Rishton Autocare - PX'd my car for one 300mls away - It's Faulty - state they are exempt from DSR!!

[yogii]

Hey guys, 

I made a distance purchase of a car from a 2nd hand dealership in November.

However, shortly after receiving it, it was apparent there were a number of serious issues with it. 

I contacted the dealership to say I would like to return the vehicle as I was still within the 14 day cooling off period.

They pointed out to me that on the invoice of the car it states that they do not operate within any cooling off period,

please see attached. 

Is this something a dealership can just opt out of?

 

 

Invoice.pdf

[jk2054]

not sure if they can opt out.

but

I don't see why consumer rights act wouldn't apply which would give you the right to return it.

so yes i think you should be able to get a refund

@BankFodder should be able to advise or @honeybee13 might know 

[yogii]

Thanks for the reply. 

I did also mention the Consumer Rights Act and say that the goods were not fit for purpose, however they still refused to refund. 

They did offer for me to return the vehicle to them for them to repair, however, due to the distance involved it isn't really a viable option for me. I'd rather just try and get my money back! 

I also part exchanged my old car for the vehicle, so not sure how that factors in as well!

[jk2054]

How far is the distance?

[yogii]

300 miles. 

The problem is that I'd rather not drive the car that distance (in fact the dealership advised me not to), as it would cost about £500 to get it taken up on a truck. Plus, they can't guarantee how long it would take to complete the repairs. So I could be stuck in another part of the country for a couple of days waiting for it to be sorted. 

I'd rather exhaust all options in getting my money back first. 

[jk2054]

No no,

 

what I was going to suggest is you can ask the retailer to provide a repair at a location close to you.

 

If not you can ask your bank for assistance, but if they refuse you can launch a small claim for the value of the repair.

[BankFodder]

They cannot opt out of the distance selling rules.

You haven't told us the name of the dealer. Are you trying to protect them?

Also, tell us about the vehicle. There must have been something really special about it to want to purchase a vehicle unseen 300 miles away

[yogii]

I contacted my bank, and they would only be able to assist with the cash payment that I made (about £1500). Not the £3500 I got in part exchange for my old vehicle,

they suggest I contact Trading Standards for assistance.

I'm still waiting for them to get back to me.

In the meantime, I thought I'd reach out to you guys!

@BankFodder Not at all! The name of the garage is Rishton Autocare. 

I've been told that small claims is likely the best way to proceed, but I'd be anxious about the costs involved and the possibility of losing, obviously!  

Nothing special about the vehicle. Just a roll of the dice that didn't pay off.  

I was in a situation where I needed a new car quickly.

This car is 10 years old, however, it had a full service every year from when it was purchased and only one previous owner.

whilst I did not have the opportunity to test drive the car, I thought that the one owner and full history would reduce the chances of it being rubbish/broken!

[dx100uk]

thread title updated.

they cannot be exempt from DSR now part of the Consumer Rights Act....incredible!!

[yogii]

Thanks for updating the thread.

What do you suggest that I do in this situation then? 

[dx100uk]

did you actually write by royal mail exercising your right to refuse the car? 

if so next step is issue a letter of claim. giving 14 days before you raise a court claim on MCOL online.

dx

[yogii]

All of the messages with the dealer have been through Whatsapp or email. The first I mentioned about returning the car through Whatsapp, about 9-10 days after receiving it:

''I’m afraid that getting it back to you for a repair isn’t a viable option for us, as ultimately, we’re unable to afford for it to be repaired. As I said, we’ve been advised by a gearbox specialist that it needs replacing as it’s on its way out. Therefore we would like to return the car, as is our right within the 14-day cooling off period.''

Are there any services out there that can assist people when going through small claims? It's all completely new to me and it's a bit overwhelming!
 

[dx100uk]

did you specifically reject the car because it was faulty ?

not simply state as you are exercising your right under the 14 day rule, which you can for no reason at all.

it was faulty you should have refused the vehicle as it is not fit for purpose (those exact words) that runs till 30 days.

we need the dates and a full time line.

can we see the exact exchanges and you need to copy them too safety as they might get deleted by him.

 

[yogii]

Thanks for the quick replies, it's much appreciated! 

Please see the attached relevant communications.  

The Whatsapp messages were first.

I received the car on 1st December 2023, and messaged them on the the 8th December saying that we would like to return it as we were still within the 14 day cooling off period. 

After that, on the 14th December, I emailed saying that as they had refused a return within the 14 day cooling off period, that I would like to return the car as it was not fit for purpose. 

 

 

msgs (1).pdf

[dx100uk]

good evidence .

i'd be constructing a letter of claim and get investigating an mcol claim.

