Do I have any rights on this?

Paulo_Gianinni

Hi all,

New poster to be gentle.

I was shopping for a second had car a month ago and noticed a Mercedes C180. The dealer offered me a good price for my mini so I traded it in. They are both old cars to be clear, the mini 2002 and C180 2003.
I had a test drive and everything seemed fine. There were a few faults that had cropped up in the following month....indicator stalk refused to stay clicked, the locks failed and air conditioning stopped working. More importantly though I was using cruise control on Friday which jammed on and refused to disengage. I was travelling on an A road in roadworks at 40, had to swerve to avoid braking cars in front and ended up in a ditch. I had to rescued by the highways agency. The car has damage which will be a write off by the insurance company. It could have been lot worse to be honest.

The car is being stored in a company by the recovery company. Fortunately I am fully comp so costs etc are covered by the insurance company.

I am wondering though whether the dealer has any responsibility here? The car is 15 years old so I'm not sure. I did look up some the consumer rights regulations and it appears if the car isn't fit for purpose I can ask for a refund within 30 days and have right to repair or replacement after that for 6 months. It is about 4 days past the 30 day deadline.
I did contact the dealer who said as far as he concerned the car had a valid MOT certificate and was roadworthy and he has no further responsibility.
Just to note the difference in price was paid on my credit card.

Please be gentle as I'm completely unsure of where I stand. Any advice is greatly appreciated.


Regards

Mark.

Car_54

Just to clarify: you were driving at 40 under cruise control. Did you try to switch off the CC, or did you brake? If you braked, the CC should have disengaged automatically. If it didn't, there must have been a fault.


Others are more expert on consumer rights than I am, but it seems to me:


1. If the CC was faulty, then that will be hard to prove (and it's the insurance company's problem. Probably not cost-effective).


2. If you are entitled to refund/repair/replacement, won't you have to return the car?

Nasqueron

My CC also disengages if you use the clutch as well as the brake should the switch fail (though I do wonder whether that faulty switch kept overriding the brake use?)

bobbymotors

Never known a cruise control to stay on if you brake.

I rather suspect the truth is being stretched here and it's just an accident.

Paulo_Gianinni

Yeah the clutch also disengages the brake. At the time didn't think of this at the time though. Was just pumping the brake pedal.

Paulo_Gianinni

To bobbymotors.....

You haven't no. But I have and other people have. Use Google, it's your friend. It's free too.

AdrianC

A friend of mine tried a similar "but cruise wouldn't switch off..." excuse when he tail-ended an artic on the motorway, hard enough to crease the roof of a near-new BMW.


He ended up with a careless driving conviction, as well as the insurance claim on his record.

Paulo_Gianinni

Thanks for your lovely story. However that wasn't me, so neither helpful or relevant.

parking_question_chap

Lets put it the other way around.


How do you think the dealer has responsibility for this?


I cant see any.

AdrianC

Paulo_Gianinni wrote: »

Thanks for your lovely story. However that wasn't me, so neither helpful or relevant.

Oh, I dunno. I think it's very relevant, since the situation is pretty much the exact same. The driver tried to pass the buck for his own error...

custardy

So when you stood on the brakes,did the ABS activate?