Faulty competition prize

ARE007

Hi there, I was wondering if someone could give me a little bit of advice on the best course of action please.

My partner won a restored campervan from a large multinational company in a free draw competition (i.e. no purchase fee for entry). Since taking ownership around 1 month ago many things have failed resulting in a bill of nearly £1,000. We reluctantly paid for these fixes ourselves so we could enjoy the campervan but last weekend the engine failed and campervan is now beyond economical repair, i.e. the cost of repair to the engine is more than the value of the campervan. We also had to pay for AA rescue. If we were to sell it without an engine we'd struggle to recover the money we have put into the campervan so far.

My partner is very upset and we really don't know what to do. These problems would have been present but not necessarily evident when the campervan was handled over to. We were not made aware of these problems on handover.

The one caveat we have is we paid £1 for the campervan (for the legal transfer) so in terms of the law, what rights do we have? I believe the consumer right act applies?

Can we go back to the large multinational company and ask for help to get these problems resolved? Or are we alone?

pappa_golf

yup , you can ask for your money back (£1) , as there was a transfer (£1) why did you not get the warranty work done within the first y mths by them

ARE007

pappa_golf wrote: »

yup , you can ask for your money back (£1) , as there was a transfer (£1) why did you not get the warranty work done within the first y mths by them

Hi. The campervan was restored to new, i.e it was a recked old 30 year old campervan that the company had restored to brand new. There was no warranty and we weren't made aware of the faults.

The campervan was professionally valued (for insurance purposes) before we took delivery and it's worth considerably more than than £1 but without a working engine it's completely worthless but the cost of putting a new engine in is economically unviable. For example the insurance company would write it off.

pappa_golf

but you had a sale , and the van was "restored" , so much for this companies standards of work


campervans have huge surface areas for placing signage , ask the company to assist you , if not , then get some signs printed and stuck to the van and park outside their showroom

agrinnall

ARE007 wrote: »

For example the insurance company would write it off.

Why would an insurance company write off a vehicle that had broken down?

lincroft1710

I would have told the multinational company, so they could complain to the restorer. What make camper and what is the base vehicle? I would have thought a replacement engine could be resourced much more cheaply than the value of a restored classic camper.

What exactly is wrong with the engine

hollydays

Does the company have a Facebook page?

[Deleted User]

I'm not an expert with campervans but I'd suggest finding an online forum that specialises in these type of camper van, lots of advice, help (for repair) and probably some buyers. Its a very niche market, which is usually good when it comes to resale. But a forum like this can be great for learning about what is needed when a niche market vehicle breaks down.

I don't know why you haven't tried to go to the 'multinational company'. Problem is, they can claim that you or your partner damaged the engine. Do you have a report saying the faults were pre-existing? In that case you might have a chance.

IF its a 30 year old VW campervan (big assumption), its probably an air cooled engine and my mechanic ex says there's not a lot to go wrong with them. But you aren't giving any details as to what's wrong and how you know it was wrong before you collected the van.

Once it broke down, really you should have had it towed to where ever you collected it from, but hind sight is 20/20. If they are a dealer .., they do have more responsibilities for providing a working vehicle than a private seller, whatever they say about not having a warranty on the vehicle. I'd look the paper work over very closely.

The fact that this was a prize may complicate matters but hope this link helps http://www.lawgistics.co.uk/legal-article-warranty/motor-trade-warranty-guarantee-service-contract/warranties-the-legal-requirements-when-selling-second-hand-cars

paddyrg

If it's a VW, you could ask Just Kampers for advice - they're extremely helpful and even get replacement parts machined for vehicles VW have long since abandoned!