Dealer Problems Legal/S75 Advice Please

mfgallagher

This is also on Credit Card board so sorry if you've seen it twice but advised to place it on motoring board too.

Can anyone help with some legal advice/ possible section 75 claim please. Apologies in advance this is a bit of a ramble , but I just don't know where I stand.

I did a bit of a a stupid thing last weekend, I basically put down a deposit of £500 (on credit card) on a car from a main dealer for a 2012 plate fiat 500 lounge, under 14000 on the clock it had a few chips on the body work and a large chip on the dashboard, they said they'd replace the dash board, swap it over with another one and sort out the chips on the body work. At the time I asked if it was just one previous owner and if it had full service history, to which the reply was yes. So with all the excitement of purchasing a car etc I didn't ask to look at any of the paperwork i.e. V5C or service history (how dumb am I !!). I did start to worry about it a bit on the Sunday evening but reassured myself by telling myself it was a large dealership and not a back street car sales person, and I was being a worry wart I'd just ask them to email me the V5C form in the morning so I could do all the necessary checks on it, being the cautious person I am I'm bound to do all the checks going. Any way when I rang on the Monday I was told it had to be sent to the Post Office to obtain the tax, they had agreed to tax it for me, so I asked them to copy it before they sent it off, they then replied that it had already gone off to the DVLA to register me as the keeper and it would be returned to my address in my name (bearing in mind I hadn't paid for the car in full) This didn't seem right to me I was sure I'd have to sign some part of the V5C before it was sent off, so over this weekend I did a bit of research and found out that yes, there is a section on the form for me to sign before it is sent of. So they rang me yesterday before I had a chance to ring them to tell me that the car was ready and when would I be collecting it, so I told them what I had found out - that I needed to sign the V5C before it was sent to the DVLA and I wouldn't be happy if I had to make a return journey at a later date to do this as its some 30 odd miles away, they said the'yd look into it and get back within 15 minutes they rang back and said it had all been a misunderstanding about where the V5C was and they had it all the time and it was being emailed to me by admin. When the V5C turned up in my email it turns out that Avis rental cars was the previous owner.

I was not happy about this as I hadn't been informed by them at the time of sale that it was ex rental, I think that they should have told me as that information would have had an impact on my decision making, plus I feel that they witheld the V5C so I wouldn't know it was ex rental. I had a sleepless night deciding if I should go ahead with the purchase and thought if everything had been checked at the service then ex rental may not be a problem so I asked for the full service history to be emailed to me today and all I got was a copy of the service stamp at the back of owners manual, no work check list or anything. By this time I was just so annoyed with them I emailed them saying that I was no longer confident in going ahead with the purchase of the car and wanted my deposit back.
A A couple of hours later I got a phone call from the business manager basically saying they hadn't mislead me and how could they make things better, to which I replied by giving me my deposit back as I've lost all trust now. You've guessed it they won't give me my deposit back.

I know I was stupid I'm kicking myself over it and will do for a while! This has put me off trying to buy a car big time. Does anybody know where I stand legally in obtaining my deposit or even if I can make a Section 75 claim on my husbands credit card

Thanks for reading my ramble any advice appreciated.

nobbysn*ts

Avis doesn't always mean daily rental, with only 14000 miles it could well be a single lease type rental, to just one driver. A check on the service history to confirm it still has any remaining manufactures warranty is worth doing, but a stamp in the book can be pretty much all you'll get anyway. It may only have needed one service in such a short time/mileage. The garage have done work, repairing the chips, swopping the dash, so if they want to withhold part of the deposit to cover their costs, they may well be entitled to some, probably a large part of it. Did the car drive well?

bod1467

They are only able to retain provable losses from the deposit. It is arguable whether the work (dash and chips) would be covered as it is likely that ANY prospective purchaser would request the same actions. And the seller has a duty to mitigate the impact of any such losses.

(And I'm an eternal sceptic so I have doubts as to what, if any, of the work has actually been completed).

mfgallagher

nobbysn*ts wrote: »

Avis doesn't always mean daily rental, with only 14000 miles it could well be a single lease type rental, to just one driver. A check on the service history to confirm it still has any remaining manufactures warranty is worth doing, but a stamp in the book can be pretty much all you'll get anyway. It may only have needed one service in such a short time/mileage. The garage have done work, repairing the chips, swopping the dash, so if they want to withhold part of the deposit to cover their costs, they may well be entitled to some, probably a large part of it. Did the car drive well?

I didn't drive the car - I know stupid and naïve I was buying from a dealership wouldn't expect the car not to drive well.

My dispute is that when I asked to see the log book I was lied to twice, the log book had been there all the time. So this leads me to believe that they tried to withhold the information because they know that an ex rental car is likely to have less appeal when selling on so would probably take longer to get rid off and a lower price. I'm more angry that they didn't tell me at the off or set as that would have given me the information to make an informed decision about the car.. Had they emailed me the log book when I asked for it the first time I may be driving my new car now, coz I know after research that ex rental cars aren't necessarily bad. I lost trust in them, there where also other minor issues, that individually wouldn't have been a problem possibly but together it just leads me to believe that this dealership should be avoided.

Incidentally they didn't do everything they said they'd do, they didn't change the dashboard, I was informed that they filled it in, they said you couldn't notice it now but I can't comment on that because I didn't see the car after the work was complete.

colino

If this is genuine (!) then the dealer has to refund you in full. He knows under Consumer protection from unfair trading regulations 2008, that he can't mislead your buying decision by omission (Avis was the previous owner). Tell him straight and if there is any hesitation, call your CC company and inform them and get your money back through section 75. No trader in Europe is big or daft enough to argue with a worldwide CC company on such an obvious breach of law.

harveybobbles

It always annoys me how main dealers keep the V5's "locked away upstairs.." - I asked one dealer (Polar Ford) to "trot upstairs to get it..".

They siad they couldn't... so we said we couldnt remember our PIN when it came to paying a deposot and left.

nobbysn*ts

colino wrote: »

If this is genuine (!) then the dealer has to refund you in full. He knows under Consumer protection from unfair trading regulations 2008, that he can't mislead your buying decision by omission (Avis was the previous owner). Tell him straight and if there is any hesitation, call your CC company and inform them and get your money back through section 75. No trader in Europe is big or daft enough to argue with a worldwide CC company on such an obvious breach of law.

Yes, this is the one to go for. It's a slam dunk. And as they lied over the rectification work, go for it.