Strattons of Bournemouth refusing to refund on faulty vehicle

[Martindef]

I know its a minor issue because you said the car was diagnosed with an issue with some kind of airflow sensor. I do know enough about cars to know that these failing are not a major issue.

The engine light will come on, the car will may put itself into a 'default/safe' mode as without the sensor working properly it cannot accurately measure the correct air/fuel mix, and all modern cars have a default setting they will happily run on. Worst case is that it might be slightly down on power and/or use a little more fuel until repaired.

 

It isnt' the case of 'Anything can go wrong now the EML is on' - that just isn't the case.

 

The EML was not on the dash when you bought the car. You've already said that, so you don't need to keep saying 'I wouldn't have bought it if I knew it was there' - It wasn't there, this issue has occoured post sale.

 

You bought the car with an warranty which is offered in addition to your consumer rights. Paperwork or not, the dealer has offered to fix your car free of charge. They're upholding what they've offered you.

 

I don't know why you are demeaning 'some kid mechanic' obviously he has the qualifications or he wouldn't be in the job.

 

You do not have the right to take it back if you are not happy with the purchase. You only have a right to reject if it fits under the consumer rights act, i.e not fit for purpose, not of satisfactory quality or not as described.

 

From the story you are telling, your car does not fit into any of these catergories so you do not have the right to take it back. With some items, you do have the right to return and change your mind within a set period of time, however used cars are exempt from that.

 

I know you're not liking what I am saying to you, as it isn't what you want to hear. But those are the facts of consumer law. I'm not going to repeat them again.

 

I hope you get this resolved to a conclusion that both you and the dealer are satisfied with.

[Yas123]

Whatever the case faulty car or not, surely the owner should be communicating with me as a dissatisfied customer. So why is he refusing to communicate if he is within his rights?

 

His attitude clearly says he knowingly sold me a faulty car and that’s why the avoidance.

It’s not that I’m not liking your comments it’s just that you’re commenting without knowing the full facts of what happened before and after the sales.

 

T

he company itself is dodgy.

I hadn’t known this prior to my visit to them as I was so desperate for a car.

 

After it all happened I found out a lot of things about the owner himself.

He is a criminal convict and was named in our local newspaper. 

The salesman is a liar. T

 

hey say they had 3 witnesses in their office that day when we bought the vehicle but the only people present that day was myself, husband and the salesman. I wanted to speak to the owner but the salesman refused whilst he was on the phone to him and made excuses.

 

24th his mother was unwell in hospital and then when I went back on the 27th it was his sons birthday.

I only wonder why he refused to speak to me?

 

I have requested call backs by phone but still nothing, the conversations so far via emails have clearly been from the salesman obviously I  addressed to the owner. So I hope you can understand why I am frustrated and upset with all this.

Just to add about the “kid mechanic” when I spoke to him he said he’s just there for the day helping out his friend.

I’m sure it doesn’t take a professional mechanic to plug a diagnostic machine into a car and read off it. 
 

[dx100uk]

Yas....you need to remember this is an open forum and membership is not screened.

always take what people say with a pinch of salt as you never know their motives or reasons for joining.

 

what I will point out though is that I find it rather suspicious that martindef registered today, came straight to this thread.

this is not typical of general users and the posting style and subject matter, returning a faulty car to a dealer, appears rather similar to a couple of previous one hit wonders that have already been banned concerning the same subject and their views which portray differing views to those posted by seasoned members of many years standing and consumer rights knowledge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Yas123]

Thank you for the awareness.

I understand what you are saying however this is something I want publicised.

I don’t want this happening to anyone.

 

This whole car buying experience has been an extreme nightmare.

I want people to be aware of what could happen when buying from a registered dealer.

 

 I went believing and trusting that I’ll have a reliable car for my growing family. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I’ve been naive and stupidly bought a car without any background knowledge of the company itself.

 

I will advise anyone that is buying a car from a dealer to do background check on the company and it’s owner.

Martindef is allowed to comment and have his opinions.

