Refund under Consumer Rights of second hand car

mtrehearn

We bought a second hand car in cash from a second hand car dealer on 17/08/2020. Within a few days of having the car we noticed an issue with engine noise whilst in the first 3 gears and another intermittent issue with the car suddenly losing power as if we were pulling in a wrong gear. We spoke to the dealer and we took the car to their preferred garage to get the repairs done. Having picked up the car yesterday the car is still losing power meaning its not really safe to drive. We spoke to the garage and the garage got really nasty about it. They have said that they will try to repair it at another garage but to be honest we just want a refund now given recent events. I understand as we are in the 30 days after purchase we can ask for a refund but where do we stand on it being a used car? We took it for a test drive without any issues losing power but with an intermittent problem that's just the problem - it's intermittent. My wife is also concerned that if we push for a refund it could definitely all go sideways and the dealer will wash his hands of it completely and then refuse to do any more work on it at all. We received an invoice with the car that has a lot of terms in it and we are concerned that some of these may have waived our consumer rights to return the vehicle. Any help would be amazing. We are on day 27 of the 30 days so if we are going to ask for a refund we need to do it now really but we want to make sure we've crossed the ts and dotted the is. Thank you. 

AdrianC

You've already notified them, so the clock has stopped. If they don't accept the rejection, then you need to physically return the car and all paperwork, then take them to court for the money. <£10k is a small claim, above that is more complicated and expensive.

You cannot waive your legal rights, and the court will take a dim view of them trying to impose any terms that aim to do that.

How old a car, what price? Your rights are tempered by reasonable expectations, so if it's an old, very cheap car the position may be different to if it's something newer.

mtrehearn

We've notified them of the issues but when asking about a refund we have been fobbed off. What has the clock stopped on sorry? The 30 days? It's a 2007 Peugeot 207 and we paid £1795.00 for it. AdrianC said:

You've already notified them, so the clock has stopped. If they don't accept the rejection, then you need to physically return the car and all paperwork, then take them to court for the money. <£10k is a small claim, above that is more complicated and expensive.

You cannot waive your legal rights, and the court will take a dim view of them trying to impose any terms that aim to do that.

How old a car, what price? Your rights are tempered by reasonable expectations, so if it's an old, very cheap car the position may be different to if it's something newer.

Mercdriver

They can't tell you after 30 days that you are outside the 30 days as you notified them of the issue inside the 30 day limit.  So basically they can't sit on their heads until day 31 and say SOL.

mtrehearn

Mercdriver said:

They can't tell you after 30 days that you are outside the 30 days as you notified them of the issue inside the 30 day limit.  So basically they can't sit on their heads until day 31 and say SOL.

Thank you. Do we not have to request the refund within 30 days though if we are going to ask for it? From what I've seen I thought we had up to 30 days to reject the car? 

Mercdriver

No need to request the refund in the first 30 days, I'd be tempted to do so in any case even before the 30 days are up.  You will need to get the vehicle back to the dealer.  If you are prepared to give the dealer one more shot, let him know in writing that you reserve the right to return it for refund.

sweetsand

mtrehearn said:

Mercdriver said:

They can't tell you after 30 days that you are outside the 30 days as you notified them of the issue inside the 30 day limit.  So basically they can't sit on their heads until day 31 and say SOL.

Thank you. Do we not have to request the refund within 30 days though if we are going to ask for it? From what I've seen I thought we had up to 30 days to reject the car? 

Dear OP
Sorry to hear about the poor experiences with your new car.
Everyone forgets to mention this and it is imports, please, please have something in writing that you have advised them about rejecting the car and they have confirmed this. This will give you piece of mind.
IMO, main delaers are a bit more expensive than side street garages and judging by your post I'm safely guessing its a small, indy garage. Buy from a main dealer as they are a lot better with customer care if you buy a brand new or used car.

ATB
x

Dr_Crypto

How would you know as I thought you only drove luxury motors? 

Mercdriver

OP - Treat the above advice by Mr/Ms Sweetsand with some caution. Main dealer prices tend to be higher and customer service isn't always better in the same regard as the prices.  This poster swears by main dealers as they 'have a stable of top end cars' that they say they change every 10 months.  Nothing wrong with using smaller independent dealers.  The good ones rely on word of mouth to get repeat business as they don't have the marketing budgets of the likes of Arnold Shark etc.  

Dr_Crypto

Mercdriver said:

OP - Treat the above advice by Mr/Ms Sweetsand with some caution. Main dealer prices tend to be higher and customer service isn't always better in the same regard as the prices.  This poster swears by main dealers as they 'have a stable of top end cars' that they say they change every 10 months.  Nothing wrong with using smaller independent dealers.  The good ones rely on word of mouth to get repeat business as they don't have the marketing budgets of the likes of Arnold Shark etc.  

10 months? I thought sweets changed her car when the petrol tank was empty? 

Grumpy_chap

sweetsand said:

IMO, main delaers are a bit more expensive than side street garages and judging by your post I'm safely guessing its a small, indy garage. Buy from a main dealer as they are a lot better with customer care if you buy a brand new or used car.

I don't think there is a direct correlation between main dealers offering better customer care than independent garages.  That could be a matter of opinion though and widely varied between both main dealers and independents.

In this case, the issue of a main dealer charging a bit more because of the better customer care is likely to be irrelevant as it is unlikely that you would find a main dealer stocking a 12 year old car:

mtrehearn said:

 It's a 2007 Peugeot 207 and we paid £1795.00 for it.