Used car write-off and Section 75

tuffers286

We bought a used VW Passat in August 2016 with a 3 month warranty. We'd had a similar model before and as the advert suggests VWs are pretty reliable right (apart from emissions issues maybe!) so thought 3 months warranty would be OK.

Purchase price was £4,450, funded by £4,000 part exchange and £450 on a credit card.

At the beginning of April this year, we broke down on a motorway (flashing red oil pressure warning light and STOP! message). We pulled over straight away and had the car recovered home. On closer inspection it seems to be what is a common fault with the VW Passat, the oil pump drive/balance shaft is worn, and there's suspected damage to the engine and turbo due to the loss in oil pressure.

The mechanic has estimated £3,000 to repair a car that's worth £2,000 so we've decided not to throw good money after bad and replace the car instead.

My question is could I claim a full refund under Section 75 of the credit card act? I have a written report from a reputable independent mechanic diagnosing the fault and estimated cost of repair. We've covered 10,000 miles since we've had the car.

I've also (perhaps prematurely) listed the car on eBay as a non-runner. TBH I didn't think about looking to see how we'd paid the balance until this morning, and saw it was by credit card. The listing expires in 6 days time and we've already had lots of messages and some bids on it (a lot more than I'd get for scrap). Do I have to be in possession of the car while the Section 75 claim is going through?

Thanks for reading this far, and any advice gratefully received

StopIt

Now, I'm almost certain to be proven wrong here but...


Hahahaha no.


Cars break down all the time, if S75 covered this sort of thing then it'll make a mockery of the system. It's out of warranty, and "Known issues" with cars is so vague as to be meaningless. It doesn't mean a problem from the start, which would be claimable, but a common thing that happens with them is not especially a warranty issue.


Edit: S75 wouldn't cover the Part-Ex anyway. At best you'd be looking at the £450 back, which again, don't hold your breath.

MEM62

S75 requires a breech of contract. (It's not a warranty substitute) What breech of contract do you think has occurred?

Have you approached the dealer that you purchased the car from and asked him to deal with the issue?

bengalknights

As others have stated s75 deals with breaches of contract by merchants not out of warranty issues.

Had it been been brand new with manufacturer warranty s75 would have been honoured if the dealer/manufacturer didnt play ball.

tuffers286

Thanks for the replies so far. I don't think the dealer is going to be interested as it's long out of warranty.

So I think we'll just see how much we can get for it on ebay (current bid is a lot more than scrap value so it looks promising!).

StopIt

tuffers286 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies so far. I don't think the dealer is going to be interested as it's long out of warranty.

So I think we'll just see how much we can get for it on ebay (current bid is a lot more than scrap value so it looks promising!).

If the item in question has failed due to an actual design flaw, it doesn't matter if it is out of warranty.


You lose nothing by contacting the dealer and asking. If it is a known issue the dealer will not be paying for any repair as they'll just charge VW (I take it is a main dealer!) if the item can be fixed as a known issue.

phillw

StopIt wrote: »

If it is a known issue the dealer will not be paying for any repair as they'll just charge VW (I take it is a main dealer!) if the item can be fixed as a known issue.

It depends on how old the fault is. I know someone who had terrible trouble shifting a mercedes c class when the injector thread stripped because they dragged their feet on a cheap/free remedy.

He ended up disabling that cylinder so that it could be driven through an auction. Never buy a car at auction, especially don't buy a car from him.

chattychappy

StopIt wrote: »

Edit: S75 wouldn't cover the Part-Ex anyway. At best you'd be looking at the £450 back, which again, don't hold your breath.

Agree the OP doesn't have much hope, but the above is wrong. There is no reason why S75 wouldn't apply to a part-exchange and there is no reason why the claim would be limited to £450 (technically even £4,450 wouldn't be the limit).