German car shop in Leicester wont take car back 8 days after purchase.

[Aga.misia]

Aga.misia [edited - HB] said:

Hi I purchased car on 22 may 2021.   I noticed vibration on steering wheel and seat when pressing brake and went to independent garage which confirm the vibration on idle needing further investigation and rear brakes are down to metal - suggested not be driven .   I want return car but the dealer refusing. Saying I have to drive to him , thats 1.5 hour and he will check it to confirm fault .   I want reject car , have I got any chances ?  He also said I bought on trade terms ( I got 20 pounds discount ) but I m not a trader . He says car is not faulty and I have no chances in court. I m so upset . Please help  Car cost me 5430 f

[BankFodder]

What is the name of the dealer?

[Aga.misia]

German car shop in  Leicester

Bank Fodder , thank you for reply

[BankFodder]

Used Cars Leicester, Used Car Dealer in Leicestershire | German Car Shop

WWW.GERMAN-CARSHOP.CO.UK

---

German Car Shop is a used car dealer in Leicester stocking a wide range of second hand cars at great prices. Visit us today for affordable used cars in Leicestershire.

Under the consumer rights act, if a defect occurs within the first 30 days then you are entitled to insist on a refund or a replacement – at your option. In this case it would be a refund.

In order to use this right, you have to assert it which means that you should write them a letter or an email telling them that you are rejecting the vehicle under the consumer rights act because of the defect and that you want a full refund.

Unfortunately, this will not necessarily make the dealership respect your rights but it is important that you assert his right so that you can show that you have done it and so that you can show that the dealer has disregarded their statutory obligations.

Once you have rejected the vehicle, the dealer is responsible for the return of the vehicle and that means that it is for them to make arrangements to recover the vehicle from you and to make the refund – and this should be done with a reasonable period of time – generally speaking seven days.

Once again, this doesn't mean that it's all going to happen and for a dealer to insist at the outset after only eight days that you should return the vehicle, tends to suggest that this is not a business which is interested in respecting your consumer rights.

How did you pay for it?

I have the impression that this dealership may be some distance away from you. Is that correct?

[Aga.misia]

Yes , as I m from Hull. I sent him oficial  letter but he is not having it. 

Dealer sent me text messages and emails saying he will not accept return   , wants me to take car to him and he will inspect . He can buy car but for less then 4000 ppunds. He insist I dont have any customer rights to return car 

He is very arogant and rude. 

I paid by cash 

Edited May 30, 2021 by Aga.misia

[BankFodder]

Well I'm sorry to add to your problems – but you better read our advice on purchasing used cars. Follow the link.

When you pay by cash – you lose complete control. If you had paid by credit card or using finance, then you would have had protection from the finance company or the credit card issuer. People who pay by cash or paid by bank transfer often find that they have these kinds of problems.

Was it the dealer who insisted on this method of payment?

Also, please read what we say in our used car guide about buying cars – long distance. It always causes problems because people forget to factor in the difficulty of returning the car even if the dealer is reliable, for repairs when small defects occur.

If the dealer is out to shirk responsibility then buying a used car by cash at long distance is a recipe for disaster.

Your problem now is that if you return the vehicle, you may not get your cash refund immediately. That could mean that the dealer will have your vehicle and also your cash. I'm afraid all too often we find that dealers suddenly become inaccessible even if you bring a court action and it becomes very difficult to enforce a judgement. Some dealers even change the company name so that officially they no longer exist – in order to frustrate their customers who they are ripping off.

Normally speaking I would have recommended that you take the car to the dealer, and then sue for your money back if the refund wasn't forthcoming. However, I'm worried about leaving you in a position where you have no car and no refund – and the dealer somehow or other disappears or avoids enforcement of a court judgement.

Can you tell us what the car is and what its mileage et cetera is please

[Aga.misia]

Infinity Q50 , 17000 millage. I have invoice what I paid. So I dont have chances in small claim court ? 

