Need some help in how to deal with my dispute

Louiscar

Hi all,


I am having trouble deciding the following :
1) how exactly to deal with the problem and ..
2) if I am legally in the right to view it as I am.


so here is the issue:


In January this year I bought (at distance ) a VW from a franchise dealer in New Southgate ( I live in Brighton). I paid £1000 deposit via credit card and the rest by debit card. The car was sold under the Das Welt insurance/ warranty for 1 year.
I also made it clear right at the beginning that I would not buy the car if I had to return to New Southgate for any warranty work and was told that I could go to any VW franchise dealer no problem.



I had very little time to view the car after paying and ended up finding several little things that were wrong but these after much fighting and waiting were settled between us (semi-satisfactorily).


As March arrived and it got hot I discovered 2 more things were wrong:
1) A/C was not working - Transpires it wasn't when I picked it up but testing in cold weather is impossible however, proves they didn't check it.
2) Parking sensors fail when it rains.


So taking the car into my local VW I'm hit with a diagnostic fee of £99 - no one told me about this or that this isn't part of the Das Welt insurance but lets say it's in the small print somewhere. The A/C was approved and the job done however, the franchise pointed out that under Das Welt they could not do the parking sensors as they were not factory fitted.


I was told that they'd need the New Southgate franchise to authorise the repair.
That didn't go well - apart from my past experience of the company ignoring emails or requests for call backs I ended up talking to the sales manager.


This person is not accommodating in any way from my past experience and he stated this to me (after finally finding out that they did indeed retro fit these to the original customer):


1) we have the legal right to examine the car and if necessary fix it.


What he is telling me here is you drive 80 miles drop it off - take the train back and then return by train -- walk an hour from the station and drive the car back - all without any promises to fix the problem. Nevertheless he refused to authorise the local dealer to fix the problem and pay for it.


My position as stated to him was:


1) They had a duty to tell me if any part of the car was NOT covered by the Das Welt.
2) They advertised the parking sensors and the salesperson mentioned them so they had opportunity to point 1) out.
3) I specifically questioned the salesperson about Das Welt work being done locally and this was stated to me as the case.


Since then he's also been contacted by the local franchise again and been told the same thing.



I then tried to contact him twice:
1) Telephone message asking for clarification _ no returned call
2) Written a long email stating his position and mine and asking for a more reasonable solution given what they neglected to point out. - No reply.


So they refuse to talk now. VW Customer care also tried but they say the contract is between me and the franchise so they can't interfer.


SO (and sorry for this long winded explanation)


I see 2 possibilities:


1) Small Claims (possibly but I think I'd have to do more than supply an estimate .. ie. I'd have to get them fixed and actually spend the money)
2) Request my Credit card company to get involved under section 75 but they appear initially uncertain how they can help and asked me to phone back when their legal chaps are around.

The local franchise were kind enough to give me a report including their dealings with the supplier . This includes the cost of a new item even though they say that it's not actually available on this model. Obviously though the new item is a fitted cost which would represent absolute worst case. (email)

The risks I see with the first option is that it can cost me a lot - especially if they put their daily expenses on top and the judge doesn't see it the way I do.


This seems to be down to His legal rights vs my legal rights and which overrides which.


If there are any people who know more about this kind of thing and can tell me what the best way to forward is .. including if I must - forget it and just get it fixed at my expense, I'd be grateful.


Louis

sheramber

From what you say the warranty company are not going to pay for the repair to the parking sensors.

The local franchise want the dealer to agree to them doing the job and the dealer paying their bill for doing it as they have explained

Presumably, the dealer does not want to pay another garage to do a job which will be cheaper for him if done by his mechanics

Aylesbury_Duck

A quick note on the aircon. It's perfectly possible to test it in the winter. Now you've had it recharged, use it all the time, even in the winter. It will keep the system lubricated and help prevent the coolant escaping. It will also stop bacteria growing in the system which will stink at some point.

Louiscar

_sharambler

Das Welt - the VW warranty which is effectively an insurance state that the warranty covers factory fitted parts.
Yes the local franchise didn't do diagnostics once they found out that this wouldn't be covered by Das Welt so they said that the supplying franchise need to authorise the repair.

and .. yes again the supplying franchise want to see the sensors and try to fix it themselves - the question is under the circumstances described am I in the right by getting the repair done locally as was originally promised or is it that even if they didn't tell me they still have the legal right to see the vehicle?
Do they not have a legal duty to tell me if the warranty terms do not apply to certain parts fitted if the whole basis for buying a VW approved used car with Das Welt relies on that so called peace of mind?

_Aylesbury Duck

Thanks yes I'm aware that we need to run it regularly. I did try running it on the way back but it was very cold outside and so I didn't really think i'd know the difference. The condenser was leaking in two places and the system was found to be completely dry.