small claims court – Court date set for claiming repair costs from car dealer

ukwonderwoman

It's not the n47 engine - I called BMW to make sure that this wasn't a common fault on my car and they said my car isn't known for this fault unfortunately... it's a petrol.

Yes I have a letter in which I gave him a chance to pick up the car and repair it at no cost to me (with proof of postage) I also have a letter where the dealer eventually did reply (too late) and apologised for not replying in the first instance

InsideInsurance

ukwonderwoman wrote: »

Yes I have a detailed report of the fault how they found it etc and what was fixed.

ukwonderwoman wrote: »

Does anyone know if I can include reports from the repairer in my evidence to take to court? I am under the impression that it has to be a witness statement and they have to actually attend the hearing.

Reports can be taken in but ideally you'd have an independent engineers report not a repair garages'. Needless to say it is in a garage's interests to find lots of things wrong with a vehicle where as an independent engineer gets their fee if the car is found to be in perfect or terrible condition as they are never going to be doing the repair work.

It may be that experts may be called to explain their reports/ answer questions but for such low value claims it would be unusual unless it really is the core of the issue.

Marktheshark

Only one real possible slip up.
How did you post and can you prove you posted the letter to the dealer, certified postage ? recorded delivery ?

The whole case could hinge on proving service of that letter, they will send a Solicitor or barrister so they will pick that legal point up.

InsideInsurance

Marktheshark wrote: »

Only one real possible slip up.
How did you post and can you prove you posted the letter to the dealer, certified postage ? recorded delivery ?

The whole case could hinge on proving service of that letter, they will send a Solicitor or barrister so they will pick that legal point up.

Ideally they will have simply posted 1st class and gotten a certificate of posting. The civil law works on the balance of probability and so as long as the OP sent it to the right address the courts will assume it is received 2 days later.

If they sent it recorded or special delivery then getting the evidence it was accepted is best but as its possible to refuse delivery or argue over the person who signed for it is unknown etc it adds an unnecessary layer unless for some reason 2 days is too long and so the next day aspect of SD is required.

They would also be silly to send a barrister along. The cost of that would be more than the cost of the claim and as a small track case legal fees are unrecoverable even if they win.

Marktheshark

Courts don't assume anything, not when they will be sending the company solicitor or even a barrister to court, that point jumped out straight away from the defence and they will be opening it up.
Hopefully the OP can prove they sent that letter.
It could be a very important hinge pin of the case.

Strider590

What exactly is the fault? There's not a lot to go wrong with a timing chain, apart from stretching and complete/catastrophic failure.
I guess it could slip if the tensioner was broken, but this is a fault that would be obvious from the noise, well before it actually gave up.

ukwonderwoman

Marktheshark wrote: »

Only one real possible slip up.
How did you post and can you prove you posted the letter to the dealer, certified postage ? recorded delivery ?

The whole case could hinge on proving service of that letter, they will send a Solicitor or barrister so they will pick that legal point up.

Hi everyone thanks for replies.

I sent the letter first class recorded and I still have the proof of postage. I have photocopied this and have included it in my documents. I checked when the the dealer signed for the letter and it was within 2 days of postage so he had no reason not to reply.

Quentin

ukwonderwoman wrote: »

Does anyone know if I can include reports from the repairer in my evidence to take to court? I am under the impression that it has to be a witness statement and they have to actually attend the hearing.

Now that you have paid for a hearing you really need to read up on the protocol for a court case.


(eg Any documents you intend to use in court must be served on the other side and copied to the court weeks prior to the hearing)


And consider getting legal advice on your chances of winning as unless you do all your court fees will be lost as well as you having to pay the other side's allowable expenses for attending court, and any witnesses costs you or the other side bring to court too.

Marktheshark

ukwonderwoman wrote: »

Hi everyone thanks for replies.

I sent the letter first class recorded and I still have the proof of postage. I have photocopied this and have included it in my documents. I checked when the the dealer signed for the letter and it was within 2 days of postage so he had no reason not to reply.

Great, at least thats the bolthole closed down. :T

colino

Looking at your previous posts, you really need to stop now and take legal advice. The focus of your claim against this trader (not the warranty company) is that you had a catastrophic engine failure within six months of purchase. He bodyswerved that by you not taking it to him for examination, repair, refund or replace.
Don't take a scatter-gun approach, take legal advice and seek refund for the car and all of your costs so far. I think the legal remedy will be somewhere in between.