Bought used car from dealership with faulty clutch - what are my rights?

Great_Wanderer

Hi, looking for some help form those who may have had similar experiences.
I purchased a car from a used dealership on June 23rd that was juddering when reversing and taking off from standstill. I only found this out when driving home from there as they parked the car our front of their dealership for me when buying - the car park they had had no space to drive around in and they told me it was serviced the day before and had a clean bill of health so no road test was needed as they had drive it for an hour and half the day before without issues.
Thinking it was me getting used to the new car's handling I never called them to tell them this issue was present, but three weeks later it still persisted so I took it to a local garage who tells the whole clutch and slave cylinder needs replacing at a cost of £600. I bought the car without extended warranty as I'm covered by law for any faults appearing within 30 days of the purchase and a repair or replacement for up to six months after. The whole 'wear & tear' thing does not cover a vehicle bought with the fault present at the time of purchase so they can't use that excuse.
I have emailed the dealership who should be responding today stating that I can return the car for a full refund, they can repair it, my local garage can repair it and invoice the dealership, or I can cover the cost of repair and they can reimburse me.
I know they're going to try to feign ignorance, blame me or try to get out of paying anything - if they do what course of action do you think I should take?

Mercdriver

Never EVER buy a car without road testing it.  

tacpot12

You need to be persistent in asserting your rights. However, you have not done yourself any favours by not taking the car for a test drive, and not returning the car immediately the problem showed itself. The dealership can easily assert that the fault was not present when you bought the car - it is just your word against theirs. When did you tell the dealership about the fault; was this within 30 days of purchasing the car? If so, then you are lucky as you are entitled to a refund as the car is not as described, nor is it of sufficient quality making allowance for its age. Make sure you have the local garage's report in writing. 

If you can return the car for refund I would do so. Take the car and a dated letter that says "Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, this car should be of a satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. My rights have been breached because the car you sold me is faulty and doesn’t match the description you gave of it. I would like you to put this right by giving me a refund within 5 working days.”  Be ready to leave the car with them to inspect as they have a right to determine that the fault you say is present is actually present. They should do so promptly; don't let them suggest that there might be any delay in getting the car into the workshop. Call them every day they have the car to see if they have determined that the fault is present. After two days, write a letter before action - Which Magazine has templates. 

ToxicWomble

As above - you are beyond the 30days now so hopefully you Informed the dealership a couple of weeks ago.
Also what car/age/mileage ?

m0bov

Best come back once you know what they say rather than assume you have a battle on your hands...

AdrianC

Great_Wanderer said:

I bought the car without extended warranty as I'm covered by law for any faults appearing within 30 days of the purchase and a repair or replacement for up to six months after. The whole 'wear & tear' thing does not cover a vehicle bought with the fault present at the time of purchase so they can't use that excuse.

Wrong, sorry.

30 days is the time in which you have an absolute right to a refund.
6 months is the point at which the balance of probability as to whether a fault was present at the time changes from the vendor proving it wasn't, to the buyer proving it was.

But that's if a fault is outside of those reasonable to expect for used goods of that age, price and apparent condition.

Reasonable wear and tear most certainly IS allowed for in that. Reasonable expectations of a 15yo, 150k, <£1k shed are radically different from those of a 6mo, 1k mile near-new, manufacturer approved-used.

So you've bought a car, without test driving it, with no warranty, and you've not reported a clutch issue to the vendor until somewhere between three and six weeks post-purchase - and after letting somebody else work on it. Chuck us the keys to a brand new car, and I will happily trash the clutch for you within an hour.

Great_Wanderer

ToxicWomble said:

As above - you are beyond the 30days now so hopefully you Informed the dealership a couple of weeks ago.
Also what car/age/mileage ?

I informed them 5 days ago as they needed to know that the issue had been present from day one. Car has just over 100,000 miles on it Peugeot 3008.

Great_Wanderer

tacpot12 said:

You need to be persistent in asserting your rights. However, you have not done yourself any favours by not taking the car for a test drive, and not returning the car immediately the problem showed itself. The dealership can easily assert that the fault was not present when you bought the car - it is just your word against theirs. When did you tell the dealership about the fault; was this within 30 days of purchasing the car? If so, then you are lucky as you are entitled to a refund as the car is not as described, nor is it of sufficient quality making allowance for its age. Make sure you have the local garage's report in writing. 

If you can return the car for refund I would do so. Take the car and a dated letter that says "Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, this car should be of a satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. My rights have been breached because the car you sold me is faulty and doesn’t match the description you gave of it. I would like you to put this right by giving me a refund within 5 working days.”  Be ready to leave the car with them to inspect as they have a right to determine that the fault you say is present is actually present. They should do so promptly; don't let them suggest that there might be any delay in getting the car into the workshop. Call them every day they have the car to see if they have determined that the fault is present. After two days, write a letter before action - Which Magazine has templates. 

Points well made. As mentioned I though it was me getting used to the car and not a fault, which is why I took it to a garage to verify if there was a fault after realizing the 30 days limit had passed. I informed the dealer of the potential fault before taking it to the garage and confirmed it was an pre-existing fault with the garage upon inspection - meaning the fault existed at the point of sale and so certainly happened within the first 30 days of its purchase.

macman

Great_Wanderer said:

ToxicWomble said:

As above - you are beyond the 30days now so hopefully you Informed the dealership a couple of weeks ago.
Also what car/age/mileage ?

I informed them 5 days ago as they needed to know that the issue had been present from day one. Car has just over 100,000 miles on it Peugeot 3008.

You purchased it on 23/6/20. So your 30-day rejection rights expired on 23/7/20. You didn't inform them until 31/7/20: 8 days too late. It doesn't matter when the fault was present from: the right to reject it must be used within those 30 days.
You are making a lot of optimistic assumptions based on your misunderstanding of CRA 2015.

Carrot007

Great_Wanderer said:

ToxicWomble said:

As above - you are beyond the 30days now so hopefully you Informed the dealership a couple of weeks ago.
Also what car/age/mileage ?

I informed them 5 days ago as they needed to know that the issue had been present from day one. Car has just over 100,000 miles on it Peugeot 3008.

So potentially 12 year old and an expected wear and tear item or what? Age is the most important factor. Also how much you paid comes into it too (in regards of what you can expect as a resolution).

The_Fat_Controller

Why on earth did you not take the car for a test drive ?
It's going to be your and your mechanics's word against theirs as to when the fault occurred.
"Sorry mate, you've had it for 5 weeks and wrecked the clutch"