It doesn’t change anything for me at all.

I still have no car and no money due to this and this experience has made me much wiser if nothing else. 

[BankFodder]

I have no doubt that that those other posters are involved in the car industry in some way – but although on the basis of what you say I do think that you have a good case for saying that the car is not satisfactory quality, I would also say that you have told us that although the engine management light appeared from the outset, you have not told us that you notice any particular problems with vehicle and Strattons did agree to sort the problem out.

I gather that from what you have said, that the real issue was that you immediately lost confidence in the vehicle. I can understand that and I think it is very reasonable but on the other hand it is true that it was a very old vehicle and a very cheap price and although I agree with you completely that the vehicle should not have had the EML eliminated, I wonder whether the problem might not been sorted out with a bit more talking to each other.

If you want to bring a legal action on this then of course we will help you but it is certainly the case that the moment you have no money and no vehicle. You say that the dealer has a poor background of reviews – but in fact we have only been able to discover one negative review although it is true to say that we haven't discovered any positive ones. I have also to say that although I am of the view that they should have refunded your money immediately, the fact that they made the proposal they did, tends to suggest that they are trying to work in a reasonably ethical way. Despite this, it doesn't undermine your rights.

I think an important aspect of your case here is that you clearly discuss the vehicle with them, identified various faults and you agreed to take the vehicle with those faults. The EML was not discussed and by its omission, for whatever reason, this very specifically not part of the deal and I think this adds weight to your case to reject the vehicle.

I think by large this discussion has gone on long enough. It is now if you do decide to take your assertive action which is to issue a letter of claim and then to begin a county court process. Don't expect that this will produce a solution very quickly. It is very unlikely to do so. I'm going to say again that it is a shame that you didn't accept the £2000 and then proceeded for the balance. That would reduce the problem and also the possible costs.

Have you sent off the letter asserting your right to reject? This is very important

Also, you had better understand that because we have had have visitors from the motor trade, in all likelihood they will have informed Strattons.

[Yas123]

Hi BF, thank you for helping me to understand this process. I’ve sent the right to reject letter already. 
 

You say to talk to them and negotiate something but how can I when the salesman refuses any form of communication with the owner?

 

You say you only found 1 review however I have more reviews after requesting help from Facebook. People guessed the garage without me having to mention them. I have forwarded to them three reviews via email after they sent me an email stating that they’re there to help customers. 
 

If they have been informed by any other motor trade than that’s a good thing. In my opinion, they should not be in business for treating people like they do.
 

 

 

 

 

[BankFodder]

Please post links to the other reviews that you have found.

I think it would be a good idea to try and send them an email or voice message saying that you want to make a final attempt to negotiate the situation – but at the same time you should certainly send your letter of claim.

[Yas123]

Yes I have permission to use this. I’ve also sent these reviews to the garage so I’ve got no hesitation in sharing these on here 

 

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0uZvrnIqKaZcM5vJGaF6M7gYw

[BankFodder]

Thanks for the link. However it's not clear as to which garage or service it refers to. I'm afraid this is important as well.

[Hammy1962]

I've subscribed to this because I'm interested.................

 

Not my Brand and I deal with New not Used.

 

It's all getting a bit Kafkaesque.

 

H

Edited January 12, 2020 by Hammy1962

[Yas123]

3 hours ago, BankFodder said:

Thanks for the link. However it's not clear as to which garage or service it refers to. I'm afraid this is important as well.

I’m not very tech savvy. Not sure how to even attach photo from my library. It’s not letting me.  I haven’t got any links only photos of reviews that people have sent me 

[BankFodder]

 

Quote

Mass airflow sensor

The mass airflow sensor (sometimes referred to as a hot-film mass airflow sensor, air mass sensor, mass flow sensor or MAF) is vital for the efficient running of an engine. In its combustion chambers, an engine burns a mixture of fuel and air. The ECU uses data from the mass airflow sensor to calculate how much fuel to add to the combustion chambers to match the amount of air flowing into the engine.

