2nd hand car deposit - service history problem

ba_lamb

I put a £500 deposit on a second hand car from a main dealer on the understanding that they would get the service book from the previous owner. When the service book turned up it was blank! Am I entitled to a refund of my deposit? I made it clear that the service history was an important part of the deal, I was only given a receipt for the deposit, no contract was signed.

Thank you

SHAFT

ba_lamb wrote: »

I put a £500 deposit on a second hand car from a main dealer on the understanding that they would get the service book from the previous owner. When the service book turned up it was blank! Am I entitled to a refund of my deposit? I made it clear that the service history was an important part of the deal, I was only given a receipt for the deposit, no contract was signed.

Thank you

You asked for the book and you've got it so why do you want to back out and break the contract?

Did the dealer claim there was a book full of stamps when they advertised the car? I doubt he did and there will be a digital record somewhere.

ba_lamb

When I went to look at it they said it was one lady owner with full service history. I can’t check the advert though as it’s been taken offline but I wouldn’t be interested in a car that’s never had a service.

alembicbassman

Dealers sometimes store the service record electronically. Ask for a printout of all the service sheets. They can stamp the blank service book from these printouts.

In my opinion there's just as many bad male owners as bad female owners. A lady owner is no guarantee of a better vehicle.

SHAFT

ba_lamb wrote: »

When I went to look at it they said it was one lady owner with full service history. I can’t check the advert though as it’s been taken offline but I wouldn’t be interested in a car that’s never had a service.

So you'll probably find there's one previous keeper on the log book and she's serviced the car at a main dealer who have the history on their computer.

ba_lamb

alembicbassman wrote: »

Dealers sometimes store the service record electronically. Ask for a printout of all the service sheets. They can stamp the blank service book from these printouts.

It’s a car they’ve taken in PX - the owner said a “friend” has been servicing it!

alembicbassman

There's no service history then.

The description is incorrect, if you want to you can renegotiate the price or you can walk away and ask for a refund. The dealer will try and sell you another car, but if there's nothing there stick to your guns and get a refund.

If there's a manufacturers warranty on the vehicle it's void unless you can prove it has been serviced according to their guidelines. (It doesn't have to be a main dealer service history)

You are protected against pre existing faults for a period of six months by law.

Dealers usually offer a 1-3 month dealer warranty in addition to your statutory rights above.

Check the MOT history. It's a good indicator of vehicle condition. Lots of tyres / brakes / suspension advisories indicate a car that's been driven hard.

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

shaun_from_Africa

ba_lamb wrote: »

I can’t check the advert though as it’s been taken offline

If you have no problems with doing so, post as many details of the car and the dealer as you can on here as quite often it's possible to find cached web pages so it might still be able to get a copy of the original advert.

shaun_from_Africa

alembicbassman wrote: »

You are protected against pre existing faults for a period of six months by law.

There is no law that states this.
All that the law does state regarding a 6 month period is that should a fault occur within this period then it is assumed to have been there at the time that the vehicle was sold and if the dealer disputes this then it's up to them to prove otherwise. (Unless the fault occurs within the first 30 days and the consumer wishes to reject the car then they have to prove that the fault was there at the time of sale).

Whether or not the dealer has any obligation to remedy any fault depends on many factors such as the type of fault, age & price of the vehicle, the cause of the fault etc).