Help - Was I Mis-sold my Car?

Goonie

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

If I bought a car, I would know it is unsuitable within a week or two. Just like I did when I bought a brand new Mazda 323 and within three months traded it in for a Volvo V70. It wasn't the dealer's fault I bought a car which was too small for me, but there again maybe he should have asked me if I wanted a small car rather than a large one. Did he mis-sell the Mazda to me? I think not.

To complain that a car is unsuitable after nine months is stretching incredulity to it's maximum limits and beyond.

Let's be honest. You've just decided you don't want the car any more and are looking for a way out without it costing you. You made the choice of car, nobody else, and you will either have to live with it or sell it and buy another.

Again, a totally ridiculous comparison and you aren't comparing like for like. You chose a car that was too small for you, I'm saying the salesman has a duty of car to ensure you are buying the right car for you. If he knows that a diesel car can encounter problems if not used for long distances then surely that information should be passed on to potential customers?


The term 'What is a DPF' is googled almost 50,000 times a month so it is clear this information is being withheld and I am not the only one to suffer as a result.


And no, I haven't decided I don't want the car with a way out without it costing me. Other than this problem I love the car but this problem is going to keep happening and is therefore of no use. I want the car replaced or out of the agreement, as I said earlier in the thread.

poppasmurf_bewdley

Goonie wrote: »

Again, a totally ridiculous comparison and you aren't comparing like for like. You chose a car that was too small for you, I'm saying the salesman has a duty of car to ensure you are buying the right car for you. If he knows that a diesel car can encounter problems if not used for long distances then surely that information should be passed on to potential customers?

You say my comparison is totally ridiculous, and then go on to say "the salesman has a duty of car to ensure you are buying the right car for you", which means the salesman should have asked me if the car was big enough for me!!! From what you say, the salesman should also ensure car buyers don't buy a car that:

1) Is too wide for their garage,
2) Is the wrong colour for the wife/husband
3) Is eligible for free entry into the London Congestion Charge Zone.
4) Is big enough for you.
5) Or thousands of other items that have to be considered.

Would a car buyer who goes into a showroom intending to buy an estate and comes out with a convertible sports car have a complaint against the salesman for mis-selling? Again, I think not.

You yourself, as the car buyer, should have satisfied yourself that the car you bought was suitable for what you wanted. Yes, there are thousands of Googled pages on DPF's. Why didn't you read some of them before you bought the car? Did you read any of the forums dedicated to Vauxhalls? There are plenty of references to DPF's on there.

The salesman didn't mis-sell to you. YOU mis-bought. Live with your decision.

I am confident you will get no-where with your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, and you don't deserve to. But please, let us know how you get on.

force_ten

Goonie wrote: »

Great analogy. Comparing a £1 loaf of bread made up of a handful of ingredients to a £10,000+ vehicle made up of thousands of intricate components? And I think I would know if I had an allergy but can't be expected to know everything about a car.


Try again if you like, see if you can come up with something a little better and maybe funnier.

it wasnt meant to be funny it was meant to point out that when you choose an item that you are going to purchase you shouldn't expect the sales person to question is that the correct car for your style of driving

if you went into a dealership and said i need a car that is suitable for short trips backwards and forwards to work trips around town and the odd long trip for holidays, and the dealer sold you a diesel car with a DPF then you would have a claim that the car was miss-sold

if you picked the car that you purchased then it was not miss-sold

ACG

Urmston to Stockport in the fast lane - is that not enough to clear the filters? Thats a good 5-10 minute drive at 60-70 mph isnt it?

I do the reverse journey once a week and was under the impression that would be enough to clear the pipes so to speak - I have a diesel on order.

I cant really help as I know less about cars than a 5 year old girl but its given me food for thought.

force_ten

Goonie wrote: »

Again, a totally ridiculous comparison and you aren't comparing like for like. You chose a car that was too small for you, I'm saying the salesman has a duty of car to ensure you are buying the right car for you. If he knows that a diesel car can encounter problems if not used for long distances then surely that information should be passed on to potential customers?


The term 'What is a DPF' is googled almost 50,000 times a month so it is clear this information is being withheld and I am not the only one to suffer as a result.


And no, I haven't decided I don't want the car with a way out without it costing me. Other than this problem I love the car but this problem is going to keep happening and is therefore of no use. I want the car replaced or out of the agreement, as I said earlier in the thread.

you are saying that the salesman has a duty of care to ensure that the car you are buying is correct for your needs, but did you ask at any point "is this deisel car suitable for my style of driving"

i would suggest the answer to that question will be no

so there is fault on your part that you dont want to accept and want to place all the blame squarely on the selling dealer

sorry if the replies you are getting are not what you want to hear but it is not the selling dealers fault that you choose the wrong car for your needs

force_ten

Goonie wrote: »

And no, I haven't decided I don't want the car with a way out without it costing me. Other than this problem I love the car but this problem is going to keep happening and is therefore of no use. I want the car replaced or out of the agreement, as I said earlier in the thread.

that is not true either

now you are aware that the car you have bought is fitted with a diesel particle filter you can adjust your driving style to make sure that you meet the criteria for diesel particle filter regeneration

Joe_Horner

Straight answer to the straight question in your title:

No, you weren't mis-sold your car. A salesman has no "duty of care" as you describe it, but he does have a legal obligation to be honest about anything he's asked.

So, had you told him what your driving routine was, he would have been required to advise you that it might cause DPF problems just as he would have been required to advise you that the 7 foot wide car you're looking at won't fit in your 6 foot wide garage (as suggested above) , or that the manual car you're considering isn't suitable for your autmatic licence if you mentioned to him that you had a 6 foot wide garage and an auto licence.

But he has absolutely no obligation to interrogate you to discover possible problems, or to refuse an unsuitable purchase if he advised against it but you decided to buy anyway, which is what a "duty of care" would involve.

Nodding_Donkey

Goonie wrote: »

Financial Ombudsman

Um, what has the financial ombudsman got to do with you buying the wrong car?

Ectophile

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

Um, what has the financial ombudsman got to do with you buying the wrong car?

Presumably the OP was contemplating making a claim against the finance company under Section 75, as they are jointly and severally liable if that car is not fit for purpose.

Goonie

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

From what you say, the salesman should also ensure car buyers don't buy a car that:

1) Is too wide for their garage,
2) Is the wrong colour for the wife/husband
3) Is eligible for free entry into the London Congestion Charge Zone.
4) Is big enough for you.
5) Or thousands of other items that have to be considered.

Would a car buyer who goes into a showroom intending to buy an estate and comes out with a convertible sports car have a complaint against the salesman for mis-selling? Again, I think not.

Now you're talking even more nonsense just to try and win and argument.

1) If the car is too wide you can park it on the street, it has no effect on the running or performance of the vehicle
2) Car colour would not be detrimental to the engine. If yellow cars were known to have problems with the exhaust then yes I think this is something you should be told of if buying a yellow car
3) I don't live in London so wouldn't know anything about that
4) It not being big enough again will not affect the performance of the vehicle or cause technical faults
5) Thousands of other stupid argumentative points you mean?

How is someone going to buy one type of product and coming away with something completely different anywhere near the same?

Queue lots of other incomparable nonsense...

Yes, there are thousands of Googled pages on DPF's. Why didn't you read some of them before you bought the car? Did you read any of the forums dedicated to Vauxhalls? There are plenty of references to DPF's on there.

Why didn't I read about DPF's? Because I didn't know about them, sorry I thought I'd made that clear