Customer trying to get refund on their car, any thoughts?

Exemplar

Hi Gang,

We sold a customer a one year old car recently which developed a gearbox fault and broke down. It was covered by the manufacturers two year unlimited mileage warranty including breakdown. The car was fixed by their local Mercedes dealer within 24 hours.

The customer has now written to us wishing to reject the car and wishes a refund. They say they have only travelled 5 miles in the car in the 4 months they have owned it.....

Any thoughts?

Lob_Rockster

if the car was fixed within 24 hours, why have they not travelled further in it?
when did it fail?
how long since it was fixed?

best case they could ever get is car price minus 4 months worth depreciation IMO.

Plus you say "customer". Are you a second-hand car salesman or was this a private sale?

Exemplar

Hi Lob
Yes I work for a dealership!

jobbingmusician

Yes, why haven't they travelled any further in it? Has it broken down again?

Exemplar

Nope, it has not broken down since the first and only time. She will just not drive it (Allegedly).

hjb123

This sounds a bit suss - have you seen the car and the mileage on it to check she has only driven 5 miles - I am sorry but I dont see the point in having a car if she has only driven that distance!

Exemplar

Hi H
No we have not seen the car. Yes I agree it sounds suss. I personally believe that they are just dissapointed and want out. Christ, cars break down and have faults! I only wish we could reject some of the 'best car I have ever owned, never let me down, nothing at all wrong with it' Trade In's we get LOL!!

saver_sam

There is case law out there that has to do with reasonable time that a car can be rejected see Bernstein -v- Pamson Motors (Golders Green) Ltd [1987]

From http://www.np.edu.sg/~acc-blaw/private/manual/sog-1.doc re the Sale of Goods Act (SGA)

Facts: B purchased a new Nissan car whose engine seized up after he had driven it for 220 km.

Held: There was a breach of s.14(2) SGA because the car was not safe and the serious engine defect would not normally have happened especially to a new car; B would not be able to control the car if the engine seized up in the fast lane which could result in a fatal accident.

NB. Breach of condition treated as a breach of a warranty.

Although there was a breach of a condition, B was not entitled to return the car and recover the purchase price (i.e. rescind the contract). This was because he had the car for 3 weeks and had a reasonable time to inspect and try it out generally and this led the court to conclude that he had 'accepted' the car under s.35 SGA. As such, the breach of condition was treated as a breach of warranty and B was only entitled to damages.

Now I'm not sure if this case has been superceded since, you will need to check.

Lob_Rockster

alcot33uk wrote:

Nope, it has not broken down since the first and only time. She will just not drive it (Allegedly).

IMO an attempt to reject the car will fail but of course I am no legal expert.

- The car has been owned for 4 months, probably the majority (3 months, 27 days I'd guess) not driven
- The car is perfectly roadworthy and thus fit for the purpose for which it was sold. It was fixed for free under manufacturer warranty and returned to the owner
- The car was 2nd hand sold by a dealer - your warranty is....?

The question is - do you want to keep a good name for the dealership? I would offer the current market value of the car now as it has been kept for 4 months, one owner added, etc. Not your problem that someone won't drive it.

moonrakerz

Lob_Rockster wrote:

The question is - do you want to keep a good name for the dealership? I would offer the current market value of the car now as it has been kept for 4 months, one owner added, etc. Not your problem that someone won't drive it.

Agree !

I was under the impression that once you had "accepted" a repair on any item you could not at a later time ask for a refund or replacement.

golddustmedia

Lets not forget you can readily pick up on ebay hardware/software to alter the mileage on LCD type car odometers. What's to say they havent driven 20k miles in it then had a good valet and dropped the mileage back with a laptop? (literally takes 5 mins and you honestly don't need to be a genius!).

Personally I'd stick by the sale of goods act, car is sold. If they've had a change of heart offer a buy back price (trade in value), assuming you want the car back in stock.