Vauxhall cancel order for new van after four month wait - any comeback?

pinkteapot

I suspect the answer is 'no', but worth a try...

My brother's a tradesman and ordered a new van from a main Vauxhall dealer in February. He was told 8-10 weeks for delivery. They were doing really cheap deals as an old model was being phased out.

Few months on... No van and a couple of weeks ago he was told delivery would be July.

About three weeks ago, his old van packed up and was uneconomical to repair. He was forced to sell it for scrap and get a rental van, which he still has.

Today he's been told that Vauxhall are cancelling his order. They've apparently only now realised that they can't manufacture the old and new models of this van at the same time.

He's been shelling out £150 a week for a rental van for a few weeks now. He's rung around dealers and ordering another new van isn't an option (from any make) as all are much more expensive than he negotiated this one for.

He's keeping an eye on second hand vans, but ones that haven't been beaten up don't come up often.

Does he have any comeback at all on Vauxhall for the costs he's incurring? They took his order, kept him hanging on far longer than they originally said and have now let him down.

As I said, I suspect the answer is 'no' but I thought it was worth asking. Gutted for him. :mad:

bod1467

What do the T&Cs of the contract say?

Did he order as a consumer or as a business? (Most van purchases are likely governed by business T&Cs).

pinkteapot

Thanks - I haven't seen it so I'd have to take a look. He's a sole trader so may have just done it in his name.

Sorry - guess my question was impossible to answer without any contract wording. I'll come back if I get more detail.

neilmcl

Can he not have had the order changed to the "new" model instead?

unholyangel

[STRIKE]Even if your brother is a consumer, he definitely wont be able to claim van rental until the delivery date had actually passed (as he wouldve been paying for rental until that time had the contract been completed correctly)[/STRIKE], he may even have trouble claiming the rental after that period as it may not be deemed a direct cost reasonably incurred (due to being a business expense incurred in a consumer contract that may also be considered too remote).

Then if it is deemed a direct cost reasonably incurred , your brother has a statutory duty to mitigate his losses - that means he would be expected to make reasonable efforts to find another van[STRIKE] in time for the same date/[/STRIKE]as soon as possible after that date.

Sorry just read the part about first being told it was 8-10 weeks delivery. That'll teach me to skim read. What does the contract state about delivery date?

bris

It's a B2B contract so the terms of sale are crucial as to determine his rights.

He need to check the terms to see if they can cancel at the notice given.

If it was a consumer contract (which this definitely this is not by the way so don't get your hopes up) then he would have had a case for lose of bargain, but sadly probably not the case here if they cover the cancellation in their T&C's.

BlueC

There are thousands of excellent "not beaten up" second hand vans around. What's the real reason he doesn't want a second hand one?

Spank

neilmcl wrote: »

Can he not have had the order changed to the "new" model instead?

Probably not for the deal he got.

Zandoni

I'd certainly contact Vauxhall's Head Office and let them know what happened, they may give some sort of goodwill gesture.