Faulty Used Car Refund.

mikeymatteo

I purchased a used car from a car dealer on 30th May with 30 days warranty.
a few days after purchase I got an error of "faulty fuel injection system" so advised the dealer who told me "This fault message can,more often than not,be cured by using a diesel injector cleaner in the fuel"

Come the 29th of June while on holiday the car broke down leaving us stranded there for an extra week and costing us in excess of £500.

A local garage to where we broke down found a steel bracket had been fitted previously to an oil bung to stop it blowing out under pressue (it shouldn't be pressurised)

something like the oil bung on the main injection chamber on the left side. This meant i was leaking a hell of a lot of oil. (6 gallons in 14 miles)
I was advised the steel plate was fitted to stop the bung blowing which was the symtom of a major fault.

I believe the car was not fit for purpose when sold and would like a refund and the garage is refusing to offer this and saying he knew nothing about the steel bracket.
I have also been refused a loan vehicle while my car is being investigated (currently been 4 days)

We were stranded until the 7th July meaning we were out of warranty by that time. I do however have proof we were broken down on the 29th June in the form of an invoice from the garage.

Where do i stand with this?
I really want to push for a refund and be compensated for at least SOME of my losses.

The only reason i was able to return home with the car is because the garage fitted a large pipe to my oil filler cap hole to releave the pressure in the engine.

I was told it could have been very dangerous under that pressure.
It is likely that the fault has caused wear and tear on other engine componants which the dealer is not replacing. he is only repairing the cracked inlet manifold which is the original cause of the fault.

I am due to get the car back on thursday / friday and i don't really want to except it back because i think that in itself would be accepting the repair... I also would like to avoid ugly legal battles.

Thanks in advance.

mikeymatteo

for those who know cars. the garage write-up is as follows

Vehicle bought in to workshop with oil leak:
Cleaned engine bay, found timing bung for injection pump missing and a suspect bracket that looks to have been attached to keep bung on temporarily but has obviously failed. Bracket is not factory fitted and has been attached due to increased oil pressure blowing bung off.

Work instructions
we have attached another bracket to hold bung and also fitted a pipe to releave oil pressure so customer can get home to *********.

zaax

You need an independent report by the AA or the like, though wait to see what the dealer says.

mikeymatteo

Problem is with the AA report is the whole inccident has put us on our backside financially already. the holiday left the bank low. the breakdown left us in debt and now we have already missed two bills because of the financial backlash. It would also be unlikely that i would recover the money paid for the AA report

It doesn't help that I am now without a car either. It's a 40 minute walk to take my daughter to school and to walk to work and my son is disabled.

Marktheshark

Assuming you paid cash and not by credit card or debit card that offers chargeback services.
If you did contact the card provider and demand a chargeback claim.
You make "Demands", you never request or ask.
You write to the dealer with a certificate of postage :
Claim under Sale of Goods act :
The car (desorption) you sold us is faulty, the fault is inherent as it has been bodged.
The car broke down and the recovery garage has listed the fault and made a temporary repair.
I demand that you rectify the situation to make the car of a merchantable quality as is required by the sale of goods fit for purpose description.
You can contact me on XXXXXXXX to arrange how you intend to redeem the situation and rectify the fault or refund the purchase price.
This is not a warranty claim it is a legal claim under the sale of goods act.
This letter serves as a 14 day Letter Before Claim in the event of a failure to contact me and make arrangements to rectify the situation.

mikeymatteo

I paid £1500 by card and the rest cash.

I recently emailed him this:

It is my wish to return the vehicle and hopefully recover some of the damages I have incurred.
Whilst on holiday in ****** the car broke down. The nearest garage told me it looked like a cam shaft oil bung and would be appox £400 which we didn’t have so instead they kindly put 6 litres of oil in to help me get my family back to our camp site so we could make plans. The 6 Litres was gone by the end of the 14 mile trip back to the camp site.
The next day I took it to the nearest garage to the camp site who said they would look at it (this is the printout I just sent you).

It was one of the most stressful times of my life.
I was stranded 300 miles away with my wife and two children, my son also is disabled.
Our holiday had come to an end, I was due back in work, my children back in school, we had very little money left and no idea how much or how long the car was going to take.

I was advised that because the bung was being forced to stay in with the metal bracket allowing the pressure to build, it could have blew camshaft or crankshaft seals or even blew head gasket as the pressure will find the weak spot to blow oil out of, not to mention a million other more dangerous possibilities.

That is also not taking into account the possibility of oil on the breaks, the electrical componants, and oil left on the road.

