Car sold wrong spec

chriz1

Ok so I bought a golf gtd 2015 last April, paid over the odds to get a car with correct spec pan roof pro nav leather seats etc and from main dealer ... for peace of mind
Anyway travelled last April 2017 from wales to buy car from a dealer in derby to view and test drive the car, salesman said car had carnet (connectivity to your phone that unlocks various features internet etc)
cars great in general, and returned week later to pick it up, sale was a little rushed tbh but I dont like fuss so cracked on and got out of there got car Home and had a play with things one thing couldn’t get to work was carnet. Tried the manual no luck not big problem car had to go into local dealer for service and fix broken dash vents under warranty so I asked them to take a look they did but said they’d have to have it a few days so rebooked.
They took a look and spoke to be technical dept to try to resolve issue, which is it won’t connect to WiFi hotspot or allow even to get to that screen because menus greyed out..
They said they tried wiring loom for breakages and various other fault finding. Then They said the issue is the control unit which controls all this has been swapped with one that doesn’t support carnet. Service manager said It flagged on VW computers control unit swapped? back in March a month before I purchased the car!
They claimed I need to speak to VW customer complaints as a new unit will be £4000!? with coding and fitting !
Rang customer complaints who checked with local dealer they then instructed i take it to another dealer for second opinion. Who weren’t as helpful but finally confirmed again wrong control unit fitted.
Complaints spoke to supplying dealer who confirmed it does have carnet just needs activation, which isn’t the case, but at least they have admitted it should have it.
After waiting for be customer complaints to go back to be dealer I bought he car from to find out where and when the the control unit has been changed.
They finally rang to say they can’t see that the unit has been changed by a VW dealership although they admit it is the wrong unit fitted so must have been changed from a non vw garage ! The car is less than 3 year old cost £20k if the previous owner had a problem I’m sure they would have let vw sort it by warranty for free than pay for a garage to buy code and swap it?!
They said there’s nothing further they can do and that I should take legal action if I wish against the supplying dealer. My problem is if I take this to small claims court would they believe me or the salesman
And surely isn’t their responsibility to ensure they have checked everything they claim the car has works ? I have 200 point check and the Infortainment system (radio) checklist ticked as working
Do I have a case here as a new unit supplied and fitted is £3k!

DoaM

That needs spacing out ... it's too much like a wall of text for me to try and read, sorry.

Gavin83

Why have you left it so long to deal with?

unholyangel

TLDR: OP bought a car, was particularly important it had car-net and (I think) he paid over the odds to ensure it did. Car did have it but control unit was swapped. £3-4k for a new one (OP quotes 2 different figures). Car bought april 2017, collected a week later - but in that sea of text, we weren't told when they first reported it to the dealer.

__________________________________________

OP whats the problem? I thought you said the dealer admitted to complaints that it did (should at least) have car-net? Or have none of your communications been in writing (even email)?

What is the supplying dealer saying about it all? How did you pay for the car?

neilmcl

Whether the unit was swapped out or not or by a VW dealer or not, the fact remains you've been sold something that doesn't meet it's description and therefore legally you are entitled to reject it for a full refund should you so wish. If Car-Net is that important to you then reject the car or get them to fit the unit that will give you the feature you desire.

Write and send a letter before action (LBA), quoting your rights under the Consumer Rights Act. How did you pay for the car?

Also, can you tell us why this has taken nearly a year to get this far?

arcon5

Any second hand units out There?

chriz1

Yes sorry for the huge story

Ok so When we purchased the car April 30th I did t actually try the carnet feature for a few months, when I did I could not get it to work so I thought maybe i am doing something wrong, I booked it into a dealer local to me to take a look but they had to re book it in after the first vist as a simple reset which they thought would sort it did not. So another month or so lost.
So when they found the fault I relayed this to Vw customer services and they did their own investigations together with this and having second opinion at another garage it!!its taken this long.
What I am more worried about if it did have to go to court would a verbal agreement that it had it obviously which they will deny be put into doubt and not help my case ?

AndyMc.....

If it!!!8217;s so important to you to have that feature why didn!!!8217;t you check it on the test drive?

DCFC79

Gavin83 wrote: »

Why have you left it so long to deal with?

And why go all the way to Derby to buy it, when there's issues you then have to travel there to get them sorted.

chriz1

You can’t fully on test drive as it needs activation online which you can only do when VW dealer lists you and your email as the owner, I tested he infotainment system and it worked fine, got as far as I can using carnet and that worked but it’s from the activation screen that the problems happened.
Reason to travel to derby was because it was correct spec and a lot cheaper than local.

chriz1

Emailed the first dealer again asking for a description of what they found, and they state that they can see on VW system that it was logged on the 30/03/17 a month before we purchased the car the wrong unit fitted so why VW customer services can!!!8217;t see this I don!!!8217;t know as they use the same system! So there obviously lieing.
At least that shows the fault was present before I bought the car making them liable !