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GCS car sales ltd based in London - Merc car that has developed a major fault


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Hi everyone.

A little advice would really help.

I bought a second hand car on June 6th 2021, lovely car but it has developed a major suspension fault , it is a mercedes c300e (airmatic) .

The car cannot be driven due to the suspension collapsing.

The car is a 2015 model which i paid a little over 15k for.

I reported it faulty to the dealer on the 8th August 2021 so over 30 days after purchase.

However the dealer are refusing to help at all saying its my problem, I will get the car recovered into Mercedes Benz as all MB specialists seem to be fully booked out.

I have sent the dealer an email outlining I expect them to pay for the repair .

I fear this will be an expensive fix 😫,  what recourse do I have .

 

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We will need a fair amount of extra information please.

What is the name of the dealer
what is the age, mileage of the vehicle?
Did you pay by cash? By bank transfer? Did you buy through finance company?

Have you any idea what the repair might cost?
What is the general condition of the vehicle anyway?
Presumably came with an MOT – but was it a recent MOT?

You seem already to be aware of the 30 day deadline which you have missed. However under the consumer rights act there is a further deadline of six months during which time the dealer is entitled to a single opportunity to repair and if they either declined the opportunity or a repair fails then you are entitled to reject the vehicle for a full refund.

The problem with all of these rights is enforcing them. If you had to sue the dealer for £15,000 this would take you onto the "fast track" route of the County Court procedure and this means that if you happen to lose the case then you would be faced with quite a lot of costs of the winner.

However on the basis of what you have told us, the chances of you losing are vanishingly small.

However, if it comes to it then it may well be worth deciding whether or not you should bring a claim simply for the repair or for the refund of the entire vehicle.

You haven't told us the name of the dealer. A decent reputable dealer would have faced up to the responsibilities immediately so until you give us the name of the dealer we can't be sure but it doesn't sound as if this dealer is somebody who is going to make it easy for you to enforce your rights.

Getting a judgement is very straightforward but enforcing the judgement can be very difficult if the dealer really wants to escape liability.

We need to know the name of the dealer

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No answers to the questions I have put above.

We can help you but if you want to move forward then you will need to engage with this thread

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Hi thankyou for replying and apologies for the delay in my response , it has been a whirlwind of a few weeks with work and the kids being struck down by chicken pox🙄. Still the dust has settled and we have all survived.

 

So to answer your questions.

Company is GCS car sales ltd based in London.  

WWW.GCSCARSALESLTD.CO.UK

GCS Car Sales Ltd is a used car dealer in London stocking a wide range of second hand cars at great prices. Visit us today for affordable used cars in London.

 

I bought a second hand car on June 6th 2021

The car I purchased was a mercedes Benz estate on (06/062021) c300e on a 2015 plate, I paid £15250 for the car which had 39000 miles on the clock.

I paid by bank transfer unfortunately.

 

I really liked the car and needed something urgently as I use the car for commuting purposes.

The car came with a recent MOT , there was an advisory on the mot that I was not aware of at the time of sale.

The car broke down on 08/08/2021 on 42000 miles essentially the air compressor for the air matic system had failed so recovery was awkward as the car sat so low.

 

The RAC eventually managed to recover the car to mercedes benz , I had tried independent garages but these were all booked out until September, on inspection by MB they informed me that the compressor pump had failed and an earth relay had corroded, there was also excessive play in the near and offside wheel control arms, one of these faults had been identified in the mot.

 

I had tried speaking with GCS on a few occasions and sent them numerous emails , they have stated that the compressor and items are not covered under the 3 month warranty provided at the point of sale. MB gave me costs of £1200 for the compressor and £1940 after adding in the 2 control arms, I did offer GCS a chance to pay but they declined.

 

I have since emailed them and given them a until 27/08/2021 to come to an agreement with myself or face a small claims case, again they have declined.

Any help is appreciated.

 

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  • dx100uk changed the title to GCS car sales ltd based in London - Merc car that has developed a major fault

Please monitor this thread for a reply tomorrow or over the weekend.

However I understand the you have had family difficulties which prevented you from responding quickly.

