealer to prove that it wasn't like that when I bought it but everyone just wants to blame me when it was four years old when I bought it and I've only had it six months.

 

The finance company have just cut off their nose to spite their face because I'll just give the car back after paying half the finance.

[Conniff]

You are getting mixed up here.

 

The sale of goods excludes faults pointed out you the buyer and any faults that it is resonably expected to have been noticed at the time of purchase.

It isn't unreasonable to expect a buyer to turn on the ac to see if it works the same as they would the radio and lights.

 

The finance company still dips in even on a VT. You will have paid interest up to that point plus the capital and they will then have the car to sell again.

[tyallm]

I don't want to get into an argument about the sale of goods act. As far as I'm concerned I've taken good care of the car and the reasonable thing for them to do is to fix it.

 

I don't place much value on owning a car like most people so don't mind hiring or leasing.

 

The finance company will lose a lot more thsn £500 if i vt. Considering this issue and the overall cost I think it might be best just to give the car back and consider other options.

 

I can just increase my repayments in the meantime to get to that point quicker.

[Conniff]

Get on to the finance company and copy the letters to the selling dealer. It is their car and they can't just deny anything to do with it once the agreement is signed.

You are only hiring the car, not buying it. At the end of the hp agreement, you then have an opportunity to buy it, so don't let them fob you off.

If they continually refuse any assistance, you can tell them you will pay for the job to be done on 'their' car and bill them for it, also saying that refusal to reimburse will involve further action.

 

Send it recorded, that alway carries more weight.

 

Just confirm that it is Hire Purchase and not a car loan ?

[tyallm]

Well it's a conditional sale agreement. I need to wait until I hear back from the FOS before I try and do that.

[tyallm]

Update:

 

Financial ombudsman agreed with me that the finance company haven't acted fairly. They also said that because the fault was present within six months of me buying it that it is reasonable to conclude that the fault was present at the point of sale. Interestingly I was also told that my finance company were given two weeks to reply for more information and when they didn't reply they were then given another two weeks and they still didn't bother. The person dealing with my complaint wasn't impressed. This has taken far longer than it should have to sort out because my finance company have a terrible attitude. They will now have to pay a £550 case fee and the cost of the repair. Where is the logic in that? If they're not replying they must know they have no case and were hoping I would just accept their decision and not take it to the ombudsman.

 

Very happy with the result even though it was a long process. I'm presuming the finance company will just be as difficult when trying to arrange the repair.

[Conniff]

I don't think it's a case of them knowing they have no case, but more that very few people take action against companies like this and the companies know that and will just sit it out as long as possible hoping you will go away, something I think the majority do.

 

I'm glad this is almost settled, any further correspondence, if to the finance company, copy in the dealer and vice versa.

 

They also have to do this without undue disruption to you, so if it goes on too long, then give them say a week to get it fixed or you will take it to the main dealer to be fixed and bill them.

[tyallm]

Thanks for the advice. They have another two weeks to reply to the decision so I'll wait and see what they do.