Have I been mis-sold my car?

ZaraW

Hi all,

I purchased a used car last week and I believe I might have been mis-sold the car.

To cut a long story short, I previously had a Vauxhall Corsa Energy, 2017 1.4 with a turbo boost engine. I had this car on PCP and was limited to 10,000 miles a year. Due to unpreventable circumstances I had to exceed the number of miles I was limited to and so I spoke to my local Vauxhall dealer about ways I could fix the problem. They said they could give me a Corsa that was exactly the same as my own, that it would be a 2018 model and the only thing I would be losing out on is heated seats and a heated steering wheel (not a big deal at all). This is on Hire Purchase now so miles are no longer an issue over 5 years. When the car arrived at the dealership from England (I am based in N.I.)I was not offered a test drive and I was shown the outside of the car (everything looked exactly the same) and was told that the cleaning team had the keys so I could not see the inside but was assured that it was the same as my own so I had nothing to worry about.

However, upon receiving the car I have noticed a few things that I was not told about. For a start my previous car had 90bhp with a turbo booster (not huge bhp I know), the car I have bought has 75bhp without the turbo booster - there is a noticeable difference in the power of the car and the MPG doesn’t seem as efficient. Therein lies problem number 2, I have no idea what MPG I am getting because the trip computer in the new car doesn’t tell me my MPG or how many miles in left in the fuel tank. The only thing the trip tells me is how many miles I’ve done and a digital reading of the MPH I am driving at. Given that I had to change the car due to the number of miles that I do, having a trip computer that tells me my MPG and miles remaining is essential. The other thing I was not told about is the tax. My previous car was £30 a year, my new car is £140 a year, which I did not find out until I went to the post office to tax the car. There are two other things that I have noticed, the new car also doesn’t have auto wipers or auto lights. These seem trivial but as I was told I was getting the same car that I had, it came as a shock to me that the new car doesn’t have them.

Upon looking at my old car and my new car I have found that the new car is a Corsa Design, and my old car was a Corsa Energy. I have went down two spec levels.

Is there anything I can do about this? The main issues are the engine and the trip computer. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Mercdriver

How much interest are you paying and how much did you lose by selling the other car? How many miles are you doing annually? It could be that you would have been better off paying the excess mileage rather than doing the deal you did.

neilmcl

If you have evidence that your replacement car was supposed to be the exact same model than your old car, albeit without some options, then you will have a strong case.

Stoke

Is there not a cooling off period?

Mercdriver

Stoke wrote: »

Is there not a cooling off period?

Only on the finance, you'd still need to deal with the car and the dealer wouldn't be bound to just take it back especially as it has to be shipped back to the mainland.

foxy-stoat

I think you may of mis-bought your new car. If you can reject it on the basis that is wasn't like for like, assuming you have it in writing from the Sales person that the new car is the same apart from the items you mentioned then happy day.

When you look at buying the next car then you can check the VED rates and power output using the registration number...oh and do look inside and test drive it as well.

rob7475

Short answer is no you weren't mis-sold the car. You should have paid more attention to what they were selling you. Don't just assume that what a sales person tells you is correct.

I wouldn't dream of buying a new car without test driving it or looking inside. I think you need to sit yourself down and have a word with yourself!

motorguy

Mercdriver wrote: »

How much interest are you paying and how much did you lose by selling the other car? How many miles are you doing annually? It could be that you would have been better off paying the excess mileage rather than doing the deal you did.

Or simply take out a low interest personal loan for the whole amount now OR when the car was at the end of the PCP term and drive on at it.

Herzlos

The tax system changed last year, so any 2018 plate will cost more than a 2017, but they should have told you. I don't think you have any comeback unless they told you different though.

Nodding_Donkey

Put simply, no, you weren't mis-sold.


You bought a car without test driving it or even looking inside it.


You were mugged off but you did make it easy for them.

Stoke

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

Put simply, no, you weren't mis-sold.


You bought a car without test driving it or even looking inside it.


You were mugged off but you did make it easy for them.

Agreed....

I think the whole "they refused to let me test drive it", is a bit watery unfortunately. They didn't force you to take the deal.... you agreed to it. When making such a large purchase had I been told "no you can't take it for a test drive", I would have said "no problem, I won't be continuing any further then. Thanks". You'd be surprised how quickly a grin !!!!ing salesman will change his tune if you start pulling money out of his pocket. Test drives aren't just to establish whether the car works or not.... it is to clarify issues like the ones you are raising.

I hope it's resolved in your favour, but I very much doubt it will be.