trade cars cleckheaton - bought car with fuel tank leak

[Correntexp]

Hi,

I bought a car from 'trade cars cleckheaton' last Saturday (Saturday 23rd February) the car seemed to drive fine and didn't appear to have any issues when driving it away from the forecourt.

 

However after taking the car home and leaving it parked overnight i noticed quite a lot of fluid on the ground (this is on the morning of Sunday 24th Feb) and the strong smell of petrol from underneath the car. I turned the car on to find that a quarter of a tank of fuel had obviously leaked out onto the street.

 

I then took this to an independent garage (on Tuesday 26th Feb) who advised me that the top half of the fuel tank is corroded to the point where any fuel in the tank above the 50% mark would immediately leak out.

 

The garage advised me that it would £400 to fix this, but from a look of other components the repair bill will likely escalate as time goes by.

 

Due to this diagnosis, i immediately called the garage and asked for a full refund.

I was asked if i wanted them to take a look at it, but due to state of the car and also the fact that going to and from the garage in Cleckheaton is not convenient for me, i refused the offer of a fix and reiterated my desire for a full refund. I was then told that it would be passed to their 'legal team' who will be in touch within 3-5 days.

I haven't had a letter through yet (and frankly, i would be surprised if i do get a letter through)

 

I am looking for advice on how to deal with getting a refund as soon as possible as i believe i am protected under CRA 2015?

Note: On buying the car i did sign a sheet which highlighted defects to the car such as bad wipers etc, but nowhere on this sheet does it mention the fuel tank or petrol fluid leaks so i do not think this will be a problem when it comes to claiming?

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

 

[dx100uk]

reject the car under your short term right to reject under the CRA

they CANNOT argue against a full refund ..no quibbling allowed

[Correntexp]

Hi dx100uk,

Thank you for the prompt reply. I've read other threads in the forum and can see that this act is usually very good in this situation, however i am looking for advise on how to go about the claim. What would you recommend me do to instigate a refund as soon as possible?

 

[Surfer01]

If the car had bad wipers then it was not road worthy and I don't think they are allowed to sell cars in an unroadworthy condition even if you signed to acknowledge this?  Maybe someone can come along and advise whether I am right or wrong?

[Correntexp]

Yeah, i thought that as well. I went with the fuel tank as it was neither acknowledged at the point of sale or roadworthy.

[Surfer01]

The fuel leak definitely makes it unroadworthy.  How much time is left on the MOT as I doubt if it will pass a MOT?  With this type of fault you will not be able to drive it away from a MOT station as it will be in a dangerous state.

[Correntexp]

It is MOT'd till November 2019, presumably the mechanic doing the MOT in November either didn't notice the leak or didn't care. 

[Surfer01]

How did the car manage to pass a MOT in November with bad wipers etc?  Also why would they have sent the car for a MOT before it was sold unless someone had bought the car and then rejected the car shortly afterwards.  Just a possibility.

Do you have a paper trail to prove that you have rejected the vehicle as that is very important?

[Correntexp]

No idea with regards to the failed MOT and the story around that.

I have sent a letter (recorded to the garage stating that i would like to adhere to the 30 day right to reject) and have put a 14 day deadline on returning the money to me. (sent Wednesday 6th March)

 

not heard back via e-mail or post so im assuming they will just let the 14 day deadline pass.

 

Next Wednesday i will then launch small claims court proceedings against them via the online portal - Would you advise this is the best course of action?

 

Also, i am still in possession of the car, what would you recommend i do with it? (returning it is not going to be easy considering its leaking fuel so can i demand they collect it if they would like the car back?)

[Sparxeh]

How much was the car?

And how did you pay; cash, credit card or finance?

[Correntexp]

£1990 and paid fully via debit card

Edited March 13, 2019 by Correntexp

[Sparxeh]

Do you mean by debit card?

