Bought used car 2 weeks ago, clutch pedal snapped,Whats my legal right?

asking04

CFC wrote: »

The dealer is responsible for any faults that appear when the car is roughly under 6 months old. This also applies to second hand cars, ie it must be able to get you from a to b. You do not have to prove that the goods were faulty at the point of sale provided you return the good in the first six months from the date of sale and request a repair or replacement or a partial refund. In this situation, the consumer does not have to prove the goods were faulty at the time of sale. It is assumed that they were. If the retailer does not agree, it is for the retailer to prove that the goods were satisfactory at the time of sale. It is important that your request is for a repair or a replacement to fall under this legislation. If the dealer cannot repair or replace economically, then he can offer you a partial or full refund..................

The dealer probably will not want to pay a third party to repair the car and you cannot insist on this. The dealer must have the opportunity to repair the car himself.

The dealer must either repair or replace the car. If he refuses to do so, and has offered 50% of the cost, then your next step is to go in with a witness and ask him if he is seeking to remove your legal rights. That's a criminal offence these days so he'll probably at that point cave in lol

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This is all far more straightforward if a clutch is not involved, because an argument could be made that the clutch is a 'consumable' - but from the price you are quoted to repair it, it's obviously not just the 'consumable' element of the clutch that has failed.

(PS the RAC dont know about AA will do a double tow, to one place and then onwards to a place of repair.)

CFC, many thanks for this comprehensive response -you know your stuff!;) The legal situation is very helpful right now. I think the dealer will take it away, ok.

I take the point on the clutch - the master cylinder is gone and the bearing as well as the consumable part ie whole system is gone, so it's not the norm is it?

asking04

vaio wrote: »

To be honest I'm struggling to think of a cause that would make all three fail suddenly

If you do get it repaired then get them to fit a slave cylinder too as they often go when matched to a new master

Is that a vital part?

asking04

Hintza wrote: »

We are talking a 6-7 year old car here. I think OP has to be reasonable here. I have seen case law on older cars so might be worth having a hunt around for that to help decide.

Fair enough, but,

It was not a 16 year old car either. The price paid was slightly above average for goods that were described as 'excellent condition' and with 'full up to date service history'.

In light of above, I did not expect it to acquire such an expensive fault on day 14.

Would anyone?

Hintza

asking04 wrote: »

Fair enough, but,

It was not a 16 year old car either. The price paid was slightly above average for goods that were described as 'excellent condition' and with 'full up to date service history'.

In light of above, I did not expect it to acquire such an expensive fault on day 14.

Would anyone?

Fair point.

cyril82

Most cars over 5 years old are sold without warranty, or at best with very limited warranty.

Was a warranty given?

Also is it fair to assume the dealer reasonably knew of this fault and therefore knowingly sold a faulty car?

Did you ask if a new clutch had been fitted recently and check for receipts in the cars paperwork? If i was buying a car with 90,000 miles on the clock i would be looking for receipts for new belts and a clutch as if they hadn't been done i'd be worried, and expecting they were going to need replacing, lets face it, this car has done 90,000 miles, if youre expecting not to have to do some repairs you're kidding youreself.

I understand that the short time which passes is annoying, but that's the risk of buying high mile cars.

I think the dealers offer is more than fair and if you haven't snatched his hand off you're mad as i don't think persuing him legally under the sale of goods act would have, or will, get you a better outcome.

CFC

cyril82 wrote: »

Most cars over 5 years old are sold without warranty, or at best with very limited warranty.

Was a warranty given?

Also is it fair to assume the dealer reasonably knew of this fault and therefore knowingly sold a faulty car?

Did you ask if a new clutch had been fitted recently and check.......I think the dealers offer is more than fair and if you haven't snatched his hand off you're mad as i don't think persuing him legally under the sale of goods act would have, or will, get you a better outcome.

One thing to be aware of is that if you inspect the car yourself, or have an expert inspect it, and it is reasonable that such inspection would have found the fault, the legislation does not apply.

The dealer gives an implied warranty with the car as that is now effectively the impact of the legislation (ie heating fails, that's a moot point, rust is visible so will not count, however the car must get be able to get you from a to b). This does not necessarily mean that consumable parts such as brake linings or clutches must be replaced, however bear in mind that in this case we are not thinking of the clutch plate as a consumable, bearing in mind the whole clutch assembly needs replacing. For a clutch on its own without associated problems, it would be more of a moot point, however we are still only talking 70 miles so I think that would quite likely fall under the legislation.

It is not possible for a dealer to avoid this implied warranty through any signage such as 'sold as seen' or similar restrictive signage, and in fact this kind of sign can be a criminal offence.

Of course, none of the above applies to a private sale. When buying privately, it is still 'buyer beware'

asking04

Thanks again CFC and all.

Thing is if it had not come in as such a huge bill ie £537.00 I wld prob not have bothered the dealer at all and just had it fixed myself. I've had it a few days, done 70 miles, so it is proportionately on the whopping to hefty side, considering the car's cost.

That's the main issue.

Also is there any need to be concerned that if/when this dealer does get it fixed he'll use cheap parts? I dont want have something else come up later.

vaio

asking04 wrote: »

Is that a vital part?

Yep, but fairly cheap and easy to do whilst doing the rest, one of those "change it while your in there" items

Lemonade_Pockets

That's a criminal offence these days so he'll probably at that point cave in lol

It is not possible for a dealer to avoid this implied warranty through any signage such as 'sold as seen' or similar restrictive signage, and in fact this kind of sign can be a criminal offence.

I would of thought these where civil wrongs (torts) rather than criminal offences???

asking04

The dealer has agreed to repair the car FOC and also to take it to his place from the local garage. I'm willing to put up with life without a car till Wed and the stress of a breakdown in Friday rush hour (that's a Car breakdown lol). We're all happy, well I am:rotfl:

Many thanks to all of you for your constructive responses -they really helped and special thanks to CFC for the clear and useful post on the SOGA and how it applied. :T

For anyone else in this situation - the bottom line- the car had clearly failed to fulfil its purpose and the contract I entered into with the dealer only 14 days ago -ie to get me from a to b. He knew it - I knew it. Done deal.