Used car of non satisfactory quality + faults

unlocated

Lirin wrote: »

Sorry- my bad- most of my cars have been bought privately, it's pretty much buyer beware.... Should have said that...

Unfortunately the couple of dealings I've had with dealerships- one very good, one very bad, saleswise.... Dealers can be very crafty to talk to, and I've never needed the extras they offer- and I love haggling, so private suits me fine! :rotfl:

Let us know how it goes, though, will be interested.

lol, that sounds like a good approach to used car purchase!

I'll let know how it goes!

unlocated

A quick update:

the dealer didn't reply to my last letter where I asked for either a repair or a substitute car.
Trading standards got in touch with me and after some time called the dealer trying to sort out the issue.
The dealer is willing to repair and take a look at the car but Trading standards suggested me to have a check by a consulting engineer whose independent report would be of value in court.
Today he got a thorough inspection and worked out that the value of a good repair would be about £2K! The car has been crashed in different points and instead of fixing it they just used body filler (heavily used!) all around the car. He'll send me a report with all the details and I'll take it from there to call the dealer and arrange a meeting to sort out the issue.

I'll update you later on once the issues is (HOPEFULLY!) sorted out.

Best,
Ipoclorato

Gordon_Hose

I'd be wanting to return the car for a full refund if that is the case.

unlocated

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

I'd be wanting to return the car for a full refund if that is the case.

That would be the best outcome. I'm not sure whether the dealer will be happy with this but I think is the most convenient - so at least he might try to re-sell the car or do something with it.

unlocated

Hi all,

I haven't heard from the Dealer yet (how strange!).

I will have to move out from the place I'm living in and of course I would need a car to do that.

Do you know if within the consequential losses the rent of a car could be included?

thank you!

unlocated

seems like this is becoming a diary..
Trading standards went and talk to the dealer as he didn't make contact yet. They were non co-operative. Trading standards suggested me to wait 1 week for them to make contact. Also, they suggested to start filling in the forms for the small claims court so I can file it as soon as possible.

I heard the court hearing might take from 3 to 6 months to take place.. anybody has experience in that?
(not really happy to have all the money I spent for the car blocked for so many months, meaning I can't get another car! bu*ers!)

Unlocated.

unlocated

Seems like the final day is coming:

after Trading Standards went on the dealer's premises to talk about customer rights and the alike, they started being nicer and trying to come to a solution.

Next week I am trying to manage to get my car jump lead started (yes, also the battery, year 2004, now is gone!) and bring the car down.

I don't know if any of you have experiences of this but now, coming to negotiation I am not sure how far I can go with the refund.
From one point, I have been using the car for about 800 miles and since the purchase there has been a criminal damage on it (extimated as £350 for a cheap job) and a tyre is flat (the alloy wheel is deformed, probably since when I bought it but I am afraid I can't prove it, so will come out as "my" damage).
they might therefore put down the refund of some hundreds because of this.

On the other side, I have the consequential losses: public transport to arrange, insurance to pay, Cancellation fee from the insurance once I'll return the car.

Do you have any similar experience and/or suggestions on how to deal with this?

Besides, I know that going through small claims court (although not a 100% secure process and that would take at least 3 months before the first hearing) might lead to the dealer to pay for the court fee (about £200) and a 10% of interests on the sum I initially paid them.

Thanks,
Unlocated

unlocated

The dispute has been finally settled down.
The car wasn't starting anymore as the battery didn't hold any charge and the alternator wasn't working. The dealer had to come and pick the car up and the issue was settled by returning part of the money paid back. Not the happiest ending as I have 3 months worth of insurance lost plus all the cost of transports for the period I haven't had the car for.

I hope this thread will help someone else in the same situation (or hopefully before getting into the same situation!)

funkycoldribena

Fair play for sticking in there,why did you only get a percentage back though?

unlocated

While the dealer was messing about someone had the wonderful idea to pour some corrosive on the side of my car (criminal damage). Due to the damage (and the fact I couldn't take the car anywhere to do the job because the battery was flat) I had to ask the dealer to fix it.

Funny thing is that there seems to be a car with similar specs on the dealer's website! I am wondering whether they fixed the car to bring it up to a satisfactory quality level.. :think: