URGENT HELP! - Recent Used Car Purchase

brooky148

Hi All,

I need some urgent advice on a recent car purchase! Details below...

Okay, so I bought a used car from a garage in leeds on Monday 11th Nov. All seemed well and I was happy with the car. Drove the car home and everything was ok. The day after I encountered a problem with the automatic gearbox. I took the car to a local auto-transmissions specialist and got the car diagnosed. It turned out to be an electrical sensor on the gearbox. They quoted me just short of £700 for a repair. Me knowing the car was under warranty for 3 month which was given free with the purchase. I rang the warranty company to explain the problem and in the end they said the part needed wasn't covered and they could not help.

So I decided to call the garage where I got the car from and explain that the car has a problem and goes into limp mode and that I have had it diagnosed and the problem is XYZ. They said to bring the car in ASAP so they can have a look at it. I returned the car on Friday 15th Nov. I was given a loan car to use while they had the car. I called them up on the Monday asking if there was any update and they basically said that they cant fix it so they were going to send it off to a specialist and was told not to worry it will get sorted.

So yesterday the car was booked in at a land rover specialist and they have confirmed the problem and have told the garage it can be fixed for just over £600 for a genuine part, with 12month warranty. Obviously the warranty will not cover it so I expect that the garage i got the car from are to cover the repair costs...Wrong. The garage rang me back and said that they are not willing to pay the £600 bill unless I pay £250 towards it. At this point I declined as I don't see why I have to pay for anything as this problem arised a day after I bought it. So the chap on the phone must of spoken to his boss and lowered the price to pay to £200. I still didn't want to pay this so they told me the other option was that they could fix the car for free but they would source the needed part from a local car breakers and advised this could take a week or two. I then said that I didn't want a second hand part as this could easily go faulty again within a week or a month or whenever and that I wanted a brand new part fitted that has a warranty. Obviously I want my car back asap so I am in a bit of a predicament. So again I said i wanted the brand new part fitting but I wasn't going to cover the costs. I was told that I dont have to pay a thing but it will be a second hand part fitted which is standard procedure that this particular garage does with all used cars. Any used cars they have that need repairing are done with used parts... I find this very strange and so do others that I have asked.

So in the end to get the problem resolved as quickly as possible I said that I will have to try and source the £200 and pay it. So they rang the land rover specialist to go ahead with the repair. So now the car is getting repaired and will be ready on Monday 25th Nov to collect and I expected to pay the £200.

Now my question is where do I stand in regards to this £200? I do not see why I should have to pay any money at all for the car repair and that the garage should stand the costs if it be a new part or a used part. I have briefly looked into trading standards and consumer rights with buying a car from a garage and they should offer repair FOC within the first 6month. Now I had the car only 1 day so it's obvious to me that the car was sold in this condition.

Can anyone please give me any advice in the meantime as I really need to know where I stand. I will be phoning trading standards, Citizens advice etc Monday morning before I go collect my car to ask for some legal advice and my rights. I don't want all hell to break loose if I turn up for my car and simply refused to pay the money and drive off!

Please help!!!

Ultrasonic

That was a bit of an essay!

...So in the end to get the problem resolved as quickly as possible I said that I will have to try and source the £200 and pay it. So they rang the land rover specialist to go ahead with the repair. So now the car is getting repaired and will be ready on Monday 25th Nov to collect and I expected to pay the £200.

Now my question is where do I stand in regards to this £200?

If I'm reading that correctly, you agreed to pay the garage £200, and they have gone ahead to do work on this basis? In which case surely where you stand is that you owe the garage £200.

Agreeing to pay the £200 was a mistake if you weren't happy to do so, but you did it.

brooky148

I only said I would pay the £200 to quickly resolve the problem quickly I cant not have the car for a further 1-2 week plus as I need it back asap. Only after when I spoke to some friends am I told that I shouldnt have to pay a penny. Taking into account the whole situation and time that the car became faulty, the garage should stand the costs of fitting a new part. Fitting a used part shouldn't be an option. Paying 7k for a car (with no bartering on lowering the price as they wouldnt knock even a tenner off) and a £99 admin fee for simply buying the car (not finance), i feel as though they are just trying to screw another £200 out of me. Been a young male and not very upto speed on the whole car buying process I think they are trying to do me out of any money they can!

