Attempting to reject used car

stump32

I'll try to make this short but give as much detail as possible. I purchased a car for a large car supermarket 2 weeks ago. The car in question was 5 years old, done 16k miles and I pais £5990 for it (£800 part ex on my old girl and £5190 cash).

The day after I got the car, things started to go wrong. Engine Warning light came on, a piece of exteria trim fell off, loss of power, rear window demister did not work, coolant empty (even though it had been serviced the day before) to name a few. I contacted the garage I purchased the car from and was advised to bring the car to them to check it over. They looked at it, fixed the window demister and allowed me to collect the car as they needed to order parts.

At this point I asked if the car was safe to drive as Iwas planning a long journey that weekend. Was told it was fine as the warning light was a faulty sensor and would be no problem. Just that I should check the coolant level when I get there and the car had cooled down.

So on the way back from our day trip we had another instance of power loss and was almost rear ended by another vehicle. This was very worrying as I was on the motorway with my wife and 9 week old son in the car. But to top it off, just before I came off the motorway at 9:30pm, the headlights went, both of them, at the same time with no warning and they would not come back on.

After getting some help to get home I forwarded an email to the company I got the car from and advised that I wanted to reject the vehicle on safety grounds and also that it was not fit for purpose. I received a call from them the following day saying they would look to repair it. I agreed at this point but advised that I would be requesting the AA run a check on the vehicle (at the cost of £199) before they had the car back.

The report makes for very interesting reading. The vehicle has had most of the panels on the car either repaired or replaced to an unsatisfactory standard and there are numorous other faults. There is also a strut in the engine bay that has a kink in it which has effected the structural integrety of the car.

The engineers summery is "Unsatisfactory - vehicle has segnificant deficiencies, which are judged to be inpractical or uneconomical to repair to a satisfactory standar".

A copy of this report was forwarded to the company who are trying to dispute the report by saying things like "well the problem is that the AA rip the car apart" and "do I expect every used car on the road to not have any cosmetic work" etc etc.

They have even said that there is no structural damage to the car even though the report says it has and the company have not taken the car back to investigate.

The mileage on the car has also been called into question as between June 2011 MOT and the Service in Jan 2012, the paperwork only shows the car had covered 2 miles, even though I took this for a 10.4 mile test drive before it was serviced.

I understand that I should have had this check done before buying the car but I am not an engineer and would not have seen any of these faults. The test drive was good so had no cause for consern. The supermarket is one of the largest in Peterborough so would not expect a car of this poor standard to be sold.

At this point, I have sent a letter to the company explaining all the details (as got no where with the General Manager on the phone) and have formally rejected the car, and requested a refund.

I have also spoken to Consumer Direct and a solicitor about this and am fully prepaired to go to court.

Will update to let everyone know how I get one but would be interested in people experience with rejecting used cars.

Thanks

atrixblue.-MFR-.

have you visited them in person not over the phone, to reject the vehicle at this stage i would get the car back to them, with a veiw to leaving there with my cash and old vehicle or money from sale of old vehicle and AA report costs insurance costs of purchase and cancellation.

if your refused, have consumer directs number on a mobile handy to call them from thier premises, as they may be able to explain to manager YOUR legal rights when passing the phone to them.

after this and your told to leave with no resolve write a written letter to the manager and HQ of said branch, formally rejecting the vehicle ffrom said date told them over the phone by you and state what was said on said phone call dont forget recorded delivery very important. give them 14days in wich to refund you your money and any costs wich you have incured, as for AA ripping appart the vehicle that is what the report is for to detail any problems structurally and mechanically also a HPI report should have been included?? go to the direct gov website and run a MOT history on the car with the existing MOT cert ref number, this should validate its mileage from the last 2 years.

keep in contact with consumer direct with any progress or updates with any replys made so you know their keeping in line with your rights or deliberatly derailing you.

after the 14 days, another letter. then onto court after that. when rejecting the vehicle in writing you cannot use the vehicle there after its not yours youve rejected it, its down to them to then collect the car.

do not accept a repair, do not allow them to turn up unanounced to collect for repair either youve rejected it it and can only collect it when the money has been exchanged.

stump32

Thanks for the response. I have formally rejected the vehicle via a recorded delivery letter that was received by them today (tracked and checked). This was put to the attention of the Owner of the car supermarket quoting the Sales Of Goods Act 1979 as advised by Consumer Direct.

I still have the car and have not used it since getting the AA report as with the headlights and other faults, the car is seen as not road legal.

What I forgot to put in the thread was that the supermarket advised they need to speak to the previous owners of the car before doing anything. I know this is tosh as my contract is with them and not any previous owners. They seem to be trying to drag it out which I kind of expected to be honest. Will see what reply (if any) I get from my letter.

Wig

The car is over £5000 that's outside the limit of the small claims court, so if it goes to court you could be very much out of pocket in legal fees if you lose. I hope you go to a solicitor before you do that.

forgotmyname

Let me guess it was an ex mobility car?

I wouldnt touch a 5 year old car with 16,000 miles.

Probably 32,000 journeys of 1/2 mile. And parked by ear.

Watching some old biddies the other day defrost their cars. Start them up and leave them
ticking over for ages until its warmed up and all the ice has melted.

One was there for 20 minutes, Engine ticking over.

A few years down the line someone will wonder why their 50,000 mile car needs a new engine.

property.advert

forgotmyname wrote: »

Let me guess it was an ex mobility car?

I wouldnt touch a 5 year old car with 16,000 miles.

Probably 32,000 journeys of 1/2 mile. And parked by ear.

Watching some old biddies the other day defrost their cars. Start them up and leave them
ticking over for ages until its warmed up and all the ice has melted.

One was there for 20 minutes, Engine ticking over.

A few years down the line someone will wonder why their 50,000 mile car needs a new engine.

Mobility would tend to come onto the market at 3 years old.

This sounds as though it has been pranged, left sitting for ages, bodged and then sold on.

attila_

Was a history check done before purchase?
Did you look under the bonnet at coolant level before?
Alternatively AA can do that report before buying the car.

Where did you buy it from?

ukjoel

property.advert wrote: »

Mobility would tend to come onto the market at 3 years old.

This sounds as though it has been pranged, left sitting for ages, bodged and then sold on.

Mobility can stretch the lease if the car is very low milage. However they are all fully serviced and issues that the OP is mentioning would have probably annoyed the previous owner enough to get them fixed. Sound more like someone knowing they have a bad car and pxing it to leave the supermarket with the problem.

stump32

@Wig - I have consulted a soliciter and consumer direct and the strongly believe that I will win.

@ForgotMyName - This is not an ex mobility car. Well it wasn't sold as one anyway.

@Attila - Yes, the car was HPI cleared according to the garage. I know I should have had the car checked before purchasing but I had no cause for concern at the time.
The car was from CarWorld in Peterborough.

Still no reply but there is still 5 days left to the deadline. Will update if I get a reply.

Is there anyone who has managed to reject a car without to many issues or gone the court route? I know it will take a while but looking to see what experience people have.

concerned43

Not the same as your case. but I rejected a car from a private dealer with the help of Consumer direct - they are great!
got all money back and that was the end of the matter! it took 3 days.

Notmyrealname

property.advert wrote: »

Mobility would tend to come onto the market at 3 years old.

Not any more. I know the sis in laws contract is 5 years and it states 5 years on the motability website.