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

[BankFodder]

What is the name of the dealer?

[BankFodder]

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

WWW.GERMAN-CARSHOP.CO.UK

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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?

[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

[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

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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

[BankFodder]

What date was it?

[BankFodder]

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

[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
 

[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?

[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

[BankFodder]

We don't need to see the text messages – but you will have to be able to print them out and use them in your claim. Don't forget that at the end of the day it is for you to convince a judge that you are right and that the dealer is wrong.

You can certainly claim for car storage – but we will have to give the notice in your letter of claim. Also you will be able to claim for wasted insurance and tax.

Please will you start off reading about how to bring a small claim in the County Court. I've asked you to do this several times and it's important.

[BankFodder]

Ignore this stuff.

You have told us that you are happy to start legal proceedings – and if that's the case then please will you follow the advice to read up the steps on taking a small claim in the County Court.

You are becoming distracted both by the dealer and also by discussions on this thread.

I think it's about time you focused.

Quote

Dear XXX

 

letter of claim 

As you know, on XXX date you sold me a XXX model vehicle for XXX pounds. Within a very few days, the car displayed various defects and an inspection I have had carried out has confirmed a number of serious issues not the least of which are a brake system which is apparently one down to the metal. This may be a cause of the vibrations which I have previously described to you although this will need further investigation.

There has been substantial amount of correspondence between us and you are fully aware of the problems that there are with the vehicle that you sold me but for the avoidance of doubt I am sending you a second copy of the report which has identified the faults. I should point out that the faults contained in this list are simply those which are identified fairly quickly and they may well be others.

I have been advised not to drive the car because it is unroadworthy and also that there is a risk that the problems could get worse. I will not be driving the vehicle although I will be putting it through another MOT in order to get a better picture of the car's condition.

I have already written to you and pointed out that under the Consumer Rights Act I am entitled to a refund. You have refused to carry out your obligations under the Act and given a variety of excuses including that apparently the sale was a "trade sale" and therefore for some reason rather, you have no liability for selling a car in a dangerous and unroadworthy condition.

I require you to make arrangements to collect the vehicle from me and to provide me with a refund. Please note that I have lost confidence in you and therefore I will not be prepared to release the vehicle to you until I have the refund. You can pay this to me by bank transfer or you can ask your delivery driver to pay me the cash.

If you do not collect the vehicle and refund me within 14 days of this letter and I shall start to add storage charges of £10 per day and furthermore I shall issue legal proceedings against you in the County Court without any further notice. These legal proceedings will include references to your statutory obligations under the Consumer Rights Act, your selling of an unroadworthy vehicle which is an offence contrary to the Road Traffic Act and also unfair trading under the Contracts (Protection from Unfair Trading) Regulations 2008.

If you force me to take court action then I shall sue you for the reimbursement of the purchase price of the car, the accumulated storage fees, the ancillary losses which I have incurred – in particular in relation to insurance and tax plus interest which I understand is currently at 8%.

I'm not prepared to enter into any further discussions about this. I've already used my best efforts to hold dialogue with you.

If you wish to have the car inspected by your own independent inspector then please let me know. I'm happy to accommodate any reasonable arrangement by appointment but you should understand that this must be done within the 14 day timescale and at my home because as I have said, at the end of 14 days I shall issue court proceedings.

Yours sincerely

 

Please check this proposed letter of claim.

Complete the missing information and repost here.

Let us know if there is anything that you want to add or take away

 

You will note that I have advised you not to drive the car anymore but to get a new MOT for it it so that we can understand more fully any defects.

You can drive it once for an MOT but after that do not drive it anymore.

Please let us know if there is anything in the letter of claim that you don't understand.

You must follow all the steps outlined in the letter of claim

[BankFodder]

I think that doing an MOT is very important.

In terms of the inspection, I think that the letter of claim makes it very clear that the dealer has to make his journey to you or he has to appoint someone to come to you.

You don't need to go anywhere.

 

 

[BankFodder]

Please ignore this kind of stuff from him.

 

Concentrate on the advice we are giving you.

 

We have referred to the trade sale in the letter of claim

 

I'm afraid  if you can't take control and stop being intimidated by this guy and his messages,  it will become very difficult

[BankFodder]

Please will you act on our advice and get the new MOT.

It is very important.

 

However, you can send the letter of claim off once we have agreed a final version and you are happy with it.

No need to wait for the MOT in order to send off the letter of claim.

 

It would be nice to send off the letter of claim tomorrow morning

 

[BankFodder]

If it is dangerous than it is unroadworthy.

if the brakes are down on the metal then it's dangerous and unroadworthy.

It is very important to use this adjective – unroadworthy because that makes it an offence under the road traffic act.

[BankFodder]

If they don't defend it could be over in a month.

If they defend and it goes to mediation then 3 months.

If it goes to a hearing then 6 months.

 

Once you get judgement then enforcement will take about 1 month.

 

 

[BankFodder]

I'm afraid that is a risk that you will have to take but having looked at the company it seems to me to be not a big risk.

 

I'm very sorry but this is the kind of risk that you took when you bought a car at a long distance and paid by cash.

 

As I have said, I think the risk is fairly low but of course you will have to take a chance

 

 

 

 

[BankFodder]

You have missed out the part about the MOT. It's very important – and although it will cost extra, you will recover that if you bring the action.

If you have an MOT carried out and it fails then that will add a lot of power to your case. There is no downside to getting in MOT and I'm surprised that you want to penny pinch.

