Consumer rights - used car......

Kilty_2

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Bought a car today - didn't even make it home.

Engine management light flashed and the car went into "limp home" mode - so I u-turned and went back to the garage slowly (driving a turbo diesel without a turbo and with the revs limited at 3k is quite scary, tbh)

Informed the dealer I wanted to reject the car under the Sale of Goods Act since it's not fit for purpose - they're going to inspect the car on Monday and if there is a major fault then I will receive a full refund, otherwise they'll fix it. (is this correct or can I reject the car anyway?)

Also noticed that the sales invoice states that the odometer reading is 38,000 when it is in fact 44,000 - can I pull out of the sale due to this? Sure I read a thread on here where someone did just that but it involved finance.

Thanks .

pendulum

You have a very good case for rejecting the goods as you have done so immediately. Just make sure you have proof that you are rejecting the goods that you can bring out to show you really did reject ownership immediately.

harveybobbles

You have to give the selling dearler a few attempts at fixing the car before you can reject it.

As you have already mentioned to them that you want to reject the car under the SOGA then they straight away will know that you will a pain in the !!!! in the future, so will probabliy refund you to get rid of you. (The regulars on here will know my opinion on people blurting out the SOGA straight away at the first fault)

We often get cars putting warning lights on the day of collection or a few days down the road. Thats just cars for you!

They will reset the engine light for you on Monday and send you on your way - if it comes back on, then they know there is something that needs sorting. Could be a simple niggle like a sensor, or something more involved. We once had a car back with us for 14 months as we couldnt get to the bottom of the problem.

As for the mileage - when you went to look at the car I assume you spotted it via an advert so you should know what the mileage was? If it was then showing and extra 6000 miles why didnt you point this out before you purcchased it?

CHR15

I mentioned SOG act in a similar situation.

I had the car about 3-4 days, on my first decent run down a Motorway it went into Limp Home Mode.

The warranty I had with the car had a cost limit applied. I was a bit peeved to see the repair would have used up about 70% of my warranty limit so my warranty would have been almost worthless after less than a week.

I told the garage I would claim the repair under SOG (I found it in some google results), which they seemed reasonable happy with, i.e the garage repaired it at their cost and my warranty remained intact.

Ironically I never did need the warranty for the remainder of the time.

Kilty_2

Forgot to mention I'm in Scotland

Sale_of_Goods_Act_1979_s11(5) wrote:

(5) In Scotland, failure by the seller to perform any material
part of a contract of sale is a breach of contract, which entitles
the buyer either within a reasonable time after delivery to
reject the goods and treat the contract as repudiated, or to
retain the goods and treat the failure to perform such material
part as a breach which may give rise to a claim for compensation
or damages.

Goods not being fit for purpose fall within the seller not performing a material part of the contract as per a later section.

harveybobbles

But you have to let the dealer fix the problems first before chunnering on to them about SOGA.

Kilty_2

harveybobbles wrote: »

But you have to let the dealer fix the problems first before chunnering on to them about SOGA.

Nope - that may be the case in England and Wales but it is explicitly stated that in Scotland, faulty goods returned within a reasonable amount of time (2 hours and < 20 miles reasonable, yes?) can be rejected - there is no requirement for a buyer to accept a repair.

hartcjhart

Kilty wrote: »

Nope - that may be the case in England and Wales but it is explicitly stated that in Scotland, faulty goods returned within a reasonable amount of time (2 hours and < 20 miles reasonable, yes?) can be rejected - there is no requirement for a buyer to accept a repair.

then why the hell are you on here arguing with posters if you have the info already,jeez we get some in here:mad:

Kilty_2

hartcjhart wrote: »

then why the hell are you on here arguing with posters if you have the info already,jeez we get some in here:mad:

Didn't have the info already, but I've found it now :wall:

Wig

Kilty wrote: »

Nope - that may be the case in England and Wales but it is explicitly stated that in Scotland, faulty goods returned within a reasonable amount of time (2 hours and < 20 miles reasonable, yes?) can be rejected - there is no requirement for a buyer to accept a repair.

I only know about SOGA England & Wales, so if you know different by all means do what you want, but I would assume that even in Scotland -land of the brave- you can only reject if it is not fit for purpose, so far, you have NOT shown that this is the case.

A used car will be more likely to have faults. The courts have agreed to this. But as with everything, it is all relative. The make. model, and price of car, the mileage, the nature of the faults and (in certain circumstances) the re-appearance of the same fault continuosly after repair attempts, everything is taken into account to determine if the car is fit for purpose.


Some reading for you
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=12652411
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=27329677
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=27816629
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=27861757

If you're wondering why the same cases are always quoted it's because they are the few cases that have tested the law in this area (used cars).

My advice, would be to be present when they read the fault code, as you won't be there, they may do what Harvey says, just reset it and give it back to you without doing anything to fix the fault. So you should ask them when you go back...
What was the fault code given?
What did you do to the car apart from reset the fault codes?

You might want to tell them in writing (should you decide to take the car back), that you do not affirm the contract, and you will not affirm, until the car is returned in a satisfactory condition.

sheslookinhot

Surely resetting the fault codes and returning the car to the buyer is not acceptable. The supplier must investigate and rectify the faults that manifested as the problem in the first place.