Purchased a car with a fault

Liam2594

Evening,

Looking for some advice. I've purchased a vehicle which has a rattle on a cold start-up from the timing chain, this has been confirmed by a garage. It is only present on a cold start which I couldn't have heard on when I collected as he drove the car before I'd seen it (he arrived in it as he had been driving it). The car was purchased Sunday 30th May. I have contacted the seller today who has instantly just offered a full refund. No option of repair, or anything else. Now, I like the car and my preference would be to have it repaired. The dealer however is 250 miles away, so I expect he would need to recover it to a garage local to him which I'm happy for him to do.

Am I right in thinking I have to right to request a refund or a repair within the first 30 days? What happens if he refuses to repair? If he were local I would just take the car back and be done with it, but with a four hour trip each way its not something in an ideal world I'd like to do. I have found a garage who will replace the timing chain for what I can see as a low fee, which I'd be happy to sort out getting there myself. I said to him initially if he were happy for me to use the garage in question I'd be happy with a contribution, however all he's told me are the faults are 'spurious' and 'he isn't being taken the p*ss out of.

Not quite sure which course of action to take next?

flashg67

You can suggest a remedy, the refund/repair/replace option is down to the seller. Seems the options are pay for the repair or return or a full refund. Is it a model known for this issue? A rattling chain could indicate other issues or poor/missed services?

Liam2594

Its a 2.0 diesel BMW so reading on the internet it would appear a known issue. If I were to return am I liable for return costs or is that down to the dealer who sold it?

JHW1942

As I understand it, where a dealer has delivered the car to the consumer, they are responsible for retrieving it if rejected.  If you'd travelled there to collect it, it would be your liability.  However, that's moot in this case, because you don't want to reject it for a refund, so your options are those flashg67 outlines.

lju

I'd accept the dealers offer and get my money back, plenty of other cars about. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Quick note to confirm regarding the return:

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/20/enacted

(8)Whether or not the consumer has a duty to return the rejected goods, the trader must bear any reasonable costs of returning them, other than any costs incurred by the consumer in returning the goods in person to the place where the consumer took physical possession of them.

Grumpy_chap

Reject the car.
Take the refund.