Peeling Lacquer, Buckled Wheel and Consumer Rights

shayward

Hi All,

I bought a 58 plate Nissan Note from reputable Nissan dealer near where I live in April.

2 problems have shown up on the car and I just want to be sure of my rights before taking these issues up with them:

1. The car has metallic paint and the lacquer is peeling off on the bonnet. I would hope this is covered by the guarantee?

2. Noticed that my steering wheel shook a little at high speed and so took the car to kwik fit for a wheel balance. Kwikfit picked up that the front right wheel was buckled, and this was causing the problem. As I know that I have not bumped anything since I got the car I have to assume the car was sold to me like that. As the car was bought less than 6 months ago the dealer should have to replace/fix the wheel OR prove that the fault was NOT present when they sold me the car?

My final thought is that it is unusual for an 18 month old car to have paint peeling problems on the bonnet, and that perhaps this combined with a buckled wheel point to an accident in the cars past?

Is there any way to ascertain if a car has been in an accident?

Many thanks for any replies.

Hintza

Bonnet should be covered unless it has been dinged.

Wheel will be your problem. If it was buckled when you bought it you would have noticed almost immediately, so you must have damaged it. (You might not have but that will be the line the dealer will take, and I don't think you can really argue)

Have you called the previous owner on the V5?

Strider590

From what I can remember something like 95% of cars leave the manufacturer with damage repairs to various panels, it could be that yours had a repair to the bonnet and they resprayed without degreasing it first.

It could have been repaired recently without notifying an insurance company, this would not go on it's history.

The wheel could have been accident damage, but more than likely with it being a Nissan Note, some OAP drove it into a kerb.

shayward

Hintza wrote: »

Bonnet should be covered unless it has been dinged.

Wheel will be your problem. If it was buckled when you bought it you would have noticed almost immediately, so you must have damaged it. (You might not have but that will be the line the dealer will take, and I don't think you can really argue)

Have you called the previous owner on the V5?

Bonnet is not dinged at all and I wash the car by hand with proper car washing products.

I wouldn't have noticed immediately as it is only apparent when driving at 70 mph and we mostly use the car around town. I don't doubt that the dealer will take that line, but I am interested in what the law says as a new wheel appears to be around £300 and I definitely have not damaged the wheel.

Previous owner on the V5 is the dealership I bought it from.

Inactive

As Strider suggests, bonnet has most likely been repaired badly.

Lacquer should not peel on a 2 year old car.

With that and the front wheel damage I suspect it has had a minor shunt before you purchased it.

Strider590

shayward wrote: »

a new wheel appears to be around £300 and I definitely have not damaged the wheel.

How did you come to that insanely over priced conclusion?? (no offence)

Nissan Note Alloy wheel set £40

That's for 4 x genuine new Nissan wheels, never been used!!

I dare say it's too late to get that set, but nobody wants the damn things = worth nothing.


If the last registered owner was the garage then id say it was an ex demo or advertising car driven/used/shared by sales staff and probably had the dealerships vinyl stickers all over it, which could be why the paint is peeling? maybe?
As for the wheel, I still think it's been kerbed.