How to get the promised repair rather than refund?

dizzybint

I recently bought a second hand car. I was aware that it had a fault at the time of purchase, however, it was agreed that this would be repaired at a later date and the dealer would be responsible for the cost. The dealer has now decided it is too expensive (as it hasn't been possible to source a suitable second hand part and so would need to be ordered new) and they want to renege on the deal. I am left with the option of either paying the difference in price myself or they have offered a full refund

It took me a long time to save for and find the right car and apart from this issue I am happy with the car so I would prefer to keep it but I am very upset about being expected to cover the difference. In addition to this I can't nail down how exactly how much the difference is going to be as the dealer is insisting I use their preferred garage and so the garage staff in turn won't give me a final price as I am not their direct customer. Needless to say I now don't trust a word either company tells me and so I think the best thing for me to do would be to go to a different garage all together but am I likely to be able to reclaim any money spent on dignosis and repair elsewhere?

Please help!

Foxy-Stoat_3

If the fault was present at the time of sale or within a reasonable time the fault became apparent then they have to repair it - read up of the Sale of Goods Act and go back to the dealer with the law.

Don't go to another garage and have it repaired though, take to the dealer you bought it from.

What is the car, age and mileage and what was the fault?

smashingyour...

Take their refund and find another car.

smashingyour...

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

If the fault was present at the time of sale or within a reasonable time the fault became apparent then they have to repair it -read up of the Sale of Goods Act and go back to the dealer with the law.

Don't go to another garage and have it repaired though, take to the dealer you bought it from.

What is the car, age and mileage and what was the fault?

Do they?

I don't see how that can be enforced if they have offered a refund.

Joe_Horner

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

If the fault was present at the time of sale or within a reasonable time the fault became apparent then they have to repair it - read up of the Sale of Goods Act and go back to the dealer with the law.

Don't go to another garage and have it repaired though, take to the dealer you bought it from.

What is the car, age and mileage and what was the fault?

Not quite true.

Section 48(B)(1) of SOGA does give the purchaser the general right to decide what remedy they want but section 48(B)(3) qualifies that by saying that they can't insist on a remedy that's "disproportionate" in respect of other remedies.

Disproportionate is defined as imposing unreasonable costs on the seller, taking varous factors into account. If, for instance, the difference between a good used part or a new part means that the seller would be making a loss overall on the sale, then the seller is (rightly) entitled to void the sale and refund (in full) rather than taking that loss.

Without knowing the car / price paid / part needed etc, it's impossible to say whether that's likely to be the situation in this case.

Joe_Horner

smashingyour... wrote: »

Do they?

I don't see how that can be enforced if they have offered a refund.

It can be enforced because SOGA specifically gived the buyer first choice of remedy. What the seller would prefer to do doesn't matter (but see above about unreasonable costs).

smashingyour...

Joe_Horner wrote: »

It can be enforced because SOGA specifically gived the buyer first choice of remedy. What the seller would prefer to do doesn't matter (but see above about unreasonable costs).

It would appear in this case the cost is disproportionate.

Be interesting to know the cost of the car and what part is defective.

dizzybint

Thanks all for your advice: I was aware of the basics of the SOGA but like one of the other posters thought that the offer of a refund would negate any action I took.

As requested the car details are Peugeot 307 2006 plate approx. 56K miles. I paid £3290 plus part x'd my old honda civic (2000 plate).

According to the garage the part that is required is a new heater matrix box. The dealer has told me this will be £600-£700 new NOT including labour. Peugot parts helpline said £160 approx but that labour costs would be higher as the whole dash needs to be taken out. This disparity is one of the reasons I doubt the credibility and think another opinion would be reassuring.

Thanks very much for your help so far, the weeks of being messed around and the attitude of the dealer have started to get pretty stressful so the confidence boost is appreciated. If the above details put a different slant on anything please let me know as I'm being pressured into making a decision soon.

Joe_Horner

smashingyour... wrote: »

It would appear in this case the cost is disproportionate.

Be interesting to know the cost of the car and what part is defective.

It quite possibly is in this case, but the seller needs to justify that with actual parts costs. Just saying "it'll cost too much with new parts" without telling the buyer what the costs would be isn't acceptable because it'd give a huge loop-hole for all dealers to ignore the buyer's right to decide!

colino

Get your money back while you can, he'll have found out his usual grease monkey can't do it an hour for £25 and with a real price to hand, it is too much of a percentage of its worth to bother repairing at full rates.

smashingyour...

Given we are taking about French electrics and the dash coming out, get your money back today.