[BankFodder]

SHO CAR LTD Trading as German Car Shop
10961566

Created: 30 May 2021 15:22:58

Companies House does not verify the accuracy of the information filed

Overview

• Registered office address: 20-22 Wenlock Road, London, England, N1 7GU
• Company type: Private limited company
• Incorporated on: 13 September 2017
• Status: Active

Key filing dates

• Accounting reference date: 30 September
• Last accounts made up to: 30 September 2019
• Next accounts due: 30 June 2021
• Last confirmation statement date: 12 September 2020
• Next confirmation statement due: 26 September 2021

Nature of business (SIC)

• 45112 Sale of used cars and light motor vehicles

People

Officers:
1 officers / 0 resignations

• Director MAJID, Shoheb ACTIVE
• Nationality: United Kingdom
• Appointed: 13 September 2017
• Date of birth: December 1990
• Correspondence address: 20-22, Wenlock Road, London, England, N1 7GU
• Country/State of Residence: United Kingdom
• Occupation: Director

 

No, you have an excellent chance in the Small Claims Court. Much better than 95%. The only problem is with enforcing the judgement. If this is a business that definitely wants to avoid being held responsible for the cars that it sells, then it will have ways of avoiding court judgements.

We are trying to advise you in a way which protects your best interests and as I tried to explain above, you could get the car back to them and then simply sue them for the refund and also the cost of having return the vehicle but there is a chance – maybe not a big chance – but a chance nevertheless, that they may be able to avoid enforcement of the judgement and this would leave you completely empty handed.

Please could you post up the message that you have sent in which you rejected the car and also the reply received. In PDF format.

Who is it who inspected the car and told you about the fault? Can you tell us a little bit more about the fault

[Aga.misia]

I sent letter yesterday via email.

I dont know the person name though. There was 2 people 

The faults are on report from local garage  :

Rear brakes down to metal - dangerous

Vibration on idle - need further investigation

Edited May 30, 2021 by Aga.misia

[BankFodder]

First of all, do you have written reports?

You say that you sent an email to the German Car Shop. So in respect of that, it is a question of copying the text that you wrote and them pasting it into this forum. That should be straightforward.

You say that you received a reply from them. Was that in writing?

Have you got the assessment of the garage in writing? Was it sent by email? Or simply in a written piece of paper or was it simply by word of mouth?

 

Thank you.

We can help you with this and we can help you begin a legal action in the County Court. However, the legal action will be done online using the County Court website and so you will have to get to grips with that and also posting up documents.

You are using a telephone at the moment and you are doing very well but I'm afraid that you are going to have to get a slightly better handle on it and when you have done it once, you will find it straightforward.

We need to see the message that you sent, the response from the dealer and also a copy of the report that you have had from the garage which identified the faults. We also need to see the advertisement.

Everything we do here is completely free of charge – but you will have to be able to engage with us and to deal with the technology to benefit from the help we are giving.

It sounds to me as if the car is in dangerous condition and should not be driven. The dealer has committed an offence by selling you a vehicle which is not a roadworthy condition.

Please will you experiment and put up the documents I have asked for. If you have documents in a paper form then I suggest that you download an application called "Adobe Scan" – and take a scan of the documents then post them up here.
As I say, once you have done it once – you will find it easy and you will be confident about it.

I'm going to suggest that you should issue a letter of claim immediately – and that is a formal letter telling the dealer that you are going to start claiming 14 days. We will help you write it and also we will help you prepare the document you need to start the court action but as I've also said, you are going to have to get to grips with the technology in order to benefit from our help.

 

[Aga.misia]

Yes I have report in writting and dealer received it but not having it

 

 

Quote

 

Dear German car shop,

Complaint about faulty goods

I bought Car from you on 22 05 2021. I paid £5430.

I now find the goods have the following faults :

- rear brakes are down do metal -dangerous - strongly suggest that this is not driven

- vibration on idle - requires further investigation.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 goods you supply must be of satisfactory quality. As there was a problem with the goods when I bought them, I request that you give me a full refund.

I enclose copy of independent technican report in support of my claim.

Please respond within 14 days of receiving this letter.

Yours sincerely

xxxxxxxxx

Good afternoon. 

 

 

 

Quote

 

This information you have provided is conflicting please send us a video of the car. We checked the brakes prior to sale and they were well within the legal limits. U have previously told us over the phone that your mechanic has checked the car and there is nothing wrong with it.  You also stated that you want to return it because your garage said that its worth £4000.  This is based on trade value not retail value and doesnt take into account and additional spec the car has. Your basis for returning the car has gone from there being nothing wrong it, and wanting to return it because somebody told you that you paid to much.. to there being faulty brakes.  We are not convinced in the slightest.  You viewed the car before purchasing and agreed (and signed)to purchase it on a trade basis. 

 

However, at german car shop we take pride in our customer service.  To help you with this issue.  We propose that you return the vehicle to us so we can inspect it thoroughly, we will then make a decision on what we can do to help.