 

https://www.carbuyer.co.uk/tips-and-advice/155372/engine-management-light-top-5-causes-of-amber-engine-warning-light

 

Quote

Engine management light

Safe to drive?

Yes – if it’s always lit and there's no loss of power. You should get it checked as soon as possible.

No – if it's flashing while you're driving. Avoid heavy acceleration and high engine speed. Stop the vehicle when it's safe to do so. Restart the engine after 2 minutes to reset the engine management system. If the light's still flashing, turn off the engine and contact us to report your breakdown.

Next steps

Get a garage to check the engine soon to avoid damaging the catalytic converter or diesel particulate filter.

The problem

Cars have lots of sensors to check if everything's running smoothly. If there's a problem, the sensor will tell the engine control unit (ECU) which will turn on the engine management light. There are many reasons why the light will show but a garage can check what the cause is.

https://www.theaa.com/breakdown-cover/advice/dashboard-warning-lights

 

 

Quote

Mass Airflow Sensor

If you fail to replace your vehicle’s air filter, the check engine light can turn on. A faulty air filter will result in lower gas mileage, more emissions, and stalling in some cases. During a regular maintenance check, we can look at your mass airflow sensor and service your vehicle if needed.

 

https://www.mercedes-benz-brampton.ca/the-top-5-reasons-your-check-engine-light-is-on/

 

 

If you are going to bring a legal action then I suggest that you start searching the Internet for "engine management light" and download various bits of commentary about it.

The three quotes I've included above refer to the airflow system and make it clear that it can cause fairly serious problems – although not unsafe to drive but it should be attended to. The last link to a Mercedes website suggest that a regular maintenance check should deal with it and that suggests that the dealers had not performed some basic checks before selling the vehicle.

I think these kind of things could be helpful to you assuming that you are going to bring a legal action. Certainly, it seems to me that if statins felt even to carry out a standard maintenance check before selling the vehicle – or that they missed this fault, because you say that the EML was eliminated right from the beginning, then this suggests that they sold it in an unsatisfactory condition. Given the concerns with environment and so forth the increase in emissions because a function of the vehicle designed to reduce these did not work correctly, would itself be of concern to any reasonable consumer.

If you came before a judge who was a climate change denier then you might have problems

[Yas123]

Thank you so much BF, very helpful information. I will print these off for reference. 
 

I believe I have to wait a certain period before I can take it to court. I’ve asked them numerous times which trade association they’re registered with but they don’t seem to want to answer this question. Not sure why? Can you shed some light on this please? 

[BankFodder]

If you are asking questions as to the amount of time you should wait before beginning an action then you obviously haven't been reading around this forum to find out about bringing small claims in the County Court or sending a letter of claim.

You have to send off a letter of claim and give 14 days. County Court procedure at this level is extremely easy – but you must spend a bit of time reading around and understanding the steps so that you have confidence. Start now

[Yas123]

3 hours ago, BankFodder said:

If you are asking questions as to the amount of time you should wait before beginning an action then you obviously haven't been reading around this forum to find out about bringing small claims in the County Court or sending a letter of claim.

You have to send off a letter of claim and give 14 days. County Court procedure at this level is extremely easy – but you must spend a bit of time reading around and understanding the steps so that you have confidence. Start now

There’s so much to read and take in. I’m doing my best to understand it all. It’s not easy being 32 weeks pregnant and coping with all this.

[BankFodder]

Yes, I realise that you have a rather stressful situation. I pointed out in my first post you on 10 January that your position might make things a bit difficult and I asked you whether you are supported at all by a family member.

County Court procedure at this level is not difficult but on the other hand it can be disruptive – especially if you have some other disruptive events going on in your life – which you clearly do.

This could possibly be another reason for trying to reach out to the garage and either to get the car back, negotiate a full refund – or accept their offer and then proceed for the very reduced outstanding balance.

I have to say that the third possibility – to accept their £2000 gesture would have been my choice if you had come here earlier before rejecting it.