[BankFodder]

I think that we need to reset this discussion because it seems to me that it's not going anywhere useful.

Also, you probably aren't going to like some of the things as I'm going to say about this. Bear in mind that this discussion is not only for your benefit also for others who visit this forum for help.
First of all we discovered that you purchased the car from Rishton Autocare 

RISHTON AUTO CARE LIMITED people - Find and update company information - GOV.UK

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

---

RISHTON AUTO CARE LIMITED - Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual...

Used Vehicles for sale in Blackburn, Lancashire | Rishton Auto Care Ltd

WWW.RISHTONAUTOCARE.CO.UK

---

Buy a quality used vehicle from Rishton Auto Care Ltd. Visit our showroom based in Blackburn, Lancashire where you will find a great choice of used...

 

As far as I can gather from your WhatsApp messages et cetera you paid about £5000 for it and also the part exchange your own vehicle.
We don't know much about the car that you bought other than that it is a Citroen – which we had to glean from reading the messages because actually you haven't told us very much else about it.
We don't know the make/model/year/mileage – whether it was MOT'd and the date of the MOT.

You part exchanged it for a vehicle. We don't know how much credit you got for your own vehicle and so as far as I understand we don't know what the full price of this duff Citroen was.
We do know that you bought it from a dealer 300 miles away from where you live so that means that you had to travel there, collect it, and then driver way back.
I'm going to say now that this is extraordinary and you seem to have been digging a hole for yourself right from the beginning. Buying the vehicle unseen, 300 miles away, and now you are starting to understand the difficulties that you have created for yourself.
They have apparently offered to carry out repairs free of charge but you are concerned about the difficulties and also the costs of getting the vehicle back 300 miles – and then not knowing how long the repairs are going to take and whether you might have to spend money staying locally or you might have to return to your home and then go back again the 300 miles.
All of these of course would add substantially to the cost of the car which might have been better spent on buying a better vehicle and closer to your home.

You haven't really told us about the faults. We understand that there are gearbox problems but you haven't told us how this is impacting on the vehicle at the moment. I understand that it is driveable but that you are worried about driving it further.
I understand also that you have been advised by the dealership not to drive it. Do you have evidence of this?

I understand that you have discussed a charge back with your bank. They can only refund you part of your payment – that amount which was paid on the debit card. Have you begun this process?
Also the bank suggested that you contact Trading Standards. This is a ridiculous suggestion from the bank But have you tried to contact Trading Standards and how have you tried to do this and what has been the reaction if any?
Trading Standards don't deal directly with individual members of the public and you would have to contact Citizens Advice – who are well-intentioned, and that is probably the best you can say about them.

The dealership can't opt out of the distance selling rules which are provided under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 and in fact they are obliged to tell you about your right to return the vehicle within 14 days and if they fail to give you that information and other information then the cooling off period can be extended to as long as 12 months.

It seems to me that their attempt to exclude the distance selling rules under their contract – and you have provided written evidence of that – means that in fact the distance selling rules are still continuing.
However, under the distance selling rules my understanding is that you would be responsible for the cost of returning the vehicle to the dealership.
And of course you have absolutely no idea if the dealership are suddenly going to be nice with you and hand you back your money as soon as they get the car back. Also, there is the problem about your part exchange vehicle which presumably has been disposed of by now and so they would be a further dispute about the value that they should hand you back in relation to your old car.
I understand that you're worried about bringing a court claim because you are concerned about the costs.
It would have been much better if you had started considering the costs of buying a cheap second-hand vehicle at 300 mile distance before you actually went ahead with the purchase.

I'm afraid that now you're going to be facing a court action.

Your chances of success are excellent. Much better than 95%. The problem will be, of course, enforcing the judgement and also the whole thing is going to take a long time. Probably at least six months to a year

This means that during that time you won't be able to drive the car. Also where is the car stored? If it is stored on the highway then you will be responsible for its condition and insuring it.

Please will you give us a full bullet pointed list of the information which I have pointed out above has not been provided to us.

Please don't start referring back to your messages. We want it on this forum. We don't really have the time to start going through your series of messages to work out exactly who said what to who.

Have you had an independent inspection? You will probably need a written report because you won't be relying on your distance selling rules. You will have to rely on your rights under the consumer rights act because that is the only way that you will be able to avoid the cost of returning the vehicle.

Once you have given us a detailed bullet pointed list relating to the vehicle, your vehicle, and the faults that you have discovered, and the cost of repairing those faults at your closest garage, you should then start drafting a letter of claim and get ready to issue a small claim within about the next 14 to 16 days.

Please read this post carefully in response to all the questions. Don't quote back what I have written. Please give lists

 

[BankFodder]