[Legal Action] - Set aside judgement - Major car dealership.

lace99 · 12 May 2020 at 11:35AM

Hello all,

I'm a long time lurker but first time poster.

Long story short, I purchased a car a few months ago from a large national dealership. This car came with a number of defects that were not present during sale.

I complained to the dealership involved, but they didn't want to know, so I complained to head office. Head Office didn't bother responding to me. So I sent a letter before action. They again did not respond. I started a claim using MoneyClaim Online, and this company again failed to respond. Judgement was issued in default.

Nearly 3 weeks after default judgement was issued, this company put forward an application to set aside judgement. A hearing has been fixed at my local county court. The purpose of this hearing is so that the defendant's application can be heard.

I assume the defendant is going to be running the excuse of "Covid-19 meant our offices were closed", but they were working from home for the entire time. Surely someone in the last 6 or 7 weeks would have attended the head office to collect post? It's a FTSE 250 company, after all. They must get loads of business critical post coming in, so if they were working from home, is it reasonable to assume someone would have popped into the office (even once a week or fortnight) to collect the post? Nonetheless, after their offices opened, they waited for over a week before submitting the application to set aside.

Nonetheless, where do I stand in all this? I've never been to Court before, so I am quite afraid. If this company successfully get the judgement set aside, do I have to pay their costs? What are my next steps?

I appreciate any help given.

Scrapit · 12 May 2020 at 12:02PM

Have you rejected the car?

k3lvc · 12 May 2020 at 12:07PM

lace99 said:

Hello all,

Long story short, I purchased a car a few months ago from a large national dealership. This car came with a number of defects that were not present during sale.

Not sure whether this is a typo or, if not what sort of 'faults' are we talking about ?
Have the company engaged in any way ? Refused to fix ? Denied the issues ? or have you just jumped the gun with and gone straight to court ?

TonyMMM · 12 May 2020 at 12:07PM

The set aside will be granted (they usually are)
What exactly are you claiming ....a full refund, repair costs, hire car costs ?
As above - did you reject (and return) the car or are you still using it ?

lace99 · 12 May 2020 at 12:23PM

Scrapit said:

Have you rejected the car?

I never rejected the car. I asked for the dealership to put the issues right with the car and/or offer compensation. These issues are as follows:
- Bodywork damage
- The mileage on the odometer was significantly higher than what I purchased the car at, and which was on the sale documentation.
- The car has 2 former owners, when the sale advert specifically said "1 owner car". Not 1 previous owner, but specifically 1 owner. I have proof of this.

They stated the first two issues came about whilst the car was being driven to me for delivery. The point is, I never consented for them (either through contract or verbally) to ever physically drive my car for delivery. It was implied that the car would be delivered on the back of a truck, as they normally are.

The dealership have offered no remedy to fix the issues because of the price I paid for the car.They said they have no margin to fix anything.
This is when I complained to head office. They ignored my letter (which was also sent by email, too).
After 2 or 3 weeks had passed, a letter before action was sent. They ignored this.
This is when court action began.

lace99 · 12 May 2020 at 12:25PM

k3lvc said:

lace99 said:

Hello all,

Long story short, I purchased a car a few months ago from a large national dealership. This car came with a number of defects that were not present during sale.

Not sure whether this is a typo or, if not what sort of 'faults' are we talking about ?
Have the company engaged in any way ? Refused to fix ? Denied the issues ? or have you just jumped the gun with and gone straight to court ?

I never rejected the car. I asked for the dealership to put the issues right with the car and/or offer compensation. These issues are as follows:

- Bodywork damage

- The mileage on the odometer was significantly higher than what I purchased the car at, and which was on the sale documentation.

- The car has 2 former owners, when the sale advert specifically said "1 owner car". Not 1 previous owner, but specifically 1 owner. I have proof of this.

The dealership stated the first two issues came about whilst the car was being driven to me for delivery. The point is, I never consented for them (either through contract or verbally) to ever physically drive my car for delivery. It was implied that the car would be delivered on the back of a truck, as they normally are.

The dealership have offered no remedy to fix the issues because of the price I paid for the car.They said they have no margin to fix anything. This equates to a refusal to fix. I have this in writing.

This is when I complained to head office. They ignored my letter (which was also sent by email, too).

After 2 or 3 weeks had passed, a letter before action was sent. They ignored this.

This is when court action began.

lace99 · 12 May 2020 at 12:27PM

TonyMMM said:

The set aside will be granted (they usually are)
What exactly are you claiming ....a full refund, repair costs, hire car costs ?
As above - did you reject (and return) the car or are you still using it ?

I don't mind if they judgement gets set aside, as I want to expose this company in Court. They have a bad history of selling cars not as described, as per their multiple bad Google reviews online.

I am claiming for repair costs to rectify the bodywork damage (for which I have a quote), plus compensation. Please see above for a breakdown of the faults.

I did not reject the car, and I am still using it.

Thank you.

k3lvc · 12 May 2020 at 12:32PM

Given this is now 'months' ago and you're still using the car I suspect you're on a hiding to nothing. What exactly was the 'bodywork damage' ? Was the 'significantly higher' mileage covered by the delivery as they suggest ? And for the 'keepers' you could have checked this pre-purchase.
Are we talking a manufacturer approved used car or a low end car from a car supermarket ?

lace99 · 12 May 2020 at 12:37PM

k3lvc said:

Given this is now 'months' ago and you're still using the car I suspect you're on a hiding to nothing. What exactly was the 'bodywork damage' ? Was the 'significantly higher' mileage covered by the delivery as they suggest ? And for the 'keepers' you could have checked this pre-purchase.
Are we talking a manufacturer approved used car or a low end car from a car supermarket ?

Large stonechips to the bonnet and front bumper. Scuffing to the wing mirror (looks like it hit a white car). Curbing to one of the alloys.

The salesman on the day told me the car was 1 owner, and it specifically states this in the sales advert.

This is approved used car from a national dealership. They are a main dealer for many different brands. They sell brand new and used approved cars. It is not a car supermarket.