[Correntexp]

Apologies, indeed i did (post edited)

[Sparxeh]

Contact your bank and ask to raise a Chargeback due to faulty goods. They should be able to return the funds to you, giving the garage no room to argue. If you're successful, the garage will just have the money debited by their card payment provider. Your bank may want to send a form out asking you to give a statement of account etc. No big deal

 

Some info here if you want to read up

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/visa-mastercard-chargeback/

Edited March 13, 2019 by Sparxeh

[Surfer01]

I suggest that you also contact Trading Standards via CAB so that it is logged plus you have a paper trail if it ever went near court.

[Correntexp]

Had a reply from the 'lawyers' trade cars are using:

 

We have recently been instructed by the above named Client in respect of your purchase of the aforementioned Vehicle. We are in receipt of your letter of the 05 March 2019 addressed to our Client and we respond as follows.

 

We understand that you purchased the Vehicle from our Client in or around the 23 February 2019 for a total consideration of £1,990. Prior to selling the Vehicle to you, our Client had completed a pre-delivery inspection on the Vehicle and it was sold with a valid MOT certificate.

 

Our Client is fully aware of their obligations under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (hereinafter referred to as “CRA”). The Vehicle must be of satisfactory quality s9 CRA, fit for purpose s10 CRA and as described at point of sale – s11 CRA 2015.  Our Client will rely on the aforementioned documents to discharge the burden upon them as per s19(14) CRA 2015.

 

We understand from your letter that you allege that the Vehicle has a leak in the fuel tank. We understand that you took the Vehicle to an independent third party garage for an inspection, you then go on to allege that upon completion of the inspection the garage informed you that half of the fuel tank was corroded. You believe that you are entitled to reject the Vehicle under the CRA 2015. We can advise that you have no grounds to reject the Vehicle at this stage.

 

We respectfully refer you to s22 CRA which deals with a consumer’s short term right to reject. In order for a consumer to seek to enforce their short term right to reject, the Vehicle must have a fault that renders the Vehicle of unsatisfactory quality at point of sale. Please note that it is not any fault that then allows the right to reject. We note that you have not provided any evidence to support your allegations. We ask that you now do so by return. We would respectfully refer you to the provisions of s19(14) CRA 2015 and can advise that they do not apply to the short term right to reject and the burden is upon you as the consumer to show non conformity with the CRA 2015.

 

Further and in the alternative we would refer you to s9(4) CRA 2015 which states that when considering whether a fault would render the Vehicle of unsatisfactory quality a consumer cannot seek to rely on an issue where the consumer has already examined the goods before the contract was made and which such examination ought to have revealed such an issue.  We would aver that in relation to the fuel filter you have signed the pre-delivery inspection confirming that you were aware of such defects at the point of sale. As this would have been reasonably clear to you at the point of sale, you cannot seek to rely upon this in order to reject the Vehicle nor does our Client have any liability to repair the same.

 

In summary we can advise that our Client has no liability in relation to the Vehicles fuel filter. In the event you believe the Vehicle to have further issues, we would invite you to provide evidence to support your allegations by return. Upon review of the evidence we will revert to you with our Clients findings and proposal for resolution.

 

Please ensure that all future correspondence is sent directly to this firm.

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours Sincerely,

Legalsolutions4u

 

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Any advice on how to respond from here would be much appreciated.

I would ideally like to settle out of court and get the full price of the car back, although im not bluffing and will go to court if necessary. I have a report from a 3rd part mechanic which states that the fuel tank is heavily corroded resulting in a petrol leak and therefore, in his opinion, it is unsafe and not road worthy.

 

Again, any help with a response here is very welcome

 

 

 

[dx100uk]

rent a gob to scare you away.

and ofcourse totally rubbish.

 

go do a chargeback to your bank which I assume you've not done yet?

 

 

[Correntexp]

I shall launch a chargeback tonight. In the meantime i would like to go back to the Rent-A-Gob with something to keep that course of action going as well, anything you'd suggest?

[dx100uk]

I wouldn't enter into pointless letter tennis yet

safe to say you informed the retailer it was faulty and unfit for purpose within 30 days.