Scrootum

You agreed to the £200.00.
Now honour the agreement.

john_white

brooky148 wrote: »

I only said I would pay the £200 to quickly resolve the problem quickly I cant not have the car for a further 1-2 week plus as I need it back asap. Only after when I spoke to some friends am I told that I shouldnt have to pay a penny. Taking into account the whole situation and time that the car became faulty, the garage should stand the costs of fitting a new part. Fitting a used part shouldn't be an option. Paying 7k for a car (with no bartering on lowering the price as they wouldnt knock even a tenner off) and a £99 admin fee for simply buying the car (not finance), i feel as though they are just trying to screw another £200 out of me. Been a young male and not very upto speed on the whole car buying process I think they are trying to do me out of any money they can!

You don't have to pay anything though, you want a new part in a used car. The £200 is presumably the difference in the cost of new/used parts?

You don't state the age of the car but if the fault was not there the part would still be x years old, so replacing it with another x year old part puts it back to the condition you thought you were buying I.e. a x year old car with x year old (working) parts.

gilbert_and_sullivan

If they'd taken it back in, fixed it and returned it you'd be none the wiser it had a used part.

Your choice to have the new part, you agreed to pay the £200 so i think you have no choice but to honour your agreement, its not as if they welched on fixing the thing.

Your choice equally to buy the car in the first place, both price and admin fee, a used LandRover wasn't ever going to be a paragon of reliability/durability.

brooky148

But they were told what the problem was a week ago and it taken them a week to come up with a solution. I have had nothing but trouble since day 1! If anything they should be honuring the repair, taking into account the problem arised less than 24hour after i drove it away. The car has obviously been sold in this condition making the vehicle not fit for purpose. Who knows if they did fit a used part it would break again the day after? You dont take you car to a garage for a new exhaust, tyres and brakes and have all used parts fitted do you?

I'm not saying I have the strongest of knowledge on cars and car repairs but I would expect a new part to be fitted at thier cost as the free but totally useless warranty they gave me doesnt cover the repair!

brooky148

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

If they'd taken it back in, fixed it and returned it you'd be none the wiser it had a used part

Until i see a copy of the invoice/bill/details of work carried out from the Land Rover Specialist I am none of the wiser no. For all I know it could of cost them £200 and not £630 in which case i'm technically paying for it in full!

gilbert_and_sullivan

brooky148 wrote: »

Until i see a copy of the invoice/bill/details of work carried out from the Land Rover Specialist I am none of the wiser no. For all I know it could of cost them £200 and not £630 in which case i'm technically paying for it in full!

Thats what i meant, if they'd simply taken it in and fixed it you would have no idea it had a used part and you'd be paying nothing.

Ultrasonic

brooky148 wrote: »

If anything they should be honuring the repair, taking into account the problem arised less than 24hour after i drove it away. The car has obviously been sold in this condition making the vehicle not fit for purpose....

As you say the vehicle as sold was not fit for purpose, at which point the garage that sold it to you need to be given the oportunity to rectify the problem or give you a full refund. They would have rectified the problem for you for no cost which would have met this requirement. As above, if they'd fixed the vehicle with a used part before you bought it you'd have been none the wiser.

Pay the £200 and move on. You had other options before you agreed to pay this but I don't see how you do now. From your description it sounds like the garage are behaving honourably and are not 'taking advantage' of you.

The only minor question I have relates to the terms of the warranty. You say the fault was with an electrical sensor on the automatic gearbox? I'm surprised this fault wouldn't be covered. Have you read the terms of the warranty for yourself?

Scrootum

Ultrasonic wrote: »

As you say the vehicle as sold was not fit for purpose, at which point the garage that sold it to you need to be given the oportunity to rectify the problem or give you a full refund. They would have rectified the problem for you for no cost which would have met this requirement. As above, if they'd fixed the vehicle with a used part before you bought it you'd have been none the wiser.

Pay the £200 and move on. You had other options before you agreed to pay this but I don't see how you do now. From your description it sounds like the garage are behaving honourably and are not 'taking advantage' of you.

The only minor question I have relates to the terms of the warranty. You say the fault was with an electrical sensor on the automatic gearbox? I'm surprised this fault wouldn't be covered. Have you read the terms of the warranty for yourself?

Most extended warranties exclude electrics.