Section 75 car purchase

cookace

This is a copy of the letter sent to a dealership about a car purchase on 06/05/2018 which is still ongoing. The motor ombudsman has upheld my complaint on 07/06/2020 and found the dealership to be in breach of contract ie: car is not fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality. I’ve applied for a S75 with my credit card should I get a full refund as I paid total amount £11500 on CC.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Due to you not being prepared to meet with me, I shall share with you the events which have taken place since I purchased this vehicle.

I will start with the first time the vehicle cut out on me, which was 26 days after purchase on 25/5/18 – in the middle of Nottingham city centre, on my way home from work. At the time, I didn’t think much of this as I simply thought I had set off in the wrong gear and stalled it, hence why it wasn’treported to Pentagon at the time.

The second time was on 6/8/18 in rush hour traffic. I lost all power, steering and control of the vehicle whilst on A614Kirklington roundabout and consequently the vehicle hit the roundabout before stopping. Whilst the vehicle was still moving I noticed a light/message flash on the dashboard momentarily, but it disappeared before I could read it. On 9/8/18, at my earliest convenience, I called Pentagon to raise the issue with your service team. After explaining in detail what had happened on 6/8/18 a member of your service team said there was nothing that could be done unless the vehicle showed a fault/light on the dashboard, as the diagnosticswouldn’t find anything. As a result, I was advised to continue to drive the vehicle and take note of fault/light if it were to happen again. I expressed my concerns of safety during this conversation and said that the next time could be on 'fast lane of the motorway doing 70mph’ their response was 'while it wasn’t an ideal situation it was pointless bringing the car in' and stressed that the diagnostics wouldn’t find anything without there being a fault/light on.

On 29/8/18 the vehicle then went into limp mode on my way to work. I telephoned Pentagon and explained what had happened and I was advised to call the R.A.C, which I did. The R.A.C attended, diagnosed the vehicle and reset all of the faults. During that day, I made numerous calls to Pentagon, mainly to keep you informed of what the issues were and most importantly to have the vehicle booked in and have it looked at. To my frustration, I was told that it would be a least 2 weeks before they could look at the vehicle. I was advised by the service team that I could take the vehicle to any Pentagon Vauxhall, namely Nottingham, but I had no success in getting the vehicle booked in any earlier there. In fact, the service team at Nottingham expressed no interest in my concerns and I was given the impression that it was due to me purchasing the vehicle from Lincoln and not Nottingham – as where the vehicle was purchased was the first question they asked me.

I booked the vehicle in at Pentagon Lincoln for 12/9/18 where you had it until 19/9/18. During that time and until this day I have no knowledge of your findings as I have never been told anything other than it was not the fuel rail pressure sensor.

I collected the vehicle after work on 19/9/18 and went to work the next day (20/9/18) with no issues – travelling approximately 80/90 miles. However the following day – 21/9/18, I set off for work when the vehicle cut out again, 300 yards from my home address at 5:55am. Again, I called the R.A.C who attended 5 and a half hours later and recovered the vehicle to your workshop where it has remained ever since.

Since then I have had numerous telephone conversations with Pentagon service team, which have included some quite contradicting statements i.e. 'the car I being looked at', 'possible fuel contamination', 'the vehicle has been ticking over without a problem for 2 days' and 'the car is running like a bag of spanners' to name but a few.

In relation to your letter dated 20/11/18 from Andy Trustwell, it states you had 'tried to contact me a number of times' to tell me the vehicle repairs have been done. I would like to clearly state that I had one missed phone call – not several, on 15/11/18 at 15:07, which I could not take due to driving.

Also, you stated in your letter dated 28/11/18 I had brought to your attention that the vehicle had the 'same' fault 13 months prior to me purchasing the vehicle. Again, I would like to clarify and clearly state I said it had 'similar issues' not the same fault.

Your decision to not uphold my complaint is without warrant.As per my letter dated 7/11/18 I exercised my rights as a consumer to reject the vehicle under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 – which is the law. Your letter dated 20/11/18 was 13 days after I rejected the vehicle so any repairs done after this time were fruitless. I feel that since I purchased the vehicle I have been dismissed on many occasions when I have expressed my concerns and I will not be intimidated into accepting a vehicle that is not fit for purpose, not ofsatisfactory quality and not as described. 

I ask you to reconsider your decision to not uphold my complaint as I am acting within the guidelines of the law and as a consumer my intention is and will remain to reject the vehicle.

born_again

Is the retailer ignoring the motor ombudsman result?
Is the retailer name the same on the statement as the garage you bought the car from?

cookace

Hi  Born_again
They went with the TMO decision but they want to charge me usage @45p/mile as I put 6000+ miles on it in the four and a half months I had it, which equates to just over £3000 and they’ve offered me £8500. TMO decision was by an adjudicator ( which I thought was the TMO ) It has now gone for a final decision with the Ombudsman themselves.Might I add that the car is still with Pentagon Lincoln.
Regards

comeandgo

I assume they are using 45p a mile as that is what HMRC allow but that includes the cost of fuel, insurance and car licence so way too expensive as that does not affect the car value in any way.

born_again

So you did over 6 thousand miles in the car...
Retailer does have a right to offset usage against refunds.
Might be worthwhile asking Ombudsman, what they feel is a fair charge per mile.

cookace

Hi born_again
Regardless of the fact about the mileage does section 75 give me the right to my money back as the ombudsman has found the car to be not of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose given its age and that they are in breach of contract ?

cookace

Hi comeandgo 
Good point I shall mention that to the ombudsman. But does the credit card have any responsibility under section 75 ?

eskbanker

Section 75 gives you the same rights against the card company as you have against the merchant, so if it's been demonstrated that there was a breach of contract then you can choose to pursue the card provider if you don't have any joy with the trader. 

However, a successful s75 claim wouldn't mean that you have the right to a full (unadjusted) refund if that's what you were hoping for when you said "I’ve applied for a S75 with my credit card should I [not?] get a full refund as I paid total amount £11500 on CC", i.e. the same principle of reducing the refund value to reflect usage would come into play with any redress offered by the card company for that breach of contract.  The specific value per mile figure may be up for debate though, so it would be worth researching to see if there is any sort of standard or precedent in this area....

pbartlett

In general, if you pay by credit card then the card company is jointly liable. This is provided you paid the garage direct and not through an intermediary hence the question by @born_again

You need to agree on a settlement figure. This won't be the full £11.5k as you did 6000 miles. Once you have agreed the figure, the supplier should pay it. If they don't, then under S75 (with the proviso above) your card company should pay it. Might be worth giving a heads up to the card company via a letter just briefly stating the facts and saying you will raise a S75 if the supplier does not pay. 

Is there a time limit for S75?

eskbanker

pbartlett said:

Is there a time limit for S75?

Nothing specific to s75, no, so the general guidance typically offered is that the six year statute of limitations should be regarded as the timescale within which to initiate a claim.

pbartlett

Thanks @eskbanker. In light of that reply, probably not worth giving a heads up to card company just yet. Agree a settlement figure and give the supplier a chance to pay it. If they don't, then look at S75.