being fobbed off by garage HELP/ADVICE required

nextqueen

Hi

Cut a long story short, we bought a ford ka (53 reg) on 5th september for my daughters 18th birthday from a garage in Stockton. We had originally gone to see another car at this garage but the sales man showed us another car - told us had service history, approx 50,000 on the clock. I sat in passenger seat and the guy turned engine over (naively i did not look at clock - but i am not used to looking for older cars and when told something unfortunatley i thought i could trust the garage)

Anyway, 3 days later when my daughter was getting into her car it was noted that one of her tyres had the tread coming through and there was cracking in her other tyre. My husband cut his finger when checking the tyres. We took the car to a local tyre place and they said we had 2 illegal tyres and the other 2 were on the legal minimum. We got 4 new tyres (my daughter drives for her job so decided to get the other 2 replaced which i know is our choice). We immediatley phoned the car garage and they said nowt to do with us, but they would get back to us and discuss paying for the tyres.

Over a week later, they will not ring us back, have tried to say has someone swapped the tyres overnight and put dodgy tyres on (yeah of course someone has replaced all 4 tyres and went to the bother of putting the wheel trims on with the ties). They then said yesterday they wanted to see the illegal tyres (even though we rang them on the day) - they have also said we were ripped off for the price we paid for the tyres. The place we use is very competitvely priced and we have used it for cheapness in past however due to the illegality and safety issue we did not have time to shop around, also could not take it back to garage as it is 32 miles away from us. I sent them a recorded letter yesterday to discuss a compromise and would like reply within 14 days and they have refused to sign for the letter this morning.

We also have an issue as they told us it had a service history and after keep asking for it, it has been one excuse after another saying the past owner was in hospital, then he was working abroad and now they are saying they dont have it. The mileage was nearer 58,000 on the clock even though the sales invoice i have got states 50,100 miles. The handbrake light keeps flicking on while driving. We tried to ring the garage this morning again but he just put the phone down.

Please help, i am at the end of my tether, even though the service history and mileage has annoyed me so much, it is the tyres that i expect to be refunded, but the garage will not return our calls or now hanging up, will not accept our letter (have emailed them but they will probably deny getting them), what else can we do

thanks for any advice x

Keith

The tyres would have me checking the tracking.

Trebor16

I would contact the local trading standards office as I would think they would be very interested in such shenanigans.

poppasmurf_bewdley

Yes. Contact Trading Standards. The garage who sold you the car evidently sold you an unroadworthy vehicle, which is illegal.

The garage who fitted the new tyres will give you a written report on the state of the tyres they replaced, which could be used in evidence against the garage.

If nothing else, the above would give you a good claim in the Small Claims Court.

in_the_Cotswolds

Trading Standards and maybe a solicitors letter for selling a defective and illegal car. The fact that they refused to sign for the letter says it all really.

vax2002

Surely you inspected the car before paying ?

Tilt

vax2002 wrote: »

Surely you inspected the car before paying ?

My thoughts exactly. If the tyres were that bad and you had been stopped after leaving the garage, you would have been responsible as the driver for the condition of the vehicle. I would of thought that the tyres would be one of the first things you would look at when buying a used car to be honest. Seems you have allowed the horse to bolt before closing the stable door here. Obviously the seller is going to deny that the tyres were illegal 3 days after driving it away because he knows that it is illegal to sell an un-roadworthy car.

That aside Under the SOGA, a defect which occurs within 6 months of purchase is assumed to be present at the point of sale. The seller should be given the opportunity to inspect and rectify in the first instance so by replacing the tryes somewhere else provides the seller with an argument in relation to the cost of repairs and it appears from you post that he knows this.

All is not lost though because if it was advertised as having service history and it cannot be provided then there may an avenue to persue about it being 'miss-sold'. Also the mileage, (although this is another thing which should of been checked prior to taking delivery). Again this could be another area of it being miss-sold, especially if you have the mileage recorded on the paperwork stating that it is 8K lower than it actually is. As far as this is concerned, this may give you your ace card in providing you with grounds to reject the car.

My advice is to write to the seller (again by recorded delivery) pointing out that there is a discrepancy in the mileage and as such you reserve the right to formally reject the car unless they cover the issues which you have raised. If you get no reponse within 7 days, indicate that you will do just that and require a full refund.

In the meantime, i would talk to trading standards who will guide you through the next process but do keep us posted.

Hammyman

nextqueen wrote: »

The handbrake light keeps flicking on while driving.

Brake pad low wear indicator. Looks like it'll need a set of pads too.

poppasmurf_bewdley

I don't think it's really right to expect the OP to have given the tyres a thorough inspection before taking delivery. Sure, check the tread but as for checking the hidden sidewalls, etc - that would need a ramp as is done in the MOT.

The only way of really ensuring that all is right on delivery is to have the vehicle checked by the AA or similar, and how many of us do that?

vax2002

had The Op been stopped with the defective tyres, the police would not entertain any excuses of been sold it in that condition, the driver is responsible to make sure the vehicle is in good order.
Getting home and finding things like bald tyres with wire hanging out, mileage incorrect.
Yes the dealer may be a bit of a cad, but I have to ask, what on earth were you doing anywhere near a used car yard if you were in such a hurry you did not have time to even look at the tyres ?
A used car yard is no place to be busy, other wise what did you think you would come away with.
Always draw up a written check-list of obvious things and tick them off.
I would not make such a fuss about selling illegal tyres, if the police get wind, they will just fine you for driving on them.
They Dont "do" excuses.

Strider590

Mileage difference will probably be down the the garage using it as a runabout, it's very common, even main dealers do it.