 

Kind regards.

 

German car shop

 

[BankFodder]

Thank you for uploading that. It's very useful.

What can you tell us about their comments that you originally told them over the phone that there was nothing wrong with the car and you had had it checked over.

Also what can you tell us about their comments that you told them on the phone that you wanted to return the car because it was only worth £4000.

 

[Aga.misia]

Dear German car shop,

Complaint about faulty goods

I bought Car from you on 22 05 2021. I paid £5430.

I now find the goods have the following faults :

- rear brakes are down do metal -dangerous - strongly suggest that this is not driven

- vibration on idle - requires further investigation.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 goods you supply must be of satisfactory quality. As there was a problem with the goods when I bought them, I request that you give me a full refund.

I enclose copy of independent technican report in support of my claim.

Please respond within 14 days of receiving this letter.

Yours sincerely

[Removed - HB]

 

Good afternoon. 

 

This information you have provided is conflicting please send us a video of the car. We checked the brakes prior to sale and they were well within the legal limits. U have previously told us over the phone that your mechanic has checked the car and there is nothing wrong with it.  You also stated that you want to return it because your garage said that its worth £4000.  This is based on trade value not retail value and doesnt take into account and additional spec the car has. Your basis for returning the car has gone from there being nothing wrong it, and wanting to return it because somebody told you that you paid to much.. to there being faulty brakes.  We are not convinced in the slightest.  You viewed the car before purchasing and agreed (and signed)to purchase it on a trade basis. 

 

However, at german car shop we take pride in our customer service.  To help you with this issue.  We propose that you return the vehicle to us so we can inspect it thoroughly, we will then make a decision on what we can do to help.

 

Kind regards.

 

German car shop

 

Good afternoon

First thing You shouted me on phone on many occasions which I also have recorded and accused of being drunk when I was crying which is out of order.

I didnt buy on trade basis becouse I m not a trader firstplace. If I bought on trade basis I wouldnt pay 5430 f for 170000 millage car but less.  

I got independent report from place which I sent to you.

According to report I should not be driven car as its dangerous and there are vibration on idle .  So you put me in serious risk letting me having test drive . Within 30 days I have right to reject faulty car without accepting your repair according customer rights act 2015 . You sold me car which should not be driven.

So I would like to excersise short term right to reject car in first 30 days

 

Kind regards

[Removed - HB]

 

Okay. Please send me alo your recordings. Also please send me the pictures and videos of the faults. You already stated on the phone there was nothing wrong with the car. Im sure you will also have that recorded as you have recorded all our phone calls.

 

Secondly. We already know your claim is false. We had a report done on the vehicle prior to selling. Also our vendor does basic checks on the car.  All you have given us is a pieve of paper stating a fault. That is not a report. Where are the photos? If you wont pay £5430 for 170k miles car? Then why did you buy it? You chose to travel and we gave you first priority before the que of customers waiting for the car. 

 

You mentioned vibration on idle. Its a diesel engine with 170k miles. On the phone you compared it to a 50k miles friends car. There is no comparison. As a company we obide by the consumer rights. However we will not be frauded out of money just because somebody told you the car was too expensive.  

 

 

I look forward to your reply.

 

Kind regards. 

 

German car shop.

 

Dear Sir

I have the right to return  the car which have fault  within the first 30 days of purchase. This is the “short-term right to reject” rule under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  

I would like you to collect car and give me my refund within 7 days. If not I will be taking it further.

Also I may sue you for malicious accusation of me being drunk when I rang you , when I was actualy in tears , not drunk. I m very upset about your attitude towards me .

 

Kind regards

[Removed - HB]

 

[BankFodder]

Thank you that is much better.

I still need an explanation of why you originally told them that there is an inspection which had said that there were no faults.

We also need to see the other assessment which describes the faults.

Also, you say don't have the the advertisement any more. Where was it?

 

You need to understand that if you go to court, then a judge will be asking exactly the same questions so you need to have answers

[Aga.misia]

First mechanic said he dont see issue but he didnt perform proper check . So I went to another one who perform check and gave mi report whicj I will try to send uou whem I get grip with technology

Quote

 

Advertisement was on autotrader

[BankFodder]

What date was it?

[Aga.misia]

21 may I found evening time

[BankFodder]

Okay, well we need to see the written inspection which was carried out which identified the faults.

