Please help-Been Sold Dodgy Car! consumer rights

Healthynotwealthy

Hi,
Any advice would be greatly appreciated right now. Purchased a used car from a dealer in September (£8k) ....car is 9 years old. When we arrived home the same day, the computer system was faulty and nothing worked ( it had worked when we test drove it).
We telephoned the dealer, and on the Monday, we drove the car back to him, where he removed all of the computer system to be sent off to be fixed/reprogrammed. This resulted me in driving the car around for a further week with a big hole in the dash (where the computer went) and the air bag warning light on permanently ( due to the disconnection of the wires for the computer)
After a week ( remember, I’ve owned this car a week and have no computer system as it’s getting fixed) the engine warning water coolant light came on .... we telephoned him again and dealer told us to bring car back and he would sort it- in the meantime, he gave me another car to drive around . When he called to say water leak was fixed, I asked him what the problem had been, and he told me it had been a loose clip.I opted not to return him his loan car at that point, and to wait until I could have the car back whole, complete with the fixed computer system- this took a further 3/4 weeks .
After 3/4 weeks, he told me computer was back and in the car and it was good to go, so I returned him loan car and picked up my repaired car. This was on around 19th October.
Last week the engine coolant light came on again and we took the car to our own mechanic who told us immediately that the head gasket had gone and someone had put k sealant ( or similar product) in to try and create a temporary fix.
We telephoned the dealer and relayed this information to him ( husband said he didn’t sound surprised) and he asked us if we took out extended warranty- we hadn’t paid extra for this, and his documents only offered one months warranty ( although I suspect if you added up the actual days I have had the car it’s under 30).... the dealer told my husband and he was sure we had warranty and would email it through to us when he got back to the office.
I emailed him myself at this point ( want some sort of trail in place) and advised of all of the facts that had happened since we have owned the car and that I was looking forward to receiving his email with his warranty.
Dealers email came through stating he thought we had purchased extended warranty , but we hadn’t.He Sid could we please ask our mechanic for a price for fixing the head gasket and email it over to him.
He hasn’t actually said he will pay!
I have emailed hm back stating we didn’t purchase extra warranty as the car is covered for six months under the consumer rights act and I would be emailing him a price for the repair/ replacement of head gasketas soon as my mechanic gives it to me.
He has also told us he is away until next Tuesday ( in the meantime, I need this car for work, and my husband is manually topping up the water every morning to prevent the light from coming on- so far this has been successful)
Sorry for the long post...... but HELP!
Will he pay- does he have to ? And if he does- can he dictate who repairs it, as frankly, unless my mechanic does it, I don’t trust him
Should we ask for a refund in view of all the problems in a short space of time?
I don’t know what to do and am devastated.we bought this car as I have a new job and need it for work. The money was loaned from my Mother ( not that that’s especially relevant, but it was a big deal for us to buy this and not one we took lightly ) what are my rights?
Sorry for the rambling- I just need a steer here.....and also ( in case it’s relevant), my mum was away when we bought the car, so I paid with my credit card and then loaned from my mum to clear the card when she got back.
Thanks for reading my (probably far too long) post

tacpot12

If you allow him to have another go at repairing it, he can dictate who repairs it but because the coolant fault was reported to the dealer and they tried fixing it once, you don't have to allow them a second chance to fix the same fault. You can reject the car now, and I would do so.

The dealer doesn't have to refund the full purchase price of the car, they can deduct an amount for the use you had had of the car.

tacpot12

I can't find whether is a standard methodology for valuing the use of the car. If you end up taking your case to the small claims court, you need to have a clear methodology in mind. Having this should help when approaching the dealer.

You could try determining the expected life of the car, and calculating the depreciation of the car over the time you have had it.

I have seen some dealers suggesting that the HMRC mileage rates could be used to calculate a deduction based on the miles you have driven in the car, but to me this doesn't make sense as the HMRC mileage rates are supposed to cover the full cost of buying and running a car; i.e. depreciation on the purchase price plus maintenance and fuel. But you will have been paying the cost all the maintenance and fuel, so I would say that less than half the HMRC mileage rate actually covers the cost of depreciation.

I think it is fair to equate the value of the use of the car with the depreciation of the car because at the end of the period of use the value of the car has dropped by the amount of the depreciation.

Given that you didn't have the use of your car, but some other car it might be possible to reduce the value of the use of the car, especially if the loan car was smaller, less well equipped, etc.

Hope this helps

tacpot12

Your other option is to use the information above to negotiate that the dealer will pay to have the head gasket fixed by your mechanic. I would speak to the dealer and see if he is prepared to consider this before getting a quotation from your mechanic.


Personally I would not accept a repair by anyone, head gasket faults can be difficult to fix. Your mechanic may have to have the car off the road for quite a while. If so, I would ask the dealer to continue to loan you a car until your mechanic can fix it.

Healthynotwealthy

Thanks for your response - I agree with you re the repair of the head gasket and my mechanic is reliable and I trust him implicitly , hence why , if he’s not going to repair it, then I will definitely be asking for a refund - surely he couldn’t take that much for depreciation as I’ve only had it under 30 days in my possession - also , ( and this is the reason we didn’t ask for a refund initially ) , we have added to the value ( saleability?) as I have paid out an extra £444 to get Bluetooth installed on the computer system by registered VW person - can this be offset against any depreciation ?

wgl2014

Forget the above waffle about depreciation, you have a 9 year old car, it won't depreciate by any real amount in a couple of months. If you had a brand new car then it could be a point.

If you decide to reject the car (which given the issues would seem reasonable) you need to stop using it. Have a look at previous threads on here about what the process is.

DoaM

tacpot12 wrote: »

If you allow him to have another go at repairing it, he can dictate who repairs it but because the coolant fault was reported to the dealer and they tried fixing it once, you don't have to allow them a second chance to fix the same fault. You can reject the car now, and I would do so.

Almost correct ... it doesn't need to be the same fault, any second fault (i.e. goods not conforming to contract for a second time) allows a consumer to reject for a refund.

Normally the refund would be in full if under 6 months, but I believe there's an exception for motor vehicles. But as said above the depreciation of a 9-y-o car after another month or 2 would be negligible.

One caveat to all this ... genuine faults and wear-and-tear need to be separated. On a 9-y-o car this line may blur.

Healthynotwealthy

Thanks for the advice . I have just emailed the dealer and advised him that we would like to reject the car under the Consumers Rights Act and receive a full refund. The car has been in our possession exactly 31 days ( the last 4 of which we have not been able to drive it ) - I have also pointed out that we had paid an additional £444 to get Bluetooth installed .... watch this space ! Am I likely to have to fight for the refund do you think. ?

Healthynotwealthy

.... and I’m doubtful now that I will be able to make a S75 claim via my credit card as the card is mine and the car was put in my husbands name .....?.