Car Broke Down on Day of Purchase

Damocles530

Hi,

Just want some general advice on the following as I am anticipating a battle.

I purchased a car from a car dealer, took it for a drive down the road to the local beach, and on the way back, literally as I went past the garage, the engine cut out with a engine pollution warning. It was quite a dangerous situation as I had to pull over before the car came to a grinding halt.

I walked to the garage, and they have allowed me to take my old car back home whilst they look at it.

As I had done less than 20 miles before this happened, I have no confidence in the car at all - my wife will be using it for childminding so I cannot afford to have a car that might cut out at any moment.

There is no warranty on the car (which in hindsight was a mistake), but I think I am entitled to just ask for a full refund considering the situation - I am thinking along the lines of it's not fit for purpose.

Thanks for your help.

DUTR

If you purchased it from a garage then it does come with some sort of warranty, and if it didn't then why are they looking at it whilst loaning you back your previous car?
You could ask them about pulling out on the deal, chances are you cannot make them

Tilt

First of all there is a 'warranty' with the car. Under the SOGA, any defect which occurs within the first 6 months of ownership is assumed to be present at the time of purchase. Clearly in your case this applies. Under these circumstances, I believe that you could walk away from the sale and demand your money back. Can you tell us the make/model of the car, how old it is and what you paid for it?

Damocles530

Thanks - I have done some research on the issue at it could be any number of 100 things - but can be made to go away with an engine reset. My worry is that this is what they'll do, claim it's okay yet the underlying problem is still there.

At the moment, at least I still have my old (working) car.

Sure, it's a 2005 Fiat Ulysse, Petrol. 31000 miles. £4800. I have been pursuing some info on the Fiat Forum hence why I have a little understanding of the issue.

BTW - this is just the sort of advice I need before I phone them today

jaydeeuk1

Damocles530 wrote: »

Thanks - I have done some research on the issue at it could be any number of 100 things - but can be made to go away with an engine reset. My worry is that this is what they'll do, claim it's okay yet the underlying problem is still there.

At the moment, at least I still have my old (working) car.

Sure, it's a 2005 Fiat Ulysse, Petrol. 31000 miles. £4800. I have been pursuing some info on the Fiat Forum hence why I have a little understanding of the issue.

BTW - this is just the sort of advice I need before I phone them today

The underlying problem is that it is a 6 year old, cheaply built Fiat.
Get rid of it !!!!!!!

Tilt

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

The underlying problem is that it is a 6 year old, cheaply built Fiat.
Get rid of it !!!!!!!

Ermm, I've owned over 15 Fiats personally and had some on lease when running a car hire firm and have had a problem with only one out of the whole lot! My current car is a 2000 Punto HGT (owned from new) and it runs like a dream and is far superior to a lot of newer cars I drive in the same class so there is nothing wrong with the make here. In fact this particular model bulid is shared by Peugeot/Citreon so quite possibly it is a French engine we are talking about.

However, I would be inclined to agree that perhaps the best course to take would be to reject it and walk away. I am quite sure that under SOGA you have every right to do so as it has failed in such a short time. Alternatively, you could get an independant inspection done and say to the dealer that pending the outcome of that will determine whether you keep the car or not.