BCM Prestige Car Sales - Car bought on MotoNovo finance with issues

[Joeyy99]

Quote

Bit of a long one... We bought a used car on finance in dec2019, we went into lockdown not long after so didn't use the car for a few months, when we came to use it in the summer the aircon didn't work and a local garage found that the compressor was cracked and told us to take it back to the garage we bought it from. The retailer eventually agreed to fix it using 1000.00 from the warranty we bought and we had to pay 800.00 as they wanted to replace the whole aircon unit not just fix the broken part. They spent the next 3 months aug-oct waiting on parts etc then finally told us to come and get it it was ready-we drove to the garage an hour away from us and the car had smoke pouring out from under the bonnet and the controls for the radio no longer worked. They agreed to fix this and deliver the car back once this was done. We're now in Feb and we still don't have a car! The garage are refusing to fix the issues they caused or bring the car back and we have no way of going there to collect it, the finance company have basically refused our complaint saying its tough and we still need to make the payments, we've complained to the ombudsman who have said its a 4-6month wait for them to look into it and they have contacted the garage to give us a resolution but they have 8 weeks to respond-it's been 3 weeks and we haven't heard anything from them, we're really stumped with what else we can do, we're paying for a car and we don't know exactly where it is, if it's being stored properly and started regularly. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

Bit of a long one...
We bought a used car on finance in dec2019,
we went into lockdown not long after so didn't use the car for a few months,

when we came to use it in the summer the aircon didn't work and a local garage found that the compressor was cracked and told us to take it back to the garage we bought it from.

The retailer eventually agreed to fix it using 1000.00 from the warranty we bought and we had to pay 800.00 as they wanted to replace the whole aircon unit not just fix the broken part.

They spent the next 3 months aug-oct waiting on parts etc then finally told us to come and get it it was ready-we drove to the garage an hour away from us and the car had smoke pouring out from under the bonnet and the controls for the radio no longer worked.

They agreed to fix this and deliver the car back once this was done.
We're now in Feb and we still don't have a car!

The garage are refusing to fix the issues they caused or bring the car back and we have no way of going there to collect it,

the finance company have basically refused our complaint saying its tough and we still need to make the payments,

we've complained to the ombudsman who have said its a 4-6month wait for them to look into it and they have contacted the garage to give us a resolution but they have 8 weeks to respond-it's been 3 weeks and we haven't heard anything from them,

we're really stumped with what else we can do,

we're paying for a car and we don't know exactly where it is, if it's being stored properly and started regularly.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Edited February 10, 2021 by BankFodder
Restructured post to make it readable

[BankFodder]

Welcome to the forum.

You posted your story in a long solid block of text and that makes it very difficult for people to follow especially when they are using the small screen such as a telephone.

Please will you help us in future by presenting your story and any responses properly spaced and punctuated.

Thank you

[BankFodder]

Please can you tell us the name of the dealer and the name of the finance company

[Joeyy99]

Finance company is motonovo and dealership is Bcm prestige cars in leicester 

[BankFodder]

https://www.my-1bcm.co.uk/

 

https://www.motonovofinance.com/

[BankFodder]

How long have you not had the car? Also you haven't told us the price you paid for it. Maybe the tell us the make and model as well and the mileage please.

Our preferred way of dealing this would be to begin a county court claim. However you have put this into the hands of an ombudsman and this means that if you decide to take legal action then the ombudsman would not be prepared to continue with the complaint any more.

If you wanted to take legal action then we would help you and support you away including helping you to draft the documents.

It seems to me that you have been fundamentally deprived of the entire purpose of the contract – you have lost the use of your car. Also you have been conned into paying money apparently towards warranty when in fact you have statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act which would have required the dealer to pay for any repairs.

You need to understand that by and large warranties are a con and are used as a distraction in order to divert you from the fact that you have ample statutory rights.
Do not be swayed by warranties in future.

What is the value of the car?

[BankFodder]

Also, was the finance in the form of a loan or was it a hire purchase?

[BankFodder]

Sorry, but I've already restructured one of your long posts.

Please will you post properly spaced and punctuated.

Thank you

[Joeyy99]

Also we paid 5279.00

Hire-purchase 

[dx100uk]

you should not be charged anything for any extra warranty!!

neither £1000 under the warranty for a repair

 

go get that money back

and the money for the unnecessary warranty

and tell motonova to do their job as the OWNER of the car properly.

 

 

[BankFodder]

We are still waiting for you to repost your correctly structured post please.

After that, it will be your decision but frankly we would recommend that you withdraw from the ombudsman process and you begin a legal action.

I would propose that you recover full reimbursement of the price of the vehicle, your contributions to any repairs, the cost of any warranty you have bought, any interest payments et cetera that you have paid to the finance company.

If this interests you then please post your responses – in a way that they are fully accessible to people even with small screens.

Start reading around this forum about the steps involved in taking a small claim in the County Court.

It's very easy but it's worth knowing how to do it in advance.

