Bought a car with a fault - need advice please

*Rainbow*Warrior*

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

the insurance thing is a bit dodgy. you sure he didnt mean warranty, but still he's trying to wipe his hands of the problem.

i would be putting a recorded letter into him or hand delivering it (getting a reciept for the letter), asking for a swift resolution before intended legal action.

asking you to put up with a fault that will fail MOT (new regs abs lights etc are failures) and was present at sale is a bit of pee take TBH i would of said i tell you what give me my cash back and you put up with the fault, but your not me.

The car came with a 28 day warranty (which we now find covers mechanical faults, not electrical faults), but this was definitely something separate - he offered to pay half the premium so we would have to pay about £160 ourselves to buy this policy, he said wait a bit and then claim on the insurance! :eek:

I don't think my husband wants to get his money back (though that would probably be my preferred option!). He (oddly enough) loves the car! So, really I just want to know how to approach the dealer to put it to him that he is legally obliged to actually fix the problem, not just tinker with it every couple of weeks.

The dealer put it through an MOT when we bought it - I know MOTs are strictly regulated these days but we suspect this was a bit dodgy as there was an 'advisory' given on the tyres, but it passed. We had the tyres checked locally and were told they were illegal, so we've paid to replace them ourselves.

I've not met the dealer - it's all been handled by my Dad and my husband, and they are finding it difficult to be assertive with the bloke. However, I've never met him and I'm really angry about him wriggling his way out of his obligations (at least, what I think are his obligations!).

I think sending a recorded letter is a good idea, but I'd like to know how much the law is on my side? If he doesn't fix the car, would I have to take him to court?

Lum

On the tyres, it's a fairly common trick for tyre places, especially large national chains with a blue and white colour scheme for their logo, to claim a tyre is illegal when in actual fact it's just very low, so it's quite possible that the MOT is perfectly valid.

The dealer probably reset the ABS light for the MOT though!

I'm amused at the warranty on a Renault not covering electrical faults. Someone at that warranty company knows what they're doing!

*Rainbow*Warrior*

Lum wrote: »

On the tyres, it's a fairly common trick for tyre places, especially large national chains with a blue and white colour scheme for their logo, to claim a tyre is illegal when in actual fact it's just very low, so it's quite possible that the MOT is perfectly valid.

The dealer probably reset the ABS light for the MOT though!

I'm amused at the warranty on a Renault not covering electrical faults. Someone at that warranty company knows what they're doing!

It was a joke. I think they saw him coming! The bloke refused to negotiate at all on the car price, pushing the fact that it came with a warranty - but carefully not saying what the warranty covered!

Lum

Having read that honest john link posted above, I think I'd go down the route of formally rejecting the car, citing the ABS fault that they have failed to fix, and go and look for a nice good condition Mondeo.

I knew of the stereotypes of French cars, even against that backdrop the article is just hilarious, though to be fair the "What's good" page does state that they're vastly improved from 2005 onwards.

Nearly_Old

Just a word of caution as whilst the ABS, aribag, etc lights were going to be a MoT pass/fail this has now changed - yet again. This week a member on a car forum was having problems with the ABS sensors and the light was staying on (he took the bulb out) and his MoT was due but (to his surprise) it passed.

Apparently VOSA has realised that people can just wire a simple timer into the relevant circuit(s) to make the light(s) go out and there is no way the tester can check for this. So it looks like a good idea that (at the moment) cannot practically be enforced. Another car forum member has spoken to a MoT tester who confirmed that VOSA has issued revised instructions.

So whilst the ABS is a fault that the seller needs (as others have said) to fix, or refund the money, its not now a MoT fail.

Bob_the_Saver

There is a breathing space, however. Vosa, the government agency responsible for the MoT, has indicated that up to "late spring" – probably May, although the exact date hasn't been set yet – "failures" relating to the new tests will first be treated as "advisories"

See full article

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jan/06/tougher-mot-rules

motorguy

Lum wrote: »

Having read that honest john link posted above, I think I'd go down the route of formally rejecting the car, citing the ABS fault that they have failed to fix, and go and look for a nice good condition Mondeo.

I knew of the stereotypes of French cars, even against that backdrop the article is just hilarious, though to be fair the "What's good" page does state that they're vastly improved from 2005 onwards.

I think the refund route - whilst quite possible - will be messy. I'd only use it as a last resort.

I think the O/P should contact Consumer Direct - or whoever they are now - and get their formal direction from here on in.