[Aga.misia]

 

I have photo on phone but cant upload

Will try on my printer to scan

 

2021-05-30_045148.pdf

[BankFodder]

Thanks for the report. It looks very good. Have you shown it to the German Car Shop dealership?

Are you prepared to take a legal action in respect of this?

You could do two things.

You could return the car at your own expense to the dealer – and then if the refund wasn't forthcoming, you can claim for the refund. If the refund was made then you would simply claim for the costs of getting the car to the dealer. However, on the basis that it is unsafe to drive you would have to organise a transport vehicle for it and I can imagine that would cost you at least £200 or so.
If you did this and no refund was forthcoming, it would leave you with no vehicle, no money – and out-of-pocket in respect of your expenses – and you would then have to bring a legal action for the lot with a danger that the judgement might not be enforceable.

You could hang onto the car and simply sue the dealer for the refund and also insist that the dealer made their own arrangements to collect the vehicle. If they collect the vehicle before legal action was issued then I would suggest that you would insist that the refund was made before you released the vehicle. If you allow them to take away the vehicle without giving the refund then you would back into the above position that you would have no vehicle and no money et cetera.

I think you should move quickly. This means I think you should be prepared to issue a legal action and that you should send a letter of claim tomorrow giving them 14 days or you will sue them. Don't imagine that once they receive a letter of claim they will suddenly spring to attention and do everything you ask. You must be absolutely prepared to issue the claim on day 15. It's not worth bluffing.

Bringing a small claim in the County Court is very easy and we have lots of information on this website if you read the steps involved taking a small claim in the County Court. We will help you through it and we will help you write your letter of claim and also draft your particulars of claim.
County Court claims are generally speaking started online using the County Court moneyclaim service.

If there is a hearing, then it is likely to be a remote hearing using Skype or zoom or something. We would help you prepare for this. On the basis of everything you have told us, your chances of success are excellent and frankly once the dealer realised that the claim had been issued and that you are going to go ahead with it all then it would be silly for them to defend – but maybe they will do it.

You should not drive the car. Partly because it is unroadworthy and so you would be committing an offence. Also, if the condition of the car deteriorated then you would be liable for that and if you happen to have any kind of accident you would also be liable for that.
I'm afraid that you will have to park the car up somewhere safe. Take photographs of it inside and out so that nobody can later on say that the car was damaged and this is why a refund wasn't made or only a partial refund has made.

If you want to go ahead with this then you should decide pretty well immediately. Don't forget there will be court fees to pay but I think that your exposure will be limited in all to about £400 also and of course on the basis that you win, then you will get this back as long as you can enforce the judgement.

In the event that you can't enforce a judgement for some reason or other then at least you have got the car and you could invest a bit of money in repairing it and you will have to simply put it all down to experience.

Let us know what you want to do
 

[Aga.misia]

Bank fodder thank you so much for help , mean a lot to me

I m nerve wrack at the moment , cant sleep or eat , dealer treathen me on phone he has got good solicitors and I will lose.

I would like to take them to small claim court .

 

 

[BankFodder]

You won't lose.

Are you able to record your calls? Read our customer services guide. Also, any further phonecalls you have from him make notes and then email him with a confirmation of what he has said to you.

You haven't told us whether he has seen this latest report of defects?

[Aga.misia]

I also rang him lot of times  , but he always said same story , will not accept car , now he dont answer phones. I also have text messages between us . He said that report mean nothing .  He says I agreed buying on trade terms and I knew there were faults so he is questioning whats he said in email about car being not faulty.   Car was advertised with full service history and no faults obviously.

 

[BankFodder]

You want to start a legal action. Please will you read up on this forum the steps involved taking a small claim in the County Court. When you understand the procedure a bit then come back here and will go through the next step.
It's not difficult – but you need to be confident of what you are doing although we will help you.

I'm assuming that you prefer to protect yourself by hanging onto the car and issuing the claim first

It would help to have the advertisement – but it's not fatal. You could certainly contact auto Trader and see if you can get a copy of it. I think that one or two people have managed this in the past.

For the moment, please start reading up about taking a small claim in the County Court

[Aga.misia]

I have to take risk otherwise I have to repair car and sell , mind you I oveepaid so selling will be loss for me even bigger than court fee.

Please have I got any chances ? 

I would like you to also read text messages between me and dealer but dont knoe how post it.

 

Can I also claim for each day car stays on my driveway ? Whst about insurance and tax I pay but cant use car ? I  have to borrow my boyfriend car to work from now on

 

Sorry for my writting , english is not my first language