Second hand Ford Fiesta purchased from City Cars Morden @cars_morden

[thisismyrealname]

Hello, I would be grateful for any advice on this.

 

We purchased a car for my son from City Cars Morden- we've had the 2014 Fiesta for just over two weeks and it has won't switch on if it's not driven for 1-2 days. We purchased a new battery, just in case, but that doesn't fix the issue. The RAC told us that something was draining the battery but they were unable to figure out what that is.

We have 3 months warranty with the garage and I've spoken with them but they say that there were no problems with the car when it was with them (one month). They've told us to get the car checked by a garage to see what the problem is.

 

We're close to just returning the car and using the money on another ar (£9k) but I wondered where we stood on this? Also, we will have to now pay to have this car checked by a garage with no guarantee that City Cars will actually repay us- should they be looking into this?

 

Thank you.

[AndyOrch]

Hello and Welcome to the Forum.

 

Have a read of the following before taking the vehicle elsewhere.

 

https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/rejecting-a-car/#1-can-you-reject-your-car-for-any-fault-you-find

 

 

Regards

 

Andy

[BankFodder]

Your rights are contained in the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

In the first 30 days, if a defect manifests itself which means that the car is not of satisfactory quality then you are entitled to reject it out of hand. For the moment in respect of your situation that is the only right that counts because you have only had the car for 14 days.

You should at least reserve your position and that means that you should contact the dealer in writing and tell them that you are rejecting the vehicle under the consumer rights act. Even if later on you decide not to reject the vehicle, at least you have reserve your position.
Once you have done this, then the dealer has an obligation to arrange collection of the vehicle, to pay all expenses associated with the collection and also to give you a full refund.

Once you have asserted your right to reject then you are in a position where if you prefer you can then start to discuss with the dealer and maybe they will come up with some suitable suggestion in terms of repairing the car.

I see that the dealer has given your three month warranty. You should understand that the three month warranty is by and large nonsense. It has nothing to do with your statutory rights and you should be aware that your statutory rights are far more powerful.

In fact if you look at the warranty you will find that there are all sorts of things excluded – probably things like clutch, often things related to gearbox et cetera.
By and large these warranties are given by dealers of used vehicles to customers by way of bonbons which have the effect of diverting their attention from their statutory rights and we find lots of people who come onto this forum believe that they are only covered by warranty and if the warranty has expired or if the problem with the vehicle is not covered by the warranty then those customers believe that they have no further rights in the matter.

This is not true. You should always disregard a warranty. By and large it's used as a trick.

If you try to rely on the warranty then at the very least your one-month right to reject would have expired and you would then be on to a second set of rights under the 2015 act which would be good but not quite as good as your 30 day rights.

So you should not start worrying about the warranty. Frankly you can tear it up. You are protected by the consumer rights act.

Begin by writing to the dealer asserting your right to reject. If you want you can post a draft here and we will check it.

Once the dealer has received that letter then you will have control of the situation and the dealer will have to take you seriously.

It's a shame that you bought the battery. If there is a problem with the battery then the dealer would have been responsible for the cost of it. You should not start incurring costs of any of this, frankly without checking it up with us first.

By the way, how did you pay? Did you pay by cash? Did you pay by bank transfer? Did you pay by credit card or some finance agreement?

[Hammy1962]

The boot light is staying on. It needs new boot contact block.

 

H

[BankFodder]

14 minutes ago, Hammy1962 said:

The boot light is staying on. It needs new boot contact block.

 

H

 

This is worth checking and very easy to do. However, send your letter of rejection in any event to reserve your position. You don't have to follow it through if you find that it is the boot light which is ticking on and draining the battery.

[thisismyrealname]

Thanks everyone.

We've had the RAC out to the car twice, again yesterday,  and he's still saying that something is draining the battery but he can't figure out what it is.  I spoke again to the dealer and he's saying "have it looked at by a garage and let us know" but my understanding now is that they should be looking at the car- thank you for that.

 

Bankfodder- it was purchased on a finance agreement (not with the dealer). 

 

Thank you all, I will send the Right to Reject letter today.

 

 

[thisismyrealname]

13 hours ago, Hammy1962 said:

The boot light is staying on. It needs new boot contact block.

 

H

Hi Hammy1962, I don't think it is staying on as we checked to make sure a light wasn't on. Stupid question I know but are you saying that the light actually stays on and we would be able to see it? Thanks

[BankFodder]

Please can you tell me the name of the finance company. This is excellent news that you have bought it on finance because if you had paid by cash or if you had paid by bank transfer then you could find yourself in a lot of difficulty if the dealer refused to cooperate.

I'm assuming that the finance was taken out specifically for the purpose of the vehicle and the finance company provided the finance for that purpose.
I'm assuming that this was a loan agreement for the purchase of the vehicle and not hire purchase.
Please clarify.

 

On the basis that my assumptions above are correct, I suggest that you also send a letter to the finance company explaining to them that you are terminating the agreement because of a defect with the vehicle which has rendered it of unsatisfactory quality. Tell them that you have asserted your rights under the consumer rights act by sending a letter of rejection and you are enclosing a copy with your letter to them (the finance company).

[Hammy1962]

Hang on............................

 

I understand this might go wrong and the CAG defacto position is straight in for the kill but this is likely to be a very easily fixed, straightforward fault which could have happened anytime.

The seller has already said get it looked at and an auto electrician will probably fix it within an hour with no great administrative or finance Co. drama.

 

Just get it looked at.

 

No need for letters or rejection just yet.

 

H

Edited September 14, 2021 by Hammy1962

[BankFodder]

Sorry, but I disagree with the above position in respect of sending letters of rejection.

Whenever there is the slightest hint that a dealer is not going to cooperate – and it seems from what you say that this dealer is already in denial saying that there was no problem with the car when he sold it to you, then you should reserve your right by making sure that you send the letter of rejection immediately so that you are well within the 30 days and there is no doubt about it.

After that you can do things in a pragmatic businesslike way.

Having sent your letter of rejection, if you're going to get any kind of work done by anybody other than the actual seller, you should let the seller know what you are doing so they are fully informed and they have an opportunity to object.