Vehicle purchased but discovered issues

mrMonkey123

Hi - purchased a vehicle recently (a couple of weeks ago) from a car dealer. The car I bought was in need of a clean inside (I pointed out the dirt on the seats) and one of the windows didn't work.
As I needed access to a vehicle quickly I agreed with the trader that I would clean the dirt that I'd pointed out and get the window fixed but he would knock a (little) money off the price of the vehicle.

When we got the vehicle home we began cleaning it, We lifted the floor to the boot up (which we hadn't done in the show room) and, to our horror, we found it was swimming in a thick layer of animal (I assume dog) faeces and urine. We cleaned this out and shampooed the car (obviously not happy with the state of it) but after opening the boot floor we couldn't get rid of the smell.

We then sent the car for a service after which we were told all the electrics had been eaten/gnawed at by mice and would be a huge job to repair.

Obviously when we bought the vehicle we weren't aware that the electrics were eaten by mice.

The service centre advised me that the best course of action was to return the car and get a refund.

I contacted the dealer - there were 2 contacts there. The first person I spoke to I explained what the service centre had told me and that I wanted to return the car. Their response was "if there's nothing wrong with the car you can't return it" and then hung up on me.

The second person I spoke to said "you can't prove that the mice hadn't got into the car while parked at your house and done the damage after you bought it".

Given that no other cars on our street have ever had problems with mice eating the electrics I think it's obvious the damage was already done (and keep in mind the damage is extensive and the service centre suspects there will be dead mice in the body work if they took it apart.

The more I think about it, the more it feels that this vehicle was left somewhere, open, where dogs had access to it and were using it as a lavatory and also mice used it as their home.

Basically - I want to return the car and get a full refund as it's certainly not at the standard I thought it was when I bought it. Plus the electrics being eaten by mice wasn't known to me.

I've looked into this dealer (wish I'd done so before buying the car) and they have a very bad reputation and have been to court before for selling dangerous vehicles.

I've asked for their formal complaints procedure (not expecting them to help there) but they have blocked my calls and messages.

Thankfully I paid for the car on CC so I'm chasing this up with CC company to see if there's anything they can do.

However - in need to write a letter to the dealer explaining what I found in writing. I'm not holding out for a response given what I've experienced from them so far.

I just wondered if there is any advice anyone could give and what sort of chance I stand against these guys?

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

lincroft1710

It seems very odd that a dog would use the boot of a car as a toilet unless it was shut up inside for a long time. What sort of car owner would let their vehicle get in such a state.

Did you not check than all the electrical items were working before you left the dealer's premises? Was it an expensive car?

mrMonkey123

I checked lights, indicators etc but I think the damage done to the electrics effects sensors etc.

I really don’t know how anyone could get a vehicle in that state.

Sea_Shell

Did you not SMELL anything. Surely the whole car would've reeked!!

mrMonkey123

At the point of sale it smelled like a car that had been sitting for a while - a little stale. It was when we opened the boot floor that the smell revealed itself. And I mean, really revealed itself.

[Deleted User]

There's millions of cars for sale - why on earth did you pick one that needed so much work?

mrMonkey123

That's a fair question - we needed a car that day for the following week - school run etc. Without one the week would have been very difficult.

I appreciate it seems like an odd thing to do but on the surface it didn't seem too bad and given it was the end of the day and I needed to sort something that day I took a chance.

However - I still think the mice-eaten electronics and animal excrement are beyond anything that I was aware of on the day.

And - I do appreciate the "why did you do that" question but I'd also be grateful of any advice as to anything I can do about it.

baza52

have you driven / used the car other than to take it for a service?

mrMonkey123

Yes - we did the school run in it last week.

We also all got ill at the same time (despite cleaning the car thoroughly)

Not saying the sickness was due to the car but it does seem like an odd coincidence.

Basically - the service centre said the electronics were all eaten by mice and the problem, they suspected, would be much worse if they took the car apart.

baza52

if the electronics were all eaten the car would not drive and nothing would work.
Have the service centre said exactly what parts were eaten and presumably now not working?
Did they run a diagnostic check and find any fault codes?

Aylesbury_Duck

How much did you pay for the car?

If "all the electrics" have been eaten by mice, how on earth did you even start the car, let alone drive it.