More on Second Hand Car Purchases..

parkview094

maninthestreet wrote: »

So how many times has the garage attempted to fix the car?
At some point you will need to formally reject the vehicle and ask for a refund.

This last instance is the 3rd/4th time back to have the problem fixed (Once it was 'looked at' but the problem had cleared so was booked in for a future date).

The garage's stance seems to be that they are taking all reasonable steps to identify and rectify the problem. Given this, they don't believe I have grounds to reject the vehicle. Are they wrong?

My concern is that we now seem to be in a trial-and-error period of testing various ideas.

parkview094

..My partner, quite understandably isn't willing to drive the vehicle and wants rid as soon as possible.

What seems to be an unfortunate catch-22, it seems as though as I'm aware of the history of this problem, if the garage won't refund, I'll have to eventually sell the vehicle as "spares/repair" or risk having a future purchaser coming back to me with a "not fit for purpose" should the problem reoccur?

visidigi

parkview094 wrote: »

This last instance is the 3rd/4th time back to have the problem fixed (Once it was 'looked at' but the problem had cleared so was booked in for a future date).

The garage's stance seems to be that they are taking all reasonable steps to identify and rectify the problem. Given this, they don't believe I have grounds to reject the vehicle. Are they wrong?

My concern is that we now seem to be in a trial-and-error period of testing various ideas.

That maybe their stance but the also have to do it within a reasonable period of time, something they haven't as yet achieved. The lba sets out a reasonable overall deadline for resolution which they can debate but would have to have a pretty good reason to do so.

The consumer is not a guinea pig, the garage can take all the time they want to fix it when they have refunded you.

artbaron

parkview094 wrote: »

What seems to be an unfortunate catch-22, it seems as though as I'm aware of the history of this problem, if the garage won't refund, I'll have to eventually sell the vehicle as "spares/repair" or risk having a future purchaser coming back to me with a "not fit for purpose" should the problem reoccur?

No you won't. As long as you describe the car accurately at the time of sale there's no possibility of come-back. Not that I'd advocate doing such a thing, but still.

Regarding the garage, it sounds to me like they suspect they know what's wrong with it but it's too expensive to fix under warranty, so they're fobbing you off with talk of a battery. A failing battery is highly unlikely to be the cause, especially since it's been replaced once already. Furthermore it only takes 10 minutes to replace the battery, not 10 weeks. In other words, theyare not complying with the terms of the warranty as they are not attempting to fix the car.

Agricolae

parkview094 wrote: »

..My partner, quite understandably isn't willing to drive the vehicle and wants rid as soon as possible.

What seems to be an unfortunate catch-22, it seems as though as I'm aware of the history of this problem, if the garage won't refund, I'll have to eventually sell the vehicle as "spares/repair" or risk having a future purchaser coming back to me with a "not fit for purpose" should the problem reoccur?

Don't sell it unless you really feel you have no option. It sounds like you have good grounds for a section 75 claim. Which CC company is it, because they really sound like they're fobbing you off if they've said you have to give the dealer six months to fix (or something similar).

You need to prove the following:
1) Payment, or part payment, was made on your credit card.
2) You were to benefit from the purchase (as it's a family car this will be easy).
3) The credit card payment went to the garage who sold you the car.
4) The car was defective at the point of sale.

It sounds like you can tick every one of those boxes, as it were. If the dealer won't play ball with a refund then go back to the CC company. Call them and write to them.

The car sounds like it's knackered and was probably knackered when you bought it. That is very likely a breach of contract. Seeing as you have been trying to get the dealer to fix the issue from pretty much day one then you also cannot be said to have "accepted" the car. This means you are still able to "reject" it.

By the way, if you make a successful claim to the CC company then they're probably going to have to drop by your house with a recovery truck to take the car away. I doubt they'll be too happy about that but it's a statutory right.

Oh, the CC company will probably start trying to get the money back off the dealer as well (depending on how much it is). Fun times.