We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Second hand car issues
legopony
Posts: 28 Forumite
Hi all,
First of all, apologies if this is in the wrong forum, I have also posted in the motoring forum.
At the end of September my partner purchased a second hand Peugeot 206 from a small independent garage around an hour away from our home address. We paid £1400 for the car, and obviously then purchased tax and insurance for this.
After a week of having the car, and it having done less than 100 miles since we purchased it, the car died on a dual carriage way. The car lost all power and had to be towed home by my brother who was luckily close-by and able to help.
My partner contacted the garage, who confirmed the car was covered by a warranty but despite asking numerous times we were unable to find out specifically what the warranty covered.
Due to the distance between our house and the garage, they asked that we take the car to a local garage who could then diagnose the issue and liaise about repairs etc. This meant we had to again arrange for my brother to tow the car, as the garage did not offer to help with this.
The car was at the local garage for a number of weeks, and we received very little communication during this time. The local garage identified a number of issues with the car, both mechanical and electrical.
After 40 days, the garage decided they would collect the car and make the repairs themselves! They collected the car and after another coulee of weeks advised that the car was ready to collect. We went to collect the car, which obviously meant another lengthy journey and using another car.
On arrival at the garage the car was driveable, but it was driven out with items such as window squeegees on the roof, which gave the impression they hadn't been looking after the car particularly well.
On the journey home, I was following my partner in the car and noticed that a number of his lights were not working. Also, the drivers side wing mirror became dislodged on the way home, whilst driving along the dual carriage way and when we stopped we noticed this had been broken and glued back in place with superglue (new damage). The airbag light was also lit, which wasn't the case when it was in our care.
We contacted the garage once home to advise them of the issues, and explain that there appeared to still be electrical faults. The garage denied they had caused any damage to the wing mirror, and said that they had fulfilled their responsibilities.
We asked to hand the car back and have a refund as there had been so many issues, and there were so many remaining after such little use. The garage took a long time to respond, and when they did they stated that they would buy the car back but for less than we paid for it. We have pointed out to the garage that whilst awaiting the repairs we have been paying tax and insurance, and my partner has had to find alternative routes to work which have had a cost and time implication to us, therefore we feel that requesting a full refund is reasonable. They have not replied.
We have contacted the ombudsman regarding this, they have pursued the matter but have said that the garage is unwilling to work with them and they are therefore unable to help any further.
We are considering going to the small claims court, but after googling a lot I am still unsure what our legal rights are and whether this would be a total waste of time / money. Obviously if we had purchased the car from a private seller we would be without virtually any rights, so I'm wondering if it's the same in this situation?
If anyone could offer any advice I would be most grateful.
Many thanks 🙂
First of all, apologies if this is in the wrong forum, I have also posted in the motoring forum.
At the end of September my partner purchased a second hand Peugeot 206 from a small independent garage around an hour away from our home address. We paid £1400 for the car, and obviously then purchased tax and insurance for this.
After a week of having the car, and it having done less than 100 miles since we purchased it, the car died on a dual carriage way. The car lost all power and had to be towed home by my brother who was luckily close-by and able to help.
My partner contacted the garage, who confirmed the car was covered by a warranty but despite asking numerous times we were unable to find out specifically what the warranty covered.
Due to the distance between our house and the garage, they asked that we take the car to a local garage who could then diagnose the issue and liaise about repairs etc. This meant we had to again arrange for my brother to tow the car, as the garage did not offer to help with this.
The car was at the local garage for a number of weeks, and we received very little communication during this time. The local garage identified a number of issues with the car, both mechanical and electrical.
After 40 days, the garage decided they would collect the car and make the repairs themselves! They collected the car and after another coulee of weeks advised that the car was ready to collect. We went to collect the car, which obviously meant another lengthy journey and using another car.
On arrival at the garage the car was driveable, but it was driven out with items such as window squeegees on the roof, which gave the impression they hadn't been looking after the car particularly well.
On the journey home, I was following my partner in the car and noticed that a number of his lights were not working. Also, the drivers side wing mirror became dislodged on the way home, whilst driving along the dual carriage way and when we stopped we noticed this had been broken and glued back in place with superglue (new damage). The airbag light was also lit, which wasn't the case when it was in our care.
We contacted the garage once home to advise them of the issues, and explain that there appeared to still be electrical faults. The garage denied they had caused any damage to the wing mirror, and said that they had fulfilled their responsibilities.
We asked to hand the car back and have a refund as there had been so many issues, and there were so many remaining after such little use. The garage took a long time to respond, and when they did they stated that they would buy the car back but for less than we paid for it. We have pointed out to the garage that whilst awaiting the repairs we have been paying tax and insurance, and my partner has had to find alternative routes to work which have had a cost and time implication to us, therefore we feel that requesting a full refund is reasonable. They have not replied.
We have contacted the ombudsman regarding this, they have pursued the matter but have said that the garage is unwilling to work with them and they are therefore unable to help any further.
We are considering going to the small claims court, but after googling a lot I am still unsure what our legal rights are and whether this would be a total waste of time / money. Obviously if we had purchased the car from a private seller we would be without virtually any rights, so I'm wondering if it's the same in this situation?
If anyone could offer any advice I would be most grateful.
Many thanks 🙂
0
Comments
-
No its not the same. When you buy from a trader, you have certain rights.
When was the car purchased? What type of car/age/mileage? Its a bit more tricky when it comes to 2nd hand cars as goods are of satisfactory quality if they meet the standard a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory taking into account all relevant circumstances (such as the price, age etc).
However, it is an offence to sell an unroadworthy car - there are only certain things that make a car unroadworthy though.
How did you pay for the car? Hopefully by credit card?You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means - Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 353.6K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.1K Spending & Discounts
- 246.7K Work, Benefits & Business
- 603K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.1K Life & Family
- 260.7K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards