Problem with 2nd hand car hours after buying. HELP!

gib786

Right, its a long story so here we go. I went with my sister to go look at a second hand audi a3 from a trader on monday. The car is a 04 plate Audi A3 2.0 Tdi. Described as one owner from new, excellent condition, driving fine etc, years mot plus a fresh service from the garage. HPI came back clear, the v5 was present and they even included one months warranty on the car.

We agreed to pay the asking price of £10,990 and left a £200 deposit, with the car to be picked up on the following day. We arrived the next day to pick up the car, paid the rest of the payment via switch and were on our way. About 10 miles from the garage the car decided it didnt want to go above 50mph. My sister who was driving, pulled over and let me take the wheel. The car drove fine for me until it did the same thing of not wanting to above 50mph a few miles further. I called the garage, they told us to come straight back and they would sort it.

We returned to the garage, they put the car onto their diagnostics machine and said it needed a new map sensor. They supplied one and fitted it all under the warranty and also increased the one months warranty to 3 months. We set off home for the second time. This time I drove the car back. 20 miles after setting off, the car encountered the same problem. I rung the garage again and they told me to nurse the car back home, and either they would come and collect it the next day or I could book it into my local audi dealer who would sort the problem and bill the trader I purchased the car from.

I decided to get it home and ring the local audi dealer. The car was booked in for today. I recieved a call a few hours after dropping the car off telling me that the turbo had failed and it required a new unit, which was over £1k + Labour and VAT. I then recieved a call from the trader stating he was going to pick the car up and have it repaired elsewhere, but still foot the bill. I told him I would rather return the car to him under section 14 of the sales of good act, and get a refund. He declined and now im in this dilemma as he is wanting to repair the car and foot the bill and refuses to refund me the £10990 we paid for the car which isnt fit for its purpose

Am I legally entitled to ask for a refund or do I have to let the trader repair the car first? TIA

maninthestreet

You paid £11K for a 5 year old Audi A3? Even if it had no faults, that sounds rather expensive.

sarahg1969

It does, doesn't it?!

Have you thought about contacting the previous keeper, to ask if there was a problem with the turbo?

ABH_3

gib786 wrote: »

Right, its a long story so here we go. I went with my sister to go look at a second hand audi a3 from a trader on monday. The car is a 04 plate Audi A3 2.0 Tdi. Described as one...

I personally would write them a letter telling them that you have lost faith not only in the cars ability to get you from A to B, but also in their (the traders) ability to solve the problem. As such you've taken the car to the manufacturers garage who will return the car back to a 'roadworthy and safe condition', you will then of course charge them for the repairs, afterall the car should have left him in a safe and roadworthy condition.

IIRC you can also claim for a courtesy car in with these expenses to get you around, as you had an expectation to have a vehicle at this point in time and you shouldn't be inconvenienced in all of this due to an obvious fault on their behalf.

As he undertook to supply you with an unroadworthy\unsafe vehicle when he had ample opportunity to solve any problems with the vehicle he will be liable for all of this. However, as is your right under the sales of goods act 1979 as revised etc if he would provide you with restitution and refund you your money therefore putting you back into a position you were in prior to making the sale.

You maybe convinced to accept his offer. In which case, ask him for £200 upfront and say you'll be around for the balance whenever.

Also, please do this in writing I realise you've relied upon the phone upto now, and that it's proven its worth etc but it would help greatly should there be any repercussions if this is all documented somehow ie: you didn't leave with 10k of his money after making threats etc.

It maybe uncalled for, but lets face it he can't be the most honest car dealer, afterall he was hoping you wouldn't notice he sold you both a duff with all the liabilities that that entails, plus it could maybe have had disasterous consequences should she have found herself
unable to apply the accelerator and get out of the way of something big and ugly at some point.

At the very least, ensure you get a receipt for the transaction.

HTH

gib786

maninthestreet wrote: »

You paid £11K for a 5 year old Audi A3? Even if it had no faults, that sounds rather expensive.

It was around £1k more than similar ones out there, but we paid the asking price since it was a low mileage car (39k), one owner with fsh, the s line model plus quite a few extras such as xenon lights, 6 cd autochanger etc and we assumed it would be trouble free!

gib786

ABH wrote: »

I personally would write them a letter telling them that you have lost faith not only in the cars ability to get you from A to B, but also in their (the traders) ability to solve the problem....

Cheers for the reply. Ive decided to get the details of a lawyer from a friend and get him to help me sort it out as Im busy running around with other things at the moment (too many things to do, not enough time!)

Will let you know how it goes though. Cheers for the advice!

ABH_3

gib786 wrote: »

Cheers for the reply. Ive decided to get the details of a lawyer from a friend and get him to help me sort it out as Im busy running around with other things at the moment (too many things to do, not enough time!)

Will let you know how it goes though. Cheers for the advice!

What a lawyer for the price of a letter and a stamp? :eek:

funkymonkey

gib786 wrote: »

.....

We returned to the garage, they put the car onto their diagnostics machine and said it needed a new map sensor. They supplied one and fitted it all under the warranty and also increased the one months warranty to 3 months. We set off home for the second time. This time I drove the car back. 20 miles after setting off, the car encountered the same problem.

this is ringing alarm bells already. BY LAW a trader has to give three months warranty. for him to give one month then up it to three as a "gesture of goodwill" is all very suspicious.

gib786

ABH wrote: »

What a lawyer for the price of a letter and a stamp? :eek:

Thing is im not quite sure how I would go about wording the letter etc plus I get the feeling they are more likely to budge if they recieve a phonecall/letter from a lawyer instead of me

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

Can't see that the dealer has done anything wrong at all. If anything they have been very proactive. Audi repairs are very expensive so not surprised they want it done elsewhere.

ABH_3

Here you are, here's a suitable letter:

Re: xxxx(car)
Our Client: XXX
Date of Purchase- XXXXX

We write to advise you that we act on behalf of XXX and we have been instructed to write to you in relation to the above vehicle.

We understand from our client that on the XXXX, he purchased the above vehicle from you for £XXXX. A copy of your sale invoice is attached hereto for your ease of reference. Our client has informed us that since his purchase of the vehicle he has experience significant problems with the car’s XXXXXX. The vehicle has been inspected by XXXX and a long standing engine fault has been identified. Lancaster Audi have further advised our client that the vehicle is unsafe to drive and as such we have advised our client that the vehicle is defective.

TAKE NOTICE that our client hereby formally rejects the vehicle under s.14 (2) and s.14 (3) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979. Due to the fault with the vehicle’s engine you have failed to discharge your implied duty under s. 14 (2) of the Sale of Goods Act that the vehicle be of satisfactory quality and further under s. 14 (3) that the vehicle be reasonably fit for purpose.

You have until XXXXX(allow 7 working days) next to arrange for the engine faults to be corrected or to collect the vehicle from our client’s address and refund the purchase price to him. If our client does not hear from you or the vehicle is not collected by you and the purchase monies refunded within the specified time period then our client will arrange to have the vehicle delivered to your place of business and will commence legal proceedings to recover the purchase price together with interest and costs without further notice.

Yours faithfully

It's none of my doing, it came from here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/vehicle-retailers-manufacturers/23827-sale-goods-act-buying-3.html#post1395987

Or the main thread reference here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/vehicle-retailers-manufacturers/23827-sale-goods-act-buying.html

You know, you can print postage online here: http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump2?catId=400043&mediaId=26800663 just follow the 'wizzard', I did it the other night, it's very intuitive, when it tells you at the end to look at the .pdf, or save it, that is the lable, even though when you look at it it has 'sample' on it, it is infact your lable. Save it to desktop, then open it again and print.. snip the size down or print directly via printer to your envelope.

There you are, there's ALL the tools. You sure you want to call a lawyer?

HTH