Dodgy car dealers - advice please!

antagonjst

Hi everyone,

I’m new to this forum, so hope I’m doing this right. Last Sunday I bought a car on finance from a dealership a fair distance from myself, and I also bought their ‘lifetime warranty’ on top (I now know that was a silly decision, but we’ll get to that). There are several issues with the car, however the people at the dealership have been hostile and uncooperative, I think they have seized an opportunity to take advantage of a relatively young buyer and are not backing down, so I’m trying to confirm what my rights are.

Within a couple of days it was clear that the car is not fit for purpose. The engine rattles and shakes far more than a 4 year old/28,000 mileage car should. There is a loud grinding noise when the car breaks, and a loud high-pitched noise when the car reverses. On top of this the key is bent, and there are some cosmetic issues such as a dashboard warning light being stuck lit up, and a crack in the rear brake light which was addressed at the time of sale.

I called up the dealership within two days of buying the vehicle, letting them know that there were issues and I planned on bringing the car back to discuss my options. So on Friday I went back to the dealership (I brought my father-in-law with me, knowing that he wouldn’t take any messing around). When I went into their office and let them know I wanted to exercise my 14-day right to withdraw option for the car finance, I was told I would have to pay the £4,875 amount upfront. When we made it clear we wanted to return the car due to it being faulty, the mood instantly changed to defensive and hostile, with them insisting “We don’t do refunds.”

They offered to repair the car at no cost, but it wouldn’t be until this coming Friday (a whole week later) so I made it clear that I didn’t want it repaired, that we felt as though the vehicle had been sold misleadingly. Knowing that we weren’t making any progress, we left (and I left the car in their possession for the time being, I didn’t feel as though it was safe to drive the 40+ miles back home).

I then got in touch with the finance company, who told me that under the Consumers Rights Act 2015 I was entitled to return the car for a refund. They also tried to suggest I don’t think about the 14-day withdrawal for now, and focus on the dealership. I drafted an email detailing all of the faults with the car again and mentioning the Consumers Rights Act, and sent it to the dealership.

Less than an hour later, the dealership phoned me and were again very hostile; they said they were getting mixed messages and that because I wanted to pursue a refund, they were going to dump the car in front of another business and leave it to be crashed into, stolen, towed or whatever else. For this reason I obviously panicked, so under duress I told them to go ahead with the repairs. I called Citizens Advice straight away, who told me that it should be entirely the finance company’s responsibility to deal with this on my behalf, so I called the finance company again. They logged a complaint for investigation, but said that decisions on complaints aren’t reached until 10 days after they’re opened.

My main concern among all this is the timing as far as cancellations/withdrawals go. As far as I understand, I have 14 days after applying for finance to withdraw, I have 30 days after purchasing the car to return it as faulty, and I have 45 days to cancel the warranty. I’ve had it suggested that I should cancel the finance and sign the log book back over to the dealership, the idea being that they have the car in their possession now.

Any advice/details of similar experiences would be appreciated please!

Nearlyold

Just to clarify - I think you have misunderstood what happens if you withdraw from the finance agreement within the 14 days allowed - it is not a method of cancelling the car purchase. When you exercise your right of withdrawal it only cancels the loan - YOU (not the dealer) have to repay the lender the amount you borrowed plus interest accrued for the period the loan was in force and do so within 30 days.

waamo

Didn't you notice issues like the brakes on the test drive?

Ectophile

As stated by Nearlyold, you do not want the 14 day right to cancel the finance. That just leaves you with a car you haven't paid for, and the credit company will want their money.


What you need to look at is Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This makes the credit company jointly liable for any goods that aren't fit for purpose. So if the car dealer should give you your money back, then the credit company is equally responsible for giving you your money back.