When is a DODGY CAR DEALER accountable?

vaio

mods, we really really need this button, it would fit perfectly next to the thanks one

bigjl

A car dealer is not able to sell a car sold as seen to a member of the public, may be possible for a trade sale between two traders, but the Sale of Goods act, from memory, is still in force for any invoice to a member of the public buying a car with sold as seen on the invoice.

This is a common trick played by garages to get rid of a car with a known fault, though the consition of the vehicle has to be considered along with the price paid.

If for example a car has a usual retail price of £2500 and you buy it for £1500 then this needs to be considered when considering if the car was of merchantable quality, and this is what the court would have to consider if anyt court action was to be taken.

And I believe the last poster was correct, I believe posting names and adresses at this point in tuime could be considered libelous rather than slanderous.

I am sure I once read that the written word is libel, whereas the spoken word is slander, i would have to add the caveat that I am not legally trained but that is how I understand it.

The OP may well be advised to remove names as I have known at least one forum get into hot water for displaying names or information that could be termed derogatory.

Remember that price paid in relation to the possible value of the goods is relevant in such cases, to figure this out we need to know what year the car is and what the mileage is.

For example, if you buy and ex fleet car with huge mileage and lots of battle scars then you have to assume hard usage, which wil make the car both cheaper and less reliable, but his should be reflected in the price.

Playing devils advocate it isn't unusual for somebody to beat trhe price down to a level where the dealer is making nothing, but as the car is not of normal retail quality they dealer wants rid and therefore sells the car for what it owes him.

If the car had never broken down would we now be hearing about what a bargain the OP got?

If however the car has a retail price of £1000 in average condition and the OP paid £1500 for it due to the extremely low mileage and the fact that it belonged to a retired vicar then the situation is very different.

If it goes to court then that is the way it will be considered, and the way that I have interpreted the sale of goods act, I may be wrong, but that is how it seems to appear to me.

You can't have it both ways, but if you get the car for next to nothing due to the chance that it is a risky prospect which is reflected in the price isn't the same as a mint low miles car for top money.

There is the other thing about the car being reasonable fit to carry out the purpose for which it is intended, and the fact that a dealer must now be careful selling any car that he thinks may have a fault that he should have reasonably been able to forsee, as they have to make it right for 6 months after point of sale.

Hence why few dealers will sell Rovers, the chance of a head gasket going pop is just too great to take the risk, that does make K series Rovers a bit of a bargain.

What was the reason for the breakdown?



And where exactly does the OP think the trade buys cars? The fact that she is surprised that the car was sourced from an Auction may explain her current predicament.

I assume the reason for going from a Corsa to a Tigra was insurance related, but you need to list th age mileag etc, and also what is wrong with the car, it may just be an alternator problem, which is a simple fix, more info' needed.

If Trading Standards aren't interested I would assume that the car was indeed a bit of a bargain buy for it's year and condition. There is sadly no such thing as a free lunch, get the car taken to a decent local garage and get it fixed, then try to get something back at a later date.

Though why you would pay £150 to get recovered by the AA I don't know, they charge lees to allow you to join after breaking down.

It has just occured to me that this may just be a disgruntled punter that wants to try an slag off the garage they bought a car off, for some imagined slight.

Wig

Was the car sold with any warranty? How much warranty?

If it was sold without warranty. Used cars under SOGA have to be satisfactory, this will take into account their age, and price, and whether you were able to drive the car when you bought it. In this case the car was not even able to get the customer back to her home on the day of purchase and broke down again within 5 miles after attempted repair. A court would have to do decide if this was satisfactory or not.

If it was sold with warranty then you are on much safer ground, legally.

You have 2 options as I see it,

1. Reject the car in writing and sue for a full refund. You will have to reject really quickly. But you may not succeed in getting a rejection.

2. Tell them you want it repaired or refunded, as you have already done this give them the same notice in writing (now) & that you expect them to respond -in writing- to you within 7 days what their intentions are. If they do not respond then send another letter exactly the same only this time also giving notice of your intention to take them to court, 7 days later send them a small claims court reference # of the case you intend to take against them.

Why did trading standards say they could not help?

You might want to ask a local solicitor for help and an estimate of how much this will cost to resolve.

Wig

Takoda wrote: »

I think you mean libel.

But if it is all true then I'm sure it is OK.

It's the first line of the OP that causes me some concern

Wig

bigjl wrote: »

There is the other thing about the car being reasonable fit to carry out the purpose for which it is intended, and the fact that a dealer must now be careful selling any car that he thinks may have a fault that he should have reasonably been able to forsee, as they have to make it right for 6 months after point of sale.

No.

The rest of your post shows the correct understanding, that a car must be 'satisfactory' and that will take into account age, condition mileage, price, the purpose for which it was sold etc etc etc

If it was sold for the purpose of being a family car, and it works, i.e. it drives, is road worthy and it gets you home and about and then fails lets say after a week. It would depend on the above factors to be decided if it was satisfactory and to be expected that it could fail at any time after sale. If it is so decided then the retailer does not have to fix any or all of the problems within the first six months.

In the OPs case the court will have to decide if the fact that it did not get the customer home (10 miles) and after repair only 5 miles, means that the car was not satisfactory at point of sale. They would have to weigh that against the fact that it did never the less get her 10 miles.

benjy7

the garage in question will not and have not given me any communication as to what is actually wrong with the car. when I call them they either dont answer or use different names. It is very frustrating to say the least.

I am not trying to slag off anyone as you put. I actually went to this garage as their website stated they were a family business and look after their customers. To this garage a single women buying a vehicle is like candy to a baby. Its a constant web of lie after lie and it makes no sense to me at all. They have many expensive cars on their forecourt, I am well & truly duped over this. their is no logic into their behaviour.

benjy7

thank you all for your words of wisdom

chalkie99

esmerobbo wrote: »

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Car-dealer-fined-misleading-cutomers/article-2762972-detail/article.html

I just looked at that article .........

Richard Williams, who used to trade as RDW Autos in St George, off-loaded two cars to women that were not up to scratch.

Wonder how he decided the women were not up to scratch?

OP - Best of luck with it - certainly get on to Trading Standards and also get in touch with the Bristol Evening Post referring them back to the above story. They are related incidents both in their area so you might get some publicity the dealer will not appreciate.

patman99

Benjy7, you really need to edit your posts to remove names.

Like the idea of a bunch of placard-waving people outside the garage.

If they simply will not back-down, and the car is still faulty when returned, then as long as it is taxed, MOT'ed and insured, there is nothing stopping your sister printing-out the original advert, enlarging it, sticking it in the car's window along with a big sign stating 'This car was bought here after being advertised as being in good condition. It broke down after 10 miles. Buy from here at your peril', then parking the car right outside their garage (not blocking their access of course).

They would have no legal way of having it removed, so it would stay their until the MOT/Tax/insurance expires. This happened to a local Landrover Dealer last year, a disgruntled customer of another Landrover main dealer (who went bust before fixing all the faults). The poor main dealer was stuck with a brand new Range Rover parked outside their showroom complete with a sign-written list of faults on it.

chalkie99

patman99 wrote: »

Benjy7, you really need to edit your posts to remove names.

Agree it would have been best not to have put names to start with but a bit late now as names have been quoted in a post by another user and the OP cannot remove that. The post is already on Google!