Faulty Used Car - What are my rights?

robrob92

Hi everyone,

Hopefully someone can give me some advice. I have ended up in a somewhat stressful situation having bought a used car from an independent dealer 2 months ago. In short, I picked up the car on a Thursday, drove it for the weekend and it broke down on the following Tuesday with a totally dead battery. The car was fixed by a main Volvo garage (new battery and labour ended up costing me £195.12, I'll explain below why it went there and not to the dealer that sold me the car) and I've asked the used car dealer to refund that. He has refused point blank to refund me and got very angry with me on the phone when I suggested to him that, in my opinion, the onus should be on him to do so. He replied saying that I should send him in writing the details of what I want him to refund and why and that he would send that on to his lawyers. I have begun to do that but would like some advice since I'm not legally trained so don't want to write something that might end up jeopardising being able to get my money back.

In more detail, when I discovered that the car wasn't working I called the dealer immediately and was advised to call the manufacturer's helpline to get it picked up and fixed under that service (the car was under three years old and under its warranty when I bought it). This was done (the service worked very well in terms of getting the car towed to the local Volvo garage and fixed as well as getting a courtesy car while it was in the garage, all credit to Volvo there) but the garage's evaluation was that the battery fault was due to a oil having been previously spilt onto the alternator so not covered by the warranty. Again, I can give more detail as to why this meant the battery needed to be replaced but the consequence was that they cleaned and fixed the alternator, replaced the battery and charged the £195. Also, they explained that the spilled oil was likely to have happened when the oil filter was changed as the parts lie close together in the engine compartment.

When I was told this by the garage I again contacted the dealer to explain what was happening. Once more he was adamant that the fault should be covered under the warranty and if not, since the oil was probably split by the technician during the car's previous service (at a Volvo garage too, just a different one), the garage that last serviced the car should be liable to repair the battery fault. I followed his advice again and complained to both of the garages and to Volvo directly. They all reviewed the case but came to the same conclusion; namely, they will not take responsibility for the repair cost; it has taken until now to get that final verdict and I have certainly pushed to get one of that lot to take responsibility. Volvo will not cover the repair under warranty since it was not a manufacturing fault, the garage that last serviced the car explained that the last service was close to 9 months ago so they cannot take responsibility for a fault which might or might not have been caused by them and, clearly, the garage that repaired the car are not at fault.

I have researched my rights as a consumer and my reading of the laws is that the dealer that sold me the car should bear responsibility. E.g the Trading Standards on used cars says:

The law
When you buy a used vehicle from a trader you are making a legally binding contract. You have legal rights against the trader under the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
The vehicle should be:
- Of a satisfactory quality - free from minor defects, safe and durable for a reasonable length of time. When assessing satisfactory quality you should take into account the price you paid for the vehicle, its age, mileage and condition at the time of sale.


I bought a car which was just under three years old, had a normal mileage for that age of car (~40k) and was sold "in excellent condition" as described by the dealer. It broke down within 5 days and I followed the dealer's advice as best as I could in trying to remedy the fault. I have now been charged £195 for the fault and I would argue that it is the dealer's responsibility to reimburse me for that.

My questions really are: is that a reasonable argument, what could the dealer argue against me and is there a best practice of how to word a letter to the dealer and what exactly to say?

Any advice would be much appreciated. Also, if anyone is interested the dealer is West Kent Motors in Biggin Hill - can't say I would recommend them at the moment.

Thanks,


Rob

dannyrst

The dealer who sold you the car needs to cover the costs. The fault isn't something you reasonably should have noticed at the time of buying the car (i.e. it worked so no test drive would have picked it up and the dealer hasn't told you about it).

I had a similar issue with a misfire that appeared on the same day as I bought a car. Took it back and it was fixed within a couple of days free of charge.

Do you have any written/email confirmation of the seller telling you to take it to the manufacturer for repair? It may be that he tries to say you took it there without instruction from them and therefore you are liable for the bill?

robrob92

thanks @dannyrst - that's reassuring. I'm nervous as I've had my fingers burnt once too many times in disputes that end up with legal stuff. I used to trust people and expect them to behave reasonably.

I don't have a written record of that unfortunately but now that you've mentioned it I realised that I have a full mobile phone log of the calls from that day so it should be easy enough to show that I called the dealer first and only then did I call the warranty assistance number.

motorguy

robrob92 wrote: »

I have now been charged £195 for the fault and I would argue that it is the dealer's responsibility to reimburse me for that.

Rob

I would agree with you that its the dealers responsibility to pay this.

Fault would be deemed to have been there at the time of sale.

If he doesnt play ball, go down the small claims route.

Norman_Castle

You may get better advice here. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=173

chrisw

I agree that the dealer should pay. However, for that small cost in comparison to the cost of the vehicle, if the dealer won't play ball I think I would just suck it up and move on rather than dragging it out for ages and getting stressed about it.

jaydeeuk1

chrisw wrote: »

I agree that the dealer should pay. However, for that small cost in comparison to the cost of the vehicle, if the dealer won't play ball I think I would just suck it up and move on rather than dragging it out for ages and getting stressed about it.

That's exactly what the dealer will hope you'll do.

harryfrombarry_2

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

That's exactly what the dealer will hope you'll do.

Thats exactly what most reasonable people WOULD do.

Its a couple of hundred quid for goodness sake. Ask the dealer, if he plays ball great, if not then slate him to your mates and move on.

Generali

TBH, for that sort of money I'd ring him up call him a !!!!ing !!!! and then write up a Google review of your experience. As nobody has written a review of this garage as yet yours will be the only one anyone will see if they Google him. That should cost him a lot more than two hundred quid!

Retrogamer

I always thought oil on an alternator would just stop it working and cause the battery to discharge.

Clean the alternator and re-charge the battery and all would normally be good.

What damage would oil on an alternator do to a battery?

AdrianC

Retrogamer wrote: »

What damage would oil on an alternator do to a battery?

Batteries really, really don't like being discharged heavily.