Budget Star Limited Used Car - Small Claims Court

[Rosso123]

I bought a used car via distance selling back in August. 

I reported the faults to the person who sold the car to me within a few days (they are registered as a Ltd company). 

They refused to help, even though they told me it had a 3 months warranty,

they even told me to take them to court (its a long list of faults from oil in the coolant, juddering, stone chips in windscreen (they they told me was fixed before the car was delivered), central locking not working etc). 

I sent them a letter explaining the consumer rights act and listed all the faults, which he replied to by telephoning me (i recorded the call). 

The main two faults are head gasket and juddering engine, which make it impossible to drive. 

They told me to get the head gasket fixed and to send them the invoice, the head gasket was eventually fixed in Nov (the car has been in the garage since Aug to Nov). 

I sent the seller a copy of the invoice via whatsapp and they have ignored me. 

The car is still juddering and so far no one can diagnose it. 

I want to get my money back for the car purchase and the money I have spent trying to fix it. 

Can anyone help?

[BankFodder]

Firstly please notice that you have posted your story in a block of text which is difficult to read especially for people on small screens such as telephones.

Please will you post your responses properly spaced and punctuated.

Thank you.

Who's the dealer?

Please can you tell us more about the car – make, model, mileage, price paid.

How far are you away from the dealer?

Did you pay by cash? Did you pay by bank transfer? How did you pay?

You say that you bought it at a distance. Does this mean that you bought it and paid for it before you even went to it?

[Rosso123]

Hi, Thanks for replying.

 

I bought the car from Budget Star Limited, it was advertised on eBay classified but our communications were via WhatsApp, text and telephone calls, because I have previously bought a car from them, without issues.  But with this car as soon as I reported the issue their customer service tone completely changed.

 

The car is a 2008 Ford Kuga, I paid £3730 which included the delivery charge and the MOT charge.  The first time I physically saw the car and drove it was when it was when it was delivered to me on the 7th Aug 2021 to South Wales. Which I believe was the only way you could buy a car then due to covid.

 

The dealer is based in Birmingham, I am in South Wales. The dealer made it impossible to for me to reject the car due to the distance and would never have accepted the car if I had paid a recovery truck take it back to Birmingham.

 

I paid with a bank transfer to their business account.  My bank has told me they wont help because I paid with a bank transfer.  The dealer did not offer me any other way to pay.

 

In trying to fix the car myself, because the dealer wouldn't let me return the car I have spent an additional approx £1500 and the car still doesn't work properly.  The dealer told me to text him the receipt for the head-gasket, but has since ignored all my attempts of contact.

 

It has taken me this long to get the car to this point and it still is not fixed as initially my local garage took over 6 weeks to look at the car (they had a back log of customers), then the work they did did not fix it and they told me to take it somewhere else. It then went to a specialist garage, and agin had to join the queue, plus they then had a covid outbreak and closed down for several weeks.

 

Attached is a letter I sent to the dealer, which he replied to by calling me and encouraging me to go ahead with the head gasket fix and to send him the reciept once it was done (i recorded this call).

Faulty Kuga - Birmingham Dealer.pdf

[BankFodder]

I see there is some reference in your letter to the car being delivered to your business address. Was this a business purchase or have you bought this as a private owner?

Also I see that the letter which you sent in September purported to be a letter of claim. Why are you sending letters of claim would say that you're going to take legal action and then you don't follow through?

Well done on recording your calls. We have had people here for years who are well aware that they should always read our customer services guide and record their calls and yet they don't take it seriously until it bites them in the bum.

Have you had an independent assessment of all the defects? Do you have at least one quote for the work required to any of the defects which have not yet been addressed?

[Rosso123]

Hi, I'm a self employed freelancer so the car would have been used for private, commuting to work.

 

I have a smallholding in South Wales and live in a camper-van, the Wiltshire address is my parents (I use their address for important mail and official mail). I work in the TV industry so am meant to by using the car to drive to work (luckily I have use of my partners car), I work all over the UK.

 

My letter was written in that manner after I spoke to Citizens Advice, it is what they told me to do. I was prepared to take legal action, but then the dealer rang me and told me to get the repairs done, so I thought I was getting it all fixed with their consent and would not need to claim... eg the letter had worked.