You haven't addressed my question as to whether this was hire purchase

[Joeyy99]

Hi apologies I've never posted on this forum before and wasn't sure if there was limited amount of space to write. 

 

The car was bought on hire purchase 

Thanks 

[BankFodder]

Thank you, but please will you address the questions about the make and model and mileage et cetera.

It will be great if we could get the answers all at one go so that we can then start sorting it out for you.

[Joeyy99]

Sorry again, I did write a reply-not sure what's happened to it. 

 

It's a Honda civic 63 plate

Mileage was 59k when we purchased it-not completely sure what it would be now as I haven't seen the car for 5 months and I have no idea if it's been driven. But I can get the mileage from the mot from July 20 if needed

 

The car was bought on hire purchase and the cost was 5279.00.

 

Thanks 

[BankFodder]

Okay, so strictly speaking it belongs to the finance company.

Presumably you made a written complaint to the ombudsman. Maybe you would like to produce it here so we can have a look. PDF format please.

As I've said, the whole thing seems to have been mis-sold and you have been led by the nose and it's probably time to put a stop to it. I'm afraid that the ombudsman is very uncertain and limp wristed and very often tries to reach compromise arrangements – when in fact the rights of very clearly on your side.

You bought a vehicle which was not in satisfactory condition and so therefore the vehicle was sold to you in breach of the consumer rights act.

It was also sold to you in breach of your general contractual rights. Basically this means that if you have been substantially deprived of the benefit of the contract then you are entitled to treat the contract is terminated and sue for reimbursement.

Generally speaking you might only be entitled to reimbursement of a portion of your money on the basis that you have had some satisfactory use from it. Even though you didn't use the car, that was a matter for you and so it could be argued that you possibly had six months use out of it before the problems were discovered that by and large you should be entitled to everything.

You are absolutely wrong to be persuaded into buying a warranty. You already had sufficient rights under the consumer rights act if you only had thought to enforce them.

You seen already that the warranty that you paid good money for is a waste of time.

You will find that the dealer prefers that you have a warranty because the dealer has a duty to repair the car for you free of charge anyway but by persuading you to buy a warranty, the dealer has effectively managed to con you into paying for the repairs yourself and also the dealer has managed to con you into believing that you probably don't have any other rights.

So the dealer prefers you to buy warranty. Also, because the dealer knows that the ombudsman is a fairly easy touch and limp wristed, the dealer prefers that you go to the ombudsman rather than to the County Court. This is not to say that the ombudsman will reach a bad decision, but is more likely than not that the ombudsman will reach a compromise decision.

If you decide to stay with the ombudsman until you get the decision – whenever that is – then the ombudsman will provide a decision and it is up to you to accept it or not. If you don't accept it then you can still go ahead and take legal action. However, it's pretty amazing that you've been deprived the user your vehicle for over six months now and there doesn't seem to be any end to it.

You will have to make your own decision.

The advantage of the ombudsman is that it's free and if you lose you don't suffer any costs. On the other hand as you see is extremely time-consuming and the outcome is very unclear.

The advantage of the County Court system is that it is relatively quick – and it is likely to put pressure on the dealer and also in the finance company to act properly. However, there is a risk that you could lose the case although on the basis of what you have told us – it would be almost impossible to lose this one. In order to bring a Canticle action you will have to lay out the claim fee and also the hearing fee which for a case of this value could probably be about £300 or so. If you win you get it all back. If you lose then you get nothing and also you won't be to go back to the ombudsman.

I think you will have to think it over and if you want to bring a Canticle action and as I have said, we will help you all the way. It's very straightforward.
Read up the steps on bringing a Canticle action – including the business of sending a letter of claim to give them 14 days.

If you wanted, you could start the process on Monday. You would probably be suing the finance company as they are the people who have sold you the vehicle under the hire purchase agreement

[Joeyy99]

Hi thanks for the advice, the legal route is definitely something that we were considering, but we've never 'taken someone to court' and are completely clueless when it comes to the process. 

 

I will get a copy of the written complaint posted here by tomorrow and I will discuss with my partner when I finish work tonight and have a look at the links you've provided. 

 

Would it be helpful for you to see the final response we received from motonovo in regards to the complaint we made to them? 

 

Many thanks 

[dx100uk]

yes please 

scan up to one multipage PDF all in/out comms with motonova.

read our upload guide carefully

 

most useless company if there ever was one 2nd only to Moneybarn in their exceptionally contemptuous way they treat customers 

no-one on any HP agreement should ever have to pay anything toward the upkeep of the car as it IS NOT YOURS. other than basic daily routine maintenance every owner would be expected too and SOME W&T issues  , though anything within the first year or two upon that front is extremely debatable it IS because of YOUR W&T not previous poor maintenance which ofcourse is not your problem.

 

[BankFodder]

You may not have taken anyone to court before – and most people who come onto this forum never have either.

However, it is very simple and you will acquire transferable skills so that you will then feel more confident about suing anybody else who gets in your way.

What is there not to like?