Mis sold new car and PCP. Nissan leaf with no off street parking

melissa'smoney

Hi all,
Not sure if this is the right section. We took out a 2yr PCP with on Nissan Leaf in October 15. concerned re no drive to charge but were assured it wouldnt be a problem as so many pod points all over sheffield, one of the best places to have an electric car they said! We quickly realised it wasnt fir for purpose and struggling to charge it as we are a terraced house. All the promised pod points aren't as they seem. We have one super charger 4 miles away which is eother in use or not working and is counter productive as we then have to drive home! Others are cable which we bought and there are 5 within 3 miles however 60% of the time they are out of use! we get there and are unable to charge the car leaving us stuck! We have a 2yr old so life is busy and we spend too much time trying, often unsuesessfully to charge it. We went back to the dealership in November to complain but no help offered, manager sympathised it wasnt ideal having nowhere to charge it! Only option was to swapto petrol at great increased costs to ourselves which we cant afford. Persevered as we had no choice. Went back last week as we just cant manage, we have a new car that we are paying monthly for and cant use it! Again little help only offer was to take out a new PCP for 2 years trading in leaf which huge negative equity on the cheapest nissan a leaf at £236pm (we pay £155pm)
We beleive we should never have been sold this car or allowed to have it due to having nowhere to charge it. We have also written to Nissan head office who didnt want to know.
Ive logged this with Financial Ombusdmun but we have to write an official letter to dealership first.
Any help and advice would be appreiated....do we have a case? What so I need to include in complaint?
We were just going to pay the outstanding finance off and move on but we don't feel we should have to be at a financial loss.


thanks in advance x

Nodding_Donkey

You bought a rechargeable electric car without having anywhere at home to charge it.

What did you expect?

melissa'smoney

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

You bought a rechargeable electric car without having anywhere at home to charge it.

What did you expect?

We were concerned. Nissan told us 100 miles out of one charge so we thought we'd only have to charge it twice a week. The zip zap map showed loads of points and nissan assured us it wouldnt be a problem.
The reality is very different and the 100 miles is not accurate, we are having to charge everyday and with alot of the charges not working makes it virtually impossible.


Yes in hindsight we shouldnt have done it and i'm happy for people to be honest and say its our fault but Nissan do have a duty to make sure its fit for purpose and it isnt for us so i feel they should be accountable.
I appreciate your replying what what we need it help and advice not pointless statements.

Nodding_Donkey

I just don't think you have a case on the basis of there being nowhere to charge it. If they said it had a 100 mile range, and you can prove it, then they might be at fault if it hasn't but I would expect they have get out clauses on that much like all the manufacturers do on fuel economy figures.

In the end it's not a regulated industry so "mis-selling" doesn't really come into it.

melissa'smoney

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

I just don't think you have a case on the basis of there being nowhere to charge it. If they said it had a 100 mile range, and you can prove it, then they might be at fault if it hasn't but I would expect they have get out clauses on that much like all the manufacturers do on fuel economy figures.

In the end it's not a regulated industry so "mis-selling" doesn't really come into it.

For the most part I don't disagree and we have felt its a costly mistake however we recently visited a Renault dealership and the manager there told us it is their policy not to sell electric or hybrid cars to customers without off street parking and to discuss with with FO. That then made us think Nissan did have a duty to sell us a car fit for our purposes and knowing where we lived they should have advised us differently IMO-wether we can do anything about that is what I'm asking.

MEM62

I understand your frustration but Nodding Donkey does have a point.

Electric cars NEVER achieve the claimed mileage and you should cannot take the information from the dealer at face value. After all, it's their job to sell the car.

I looked at the Mitsubishi Outlander as the claims for it are impressive - >30 miles on electric and 156mpg overall. It takes very little internet research to discover that, in the real world, the figures are nowhere near as good - if fact, they are pretty bad.

I decided against it on the basis of this, the fact that charging at home would be an issue and (again, as discovered by a little research) there are just not enough charging points when out and about.

Your disappointment is understandable but the issues with electric cars are not exactly unknown - and without any facility to charge at home it was always unlikely to be a practical vehicle for you. I doubt you will have much of a case against Nissan.

MEM62

melissa'smoney wrote: »

That then made us think Nissan did have a duty to sell us a car fit for our purposes.

The car has to be fit for purpose - not your purpose. ie It has to work as an electric car. It is then for you to decide whether the limitations of that are something that works for you.

The comments from the Renault dealer are interesting though and it is my opinion that all dealers should have this kind of policy. After all, charging at home is the critical factor in making such vehicles a practical option.

I hope that you manage to find a solution.

maninthestreet

Any chance of selling the car privately?

melissa'smoney

maninthestreet wrote: »

Any chance of selling the car privately?

Can we do that?


We have 15 payments left on PCP-we were told we can just pay this off and hand it back?
Nissan valued it at 9k giving it a 5k defecit....

forgotmyname

You will claim it wont do 100 miles on a charge and they will plan out a journey where it can do 100 miles and prove you wrong. OK it maybe at 3am with all the lights off and zero traffic with the last mile all downhill but it will do it.

Charge it up and tow it to the motorway where the start is downhill and mostly level the entire 100 miles and limit your speed to 50mph i bet it probably can do 100 miles.

You letters / claims will be dealt with properly and through correct procedures but behind the scenes i bet they are giggling, this person bought an electric car with no way of charging it at home or work.

Herzlos

melissa'smoney wrote: »

Can we do that?


We have 15 payments left on PCP-we were told we can just pay this off and hand it back?
Nissan valued it at 9k giving it a 5k defecit....

You can change the car at any time, but you'll need to cover the shortfall somehow. You can probably trade it in and get a petrol Nissan, and carry the shortfall over.

How far away from home do you park? Can you get away with running a cable? Can you charge it from work?