Car body shop won't honour Guarantee

weejangus

So, you bought the car from Volkswagen. Then, 2 and a half years later, Volkswagen have confirmed that the car THEY sold you had an inadequate repair carried out prior to your ownership. This inadequate repair has led to the Rear Offside Wheel arch rusting prematurely.

Might be wrong here (I'm frequently wrong so it wouldn't be anything new), but would the Sale of Goods Act - which would have been in place at the time of sale - not hold Volkswagen liable for the repair regardless of who carried out the botched job? They have sold you a car that (by their own admission) has had a poor repair job therefore it is not of Satisfactory quality OR fit for purpose - i.e. a resonable person would not expect to see rust on the wheel arch of a 2011 Volkswagen.

This is probably the route I would go down. You bought the car from VW, your contract is with VW, the fault was there at the point of sale and you can prove that. As far as I can see, VW are liable for the repair.

BeenThroughItAll

weejangus wrote: »

So, you bought the car from Volkswagen. Then, 2 and a half years later, Volkswagen have confirmed that the car THEY sold you had an inadequate repair carried out prior to your ownership. This inadequate repair has led to the Rear Offside Wheel arch rusting prematurely.

Might be wrong here (I'm frequently wrong so it wouldn't be anything new), but would the Sale of Goods Act - which would have been in place at the time of sale - not hold Volkswagen liable for the repair regardless of who carried out the botched job? They have sold you a car that (by their own admission) has had a poor repair job therefore it is not of Satisfactory quality OR fit for purpose - i.e. a resonable person would not expect to see rust on the wheel arch of a 2011 Volkswagen.

This is probably the route I would go down. You bought the car from VW, your contract is with VW, the fault was there at the point of sale and you can prove that. As far as I can see, VW are liable for the repair.

I think you'd find it difficult to argue that a bit of rust on a wheelarch makes a car unfit for purpose. Equally, the car was of satisfactory quality at the time, and has been for several years since until this issue started.


Doubt you'd get anywhere near getting a free fix.

Bigphil1474

If VW are offering a 12 year corrosion warranty, and it was bought from VW when it was only 2 years old, sounds like VW have some responsibility.
Have you got legal cover with your current motor insurance - might be worth exploring what help they can give you on this matter. Also, check home insurance for legal cover, or if you are in a trade union, you can usually get free legal advice through a solicitor.

AdrianC

Bigphil1474 wrote: »

If VW are offering a 12 year corrosion warranty, and it was bought from VW when it was only 2 years old, sounds like VW have some responsibility.

VW's corrosion warranty was voided on the repaired areas of the car by the substandard repair.

weejangus

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

I think you'd find it difficult to argue that a bit of rust on a wheelarch makes a car unfit for purpose.

Yeah, could be a tricky one to fight.

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

the car was of satisfactory quality at the time, and has been for several years since until this issue started.

This is probably where I would start a claim with VW if it were me. The car wasn't of a satisfactory quality at the time of sale. Although it is likely that the car looked okay - VW and the new keeper were probably completely unaware of the poor repair - the fact remains that the poor repair job had been carried out prior to purchase and was therefore present at the point of sale.

Lets not forget that, had it not been for the poor repair job, VW would have repaired the rust for free as it would be covered under their 12 year corrosion perforation warranty. They obviously don't expect their cars to rust this quickly (OP's car is only 5 years old and was only purchased 2 and a half years ago). This would be evidence that the car was not of satisfactory quality as the wheel arch has prematurely corroded.

Had the OP been aware of the repair (or that the 12 year warranty would not apply to this section of the car), perhaps he wouldn't have purchased it.

Thats the angle I'd take!


If I'm wrong, remember I said this -

weejangus wrote: »

Might be wrong here (I'm frequently wrong so it wouldn't be anything new)

Mercdriver

It might not make the car unfit for purpose, but the repair is still below standard, and VW sold it with the substandard repair. Of course this doesn't entitle you to reject the car, but it still might make the dealer responsible for rermedying the fault. The original Sale of Goods act wasn't just about the ability to reject something but also to make good to the correct standard.