 

The head-gasket is fixed, but the juddering is undiagnosed at the moment, its been to several garages but no one knows why it judders (my local garage, decided not to charge me as changing the sensors took a few minutes and didn't fix the juddering). So at the moment I cant get quotes for this as no one seems to be able to diagnose it.  Its going to another garage next week to try again with a diagnosis. 

 

I  haven't even got as far as the other faults such as the windscreen and doors not locking as my priority has been to get the car drivable. Ive also been told the headlights dont work properly, which is booked in with an auto electrian in Jan (the day light running lights dont turn on).

 

I am concerned that I bought the car six months ago in January, so I am running out of time to claim under to consumer rights act, but its genuinely taken this long just to get the car to this stage of repair, let along fully repaired.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Rosso123

[BankFodder]

You aren't running out of time under the consumer rights act as long as you assert your right before the expiry of the six months.
In any event, regardless of the consumer rights act you would be well protected by the ordinary law of contract – and even under the consumer rights act, you are entitled that the car should be of satisfactory quality and remain that way for a reasonable period of time.

I'm afraid that the rights which are apparently conferred under the consumer rights act are rather overblown and don't have much meaning when a dealer doesn't want to honour those rights. And when the dealer is prepared to honour those rights then the protection of the consumer rights act is not necessary.

 

What do you want to do with the car? Do you want to get it repaired and keep it or do you want to get shot of it?

How much money have you spent on the car?

Maybe you can give us a bullet pointed itemisation of your expenses incurred so far

[Rosso123]

Thank you for this reassurance

I would have accepted that if the seller just paid the repair costs and then the car actually worked I would then keep the car. But the juddering is so bad that its hard to drive on the motorway and given what I have spent so much already on repairing it and no mechanics seem to know why it judders. Plus the non helpfulness of the seller.

Given that currently Im in a position were the car will never be fixed, I think the sensible option is to reject the car for a full refund plus all the repair costs.

Kuga Costs
Kuga		£3,450.00
MOT		£50.00
Delivery		£230.00	£3,730.00
Repair Costs
	Parts	Labour
Fuel Filter Housing & Filter	£59.99
EGR Cooler Repair	£84.99	£40.00
Head Gasket Repair		£1,121.40
Leak Off Pipe Repair		£159.92
Mass Air Sensor	£49.19	£0.00
Air Intake Sensor	£13.33	£0.00
MAP Sensor	£18.99	£0.00
Diagnostics		£48.00
	£226.49	£1,369.32
Total Cost	£5,325.81

[BankFodder]

He has promised to reimburse you for certain repairs and he has reneged on this promise.

 

I understand that you have drawn his attention to all of the faults and he has refused to repair them or to pay for the repairs. He has only agreed to pay for some limited repairs.

Is this correct? Do you have evidence of this?

[Rosso123]

He mainly has just ignored me and not acknowledged the faults. 

Early on he denied there were any faults with the car and told me to take him to court. 

He suggested that I had put oil in the water coolant and when I asked about returning the car for a refund, not long after I bought it he ignored me.

It was only when I sent him the letter that he rang me.... but he believed that he only has to pay a % of the costs as good will, he thought all the faults are just wear and tear and my problem to sort eg it was all working when the car left him. 

Since ive have had the head gasket repaired he has not replied to any text messages I have sent him. 

  He's refused to give me his email. 

He has made it as hard as possible to communicate with him and I feel like I was tricked by him into getting the head gasket repaired.

Tomorrow I am going to print out all the text msg's and whatsapp msg's

[BankFodder]

I hope you can see that I have had to introduce spacing into your post again. I don't think you are being very fair to us.

 

Quote

Dear XXX

Vehicle registration number XXX – letter of claim

You are fully aware of all the defects which exist state.

Since then I have given you an opportunity to carry out repairs – and in fact you have told me to carry out the repairs and you will reimburse me.

I have carried out some of the repairs and you have not reimburse me despite reminders.

I'm now confirming that you have been given an opportunity to repair the vehicle and clearly you have declined so I'm now rejecting the vehicle and I require a full refund plus the reimbursement of all the work carried out which amounts to improvements so that when you eventually sell the vehicle you will be to recover your money.

I require that you reimburse me £XXX which includes the cost of the vehicle, or repairs carried out so far, and other ancillary losses.

I also require that you make arrangements to collect the vehicle as soon as possible although please note that I shall payment before you collect the vehicle or at the same time but in a secure form.

 

If you do not comply with this then I shall begin proceedings in the County Court for the recovery of the sums plus interest and without any further notice.

