Used car: Time limited, please help!

simon123

Hi everyone, I know there are many threads on here about used cars becoming faulty, but seeing as most cases are individual I thought I would post my story and see if people can shed some expertise.

My wife bought a used car around 6/7 weeks ago from a dealer. Last week the clutch started playing up. It is stiff and noisy when engaging it. We took it back to the dealer yesterday and spoke to one of the staff who said that his boss (who wasn't there) had said because the car cost under £1000 (cost £795, lots too us) it wasn't covered under their warranty and they couldn't repair it.

I have what I think is a reasonable knowledge of rights so explained to him that this didn't override the Sale of Goods act and any warranty offered does not negate his responsibilities under the act.

After being left to wait for ages for the owner to turn up (he didn't) we were asked to leave the car there and the staff member would "have a word with him".

Today we received a call from the owner who said that it was out of 28 days and trading standards had advised him that clutch problems aren't covered as they it was wear and tear. At this point I pointed out to him that at no point was the car actually inspected by his staff member and that he had come to this conclusion just by hearing the engine.

I pointed out that to my knowledge there was no official 28 day period and that SOG states reasonable period?

By the way I am no expert on consumer rights, this is just things that I have picked up over the years so please correct me if I am wrong.

I also stated that the onus was on him within the first six months to prove that the defect was not present at time of purchase and that if I had to get an independent report which proved this then that would incur more costs for him. He said that he was willing to take this risk.

He has offered to pay 50% to get it fixed at a garage of HIS CHOICE, I can understand why he would do this due to trade prices but I also feel that there are risks involved with this.

Sorry for the long post, almost there!...

He has told us that if we don't accept this then we can pick the car up tomorrow and it wont be repaired.

Now here is the problem: my wife really needs her car. She is heavily pregnant and needs to get to work daily. She is at the point where she is willing to pay half so she can get the car back. Quite rightly, she needs to be back on the road and can't wait for months to get her car back. In the meantime we can't really afford to go to another garage or actually get an independent report.

My plan is to compile a list of official sources this afternoon which categorically state that as a retailer he is responsible for this repair so that she can show him print outs tomorrow in the hope that he can be convinced.

Can anybody offer advice please? PS. I could be spouting rubbish and find out from you guys that I am incorrect but I really hope not!

Thanks for reading this long post.

Edit: I have also posted this on the consumeractiongroup forum but because it is so busy on MSE I thought I'd also post here.

Weirdlittleman

I think his offer is fair.
The SOGA will recognise the age, condition and price of the car. At £795 it could be expected to need regular maintainance in my view, it wasnt unsafe to sell and your use for 6/7 weeks is imo deemed proof it wasnt faulty at the point of sale.

Optimist

It is a used car and the age, mileage and cost have to be taken into consideration. I tend to agree with weirdlittleman it is fair offer.

simon123

I have had some discussion with the guys on the CAG forum and whilst it does appear that he has the obligations under the SOGA they do believe that this is a fair offer and not worth the risk in going via the courts in case it is seen as betterment.

So I will be going down the 50/50 offer route I think.