Help with a second hand car

DebbieG1967

Hi can anyone help me? I bought a second hand Merc A45 in Oct 2018 from the Merc garage for almost £25000. By Christmas I hadn't driven it much as it was always damp inside and had began to go mouldy. There was mould on the seats and the red seat belts were black. In Jan the garage took it back and dried it out. They said it happened as hadn't been dried out enough when it was valeted in the Oct when we bought it. We picked it up a week later, the seat belts were still stained and they said they would have to have it in to clean it again. Within a few weeks it had started to go mouldy again. It was everywhere, in the boot, on the roof, seats everywhere. On the 16th April the garage picked it up and until today we hadn't heard anything! They emailed today and said this time they had found a leak and that we could have it back. We rang them and they said its been cleaned - again and that they had put in new seat belts. I expressed a concern that there might still be mould under the seats and that I'm not sure I want to keep the car. I've only been able to drive 100 miles since I bought it in Oct as its either been to damp or mouldy, those miles were only done taking it back to the garage the first time! The garage have said if I don't want to keep it they will only give me market value for it and have offered me no compensation. What should I do?

agrinnall

Do you actually need money saving suggestions? It seems to me that anyone who is able to spend £25K on a car then only drive 100 miles in 8 months has more than enough money already.



You'll probably get some consumer advice here, but if you want thoughts on the actual issue with the car you might be better to post on the Motoring board.

DoaM

Was there any mould present when you first viewed the car and agreed to buy it? If no, and the dealer has agreed that they caused the problem (or the fault existed but was not known - i.e. the leak), then given that they've had more than one attempt to resolve the issue you are entitled to reject the vehicle for a full refund*

* Less a minor amount for the reduction in value caused by the mileage you have added to the vehicle. Given that this is only ~100 miles then that would be negligible. If this is what the dealer means by "market value" then that's OK; if they mean the value based on the current condition then they're acting illegally. (See the Consumer Rights Act 2015)

DebbieG1967

How rude!
Its consumer rights I was after.
I didn't realize my personal finances would come under review.

Ectophile

DebbieG1967 wrote: »

What should I do?

Use it more. Get some air through it.



A few years ago, I had a tatty old Land Rover that leaked like a sieve. The floor carpets were often sodden. But it never went mouldy.


Whenever you drive, make sure that the air circulation control is set to fresh air. Make sure that the heater fan is always on, even if it's on the lowest speed. Maybe open the windows.


Alternatively, make full use of the air conditioning. That actually helps dry out the inside of the car.