Sale of goods Act for New mini one???

hardcore_since84

In September 2005, When I owned a Mini one (I have since downgraded to a much more economic peugeot 306 :money: ) The gearbox died and was necessary to have a complete rebuild at the cost of £900. At the time the car was 3.5 years old, had covered 52,000 miles and was only 6 months out manufacturers warranty.

I found this to be very unreasonable and not what I expected from what is essentially a bmw product.

I felt very hard done to by this and had to get an extension on an existing consolodation loan as I couldnt afford to pay for this.

At the time My dad and I complained and managed to get bmw/mini to pay for 80% of the cost of parts but this still left me with the huge £900 bill for labour ( @ £100 per hour) + 20% of the parts cost.

I've been told in the past about the sale of goods act and wanted to know if anyone had any further info on this and If I had a case.

Thanks in advance For all your help

hardcore_since84

bump.

anyone know about sale of goods act?

mr_accountant

try posting on the backroom on www.honestjohn.co.uk, you should get plenty of help there

mustrum_ridcully

If it had packed up in a week then clearly the car wouldn't be fit for purpose and you probably could of got a replacement car or your money back. If this had happened later in the 1st year, then it wouldn't be fit for purpose but would probably qualify for repair (rather than money back) which would be done under warranty anyway.

Once you start getting to 3+ years old the arguement does get a bit more tricky as things do start to go wrong and wear out (ever wondered why warranties are 3 years). Some items such as wiper blades and brake pads are excluded as they are expected to wear out.

You could reasonably argue that the gearbox should last more than 52k (which it should with normal wear and tear) meaning that the car wasn't fit for purpose so it should of been replaced free of charge.

However, if the gearbox had been abused (e.g. crunching the gears a lot) then it gets tricky as they could argue that this is going beyond the normal wear and tear that a gearbox would be expected to endure.

If you ever have a problem like this again the best advice is to go to your local CAB and they will hopefully be able to advise you.

blue_haddock

As this happened nearly 18 months ago i'd say you would struggle to get anything back.

Crabman

Try it out, contact CAB, contact honest john for advice, keep at it, you have nothing to lose

saintjanet

If a car is out of warranty you really have no claim except a goodwill gesture from the manufacturer.I think they have been very reasonable paying what they have.

I totally agree with you,i would expect a gearbox to last longer than this but sorry to say these things happen and they could argue that it was caused by your style of driving,I am not suggesting it was,just saying what they may think.