Bought car, head gasket blew 29 days later

lincroft1710

greendoor665 wrote: »

If that fails, it's small claims court and I'm sure we'll win against this mug.

Winning at Small Claims is only half the battle, actually getting your money can be harder. Dodgy car dealers are well known for "phoenixing".

greendoor665

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Winning at Small Claims is only half the battle, actually getting your money can be harder. Dodgy car dealers are well known for "phoenixing".

Yes I know...hoping that either they will refund or that a debit card chargeback will work.

They're a registered limited company, the director has only one previous directorship which was a non trading company unrelated to car sales.

greendoor665

Phoned them again today. The dealer used the same tactics as yesterday, trying various lines such as the car was sold as seen (lie), we have no warranty (irrelevant), 30 days have passed (not since I first let them know) etc.

No more calls, time to write a letter before action!

shaun_from_Africa

Don't forget that should it get as far as court, you are still responsible for proving that the fault exists and more importantly, that the fault was present or due to something that was present when the car was sold.
If the judge asks for this proof and you can't supply it, they may well dismiss the case.

greendoor665

But even if we weren't entitled to a refund under the short term right to reject, we'd still be entitled to a repair or refund under the 30 day to 6 month rule, in which case the responsibility for proving the fault didnt exist is down to the dealer?

As it stands the dealer is refusing to deal with this at all and denying that we have any rights. Surely the magistrate would take a dim view of their conduct so far?

How could I prove that the fault existed when the car was sold? A mechanic's report? I'm reluctant to throw good money after bad at this point.

I believe the dealer certainly couldn't prove that the fault didn't exist. I think they either sold us a faulty car deliberately, or failed to check the car properly before selling it.

chuffniut

greendoor665 wrote: »

But even if we weren't entitled to a refund under the short term right to reject, we'd still be entitled to a repair or refund under the 30 day to 6 month rule, in which case the responsibility for proving the fault didnt exist is down to the dealer?

As it stands the dealer is refusing to deal with this at all and denying that we have any rights. Surely the magistrate would take a dim view of their conduct so far?

How could I prove that the fault existed when the car was sold? A mechanic's report? I'm reluctant to throw good money after bad at this point.

I believe the dealer certainly couldn't prove that the fault didn't exist. I think they either sold us a faulty car deliberately, or failed to check the car properly before selling it.

Firstly, you aren't entitled to a refund because you can't prove the fault was existing at the point of delivery. The fact you have done 1000 miles in the car also suggests this wasn't there when the car was sold to you. It would be very difficult to prove to a judge that the car had a blown headgasket at the point of sale. The dealer doesn't have to prove anything at this point. You're not entitled to a refund from day 31 to 6 months unless the dealer has had an opportunity to repair and failed in doing so. So I'd forget about getting a refund right now.

The dealer is undoubtedly fobbing you off, the term "sold as seen" or "trade clearance" is simply smoke and mirrors and trading standards would be most interested in the dealers if you can prove they are operating with such tactics.

You're entitled to a repair because the goods supplied are not of satisfactory quality and no judge would disagree with that imo. You've had the car less than a month and you're entitled to expect it to not develop a major fault in that time.

Chances are the dealer hasn't sold you a faulty car (1000 miles later suggests it wasn't faulty) and he may well have checked it thoroughly. It's just unfortunate that this has happened. You've paid £1600 for a used car, it is end of life, it's expected that there will be problems of some degree or another.

But I'd say 100% you have a right to repair. I reckon what will happen is if you write an lba demanding a repair under the CRA 2015 the dealer may well give you a refund anyway to get rid of you, fix the car and resell to someone else.

At worst you'll get a repair, or you should do. Be prepared to saddle up though, it doesn't look like the dealer is behaving himself. He's basically hoping you'll disappear. Forget getting a refund for now and focus on getting what you're entitled to, a repair.

To answer how you prove the fault was existing at the point of sale, well, in your case, you can't. The fault has developed. If you had the car for say 20 miles and this happened, well, that would be different. Or, if you had the car 300 miles and the gearbox vomited on your drive. Gearboxes don't just give up in such a short space of time.

But headgaskets COULD fail over 1000 miles so don't waste your time trying to prove something you can't. Bear in mind you have bought a used car from a dealer, you're entitled to some recourse but you have bought an end of life car and need to accept that.

greendoor665

OK, thanks for that, certainly food for thought!

One point I forgot to mention, the dealer didn't write the mileage down on the receipt or any documentation so they can't prove how many miles we've done...

chuffniut

greendoor665 wrote: »

OK, thanks for that, certainly food for thought!

One point I forgot to mention, the dealer didn't write the mileage down on the receipt or any documentation so they can't prove how many miles we've done...

They don't have to prove anything at this stage.

If in theory, this went to court you may be asked for your proof that the fault was pre-existing, you may also be asked how many miles you covered. Unless of course, you're planning on telling fibs the truth will out. You can't provide proof of the fault being a pre-existing one so your right to a refund under the 30 day short term right to reject is nullified. Push for a repair though.

greendoor665

Unsurprisingly they didn't respond to our LBA. We have now initiated a chargeback request with my partner's bank. We have plenty of evidence to submit - screenshot of the auto trader advert, proof of postage of our LBA, letter from the breakdown company etc.

Really hoping this will work, otherwise it looks like small claims court is our only option. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that as it will mean it's going to be months with this useless car sitting outside my house.

societys_child

as it will mean it's going to be months with this useless car sitting outside my house.

It wasn't useless for the first 1000 miles though . .


Good luck.