 

However, if you want to make headway on this then you will have to prioritise and make sure that you engage with this thread promptly.

 

You will discover on this forum we move things along very quickly and we expect the people we are helping to meet us more than halfway.

 

 

 

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the warranties which are supplied with used vehicles are useless and are simply intended to divert your attention from your statutory rights.

 

 if any defects manifest themselves within the first 6 months of ownership then you are entitled to give the dealer a single opportunity to repair the problem and if the dealer refuses or if they repair fails then you are entitled to reject the vehicle for a full refund.

 

from the sounds of it this may be a dealer who is not interested in respecting your consumer rights and we will have to look at that later.

 

for the moment you should write to the dealer by email or by letter or both and inform them that there are those various defects including the Advisory contained in the MOT and that you are searching your rights  under the Consumer Rights Act and you are giving them a single opportunity to repair and if they decline or if the repair fails then you will reject the vehicle for a full refund.

 

although this probably won't have the magical effect of getting the dealer to snap to attention, at least you will have asserted your rights and this is an important step full stop

 

 

you haven't told us what you want to do with the car. Would you rather have it repaired or are you fed up with it and you want to get rid of it ?

 

if you decided to bring an action to force the dealer to accept a rejection than your only problem here would be that as the vehicle is worth more than £10,000 , that is more than the small claims limit and that means that if you haven't to lose the case you would be liable for the other side costs. For an action of less than £10,000 then each side would have to bear their own costs.

 

on the other hand if you were interested in getting the vehicle repaired then I'm quite sure that the cost of repairs would be less than £10,000 in which case you could go ahead and get the repair and we would help you sue the dealer for the entire cost of repairs.

 

your chances of winning the case would be much better than 95% but the problem might be with enforcing the judgement and we would have to check up on this  dealership to see how established and how reputable they appear to be .

 

getting a judgement against someone is generally speaking very straightforward but enforcement composed far more difficulties and when  one is planning a legal action of any kind, one should not simply concentrate on bringing the action and winning . one should also also make sure that there is a plan for enforcing the judgement.

 

so please tell us whether you prefer to get rid of the car or whether you are interested in getting it repaired. If you are his didn't getting it repaired then you need to get two independent estimates to assess the condition of the vehicle and quotations for the repairs.

 

send the letter asserting  your  your rights straight away. that has to be done anyway

 

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following up , I see that you have had one estimate for repairs and you approached GCS and they have declined.

 

Can you tell us more about how they declined?

 

 

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I see that they are rated 4 stars on Google

 

but a disturbing number of one star reviews with similar stories to yours.

 

I tend to trust one star reviews more than 5 star reviews

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They're on the Companies House website. One director. HB

 

FIND-AND-UPDATE.COMPANY-INFORMATION.SERVICE.GOV.UK

GCS CAR SALES LTD - Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return...

 

  • Thanks 1

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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by the way make sure that the two estimates you get for all the work are from recognised repairers which will do a quality job. You don't have to cheapskate. You don't have to do the dealer any favours on this full stop make sure that you get the maximum quality.

 

also get the car completely checked out for every other fault. No matter how small. Get it all logged down in a list and and a quotation for repairs.

 

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Thanks for the help.

I do want to keep the car , I do like it and have put a private plate on the car.

 

I have emailed GCS on the 8th August giving them a chance to repair , they did not respond via email only by telephone stating that it was my problem alone.

I have since had the repairs carried out at MB , due to the difficulty recovering the car and me needing it back on the road for work purposes I have paid for the repair.

Again I did email GCS and gave them a chance to reimburse myself or come to an agreement by the 27/08/2021 or I may seek compensation through the courts, this time they did email me stating the car is not covered under warranty.

With regard to the second quote I'm sure I could get this from a specialist if required.

 

Thanks Adam

 

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Ok. A bit late for the second quote but I suppose that it might help to reassure the court that you weren't making a money grab.

 

Have you had the car thoroughly checked over and all of the faults assessed?

 

As you are probably going to litigate so you might as well go for everything at one go.

 

When you had the repairs done did you notify the dealer in advance that this is what you were going to do? Did you tell the dealer what the cost was likely to be?