The oil was spilling out of the hole where the bung should have been and was then being thrown around the engine by the cam belt.
I am currently out of pocket by £105 for the emergency repair to eventually get us home.
£105 additional site fees for the extended stay and approximately £200 wages. I also don't have a car to travel in, meaning I have a 40 minute walk to my daughters school and to work.

My wife has previously been in a car accident and no longer feels safe in the car.

To which he responded

In reply to your email i am sorry for any distress that you and your family suffered whilst on holiday.I am more than happy to trace the cause of this fault and report back to you with any further information.I have no legal obligation to refund any monies paid at this point and will be proceeding with the action of tracing the cause of the problem.

Again, MY reply.

Thank you ******, what is the reason you believe you have no legal obligation to refund at this time?
I believe I do have the right to refund under the Sales of goods act. The vehicle was not fit for purpose when sold and had a none standard bracket fitted to temporarily hold the bung in place. The vehicle was also in warranty at the time the vehicle broke down. Return of the vehicle would have been quicker had the fault not occurred 300 miles away and left us stranded. I arrived home at 10pm on the 8th July and had the vehicle back to you by the 9th July.

I'm happy for you to continue looking into the problem if you so wish.
Would you be willing to cover the cost of a hire car or supply a loan vehicle during your investigative time as I am currently without transport, which is not very practical with a disabled child.

His Reply

I am obliged to investigate why the fault has occurred and report back to you with regard to possible rectification.The vehicle was fit for the purpose and appears to have travelled in excess of 1,000 miles since it left our premises on 30th May.Any possible bracket that has been fitted was not undertaken by ourselves but will be looked into as part of the investigation.Unfortunately we do not operate any loan vehicles.
I apologise again for any inconvenience caused and we are doing our upmost to proceed in a timely fashion and be able to ascertain what has caused this problem.I will contact you as soon as i have any more relevant information on the matter.

Sorry for all the text to read! haha

TBagpuss

Who was the warranty with? Given that the breakdown happened on 29th June and you bought on 30th May it would appear to have been within the warranty period so what not claim on that as well as on your assertion that the car was not fit for purpose.

Also contact your card company - did you use a credit or debit card? If it was a credit card, you can contact your card company straight away, you do not have to wait for the car salesman to get back to you first.

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/problem/can-i-claim-on-my-credit-card-when-something-goes-wrong

If you paid with a debit card then you may be able to claim back the £1,500 you paid on the card, using chargeback, on the basis that the dealer is in breach of contract. However, they may require additional evidence.

mikeymatteo

I would definately consider recalling the £1500 but my worry is if he really wanted to make things difficult he is then more unlikely to repay any damages caused, still owes £500 on the vehicle and also still has posession of the vehicle.

It leave me is a somewhat vunerable position.

unholyangel

Its going to be a tricky one. You only have the right to insist on a refund if you haven't accepted the goods.

You can accept the goods in one of several ways. By telling them you accept them, by doing anything inconsistent with the seller being the owner of the goods and also if a reasonable length of time passes without you rejecting the goods.

Theres a strong possibility you've passed a reasonable time and even if you weren't, if what the dealer said was correct (about you driving 1000 miles), that may be deemed to be acceptance (as its inconsistent with the retailer retaining ownership).

That doesn't mean you're not entitled to a remedy - just that the remedy may be a repair instead of a refund.

Few things to note though. Within the first 6 months of purchase, it is for the dealer to prove the fault is not inherent. If the car is unroadworthy, the trader has committed an offence under the road traffic act.

Marktheshark

Six months is generally taken to be the "accepted" time on a car bought from a trader in which it should be fit for purpose.
He has the right to offer a repair first, but it must be a repair that leaves the car fit for purpose, not a bodge.

mikeymatteo

thanks.
My argument is though.
The fault WAS present at the point of sale made true by the fact of the attached bracket to stop the bung blowing.

Taking into consideration the 300 mile return journey home after the fault had been made apparent the usage would have been 700 miles.
In 30 days excluding the long distance trip (which should be inclusive of the "fit for purpose" clause anyway) I had only done 400 - 500 miles which is not excessive.

I believe he has chosen to pick up on the mileage as it is his only ammunition.

I would say thank god this was an excessive month in terms of mileage as the fault may have not came to light until a much later time and could have had more disaterous consequences

I obviously did accept the vehicle when i purchased it, while i believed the vehicle to be of sound condition... up until the point of failure to which the only continued usage was the enevitable drive home and the final drive to drop the vehicle off.