Purchase of a faulty 2nd hand car from a dealer

digger61

I bought VW Golf for £4495 on 11th February 2017 and on the 16th the brake warning light came on. I looked in the manual and it said to top up the brake fluid which I did. I drove it for around 15 miles and the brake warning light came continuously bleeping loudly. As it is the brakes I cannot drive the car at all after 151 miles of use. To get it repaired or even looked at will involve a breakdown truck.

I contacted the dealer and said that according to The Consumer Rights Act October 2015 I am entitled to a full refund within 30 days of purchase. I have written to them stating that I want to return the car and have a refund.

Their response has been to bombard me with phone calls telling me that they have the right to take the car away and fix it. I don't want this as I don't trust them to fix it properly and don't want to get into a saga of them taking the car, it going wrong again etc as has happened to me before.

Do I have a good case for the small claims court ?

almillar

When you topped up first time, was the level indicated as low?
When you got the beeping, did you check the level again? Had it gone low again? This would be strong evidence of a leak somewhere.

foxy-stoat

If there is a leak on one of the brake lines then it would be fairly straight forward to fix, I suspect that as you do not know what exactly is wrong with it and nor to the garage they wont be just giving you a refund and them picking the car up.


I would find out what is wrong with it and get them to repair it - rather than try and reject it at the first sign of an issue, on a £4500 Golf you can expect some in your ownership.

debtdebt

Was the brake fluid actually low when you topped it up? Are you sure it's not worn brake pads that are causing the light to come on? Either of those problems are easy to fix by the garage. Why buy a car from a garage which you don't trust? Personally, I think you're being unreasonable.

salubrious

More than likely needs a set of brake pads

AdrianC

I find myself wondering if the "brake fluid" light is also the handbrake light.

mrmot

Have the brakes completely stopped working?, as you say that you cannot drive the car.

A bit of common sense is required, if the brakes are working, the fluid level is correct, there are no leaks then that leaves the warning system which is faulty.

This could be the switch on the lever which is not unknown and a cheap/easy fix or it could be the dash panel which may have a dry solder joint - a bit more involved but not the end of the world.

I've come across this problem before on a 2010 Golf.

It does seem a bit extreme to reject a used car under legislation that has primarily being conceived to cover brand new goods, which covers used goods by using words such as age, mileage, reasonable, taken into account.

chrisw

Annoying but a ridiculous over reaction. These things happen. Presumably you have now lost all good will with the garage.

Stoke

To be fair to the garage, you bought the car, having decided it was a good one. A problem has developed (these things happen) you should give them the opportunity to fix it. Obviously if their solution is unacceptable (i.e. they don't fix it) then you take further steps, but to say "I don't want this car anymore, it's got a problem" is a bit of an overreaction if you ask me.

consumers_revenge

Got given a Renault clio once and was told it had a leak. Light came on, hour at the garage, £45 later never a problem again.


It really isn't a huge problem except for losing your car for a few hours and you'll prob get a curtesy one anyway.

almillar

A problem has developed (these things happen)

Well, if it's a leak, it could have already been there, just that the level was still high enough.