New car with serious fault

Pound

A friend bought a new car last week from a dealer.

Not long after leaving the forecourt the engine warning light came on, it was discovered later that the car was leaking oil. Car was booked in for repairs with the dealer. On the way to the garage the car went up in flames, luckily no one was hurt. After the fire brigade finished with it the mangled mess that was left was towed away.

Now my friend wants their money back plus tow costs. The garage don't want to know, they say it was road worthy when it left the forecourt so it's nothing to do with them. A deposit was paid by credit card (and the rest on debit) but the credit card company don't want to pay up either as they claim that cars are excluded from Section 75!! The garage have suggested that a claim is made with the insurance but my friend doesn't want to make a claim and increase their premium for something that wasn't their fault.

Letters have been written to the credit card company and the garage asking for a refund under the SOGA. Is there anything that should be done or that we should be aware of?

Hintza

Was it a NEW Car?

Pound

No, I mean new as in it was recently bought. It's actually 6 or 7 years old.

Hintza

I don't know the ins and outs of sorting this out but some of the guys will be along this evening and should be able to help. But might be handy clearing up a few points.

When you say light came on shortly after leaving the forecourt what do you mean by that? How long did you drive it after that? When did you contact garage to tell them? Was this the same time you booked it in? Did you sign anything to suggest is was not a retail sale?

I suspect the garage has a case to answer but those better informed should be able to point you in the right direction.

Pound

On the drive home it came on. I'm not sure when it was reported but I think it was the same or next day, the dealer did say it was OK to continue using it. The car comes with three months warranty so I'm guessing nothing was signed to say it wasn't a non-retail sale.

markelock

I believe s75 does apply to vehicles. Can they point to where it explicitly states that it doesn't?

a car that turns into a fireball isn't fit for purpose surely?

did he draw the garages attention to the warning light at the time? does he have a log of the events?

if so, he should be in a good state to push a claim forward in court.

Lemonade_Pockets

If the garage doesn't want to know. Small claims it is!!!!

N.b. i the credit card co. is just trying to fob your friend off.
They are jointly liable so if they are not prepared to help you can either sue them or the garage.

Have fun!

kitchpoo

Rather than claim for all the damages on their insurance, have they got legal cover included in the poilcy. There is usually a seperate contact for legal claims/queries (dont call the claim contact number). It may be that the best route is to claim on their insurance, using their assessor to view the vehicle and no doubt write it off, then using the legal expenses to recover these costs from the garage. The net result - once admonished of blame would be that the claim would revert to non-fault of the driver, and the NCB is reinstated.

Pound

Lemonade_Pockets wrote: »

If the garage doesn't want to know. Small claims it is!!!!

N.b. i the credit card co. is just trying to fob your friend off.
They are jointly liable so if they are not prepared to help you can either sue them or the garage.

This is probably the route that my friend will take. Something I'm concerned about though is what kind of proof would be needed to go to court. We don't actually have anything to show that it caught fire.

The fire brigade, police and a tow company came out but there's no paperwork. Also there are no photos except for one grainy image taken on a camera which does show the car on fire but none to show the final damage. Should some paperwork be requested and photos be took at the car now with the towe company just in case it needs be presented in court?

Lemonade_Pockets

Yeah i'd get some photo's.

I'm pretty sure the fire and police keep incident reports so try to get a copy of these too!!!

Hintza

Should have got them to dump it on the dealers forecourt.;)

Is Trading Standards worth a call for info if nothing else?