Car dealer

Willskills

On the 15th June I purchased a Vauxhall Astra gtc 

I drove to pick the car up, I checked it over & everything seemed fine. When I left the dealer I started to get a few faults so I took the car back straight away
tyre pressure sensor fault 
dpf fault
car was hesitating on acceleration 

they took the car to a garage & had it back within 30 minutes telling me there was nothing wrong with the car. I was met with hostility & at this point they had my money so I knew I had to take the car home. On the way home I noticed the car had more problems 
knocking from front wheels
clutch sticking to floor
car was idling on its own
passenger door wouldn’t lock
drivers side door filling up with water.

also it had none of the extras it stated on advertisement 
premium forward light package 
premium sound system
driving assistance package

i contacted them the very next day telling them that I was not happy & would be rejecting the car. They told me it doesn’t matter that it doesn’t have any of the extras as auto trader has a disclaimer at the bottom of the page. Though auto trader have told me that the disclaimer is for specifications which the retailer has no control over & any information they input is at there discretion for it to be correct. I returned the car within the 30 days & stated my rights 

They’ve now had my car 15 days & the latest response I received from there legal team states 

our client has advised they are in possession of the vehicle, which does not have any fault to render it of unsatisfactory quality. Your claim the clutch is sticking to the floor cannot be replicated & it is not agreed there is any short term right to reject. Further more the car is idling correctly, the dpf having been cleared. However, they have agreed to address the following minor issues
. rubber grommet in the bottom of the door was blocking the flow of water through the door 
. tyre warning light sensor 
. replacement of front hub
.air conditioning re’gass
.pressure switch
. replacement door catch 
.new ball joint being fitted
.professional valvet
.left & right low beam

it is not accepted the car was miss described. This was not a sale based on description & auto trader advertisements contain a clear disclaimer. You fully inspected the car prior to purchase. We trust this makes the position clear.

I did check the car & believed it to have the extras as was told & advertised. So I’m just looking for any advice to if I have any rights to reject the car

sorry about the essay 

thanks

Hasbeen

As it is not exactly local Money saving?

Perhaps more help would be benificial to you in the dedicated motoring form?

tacpot12

I don't think you do have a right to return the car for the missing items. You inspected the car and accepted it as you found it. The time to return it for a refund was when you picked the car up; had you found the items to be missing then, you might have reject it then, but even that would have been dubious. By returning the car and complaining about the faults, you missed the opportunity to reject it as not as described. 

Also, I think the disclaimer is fair warning that the specifications of the car are indicative rather than accurate. If the dealer didn't confirm that these features were present then they haven't misrepresented the car to you.  

They seem to have repaired all the faults you found, so I think you need to accept the car back from them. I do wonder if they have fixed all the issues. This potentially gives you a way to reject the car for a partial refund - if one of the repairs doesn't hold (and it is a serious fault), you can reject the car as you only have to give the dealer one chance to repair significant faults. 

Willskills

@tacpot12 I totally understand what you’re saying, it’s just he did tell me over the phone that it had those features. When I checked the car I did think it had them obviously not though. I just don’t see how they can use a header SERVICE HISTORY + EXTRAS then state key features that don’t even exist. It’s hugely misleading, I did try to reject the car then but they wouldn’t accept it. They haven’t actually fixed any faults yet & had the car over 2 weeks. Suppose it’s a lesson learnt though I will take it further & see what happens 

thanks for the reply though

Willskills

@tacpot12
I’m going to use this as my argument 
1 email from auto trader
2 feature they implemented 

As a digital platform we do not physically assess each vehicle advertised on the site. We auto-populate the vehicle specification, including some features, based on what we know from our data providers. This information in the Specifications section is pulled from these data providers based on the most common and standard model. Due to this, some information may not apply to the specific vehicle advertised. This Specification section is not available to the seller to edit or remove. This is why we include our disclaimer advising to check all details with the seller.

 

A seller will manually enter their description, and if they intentionally enter incorrect information there that may be misleading. We do archive expired adverts and this includes copies of the description text, and mileage. If you would like to request one, please forward the vehicle’s registration number so we may attempt to locate this for you. 

 

As a self-service advertising platform, relevant fields in the advert are available to amend at any time during the advert package including Price, Mileage, Photos, Advert Text. However mistakes can happen and vehicles may be listed for some time without the seller updating their information eg Mileage. We do have a Security Team who monitor activity on the site, but it is up to our sellers discretion to make sure the information provided is correct.

2

In December 2019 autotrader evolved its consumer experience

 to help bring more confidence to car buying, please see below.

 “Vehicle confidence

 Finally, to ensure car buyers are confident in the vehicle,

 mileage and extra feature indicators will be included to give

 the price more context. It is quick and easy for retailers to

 highlight options, upgrades and spec packs thanks to the

 introduction of a new ‘extra features’ function. What’s more,

 all the content relating to the car is being reorganised so that it

 is presented concisely together, including moving the

 description and specification further up the page and making it

 more prominent, as well as aligning the vehicle check with the

 rest of the car information.

 These changes to our consumer experience represent small but

 significant steps in building greater consumer confidence,

 which at a time when retailers are facing unprecedented

 challenges, we believe could make all the difference.”

tacpot12

I'm sure you can see the problem with having accepted a verbal assurance that the car had those features fitted - you have no proof that you could present to a court. If you had an email, that would be different, because you would have clearly asked about those specific features, because they were important to you. You will struggle to show that your buying decision was influenced by the dealer's verbal confirmation. 

The only hope I can see of you winning a court case is if the judge beleives that for you to reject the car, citing the lack of those features as your reason for rejecting it, then those features must have been important to you and you did ask the dealer about them and the dealer lied to you. I think that is quite a stretch and that most judges on most days would not be prepared to go that far. I think they would put more onus on you to have checked for the presence of the features if they were that important to you.

Of course, you might get lucky and the dealer might admit that they did tell you that the features were present. If you have any phone calls with them about this, it might be as well to record the call. (Using speaker phone on one phone and recording this on another device is one way you might do this). The call recording won't be admissible in court unless the  judge agrees that it is - the way to introduce it to the court is to use the recording to make notes about whatthe dealer said, and present these notes made immediately after he call as your evidence, and mention that a recording of the call was taken without the  other party being aware that they were being recorded. The judge may ultiamtely ask to hear the recording.) 

On the other hand, if your issue is more about the value of the car without those features, you might be able to come to some negotiated or mediated settlement about the value of the features. Prior to going to court, the court will expect you to have tried mediation as a route to solving the dispute. Have you looked into whether the dealer is a member of a trade association that has a mediation service. 

Also, if you have home insurance and have legal expenses cover, you should talk to the legal helpline as they will be able to to advise you further, e.g. on the merits of your arguments and how best to go about securing a refund. 

Willskills

@tacpot12 yea I understand everything you’re saying & I do agree with you. I’ve actually been advised not to reject the car on those grounds. I’ve been told to reject it on the fact of all the faults it has. So in the first 30 days I do not have to except a repair, especially with them letting me drive away the day of sale knowing there were issues & the fact I lived 3 hours away.

it’s become hugely inconvenient, I think they were hoping I wouldn’t travel back. If they were minor issues surely they wouldn’t have had my car over 2 weeks.

Willskills

@tacpot12 sorry I’m in work hard to reply 
they’re not registered with the ombudsman, though the ombudsman did tell me that there advert was very misleading & that the disclaimer is for the specifications part not the description they input.