Believe me

 

 

Have a look at the above letter. See if you agree with it and you are prepared to sign off and send it.

I suggest that you send it by email and also by post – recorded delivery.

Stop using WhatsApp et cetera. This business needs to be taken seriously now but certainly you should print off all messages you have and make sure they are stored securely.

If you're prepared to send the letter above, then realise that we are not bluffing. You must issue the claim on day 15.

Start reading on this forum about the steps involve taking a small claim in the County Court. Register with the County Court money claim website this and start preparing your claim and post any drafts here so that we can check. You can save your work as you go.

Please confirm that you are happy to take this next step

[Rosso123]

Hi, Thank you for the draft letter.  I will use this as my template. 

Should I enclose a copy of my previous letter to him in this letter and a copy of all the parts and garage receipts?  

I will start to read up about the small claims courts.

[BankFodder]

If he doesn't have them already – then yes make sure he is fully informed.

Indicate in your letter of claim what information you are including for his benefit

It worries me when you use the word "template".

I think we would like to see the final letter before you post it off.

[Rosso123]

I will post a draft here before I send anything off. Thank you for all your help.

A further question; If I incur further costs with the car can this be added to my small claims court claim after I submit the first claim?

I have just got the car back from the garage who are trying to diagnose the juddering and a number of fault codes came up on their computer. 

I really need a car for work in the new year and if this dealer ignores me or the court I still need to have a working car.   if I take him to court can I then add any additional repair work costs to the claim?

[BankFodder]

If I understand your question correctly, you need to have the entire value of your claim calculated and stated when you make your claim. You won't be able to add things later on.

Not quite true – you could amend the claim but it will cost you as much as £275 to amend the claim and you probably won't get that back.

Best to get it right the first time even if it means that there is a delay.

If you are considering having any repairs done then you must inform the person you are suing in advance and give them an opportunity to comment. You should provide that person with an assessment of the work needs doing and a couple of estimates and you choose the cheapest estimate

[Rosso123]

Thanks.  So given that the seller will not communicate with me, continuing to try and repair the car is not an option that the court will support?

 

To that end, buying a new car is prob my only option to have a fit for purpose car.  Am a allowed to sell the car or part exchange it or do I have to be in possession of the car to take the seller to the small claims court?  Would I just be claiming the difference of what I sold the car for and what he owes me?

[BankFodder]

I'm afraid that you are a difficult ground. Certainly any steps you take should be properly informed notified to the dealer in advance together with projected costs in order to give the dealer an opportunity to respond.

Are you sending your notifications by any kind of recorded delivery? Special delivery would be best. You don't want to be in a position where the dealer says that he hadn't received any of your communications.

It's not unreasonable to want to dispose of the car. However I think you would certainly have to notify him in advance that this is what you are doing and when you are made an offer on it, you should let him know what the offer is and once again give him an opportunity to object.

You would have to take all these precautions in order to make sure that you are squeaky clean and that a court agreed that the dealer had been given every possible chance and had been fully informed from the outset.

I have to say that a dealer who behaves in this way worries me to the extent that even if you get a judgement in your favour – as you surely will, enforcement could be an entirely different matter.
I'm afraid that dealers who behave in this way are past masters at avoiding enforcement so that you end up with a judgement which effectively is meaningless and of course you will have incurred court costs et cetera.

However I really don't see any other way to go. I hope you won't be buying a vehicle in these kind of distant circumstances again.

I think you're gonna have to make your own judgements as to whether or not you should sell the vehicle. It certainly not unreasonable. Where is it now? And is it working at all? Is it driveable?

 

Certainly this has gone on quite long enough and you need to take action for the entire value of the car plus any repairs. Whether or not you want to sell the car is a complete the separate matter – and of course if you did then certainly you would reduce your claim by the amount of money that you receive for the vehicle less any expenses incurred selling it – and of course you would claim for the improvements.

However as I've already suggested, you are entering into rather complicated territory.

If you stop driving it then it would be reasonable to claim for storage charges at, say, £10 or £15 per day. Once again you have to notify the dealer in advance that this is what you are doing and frankly I think I would start calculating the storage charges from the very moment that you stopped driving the car. The dealer can always challenge them in court if he wants.