You seem to be very casual about the way you spend your money and now that we are trying to help you get your money back, you are suddenly being very careful about saving a few quid on an important piece of evidence.

[BankFodder]

Well it's up to you. I think that an MOT failure certificate – and on the basis of what you say, it will fail – will be the final nail in the coffin of this dealer. If you produce an MOT fell certificate, they may even decide not to risk any challenge to you and simply to pay you out.

We are giving you the best advice and we are helping you protect your interest in the best way possible. Once again, it's amazing that you've been prepared to spend your money and take these kinds of risks, but the moment that you are getting sound advice in your best interests, you start to get cagey.

If you decide that you want to start using the car, then we would have to examine how much it would cost to put the car into a proper condition.

You would have to get a list of defects and estimates for the repairs and we would then have to submit that list and the estimate for the cost of the repairs to the dealer and tell them that they would be welcome to inspect the vehicle so that they can confirm or dispute the defects – and the cost of repairs – but after a certain amount of time, say, 10 days, you will be proceeding to have the repairs put in hand in order to make the car roadworthy and after that you will be suing them for your costs.

You have suggested that the car might pass its MOT – but if it is correct that the brakes are down to the metal, then it will definitely fail and I don't even think they would be advisories. You will be obliged to take it off the road.

If you want to get a refund then you should not drive the car under any circumstances other than to get the MOT and then return it to your driveway.

I have to say that I think we've given you all the advice we can on this, I can see that you are distressed and in a panic state afraid that it is becoming difficult to support you on this. We are giving you the best way forward and it's now for you to take up our advice or else to let it go.

I'm afraid I don't know what else to say

[BankFodder]

In that case write to the dealer immediately. You must give them advance notice.

Tell them that you are having the car examined and you are having a new MOT done because you don't trust them. Tell them that you will let them know the results and that you will decide whether or not to sue them for a complete refund or for the cost of putting the car into a roadworthy condition. Tell them that you will keep them completely informed as to the results of any inspections and the cost of any repairs before they are put in hand.

It's essential that you send this letter in advance so that they are fully aware. If you do not warn them about inspections and possible costs then you will find it very difficult to claim any money.

Do that straightaway. Draft a letter and post it here.

Then put the car infer that the MOT, get the car fully inspected at the same time and get an estimate for repairs and come back here and let us know.

Don't forget though, that once you have repairs carried out to the car then you are probably stuck with it and if there are any further defects in the future, you will still have the same problem of dealing with a dealer who is obviously not interested in helping you and is a long distance away.

However, draft a letter that you are going to send and post it here

 

We've been busy advising you the best options – and it's becoming very difficult because you simply want reassurance and you seem to be stuck in some mindset.

We've advised you the best way.

Send a letter of claim that we have already proposed – including the reference to the MOT test that you are going to have carried out this week.

Get the MOT test carried out – it will undoubtedly produce a failed certificate because of what you have told us about the brakes.

When you get the MOT fail certificate, send a copy of it to the dealer so that they have the letter of claim, the list of defects which you have found so far plus the MOT failure certificate.

In 14 days, issue the claim.

There is quite a chance that the dealer will realise that you are being serious and will want to put an end to the problem and refund you. If they don't then it will continue and go to mediation – and then maybe to a court hearing which would either be held remotely or else would be held at your local court.

Of course we will help you with the way – but am afraid we can't cope with your anxiety, panic – et cetera.

I don't really know what you think is going to happen to you. You are going to get in trouble. You've lost your money already. You will need to invest a little bit more to get it back but I'm very confident that you will get it back .

 

Take pictures of the oil – and maybe try to take a sample in a small bottle.

It doesn't change anything – it simply helps you.

Please will you post up your final version of the letter of claim and then when we have checked that it is complete, send it off.

If you won't send it off then there is nothing else we can do for you

 

Also I would recommend that you stop contacting the dealer by text – or by any other means without checking with us first.

 

[BankFodder]

First of all, the letter of claim you have posted above is not the finished version because you have left XXX in place instead of the details.

Secondly, I've added an extra sentence in red relating to the MOT charge.

Finally, if he wants to arrange an inspection at your storage location – then yes you should agree to it. If he wants it in his location then it's just too bad. You aren't prepared to drive a dangerous car all that way and also because you don't trust in you aren't prepared to release the car to him until you have the reimbursement. This is nonnegotiable.

Of course the dealer doesn't accept the independent report. If the dealer did accept it then you would get your refund.

This is precisely why you are in dispute.

Please will you post up the finished version of the letter of claim. This is about the third time that I've asked you this

[BankFodder]

Okay. Make sure that you change all the colours so that they are black.

Once again – this letter deftly means on day 15 you will issue the claim if your demands are not met. This doesn't mean that they enter into negotiation or they start trying to delay you. This means that they must absolutely agree, they must have paid you back your money and they must have removed the car.

If you have the slightest doubt about taking the legal action on day 15 then do not send this letter because you will only lose credibility. It's not a bluff.

As you have seen, we will help you all the way and you won't be on your own – but you are certainly going to have to do something about your level of confidence. Once you are in the procedure, you will start to find that it's much easier

 

Well done. Start preparing the basics – naming the parties involved et cetera.

It will be a good idea to list here what you are claiming together with the values.

So: cost of the car – £XXX
cost of going to get it and then returning with it £XXX
cost of an MOT or any other inspections £XXX
storage at £10 per day from the date of the claim £– you will simply have to put the daily rate here.
Cost of tax and insurance: £XXX

Anything else?