Trade Centre Uk/Moneybarn UK - right to reject car after finance paid off early

[flimes]

Sorry for the long post but I don't want to miss out any relevant information:

My wife bought a car from Trade Centre UK and have been having nothing but trouble with it. Unfortunately we paid of the finance used to buy the car as we weren't expecting this much trouble with the car as we we though we would have protection as buying from a dealer.

We are wondering if we can still reject the vehicle since the finance plan has been paid off.

Timeline is as follows:

13/12/2023 -15/12/2023	Bought car from Trade Centre UK for £10548 £2000 deposit paid on credit card on 13/12/2023 £8548 on finance from Moneybarn (arranged through Trade Centre UK). picked up car on 15/12/2023 Also bought lifetime warranty for £50/month
25/12/2023	Engine Management Light comes on. The AA called out and diagnosed the following error codes: P0133 - Lambda sensor (bank 1, sensor 1) Oxygen Sensor. Error Message : Slow reaction. Error sporadic P0135 - Lambda sensor heat. circ.(bank1,sensor1) Oxygen Sensor. Error Message : Component defective Due to it being Christmas took a few days to get through to them but they booked me in for 28/12/2023 to run their own diagnostics.
28/12/2023	Took car in to Trade Centre so could check the car – They agreed it was the Oxygen Sensor and Booked me in for repair on 30/01/2024. I was told they had no earlier slots, and I would be fine to carry on driving car when I said I was afraid of problem worse. During diagnosing the problem, they reset the Engine Management Light. During drive home light comes back on.
29/12/2023 - 29/01/2024	I carry on driving the car but closer to the date, engine goes to reduced power every now and again – not being a mechanic I presumed that this was due to above fault.
20/01/2024	Not expecting any more problems paid off the finance on the car using personal loan from bank with lower interest rate.
30/01/2024	Trade Centre replace to O2 sensor (They also take it on a roughly 60mile road trip which seems a bit excessive to me – I can’t prove this as something prompted me take a picture of milage when I handed car in but I forgot take one on collection – only remembered next day.)
06/02/2024	Engine goes in reduced power mode again and engine management light comes on – Thinking the Trade centre’s 28 day warranty period was over I booked the car the into local garage for the next day to get problem fixed under the lifetime warranty package. Fault seems to clear after engine was switched off.
07/02/2024	In the Morning, I take it to local garage who say as the light gone off – the warranty company is unlikely to cover the cost of the repair or diagnostics and recommend I contact them when the light comes back on. In the evening the light comes back on and luckily I manage to get it back to the garage just before it shuts for the day.
08/02/2024	The Garage sends me a diagnostics video showing a lot error codes been picked up by their diagnostics machine including codes for Oxygen sensor and Nox Sensors, Accelerator pedal and several more. Video also shows EGR Hose not connected to the intake manifold properly, they believed this was confusing the onboard system as it is unlikely this many sensors would trigger at same the time but they couldn’t be certain until they repaired the hose.
13/02/2024	Finally get the car back as it took a while to get approval and payment for the repairs from the Warranty company. Garage told me to keep an eye the car as errors had cleared with the hose but couldn’t 100% certain that’s what caused the problem.
06/03/2024	Engine management light comes on again. Fed up I go into Trade Centre as I was just around the corner when it happened and asked them how to reject the car or have the problem fixed. They insist that as it’s over 28 days I need to get the car fixed under the warranty package I purchased and they could no longer fix the car as it was over 28 days. When I tried telling them it appeared to be the same or related problem they said they couldn’t help as I hadn’t contacted them earlier. I asked them if they were willing to connect the car to the diagnostics machine and tell me what the problem was, as a goodwill gesture, which he agreed to do and took the car to the back He came back around 30 minutes later and said they took a look at the sensor they replaced previously and there was nothing wrong with it and engine management light went off when they removed the sensor to check it. When I asked what the error code he couldn’t give me an exact fault but the said it one of the problems I told him earlier (Accelerator pedal). I have this visit audio recorded on my phone – I informed the reps I was recording several times. As the light wasn’t on, local garage couldn’t book me for a repair under warranty.
07/03/2024	Light came on so managed to book back into local garage for the 12/03/2024 Whilst waiting to take car into garage, I borrowed a OBD sensor and scanned for errors on the car. This showed the following errors: P11BE – Manufacturer specific code (Google showed this to be NOX sensor) P0133 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor B1 S1: Response too Slow
12/03/2024	Took car to local garage and the confirmed the above errors. This leads me to believe that either Trade Centre UK reps lied and just reset the light or just didn’t check properly (Obviously I am unable to prove this)
22/03/2024	Finally got the car back as according to garage, the warranty company took a long to time to pay for the repairs
28/04/2024	Engine management Light has come back on. Using the borrowed OBD scanner I am getting the following codes: P0133 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor B1 S1: Response too Slow P2138 - Accelerator Position Sensors (G79) / (G185): Implausible Correlation

I have not yet booked into a garage as I wanted to see what my rights are in terms of rejecting the car as to me the faults seem related.

I can’t keep using taxi or train to get to work every time the car goes into the garage as it is getting very expensive.

Am I right in thinking that they have used up their chance to repair when they conducted the repair end of January or when they refused to repair it in February ?

If I am still able to reject the vehicle could you point to any sample letters or emails I can use.

I have spoken to citizen advice bureau who advised me to write to Trade Centre UK and tell them I'm rejecting the vehicle. I asked about using section 75 if they refuse to accept the car I was told the following:

• since the finance is paid off - I'm unlikely to be able to get any help from MoneyBarn.
• The maximum The credit card company is likely to give me is £2000 as that's what I paid on the card (was for the deposit)

Is the above correct - I was on the understanding that the Credit Card company would need to cover all of it as long as we paid over £100 on it.

I have drafted the following letter using the template from CAB and would love to get some feedback on it before I send it:
 

Quote

To whom it may concern,

Ref: [Vehicle details]

I bought [Vehicle details] from you on 15 December 2023. I paid £10548.

I now find the goods have the following faults:

· Engine Management Light Keeps coming on

· Engine Goes into Reduced power mode

· O2 sensors showing fault even after repair (Both by Trade Centre UK and an Independent garage)

· Other error codes also show intermittently.

Car has been in for repair 3 times and is still showing fault codes causing me additional costs and inconvenience

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods you supply must be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. As there was a problem with the goods when I bought them, and you have had a chances to repair the faults on 30th January and 6th of March 2024 (may not be logged by your customer agents at the Birmingham South branch But I can provide audio recording and google maps history showing my husbands visit), I wish to exercise my legal right to reject the Vehicle and request that you give me a refund £10548 Minus an agreed amount for fair wear and tear.

If you fail to reimburse me, I shall have no alternative but to contact my payment providers to get refund and/or to issue a claim against you in the county court for recovery of the money without further reference to you.

Please respond within 14 days of receiving this letter

Thank you in advance

Thankyou for your advice on my next steps.

[AndyOrch]

59 minutes ago, flimes said:

• The maximum The credit card company is likely to give me is £2000 as that's what I paid on the card (was for the deposit)

Is the above correct - I was on the understanding that the Credit Card company would need to cover all of it as long as we paid over £100 on it.

You are indeed correct they are liable for the full amount.

[flimes]

Thank you.

I will send letter off to Trade Centre UK today and if I don't get anywhere then I'll contact the credit company.