Sorry that this is not a definitive answer. I suppose I'm playing safe by simply explaining the principles and the convocations but you will have to make your own decision

 

[Rosso123]

Hi, this is my draft letter:

 

You are fully aware of all the pervious defects which exist on the above vehicle which you delivered to Mieri Eco Farm on the 7^th August 2021. It is my assertion that I rejected the car on the 14^th Aug 2021, a request that you ignored.

 

 

In my letter dated 7^th September 2021, I again gave you the option to refund me, exchange the car or pay for the repairs of the above car. In our telephone conversation you opted to have me to carry out the repairs and that you would reimburse me.
 

I have carried out some of the repairs and you have not reimburse me despite reminders. You have not responded to any of my messages. Further to the the faults listed to you in texts within days of the car being delivered and in my 7^th September 2021, I am making you aware of additional faults:

 

 

1. P0380 - Glow Plug Circuit A Malfunction.

2. P003A - Reduced Torque Signal 2. Open or Short Circuit.

3. Oil coming out of Intake Manifold indicating a possible Turbo fault.

4. Cardiff Garage believes faulty Injectors to be contributing or causing Juddering.

5. Central locking issues extends to front doors too.

6. Daylight running lights do not work, fault indicates an electrical issue or computer issue.
    

If you do not respond to the above faults then I will assume your agreement that if I choose to have the above additional faults repaired that you will bare these costs on top of the costs already incurred by me below.

I am now confirming that you have been given an opportunity to repair the vehicle and clearly you have declined to do so. I am now exerting my legal right to reject the vehicle and I require a full refund plus the reimbursement of all the work carried out which amounts to improvements of the car from the state in which you delivered it.

I require that you reimburse me £5325.81 which includes the cost of the vehicle, MOT, delivery, repairs carried out so far, and any other ancillary losses.

 

I also require that you make arrangements to collect the vehicle as soon as possible from the same address that you delivered the car (Mieri Eco Farm) although please note that I shall require payment before you collect the vehicle or at the same time but in a secure form. You are required to give me 48hrs notice before the vehicle is collected.

 

If you do not comply within 7 days of this letter then I shall begin proceedings in the County Court for the recovery of the sums plus interest and car storage costs at £10 per day without any further notice.

 

 

Yours faithfully

 

[BankFodder]

You have to give 14 days notice – not 7

[Rosso123]

I'll change it to 14 days.  After that is it suitable to be sent?

[BankFodder]

Bare should be bear - but yes, it's fine

[Rosso123]

Hi, I received the attached letter in reply to my Letter Before Court.

 

He has offered to refund me the original cost of the car, less the delivery charge. 

He is disputing that he agreed to the repair of the head gasket.

 

He's also made a lot of other claims, that simply are not true which I think are pretty easy to dispute using the text messages I have and the voice recording from the telephone call.

 

He also called me a few days ago and threatened me on the phone (recorded), I have reported this to the police.

 

Waqar_Reply.pdf

[BankFodder]

Please monitor this thread for a fuller reply later on

[dx100uk]

the previous purchase holds no water - why mention it.

 

and his spelling/grammar and english are really bad..

 

dx

 

 

[BankFodder]

It might be an idea if you went through the letter that he has sent you and isolate each point and then comment on each point.

This would be best done in a tabulated format.

Have a two column Microsoft Word table with the point you have identified on the left, and your comments on the right. And maybe 1/3 column with a link to any evidence – SMS et cetera that you might have in support.

He says that he didn't agree to the repair. What do you want to say about that?

In terms of delivery charge, if you are entitled to a refund then I would say you are also entitled to the delivery charge. Although it was your choice, it is all part and parcel of the same contract and if the main contract fails then the ancillary contracts must fail as well.

 

[Rosso123]

Hi, thanks.

 

I have attached pdf my response to his letter .  I think his text to me asking if the repairs have been complete so he can pay was proof that he consented to the repair of the head gasket.  I did not repace the EGR valve.... it was an EGR Cooler. I have not tried to claim for the egr cooler as this low cost repair risked pushing the claim over £5000 and the court fee would wipe out the repair cost.

 

My aim is to have the car refunded (including MOT and Delivery) and the head-gasket repair. 

 

I have been advised to just accept his offer of the £3500 and right off the rest (my partner is also suggesting this as she is scared due to his threats in his last tel conversation and she doesn't think he will pay anything if we go to court).

 

Your views would be appreciated.

 

Response_to_Dealer_Letter.pdf

Edited January 19, 2022 by Rosso123
Spelling error