Advice re son's car. Been sold a dodgy one.

scotlady

Hiya, My son was sold a car just coming up for 6 months ago. Anyway a week after he got it, someone ran into him and it was off the road for 2 months. When he bought it he had a 3 month warranty. Anyway he got the car back as it went out of warranty. Then the clutch went to which the local garage said it would have been picked up when the car was sold, so the guy who sold him the car knew this was happening. He had to spend £800 there to get the clutch fixed.

Now, the engine dropped in the car when he got it back today, he went back to the garage and the guy checked it over, the underplate was missing, so he decided to check for other faults and the catalytic converter has been removed by the guy who sold it after the MOT. So instead of buying a newly MOT'd 2.0 turbo diesel car, he has a 1.2. The garage is willing to give him a statement of everything they've found.

We've just noticed that in the first 6 months the buyer can approach the seller to ask for a full refund if they cant prove the problems werent there when they sold them. The fact the car was off the road after the accident is proof it wasnt being driven for the plate to fall off and the catalytic converter didnt just vanish between the MOT and the seller's mates garage and the time of selling it.

Poor son spent his Afghan bonus on a family car for his wife and baby and he's been shafted by this guy. Can anyone give me some direction as I've only just been made aware he has 6 months and we dont know if this is true as the garage he bought it from only gave him a 3 month warranty.

Thanks in advance

DVardysShadow

The big show stopper on claiming back is that it went in for extended repairs and he may need to be able to dismiss the idea that the repairer stripped the engine out for a lesser one. The faults and the length of time taken for the repair are not inconsistent with this possibility.

wealdroam

scotlady wrote: »

We've just noticed that in the first 6 months the buyer can approach the seller to ask for a full refund if they cant prove the problems werent there when they sold them.

Where did you 'notice' that?

I think what you are referring to is that part of the Sale of Goods Act that says that during the first six months following the sale, any fault can be assumed to have been present at the point of sale. During that time it is for the seller to prove that the fault was not present at the time of the sale.
If the seller cannot prove that, then the consumer is entitled to a remedy. That remedy could be a repair, replacement or refund.
The consumer chooses the remedy, but the seller cannot be forced to provide a remedy which is disproportionately costly.
In other words, the seller gets to choose the cheapest remedy, which is likely to be a repair.

You are extremely unlikely to get a full refund. If a refund is decided on, then that refund can be reduced by the length of time you have had the thing.

The seller cannot be responsible for the time the vehicle was off the road due to the accident. To put it another way, the three month warranty clock, and the six month SOGA clock carry on ticking while the car was being repaired.

Forwandert

Is it a new or used car? Here's some information on used which makes no mention on 6 months with a used car.