Car dealer won't honour warranty

Ziggazee

I hope I've put this in the right place.

Ok, so we purchased a car from a dealer on the 30th November. Paid £650 cash and traded in our old car. About a week and a half ago the car started running a bit rough so we took it into a local garage thinking it was something simple like damp spark plugs. We've been told that the car is running on only two of the four cylinders and needs work doing to the head gasket/valves. We've been quoted £600 and £700 respectively by two different garages.

The car was advertised and sold to us with a 3 month warranty, so we contacted the dealer who told us that we needed to claim from the warranty provider. We asked for details of the warranty provider, but the dealer then told us that "it was just one of those things" and that the car was "sold as seen".

Now, we know that a dealer cannot use phrases such as "sold as seen" and he has certain legal duties insofar as the problem with the car. We told him as such and he got back to us and offered to tow the car (which is undriveable at present) to a mechanic that he uses and he will be responsible for the first £300 of any repair. This is not acceptable to us and we know that we are legally entitled to a full repair.

After taking advice from CAB we wrote to the dealer, sending the letter Recorded Delivery, telling him that we wanted a full repair. The letter was sent on Monday but has not yet reached the recipient.....we suspect that he hasn't gone to the Post Office to collect it.

As I say the car is undriveable at the moment and is causing us a lot of inconvenience as we are reliant on the one car, and we have different working patterns and three children to work round. If the dealer doesn't come up with the goods then we really need to get this car repaired at the end of the month (when we get paid) and get it on the road. If we do this, we will have no option but to issue proceedings through the County Court for the costs of repair, the court costs and loss of convenience.

I just wondered if anyone else had been in this position? I feel we have no alternative but to report the dealer to Trading Standards. What will Trading Standards do exactly? I know they can't enforce his liabilities and make him pay, but is it likely that a little visit from them will force his hand somewhat? Any advice welcome.

Thanks for reading

mattyprice4004

A car won't normally run on 2 out of 4 cylinders, I think your garage is telling porkies!

Ziggazee

It's a 4x4. I have no doubts whatsoever in what the garage is telling us. I have spoken with two garages (one of them owned by the father of a friend) and they both tell me the same.

That's not really the point of the thread though is it :-)

Hoof_Hearted

What's the value of the new car?

motorguy

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

What's the value of the new car?

And its age, miles, etc?

Do you have any paperwork saying it had three months warranty? Did it say so in the advert and do you have a copy of that?

What does it say on the invoice?

Ziggazee

Have a copy of the advert saying it was sold with 3 months warranty. Receipt states "sold as seen"....which CAB tell me is an illegal term for a dealer to use.

Car is 2001, worth around £1500 and is around 66k.

motorguy

Ziggazee wrote: »

Have a copy of the advert saying it was sold with 3 months warranty. Receipt states "sold as seen"....which CAB tell me is an illegal term for a dealer to use.

Car is 2001, worth around £1500 and is around 66k.

Ring Consumer Direct and get their take on this. They'll LOVE the 'sold as seen' statement, and also you have a copy of the advert.

What dealers sometimes will say is 'oh you get the three month warranty if you pay sticker price, and any discount is in lieu of the warranty', but i doubt they can really make that stick.

I think by law they 'should' sort this out, but getting them to might be tricky.

Ziggazee

Thanks. I have just reported the trader to Trading Standards online. Consumer Direct doesn't exist anymore and they have been taken over by CAB (have already spoken with them and they were very helpful)

We paid full price for the car as we were trading in our old vehicle as well so he has no argument there. Methinks the guy is a bit of a player and he's clearly got away with tricks like this in the past. In fact, when we first brought the issue to his attention his words were "I've had this before, and it's just one of those things". It's NOT just one of those things at all. Really irks me that he might have pulled this stunt loads of times on innocent parties!

Sounds like we're gonna have to take him to Court which should prove very interesting....haha!

photome

Ziggazee wrote: »

Thanks. I have just reported the trader to Trading Standards online. Consumer Direct doesn't exist anymore and they have been taken over by CAB (have already spoken with them and they were very helpful)

We paid full price for the car as we were trading in our old vehicle as well so he has no argument there. Methinks the guy is a bit of a player and he's clearly got away with tricks like this in the past. In fact, when we first brought the issue to his attention his words were "I've had this before, and it's just one of those things". It's NOT just one of those things at all. Really irks me that he might have pulled this stunt loads of times on innocent parties!

Sounds like we're gonna have to take him to Court which should prove very interesting....haha!

Hope it works out for you as the dealer is in the wrong, but taking him to court wont automatically get your money back if he still refuses

Ziggazee

But at least we will have a judgment against him which we can enforce. Let's not forget he has about 80k worth of cars on his forecourt.....I'm sure the bailiffs would love to take their pick

Splott

Ziggazee wrote: »

But at least we will have a judgment against him which we can enforce. Let's not forget he has about 80k worth of cars on his forecourt.....I'm sure the bailiffs would love to take their pick

I doubt he owns any of those cars. A HPI check on any of the numberplates will most likely find they're on finance. Very very few dealers own their stock outright.