Advice needed re car purchase

neilmoho

Morning folks,

just wanted some advice prior to 9am when i contact the dealer i just bought a used car from yesterday.

Basically when I took the car out for a test drive it reeked of cigarette smoke. I told the salesman I would buy the car on the condition the smell of smoke was rectified. He agreed to this.

Went to collect the car yesterday and it was a blazing hot day so the windows were down and I couldn't smell smoke. The salesman also said that the car had been cleaned to get rid of the smell.

I've gotten up this morning and as the windows were closed overnight I've gotten into the car and it absolutely reeks of cigarette smoke.

I'm going to talk to the salesman today and tell him I want the problem sorted out or he can have the car back.

Just wanted to get some feedback from folks here as to where I stand.

My understanding is that this may be covered under the sales of goods act

i.e. the car has to be of satisfactory quality as described to me by the salesman so him telling me the smell had been gotten rid of means that i can get them to rectify the problem.

Any help appreciated.

Hintza

neilmoho wrote: »

i.e. the car has to be of satisfactory quality as described to me by the salesman so him telling me the smell had been gotten rid of means that i can get them to rectify the problem.

What is wrong with the quality of the car? Probably nothing.

You knew it smelt of smoke before you bought it and carried on with the purchase so I would say by default you have accepted it. You also accepted it after inspecting it again.

Having said all that why not try ang get him to have the upholstery cleaned for you. But be nice in opening salvo or he will probably not be very helpful.


It will fade with time and Fabreeze might help.

neilmoho

Thanks for the reply.

I've just used about a gallon of Febreze on the car which might help. My issue with the quality is that he told me the smell had been gotten rid of which is plainly not the case. He's obviously opened the windows before I came to pick up the car so I wouldn't notice the smell!!!

this will be the 3rd car I've bought from the dealership and various members of my family also buy their cars there so I'm hopeful they will do something about it

thescouselander

If it was a condition of sale they'll have to sort it out. Was the fact he was going to get rid of the smell written on your invoice when you paid the deposit - if not that might make things a bit more difficult.

neilmoho

Hi Scouselander,

yeah it was written down along with a couple of cosmetic repairs that needed doing and have been done before I picked up the car yesterday.

Thanks for the reply.

Neil

Hintza

Bit like farts though you can't smell your own. Some folk are a lot more sensitive to smells than others which can cause problems.

thescouselander

I think you've got a strong case then - the invoice says the smell will be removed and it clearly hasn't, I'd say thats a breach of contract. You'll have to give them the opportunity to put it right though so be nice to them.

neilmoho

i'm always polite. Its the missus that does the really nasty phone calls!!!

i'm hopeful that as a returning customer they will try to help me. They are a large reputable dealership which should help. The cars only a year old so god knows how many cigarettes the previous owner smoked per day in it!!

neilmoho

Just spoke to the salesman.

Very apologetic and says he will sort it. just waiting for a call back to see if I have to take it back to the dealership or if it can be done anywhere else closer to home.

Strider590

This isn't acceptable, smokers should expect their cars do devalue far more than non-smokers... and stealerships shouldn't resell them at all.

It's not so much the upholstry that's the issue..... The smell is likely to be throughout the ventilation/heating system and If it has airconditioning, you'll never get rid of the smell short of fully replacing the system.
I don't know why, but a (large?) number of smokers tend to put the heating/aircon into recirculate mode which only serves to compound the problem.

Be sure to check this when you get the car back.... Get in, turn the aircon on, get out and wait a few minutes before opening the door again. If you try to check while your in the car, you won't notice the smell as much.

Inactive

Strider590 wrote: »

This isn't acceptable, smokers should expect their cars do devalue far more than non-smokers... and stealerships shouldn't resell them at all.

.

I would sooner have a car smelling of a bit of ciggie smoke than one that has had kids and/or dogs in.

At least the upholstery will not have been totally ruined.