Please help! Mis sold car - inaccurate advertisement

LucyG89

Hi all, 

I'm hoping someone could help me as I am feeling a bit miffed off since my recent car purchase.

I bought an 8 year old Vauxhall Astra Ecoflex Elite 2013 a month ago for £4,395 from a small dealer.
The advert said the car came with heated seats, bluetooth and accompanied with part service history. 
Naturally, i took the car for a test drive but didn't check every single function.
After bringing it home and testing everything out on the comfort of my driveway i became aware that the heated driver seat doesn't work and there is no bluetooth at all. 
I re-read the advert and became really annoyed as i feel they have blatantly let me drive away knowing that the advert is wrong. 
I spoke to Vauxhall about this and they've said i should go back to the dealer about these issues and then go to trading standards if they're unwilling to help. 

Do you think I have a good case here or will the garage just laugh at me? Am i also at fault?

When I was viewing the car and speaking to the dealer, whenever I had a question he always replied with ' yes, if that's what the advert says, then yes.' So I don't think they're a helpful bunch.

When I asked about the part service history they also said it would have been serviced for 3 years when it was new and that the previous owners had lost the documents. i feel like they've had me over a bit and i've let myself be taken for a fool as i had been without a car for a few months and had to find something quick. 

Hope you guys can help me with next steps!! (I've emailed the garage telling them about the bluetooth and seat issue and i'm waiting in a reply.)

From what i can gather online, if the car is not as advertised or something is faulty then i should be entitled to a partial refund or repair. 

Thanks all, 
Lucy 



 

Jenni_D

If the advert specified features for the car which don't exist then you are entitled to reject the vehicle as it was mis-described. How long ago did you buy it?

Within 30 days you can exercise your Initial Right to Reject for a full refund, or you can allow the seller the opportunity to make the goods conform to contract or you can accept a partial refund in recompense.

How did you pay? Was any of the payment on finance (e.g. a loan directly related to the car purchase, or credit card)?

Nearlyold

If by "Advert" you mean for example Auto-Trader then the spec section always has a disclaimer :- 

"The data displayed above details the usual specification of the most recent model of this vehicle. It is not the exact data for the actual vehicle being offered for sale and data for older models may vary slightly. We recommend that you always check the details with the seller prior to purchase."

Obviously if you asked the dealer to confirm the options you wanted were present in the car you have a good case as per the post above.

FYI Dealers generally don't look over vehicles themselves anymore to see what features are on the car when placing adverts they just rely on the CAPCODE database or similar to auto populate the spec section. Often the cars are priced and listed remotely by a team at an office nowhere near the dealership.

JJ_Egan

Month ago ?? more than 30 days before you contacted dealer ??

What do you actually want them to do  ?? on that old a car it may not be worthwhile to fix a heated seat , but it could just be a blown fuse .

Reads as BT not standard on that model .

MalMonroe

Hi, according to the Consumer Rights Act 2015, you would have been entitled to a full refund because the car is not 'as described' had you complained to the retailer and not the manufacturer within the first 30 days. In most cases you are required to complain first to the retailer.

However, between 30 days and 6 months, you can still give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace it before you can claim a refund. See the information in this link -

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl

More information from Citizens Advice here -

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/our-work/citizens-advice-consumer-work/the-consumer-rights-act-2015/

People at the garage may well laugh at you, yes but so what, you have the law on your side and they will soon be laughing at the other side of their faces.

I'm also a single female and find buying cars and visiting garages extremely daunting but I'm the only one who can stick up for me and so I do, when I have to. 

If you know the law and you know your rights, you will be able to get what you want. Also be aware that there are plenty of car dealers in the UK who can sell you good quality vehicles. Even if you're desperate, it's always a good idea to shop around a bit. 

[P.S. No, you are not at fault! You simply believed what you were told and they lied. They are at fault.]

Grumpy_chap

LucyG89 said:

Hi all, 

I'm hoping someone could help me as I am feeling a bit miffed off since my recent car purchase.

I bought an 8 year old Vauxhall Astra Ecoflex Elite 2013 a month ago for £4,395 from a small dealer.
The advert said the car came with heated seats, bluetooth and accompanied with part service history. 
Naturally, i took the car for a test drive but didn't check every single function.
After bringing it home and testing everything out on the comfort of my driveway i became aware that the heated driver seat doesn't work and there is no bluetooth at all. 
I re-read the advert and became really annoyed as i feel they have blatantly let me drive away knowing that the advert is wrong. 
I spoke to Vauxhall about this and they've said i should go back to the dealer about these issues and then go to trading standards if they're unwilling to help. 

