Car has developed fault, what are my rights?

Nelumbo

I bought a used car from a independent dealer (Ltd) company,  but yesterday, exactly a month later it developed a fault which made the car undrivable. He had put a months warranty on it. I have sent the car back to the seller to look at, he said if he can fix it he will, but wouldn't answer what would be done if it was a major problem
What are my rights if I want to just get my money back? I am a little concerned that even if the issue is fixed, it may only be temporary and that I won't be confident it will not happen again
I was looking up the consumer rights act and its says I have a right for a replacement, repair or refund, but does that mean he only has to refund if he can't repair, or can I say I don't want to wait for a repair, and as my confidence in the car has gone now, I want a refund?

Grumpy_chap

What is the fault?  It may be 'minor' even though the car is undriveable.  A failed starter motor make a car undriveable.

DiddyDavies

What date did you collect the car and was it yesterday or today that you returned it back to the seller.
The exact date of purchase is important as legally you have 30 days to reject the car if it's faulty and this 30 days starts the day after you took possession of it.

Spank

How old is the car?

Hasbeen

Nelumbo said:

I bought a used car from a independent dealer (Ltd) company,  but yesterday, exactly a month later it developed a fault which made the car undrivable. He had put a months warranty on it. I have sent the car back to the seller to look at, he said if he can fix it he will, but wouldn't answer what would be done if it was a major problem
What are my rights if I want to just get my money back? I am a little concerned that even if the issue is fixed, it may only be temporary and that I won't be confident it will not happen again
I was looking up the consumer rights act and its says I have a right for a replacement, repair or refund, but does that mean he only has to refund if he can't repair, or can I say I don't want to wait for a repair, and as my confidence in the car has gone now, I want a refund?

So what was the fault?

The dealer as you say, can replace, repair or refund.

If your confidence is gone in a car breaking down then there are not many alternative cars you can then buy in future.

MalMonroe

This is what Citizens Advice says - https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/buying-or-repairing-a-car/problems-with-a-used-car/

A few years ago I bought a car from a car mechanic who runs his own small repair garage and it turned out to be a load of rubbish. I was in despair and asked if I could return it and have my money back. It also had a short warranty which had expired by the time the vehicle collapsed, six weeks after purchase.

The mechanic said no. I had paid by credit card and so I applied for a refund under Section 75. There was some back and forth with documents and phone calls but eventually I received a full refund, together with a small sum as compensation. And the credit card company even sent me a 'posh' bouquet of flowers!  I used the rubbish car as part-exchange on a different, more reliable older car.

I recently sold that car (a truly reliable but old Toyota Yaris) and leased a 4 year old car on a PCP agreement, £1k deposit, 0% finance for two years and repayments of £55 per month. I find that's a better thing for me since the car is newer than anything I could ever afford to buy outright and if anything major goes wrong - which I don't expect as the car has had a full service and passed the MOT - I'll return it to the dealer (Toyota again, I'm now a loyal customer!) for them to sort out, as per the agreement we both signed. When the two year agreement is over I can pay the outstanding amount (which I was told about in advance) and the car's mine, swap it for a newer one with a new agreement, or return it with nothing to pay.  That's something you could think about?

In my experience, you can never trust that a car isn't going to let you down, even if it's fresh from the factory. That's why I always pay for full breakdown cover including home start. I like to be fully covered.

I hope that's helpful. If not, please feel free to ignore completely. 

Grumpy_chap

MalMonroe said:

A few years ago I bought a car from a car mechanic who runs his own small repair garage and it turned out to be a load of rubbish. I was in despair and asked if I could return it and have my money back. It also had a short warranty which had expired by the time the vehicle collapsed, six weeks after purchase.

The mechanic said no. I had paid by credit card and so I applied for a refund under Section 75. There was some back and forth with documents and phone calls but eventually I received a full refund, together with a small sum as compensation. And the credit card company even sent me a 'posh' bouquet of flowers!  I used the rubbish car as part-exchange on a different, more reliable older car.

I am not knowledgeable on S75 claims, but this seems exceptional.

AIUI, when a S75 claim is accepted by the CC, they in turn recover the funds from the supplier.

Having involvement only with regard to the finance aspect of the transaction and not being involved with the practical execution of the supply, the CC do not have additional funds with which to support the payment of compensation and / or flowers.

Once the car has been refunded by the CC, then the car should be returned to the supplying dealer, who by this time is "down" by both the car and the refund.  If the refund was not recovered by the CC from the supplying dealer, then the car should become the property of the CC who can sell for the residual value and mitigate their loss.

The idea that there is a sustainable business model that can allow the purchase value of a car, plus compensation, plus flowers to be refunded plus for the purchaser to retain the car / value of the car is truly remarkable.  In my book, it is tantamount to theft.  For most people, a full refund and then to be rid of the car with no further ado would be sufficient recompense.

In fact, this is even more so with a car, where only the relatively small deposit has to be on CC to cover the whole purchase under S75.  The CC would have to recover the money from the dealer, as the total value of refund might well be significantly higher than value processed through the CC.  Even a very low cost car ("old banger") for something like £1k, which may have been fully paid on the card, the idea of being able to have a full refund plus compensation plus flowers plus keep the car is preposterous.

I am not disputing what is reported as having happened, by simply pointing put the obvious that this is not a viable sustainable way for any business or CC to trade.

lincroft1710

Grumpy_chap said:

MalMonroe said:

A few years ago I bought a car from a car mechanic who runs his own small repair garage and it turned out to be a load of rubbish. I was in despair and asked if I could return it and have my money back. It also had a short warranty which had expired by the time the vehicle collapsed, six weeks after purchase.

The mechanic said no. I had paid by credit card and so I applied for a refund under Section 75. There was some back and forth with documents and phone calls but eventually I received a full refund, together with a small sum as compensation. And the credit card company even sent me a 'posh' bouquet of flowers!  I used the rubbish car as part-exchange on a different, more reliable older car.

I am not disputing what is reported as having happened, by simply pointing put the obvious that this is not a viable sustainable way for any business or CC to trade.

But had it been a post from a poster with a much lower post count, it would be verging on the unbelievable.

Grumpy_chap

Definitely quite remarkable!

Flight3287462

Grumpy_chap said:

Definitely quite remarkable!

I suspect there are issues there!

Grumpy_chap

Hunyani_Flight_825 said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Definitely quite remarkable!

I suspect there are issues there!

Sorry, I don't follow....