 

 

 

 

Have you written the letter asserting your rights under the Consumer rights act in the way that I've described?

 

if not then you should do this straight away even though the repairs have been carried out.

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Hi BF .

Yes I have written to the dealer asserting my rights under the consumer rights act.

When the car was in at MB I did get them to check the car over and even had it serviced , the dealer did claim that they had serviced the car but have not provided any paperwork to back this claim up.

I did not give the dealer any notification on costs , it was only after that I forwarded them the invoice asking them to come to an agreement and setting a time limit of the 27/082021.

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Thank you.

In future anytime you consider incurring costs on this car you should let the dealer know in advance and give them an opportunity to comment.

 this kind of paper trail is essential.

 

Was the vehicle advertised with a full service history?

 

 

 

 

 

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To be honest I cannot remember , I thought I had saved the advert but it is amiss? I will not pursue that part unless I can prove from the advert.

 

Edited by dx100uk
just type no need to keep hitting quote
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yes , where was the car advertised ?

Can you please think of the website where it was advertised and also the date?

 

as you have decided to keep the car, we will help you recover the cost you have laid out on having a repaired so far.

 

Please could you list your losses out .

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also I see that you tried to discuss the question of the cost of repairs with them and the only response was on the telephone and they told you that the matter was entirely one for you now and they had nothing to do with it full stop

 

Please would you prepare a statement describing the telephone conversation, the date, the time, and who said what to who.

Make it as verbatim as possible according to your memory now.

 

Store that away it is very important  and in fact in the next few days we will send a copy of that statement to the dealer.

 

you clearly haven't been very diligent about keeping a paper trail and this is something you need to sort out in any future dealings you may have with anybody else.

 

We will have to try to take steps to repair this and at least to produce a retrospective paper trial which you will find will help you in your litigation.

 

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On 21/08/2021 at 05:35, BankFodder said:

yes , where was the car advertised ?

Can you please think of the website where it was advertised and also the date?

 

as you have decided to keep the car, we will help you recover the cost you have laid out on having a repaired so far.

 

Please could you list your losses out .

OK so the car was advertised on autotrader, Autotrader have sent me the text from the advert. The car was also advertised with full service history however this has never been provided despite verbal requests, should I email them asking for the missing service history and how could this affect any claim I may make?

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On 21/08/2021 at 05:42, BankFodder said:

also I see that you tried to discuss the question of the cost of repairs with them and the only response was on the telephone and they told you that the matter was entirely one for you now and they had nothing to do with it full stop

 

Please would you prepare a statement describing the telephone conversation, the date, the time, and who said what to who.

Make it as verbatim as possible according to your memory now.

 

Store that away it is very important  and in fact in the next few days we will send a copy of that statement to the dealer.

 

you clearly haven't been very diligent about keeping a paper trail and this is something you need to sort out in any future dealings you may have with anybody else.

 

We will have to try to take steps to repair this and at least to produce a retrospective paper trial which you will find will help you in your litigation.

 

I have kept email responses from the dealer , which unfortunately is just a couple of lines stating the car is not covered under warranty, this email is in response to my email asking GCS to come an agreement on costs for repairs and asserting my rights under the consumer rights act 2015.

I will prepare a statement trying to capture a time line of events.

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thank you.

a bullet pointed timeline would be extremely helpful.

 

I see that there is now a question mark over the existence of the service history.

 

39000 miles on a 2015 car seems extremely low.  How confident are you you in this figure? have you taken any steps to check that out?

 

 

 

 

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15 minutes ago, BankFodder said:

thank you.

a bullet pointed timeline would be extremely helpful.

 

I see that there is now a question mark over the existence of the service history.

 

39000 miles on a 2015 car seems extremely low.  How confident are you you in this figure? have you taken any steps to check that out?

 

 

 

 

I'm not confidident at all now, I have looked at the MOT history and it seems as if the car had an MOT in 2018 and then nothing until May 2021, the missing service history is for that period as well.

I have tried searching but cannot find anything ?

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I think you said earlier that you prefer to keep the car but it seems to me more and more that you should be thinking of rejecting it.

 

Please post up the timeline

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