Sold a car under false pretense?

neo1607

So i bought a car off a certain vauxhall garage last year. I got a deal on the car because there was 13 of them had been pre-registered the previous month which knocked i think it was around a couple of thousand off the retail asking price.

Now before buying this car i made sure on 2 seperate occasions (with my mum there as a witness) that i would also be entitled to the lifetime warranty with the car and the sales assistant was unsure of this so confirmed it with his manager and assured me i would be entitled to it.

Now i made a big point in this being a deal breaker for the contract and that if i wasn't going to receive it then i wouldn't be taking the car and i was assured twice, once with my mum being there to witness and once without.


NOW... it's 1 year later and my 1 year Service is due and i am now being told by the same garage and it's head office that i do not have the lifetime warranty and i was never entitled to it because it only applys to the first owner and technically the head office is registered as the 1st owner because it was pre-reg'd a couple of weeks previous to me buying it.


Do i have any legal standpoint on this as i was basically sold it under false pretenses and they knew unless they told me i had the warranty they wouldn't have got a sale?

I am waiting on the manager phoning me back this afternoon but i am quite tempted to take this story to my local newspaper, what should be my next move?


*UPDATE 26/02/13*

Just wanted to give an update on this situation, vauxhall have decided to give me the Lifetime Warranty as a gesture of good will.

Thanks for all the advice from people in this thread

richard734

If you dont have it in writing, its your word verses theirs, and you can guarantee that they will have a shed load of documentation about sales processes etc that the salesman has followed and 'proves' that they said no such thing...
Sorry, not doubting your word, but your Mum would not be classed as an independent witness and her supporting your version of events will not be worth a lot.

Good luck, but I wouldnt hold my breath

jobdone1

what crafty little beggers

neo1607

The manager just phoned me back and he says that he could 100% assure me that if at the time the sales assistant had went over and asked him like I said he did that he would have told the sales assistant I was not entitled to the lifetime warranty because NO preregistered car from that garage was ever sold with lifetime warranty.

Is this worth taking to the papers or would the garage sue me for slander? I definitely won't be buying a car from them ever again and I certainly won't be recommending them to my friends.

Obviously it's my word against theirs and they could afford big fancy lawyers and pull tons of technical terms and conditions about why im not entitled to it out of their !!!.

I actually feel royally screwed over

McKneff

The last 3 cars Ive bought have been pre registered and bought at around 3/6 months and the warranty has been passed automatically to me. And Ive actually had work done under the warranty. in my case they have only been 3 years mind.

Is the person who told yu this still working there, if so, what are they saying, if not, not a lot you can do i'm afraid.

Ring Trading standards, see what they say

Just out of curiosity, is there any warranty at all on the car. You shuld have some documentation for that at least.

DCFC79

Take to the papers for what purpose ?

Just suck it up and move on. You can try to keep costs down by doing some of the jobs yourself eg change wiper blades, top up screen wash.

Where do you get the mot and service done ?

Angry_Fanboy

Contact Vauxhall Customer Services and write letters to the higher ups at Vauxhall UK naming the salesman and explaining the situation.

Ask that they reinstate the warranty that you were promised as a gesture of goodwill even though you may not have qualified for it. Explain that this was a major factor in you choosing to buy the vehicle originally and you were assured by the sales staff that it would be honoured.

Worth a try I suppose.

neo1607

DCFC79 wrote: »

Take to the papers for what purpose ?

Just suck it up and move on.

Take it to the papers just to let them know how i was screwed by the garage and to let people know to get something like this in writing so they don't have the same sort of problem that i am having now.


On another note I phoned the Lifetime Guarantee time at Vauxhall directly and they are going to phone and speak to the garage on my behalf because they say it's basically set up all the garage really needs to do is fill out a quick form to transfer the warranty over to me, which is what they seem to be refusing to do

*update* lifetime team tried calling the garage a couple of minutes after i just spoke to the manager and the receptionist has said they are all out for lunch now and won't be back for an hour, so either i caught them just in time or they are avoiding wanting to speak to the lifetime warranty team

Angry_Fanboy

DCFC79 wrote: »

Just suck it up and move on.

You could apply this to virtually any issue raised on the forum.

Not particularly helpful though.

DCFC79

neo1607 wrote: »

Take it to the papers just to let them know how i was screwed by the garage and to let people know to get something like this in writing so they don't have the same sort of problem that i am having now.


On another note I phoned the Lifetime Guarantee time at Vauxhall directly and they are going to phone and speak to the garage on my behalf because they say it's basically set up all the garage really needs to do is fill out a quick form to transfer the warranty over to me, which is what they seem to be refusing to do

You dont have any proof of what said though.

Reading what McKneff said no I dont know why they havent transfered it you.

DCFC79

Angry_Fanboy wrote: »

You could apply this to virtually any issue raised on the forum.

Not particularly helpful though.

Well I wasnt actually aware it was transferable, it was only after I saw what McKneff wrote that teh LG is apparently transferable to the new owner.