Car - Sorting a on going problem, legal advice required

4743hudsonj

khampson wrote: »

I have just had a conversation with him, the car roof has developed another fault! The roof has come up on the drivers side and the catch is open and will not go down manually. I spoke to the dealer about this and he said he will not repair it as the 3 month warranty has exspired, so I am left with a small gap that can let water in, the hood will not lock down, I have told him I want a refund but he said by law he does not need to give me one, he said if I go the legal route it will cost me a lot of money and take 6 to 8 months to sort and he will with draw any agreement to correct the roof fault, it just gets worse and worse, my partner is crying about it and I am totally stuck.

Keith

He is talking more rubbish, hes partially right about not having to give a refund under the SOGA but it leaves his only other option as replacement!

Besides, you are repudiating the contract due to misrepresentation meaning anything about SOGA becomes irrelevant as there is no contract for him to have breached. This should leave you with all of your money and him with his car.

Also small claims is fast, its under £150 up front, they assign a date and location (he can elect t have it near him if her files a defence), you travel there, sit down at a table with a judge and discuss the case for an hour or so, judge makes a ruling, done. Will take no more than a day out of your life and shouldnt take long to assign an actual date.

Hes blagging it and hoping to deter you. Get that LBA written and keep PM'ing me if you need more help.

khampson

What about the fault that's just occurred with the roof popping up on the drivers side? I have not been using the roof and it's occurred! He said that's my responsibility to fix, this could of been a fault from day 1 and could of happened if the roof had worked, he says it's a new problem? Do I get this fixed myself? If I start legal action he will stop co-operating, I don't have it written conformation that he would fix the roof other than in his text messages, I am at my wits with it, also if I go legal does this mean I can't use the car in the mean time?

Keith

somethingcorporate

4743hudsonj wrote: »

Hes blagging it and hoping to deter you. Get that LBA written and keep PM'ing me if you need more help.

4743hudsonj wrote: »

Either way, write a letter stating the facts and your expected outcome titled letter before action.

Just in case you were wondering what LBA was!

4743hudsonj

khampson wrote: »

What about the fault that's just occurred with the roof popping up on the drivers side? I have not been using the roof and it's occurred! He said that's my responsibility to fix, this could of been a fault from day 1 and could of happened if the roof had worked, he says it's a new problem? Do I get this fixed myself? If I start legal action he will stop co-operating, I don't have it written conformation that he would fix the roof other than in his text messages, I am at my wits with it, also if I go legal does this mean I can't use the car in the mean time?

Keith

This fault shouldnt really affect your case as your suing for misrepresentation so dont worry about that right now (it doesnt really harm or help your case).

Dont get it fixed yet because if you win you wouldnt get the refund for the fix necessarily. do mention in your case to the judge the fault though and that its not damage caused by you. As i said in the pm's the texts will serve as evidence, if you can, forward them to an email address and print them off to make things easier.

Also if you go legal, you can use it, but be careful as any damage will reduce any refund due.

Im gonna stick to pm's now so were not having two convos.

khampson

This is myworry to, I have been texting the dealer ever couple of weeks, also calling vauxhall myself, I have been using the car a little (done about 2k) but then I need wheels to get about! When I bought the car he told me it would be about 4 weeks but it could take longer, I was thinking maybe 5 or 6 weeks at most, not the 20 weeks or so it has taken! The best he can do he says is trade book price which I don't know what it is as only dealers have them!

Keith

adam.mt

IMO him offering you trade book price isn't a good deal. Fair enough only give a partial refund but it should only reflect the depreciation for the four months use and not the difference between trade and retail pricing otherwise it means he's made a good profit on selling a defective vehicle!

Point this out, and say you'd be prepared to accept what you paid originally minus the depreciation of 4 months (ie. trade price now minus trade price four months ago; or I guess equally as valid, retail price now minus retail price four months ago) and this should be in line with published values, ie. if original price was £100 over book when bought, then price considered for now would be £100 over book. You're looking for a like-for-like comparison.

Such a deal would seem fair on both parties.

Trinitrotoluene

I am not sure on this one as although the dealer hasnt fixed it he has been open and honest with the buyer who has continued to use the car for 4 months since this and thus in my view they have accepted the dealers decision to repair once the part is sourced.

I am by no means a SOGA expert but surely S48B(2) "repair or, as the case may be, replace the goods within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience to the buyer;" if this was the case months and months on a convertible car and a major defect definitely breaches this.

I would follow the instruction given to you by 4743hudsonj. You were led into a contract with the understanding that the fault would be fixed. As the fault has not been fixed (through no fault of your own) I would expect it renders the contract null and void. It is not your responsibility to deduce the ability to repair a defect on a product you have bought. That is down to the seller. Because it was made a condition of sale he should have ensured he was able to fulfil the obligation.

Tko

You have the same basic rights against any dealer retailing a car for about £2,000 upwards. Unless you are forewarned and buy on that basis, any significant faults that occur within six months of purchase are deemed to have been developing on the day of purchase, thereby rendering the car of “unsatisfactory quality” and are the responsibility of the dealer to repair. You can either return the car to the dealer to fix it, get a refund, or agree to part fund a repair if that is “reasonable” – what you can’t do is simply have it fixed elsewhere and send the dealer the bill. If dealers deny any knowledge of consumer protection law, it begs the question why they should be allowed to trade. It stands to reason that you cannot reasonably expect 10-year-old bangers selling for a fraction of their original price to be completely fault-free, which is why I mentioned the arbitrary £2,000 figure.

4743hudsonj

Just to let others know. Me and the op have exchanged a few pms and im writing up a lba as from the correspondance weve discussed clearly shows the repair was promised.