Successful Section 75 claim on used car

aqueousdan92

Hi there guys. I'm just posting this here because when I was stuck I struggled to find success stories regarding being stung by a dodgy car dealer and claiming back money using the Section 75 protection on a credit card.

At Christmas I decided to buy an Audi TT for £8000. Not brand new but a nice car for me. I bought £1500 of it on a credit card and then the rest from my current account.

Two days after buying it, the car was losing coolant rapidly. I took it to a garage and they found it to be a broken head gasket and blowing manifold.
I reported this to the dealer who initially pushed me towards getting a repair on their warranty. When I told him I was rejecting the car through my short term right to reject he went crazy. He lied and said that we had verbally accepted a repair on the car which we hadn't. We went round in circles with it all and went to a solicitor who basically told us that unless you take him to court, he can say and do exactly as he pleases.

During this time we got two independent mechanics reports for the car which we paid extra for to be typed up.

I then went to my credit card company (Sainsbury's) and initiated a Section 75 claim. (I informed the dodgy dealer of this and he threatened police action and taking me to court. A solicitor told me to ignore it and carry on anyway) It took roughly 11 weeks of hearing pretty much nothing but at the end of it we were successful. I am being refunded the cost of the car, the cost of the independent reports and the solicitor costs. I think typing every single thing up on a timeline and providing the reports was key.

Strangely, nothing at all happens to the dodgy dealer. The credit card company just swallow up the debt and carry on.

Anyway I hope this is of some help to someone who is wondering if it is worth it! I was very close to biting the bullet and going to get the car repaired. I'm glad I didn't now!

Cheers,

Dan

[Deleted User]

aqueousdan92 wrote: »

Strangely, nothing at all happens to the dodgy dealer. The credit card company just swallow up the debt and carry on.

They won't inform you whether they choose to pursue the dealer or not. That will be an internal decision.

bengalknights

Its upto Sainsburys but usually the banks take into account and cost of getting debt before pursuing merchants. They wont tell you what happens though as its all there money.

aqueousdan92

Actually they did tell me what happened in my case. They informed me that they wont be pursuing him for the funds due to the total being relatively small (for them)

Atletico

What happens to the car??

aqueousdan92

I forgot to say this bit.

I get We Buy Any Car to buy it from me. Then the credit card company pay me the rest back on top to make it up to the full amount.

benten69

Glad to hear you got it sorted, but sounds like the dealer gets to walk with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Possibly at most the card has reversed the £1500 transaction and they are not claiming for the remaining £6500.

Actually if you think about it, they will have probably reversed the £1500 transaction (easy for them to do), you sell the car to WeBuyAnyCar for say £2500 and they swallow the remaining £4000 as it will cost them more in time to recover what is basically "petty cash" as banks like to call it.

So the dealer gets to keep £6500 and continue without and further ramifications. Just seems wrong, but hey, that's the way the world works.

oldagetraveller

If all you say in your o.p. is correct and there is proof then name the dealer as a warning to any potential customers.

manwithoutaplan

Thanks for this post - I've been struggling to find someone in a similar situation!

Another Audi (how bizarre)

I purchased an Audi A4 for just under £6000, all on a credit card.

Long story short from day one I've had engine misfires and an oil consumption problem - it's currently undriveable.

I contacted my card provider with a full timeline of events (including proof of false advertising as the car did not have a full service history) to start a section 75 claim.

I'm waiting for a response - did you get any kind of confirmation or was it radio silence for 11 weeks until you heard it was successful?

If it is I guess I'll get the same advice, sell the car and get the remainder?

Cheers,
Mike

born_again

benten69 wrote: »

Glad to hear you got it sorted, but sounds like the dealer gets to walk with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Possibly at most the card has reversed the £1500 transaction and they are not claiming for the remaining £6500.

Nothing happens to the dealer. HE GETS TO KEEP ALL THE FUNDS...

Reason being it is not worth the legal costs for the bank to sue them. Crazy but true.

jonesMUFCforever

born_again wrote: »

Nothing happens to the dealer. HE GETS TO KEEP ALL THE FUNDS...

Reason being it is not worth the legal costs for the bank to sue them. Crazy but true.

But their bank ''might'' withdraw the card payment facility meaning anybody with any common sense would walk away from future purchases.
Anybody in any field that would tell me that their card machine is not working for any reason would be a red flag for me.