Legality of Used Car Dealer Post Sale Demands

NessAds

Hi Everyone,

3 weeks ago my hubby collected a used Vaux Insignia from a used car dealer. He traded in his 10 reg VW Passat Est for £2000 as part of the deal & paid £3000 cash (no credit). He also paid an additional £350 to have a removable towbar fitted prior to collection (for our camping trailer).

When test driving the Insignia he pointed out it was losing power in 5th/6th gear & the dealer duly noted this on paperwork for it to be rectified before collection.

3 days after collecting the car we drove Manchester to Cornwall (325 miles). Part way through the journey the fault re-surfaced resulting in a massive amount of fuel being used & a stressful journey. After spending 3 days in limp mode & not being able to go very far, it was fixed locally at the dealer's expense.

On the way home the flywheel & clutch went. We completed the last 100 miles on the back of a recovery truck.

The dealer agreed to repair the car & at no point asked for any contribution - great!!! But on collecting the car he demanded a £450 contribution as he said the turbo had gone on the Passat we traded in during a test drive. He's now saying he's taken legal advice and wants to cancel the deal - give us the Passat back & him have the Insignia back.

Before we go any further with him, can anyone advise whether he can legally do this? He told us he would pay for the repair & only asked for a contribution after it was done because the turbo had gone on the other car.

As a side note, I lost my job the same day the car came out of the garage & the dealer wanted the £450 (bummer of a day!!!) so we really can't afford to give him any money. If what he's demanding is legal we'll have to undo the deal & use some of the £3k we put in to repair the turbo on the Passat. But what about the £350 we paid for the towbar, the extra £20 fuel we used getting to Cornwall &, the lost 3 days of our holiday.

Thanks for any help!!

System

No he can't reverse the deal, he can't ask you for a contribution but he does have to fix the car.

NessAds

Thanks for the reply

The car is repaired and we do have it back. We didn't think he'd pay for the clutch & flywheel as it's a wear & tear thing so we were over the moon when he said he'd do it. It just turned sour when, according to him, the turbo on the trade-in went during a test drive. At that point the new (to us) car was already in the garage the dealer uses & in the process of being repaired. We knew nothing about him changing his mind about paying the full bill until hubby went to collect it after it was done.

If he'd said in the first place he'd either pay part or even nothing we'd have accepted it as it's not something he could have been aware of beforehand & not covered on the warranty (plus I still had a job at that point so wouldn't have worried about the cost).

sevenhills

NessAds wrote: »

3 weeks ago my hubby collected a used Vaux Insignia from a used car dealer. He traded in his 10 reg VW Passat Est for £2000 as part of the deal & paid £3000 cash (no credit). He also paid an additional £350 to have a removable towbar fitted prior to collection (for our camping trailer).

When test driving the Insignia he pointed out it was losing power in 5th/6th gear & the dealer duly noted this on paperwork for it to be rectified before collection.

You haven't said what warranty you got when you bought the car, something in writing I assume.

NessAds

The warranty is just a standard 3 month & wouldn't cover wear & tear issues. The loss of power fault was eventually fixed & the dealer paid as the fault was present & he agreed to rectify pre-purchase.

I appreciate he didn't have to pay for the clutch/flywheel but he agreed (verbally) to repair at no cost to us. It was only after the turbo failed on the car we'd traded in (no sign of any problems when we had it) that he decided he wanted us to pay £450 or undo the deal. We only found this out after the work was completed & went to collect the car back from him.

waamo

It sounds like an idea he came up with after a liquid lunch.

NessAds

waamo wrote: »

It sounds like an idea he came up with after a liquid lunch.

Thanks for that - that one sentence has made my day :rotfl:

unholyangel

I would bet everything I own that either:

1) he hasn't taken legal advice or,
2) the person giving him that "legal advice" lacks even a basic understanding of contract law (probably a mate down the pub) or,
3) he's been given legal advice but has massively misunderstood that advice.

When you buy from a private individual (as the trader has done from you) there are no implied terms as to quality or fitness. However as a consumer buying from a business, there are implied terms as to quality and fitness (even for second hand goods) - which possibly would cover the flywheel issue depending on age, price paid and whether a reasonable person would expect it to go so soon. As a consumer, any lack of conformity in the first 6 months is assumed to be inherent unless the trader proves otherwise.

wgl2014

So the trader now wants to swop your repaired and fully functional Insignia for his broken Passat......

I would suggest you politely declined!!!!!

Whilst the clutch and flywheel can be considered wear and tear items they were obviously at the end of their life when you were sold the car, I would suggest that the dealer was responsible for these anyway.

Aretnap

Your rights as a consumer buying from a trader are completely different from his rights as a trader buying from a consumer (or private individual).

Even if the turbo had been playing up at the time you traded in the Passat, he would have no comeback unless you actually misrepresented the condition of the car to him - ie unless you told him that the car's condition was better than it actually was. Otherwise it's his responsibility to check the condition of the car he's buying - he's the one who (allegedly) knows about cars after all.

So in other words, you can tell him to take a long walk off the proverbial short pier for his £450.

motorguy

NessAds wrote: »

But on collecting the car he demanded a £450 contribution as he said the turbo had gone on the Passat we traded in during a test drive. He's now saying he's taken legal advice and wants to cancel the deal - give us the Passat back & him have the Insignia back.

Before we go any further with him, can anyone advise whether he can legally do this?

As has been said, he hasnt any right to money off you, nor to reverse the deal.

I'd also say he knew the flywheel was going on the Insignia when he sold it to you and had budgeted for it but maybe hoped he'd "get away with it" for the three months duration of the warranty, thus its come as no surprise when the phone rang.

Any trader worth their salt would know (a) Insignias are notorious for it (usually before or around 80,000 miles) and (b) how to listen for it (its quite easy to detect one thats on its way out.