Rejecting a Faulty Evans Halshaw car on finance

ABillie8259

I’m hoping there’s somebody out there that can offer advice!

I purchased a car from Evans Halshaw on February 28th 2018. The day of the purchase and the day after after I found the windshield wipers were not working properly and because of the fault had caused scratches in the windscreen, one of the air vents was not working, it felt like the wheel balance was off, there was a ticking coming from what I thought was the inside of the car but was actually the engine and there seemed to be a slow puncture in the tyre. I had also purchased the £495 Evans Halshaw guarantee. 31 days after the purchase the tyre with the slow puncture burst on the way to work. The following day I called the AA as I was told under the guarantee I purchased I had ‘The best AA package available!’ Turns out I didn’t as there had been an ‘admin error’ and the guarantee had not been processed however I was paying for it as it had been added onto my finance agreement and was in my invoice but called a Service Bundle (this package had never actually been sold to me). Evans Halshaw would not help me get the car to them and told me that even if I did get the car to them, because it was a Friday the tyre wouldn’t be sorted till the following Monday. I couldn’t book a second day off of work and didn’t want to drive the car all the way into a busy city with only 3 tyres. So I was left with buying a new tyre from Tanvic who were very good and they showed me a huge slash in the tyre that would have been causing the slow puncture and had just got worse, plus the tyre was completely weathered and had deep cracks all over. They also said a couple of my other tyres looked the same. The car is 4 years old and all of the tyres are different brands so I assume the previous owner had had some replaced. Everybody I spoke to was unhelpful and somewhat rude at Evans Halshaw and I received no follow up or courtesy call after this from anyone in the team.

I called trading standards to see where I stood and they told me Evans Halshaw were guilty of the sale of faulty goods and also in breach of contract due to the guarantee being falsely sold to me.

Exactly a month after the tyre issue, I tried to start the car one morning and was met with a horrible grinding noise and the car refused to start. I tried for 30 minutes to start the car. I called the AA on the off chance that my guarantee had been sorted out, fortunately it had, however while I was on the phone the car started. Over the space of a week I had this issue 3 times. I was told by friends and a neighbour that it sounded like the starter motor ‘was on the blink’. I called the complaints department to open a complaint because I had just had enough and was told they would get back to me in 48 hours. 54 hours later and I still hadn’t received a call so I called them and was told that I was to email the Principle at the dealership. I emailed him a full list of the issues that I’d had from day 1. I told him that I no longer want the car as it’s been faulty since the day of purchase, I didn’t feel safe driving it and I didn’t trust their staff to fix the issues. I did however say I was happy for them to replace the car. He replied asking me to list the issues with the car and he would get them looked into. I told him that I wasn’t going to list the issues again as I had already done so (which he had obviously ignored). They picked up my car yesterday and have given me a courtesy car. The Principle emailed me today to say they had replaced the starter motor and this should’ve sorted all of the issues. He also said they had changed the brake fluid (as far as I was concerned there was no issue with the brakes). He mentioned nothing about the other issues such as the ticking from the engine, the broken air vent and the faulty windshield wipers so these problems clearly haven’t been fixed. He then said that they would have to appraise the car to get it revalued to obtain an accurate part exchange price for it against another car and to see what it’s worth against what’s left on the finance. So basically I’m going to be punished financially if I exchange the car.

When I first submitted the complaint I called the finance company (Pendragon) to see if they could help in anyway and was told they wouldn’t and everything had to go through Evans’ complaint’s department.

Now I’m stuck because I don’t know what to do. There’s no way I want the car back but I’m stuck in this finance agreement. Ideally I would like to reject the vehicle but would like to know what my chances are in being successful. I’ve read that you only really need to give them one attempt at fixing the problem before you reject, and judging by his email he has completely ignored all of the other issues I told him about. I’ve had the car for 2 months, and had numerous issues with both the dealership and the car, I can’t have another 4 years with this car and this Evans Halshaw branch.

Any advice would be appreciated!

flashg67

I believe the finance co is jointly liable - are you sure the finance is with Pendragon, as this is also the owner of Evans Halshaw.... If the dealer isn't helping, have you complained to their head office?

ABillie8259

Thank you for your reply. We were told that my finance is through Pandragon but I wonder if they just act as the broker.

I haven’t contacted the head office yet because if they’re anything like the staff they employee for their branches I probably won’t get very far. Do you think the head office should be able to help me more that the dealer has?

Ectophile

If you want to know who the finance company is, have a good read of the finance documents - it should say. Your rights are against the finance company, not the broker.


I really don't know whether you have a right to reject. You can only really reject the car if it's not fit for purpose. All the major problems now seem to have been fixed, and you are still using the car. It's hard to claim that it's not fit for purpose if you're still driving it around.


The other things look like niggly problems that can be fixed under warranty.

forgotmyname

You drove around for 31 days with a punctured tyre.

The slash in the tyre is because you drove with it underinflated..

Issue with the wiper im guessing the rubbers were worn/split and you left the wipers on which caused the scratches?

Assume the vent was broken when your bought it?

So 1 faulty starter motor??

System

Hi there
I feel your pain as I recently purchased a faulty car from Evans Halshaw and Evans Halshaw are being extremely unhelpful despite me paying for an extended warrenty.
What was the outcome of your problem and do you have any tips for how to deal with it?!

Thanks so much in advance

societys_child

do you have any tips for how to deal with it?

Wouldn't hold your breath waiting for a reply.

The op made 2 posts last May and hasn't been heard from since.