Car on hp rejected but now a bombshell!!!

sdoherty1000

In December 2013 I bought a used Zafira from the crooks at Evans Halshaws only for it to develop faults almost straight away. In January I booked the car in for the faults to be rectified and the car was returned with no work carried out. I was told to contact the garage I bought it from and the repairs would be done there. They had the car for 16 days and returned it untouched! After much messing about an independent assessor was called in to see the faults in May! At that point we approached the financial ombudsman to see what they could do. Fast forward to January 2015 we were told the f.o.s had recommended we reject the car as it was not fit for purpose at the point of sale. Great, after exchanging several emails making sure the remaining finance would be settled I find out today (the car was returned to the finance company this morning) that the car will be held for 7 days in a compound and then sent to auction, and we are liable for the remainder of the finance!!! The car has £5,600 outstanding on the finance and has been off road for 3 weeks due to an engine fault. If it goes to auction in the current state it will be lucky to fetch £1000. There must be a something I can do as I will not pay for a car that I don't own and that was deemed unsuitable for sale.

Please someone in the know help as I am stressing out massively

bod1467

This sounds like it should be a Section 75 claim against the finance provider. Unfortunately I have no experience to advise further ... given the values it might be pertinent to engage a solicitor (free 30 minute initial consultation? Legal cover on motor or home insurance) to advise you.

sdoherty1000

Thanks I will look into it. We have already had to shell out nearly £3000 in the 13 months we have owned the car and I will not pay another penny!

Time to go to the courts I think.

paddyrg

Just to reassure you, this is exactly the kind of thing the small claims courts are for. You can initiate the action online - everything has to be boiled down to actual cash value losses, so think about how you're out of pocket (did you hire another, similar car whilst yours was being 'mended'?, did you catch a bus?). Be accurate and complete, but don't try to pad the claim with 'stress' etc.

sdoherty1000

Heard back from the financial ombudsman this afternoon and he has reassured me that due to me (and them) rejecting the car on the grounds it was unfit for sale the remaining finance would be settled by the finance company and not by me.
As I was using the car for work I did 15,000 miles in the time I owned it so the ombudsman said I had "good use of it" and therefore I was unable to claim back the payments I had made over the course of ownership which I fully understand. I just wish it had been sorted out in a decent time frame so I didn't lose out so much.
The f.o.s is ringing Tuesday after he has spoken with the finance company to confirm this is what is happening

arcon5

You had the car 1 year 1 month and covered 15k miles......

i'm confused, how bad can it really be then? what are the faults?
what the time line for all this is and whoes had the car?

sdoherty1000

Apart from the 16 days they had the car and a few days here and there the car has been in my possession. The faults were, 4 doors misaligned, bumper needed really mounting, steam in headlights, 20mpg and 27mpg (motorways) horn didn't work, boot struts had failed but the main faults were clutch and gearbox. The clutch would make the car bounce in 1st gear and the gearbox was a wrestle between gears. Due to my job I was travelling a total of 400 a week, sometimes less, but mostly motorway driving. As for the time line, bought it in Dec 2013, was told the car had been stood still for 2 months so may need to "soften up" in January I reported the faults, 4th week of January the car was taken to the local Evans garage where I was told the car would need to be returned to the garage I bought it, paid £20 for a driver of Evans to take the car back to its origin where they had it for 16 days. Upon its return the car was the same, reported it to the garage who then said as a gesture of good will they would replace the car with the same make and model. I waited until the end of April(rejected a few cars due to difference in spec, colour etc) when I got the assessor from the finance company who noted the faults listed. All original staff from the original garage were "no longer with the company" so the case was reopened, false promises etc which later lead to the f.o.s involved which brings us to a few weeks ago when they decided enough was enough and rejected the car.

Sorry for the long post!

NotRichAtAll

am confused that when you initially purchased the car you did not notice the following faults, the four things below do not "just" happen overnight

4 misaligned doors?
the bumper loose/hanging off?
steam in headlights?
and failed boot struts?

i know when i have gone to look at cars i am in and out all of the doors, i am in the boot so would of noticed the struts did you not spot anything?

chickendipperbabe

Looks to me like your finance company is treating this as a voluntary surrender and not a rejection.

Hmmmm, I just don't see how you can reject a car as not fit for purpose after owning it for over a year and driving 15,000 miles. A few weeks and a few hundred miles I can understand.

The issues you describe would be blatantly obvious when you initially purchased the car. Referring to Evans Halshaw as crooks is a bit strong, form what you say they have acted reasonable and offered you a replacement vehicle. If I were you I would have compromised on the colour or a slight difference in spec and bitten their hand off. Hindsight is such a wonderful thing.

sdoherty1000

The boot struts failed 3 months into owning the car, the headlights would only cloud up on cold mornings, the misaligned doors were just stiff to open and as for the bumper, it just needed a gentle touch with a hammer to reshape.

As for the other poster, if you re-read my posts you would see the amount of hassle I have had to contend with to get to the point I am at today. Secondly all my cars have been silver so when I am offered a black one with a lower spec with 3 years remaining on my finance, why should I accept it? I would resent paying for a car I didn't like. In hindsight, had I realised it was going to take 13/14 months to rectify, I may of considered it although, when the new staff took over, the replacement vehicle was taken off the table after months of negotiations.

As for calling them crooks, from the experience I have had with them. ..I am being kind!

xHannahx

Sounds like the car had a significant accident prior to your purchase.

I don't see how you can possibly be able to reject it after so many miles though,