Do you think I have a good case here or will the garage just laugh at me? Am i also at fault?

When I was viewing the car and speaking to the dealer, whenever I had a question he always replied with ' yes, if that's what the advert says, then yes.' So I don't think they're a helpful bunch.

When I asked about the part service history they also said it would have been serviced for 3 years when it was new and that the previous owners had lost the documents. i feel like they've had me over a bit and i've let myself be taken for a fool as i had been without a car for a few months and had to find something quick. 

Hope you guys can help me with next steps!! (I've emailed the garage telling them about the bluetooth and seat issue and i'm waiting in a reply.)

From what i can gather online, if the car is not as advertised or something is faulty then i should be entitled to a partial refund or repair. 

Thanks all, 
Lucy 



 

Jenni_D said:

If the advert specified features for the car which don't exist then you are entitled to reject the vehicle as it was mis-described. How long ago did you buy it?

Within 30 days you can exercise your Initial Right to Reject for a full refund, or you can allow the seller the opportunity to make the goods conform to contract or you can accept a partial refund in recompense.

How did you pay? Was any of the payment on finance (e.g. a loan directly related to the car purchase, or credit card)?

I am not sure that I entirely agree with Jenni.

The OP purchased an 8 yo car "a month ago".  Exactly when? 
Is the OP still within the 30-days that the CRA gives for Short-Term-Right-To-Reject? 
If not, then the 6-month reject rules apply and that requires the opportunity to repair first and a deduction for the beneficial use achieved if the rejection was to follow.

Not every fault is a reason to reject the car.  It has to be significant - though what is "significant" can be a matter of interpretation.  Heated seats, for example, may be important to the OP and why they chose the Elite trim version of the car, but heated seats are not significant in terms of the car meeting the primary purpose of a car.

I am also not sure that the vehicle is mis-described.  Most adverts contain a disclaimer that the information listed is typical for the vehicle make / model / age and to double-check before purchase.  Given the OP went and took a test-drive, simply asking the sales representative seems odd - for anything that is critical then it would make sense to ask to see that feature / function and have it pointed out / demonstrated.

The OP has not mentioned whether the vehicle was supplied with a warranty.

The OP mentions three points of concern:

Heated Seats.

1. These are present and could have been tested on the test drive.  
2. The OP now got the car home and found they do not work. 
3. The fact the heated seats are there is unlikely to mean mis-described
4. The fact they do not work is unlikely to be grounds to reject on 8 yo car 
5. OP may be able to claim on the used car warranty (if there was one)
6. OP may be able to ask the Dealer to rectify so the seats work - they may do as "goodwill" if it is a simple fix

Bluetooth

1. This could have been checked on the test drive
2. The OP says there is no bluetooth at all - unless this is an after-market entertainment unit, this is very surprising for a top-of-the-range 2013 car.
3. Has the OP followed the manual diligently, including any separate "ICE" manual?
4. Could this be a case of a compatibility issue, so the old car is not seeing  / being seen by a newer phone?
5. If there truly is no bluetooth, an after market device may be a pragmatic and low-cost solution (though I accept not as good as the built in system the OP expected)

Part Service History

1. It sounds like the OP knew / was told that there is no service record at the test drive, yet still choose to go ahead with the purchase
2. What would be the value of a part service history for years 1, 2, 3 on an 8 yo car in any case?
3. That is 5 years in which time the car could have covered any amount / type of mileage.
4. What other due-diligence did the OP do before purchase?  HPI?  Check online records (MOT history)?  
5. How does the mileage and condition of the car match with publicly available online records for the car?

Next Steps

I agree with Vauxhall that it is nothing to do with them - the car will be well outside warranty, has not been serviced by them (or can't be proven if it has) and was not retailed by them as a used car.

The lack of service history is a non-issue as the OP knew about this prior to purchase.  Only an issue if the mileage is incorrect against online records.

The bluetooth may be something that can be sorted by carefully reading the manual.  I do find it hard to imagine that a 2013 car top-of-the-range doe snot have bluetooth.
Or ask a tech-savvy neighbour / friend to assist with "pairing" the phone to the car.
Or call into a friendly Vauxhall service centre and see if they'll assist with pairing - if you catch them on a good day you might be successful.
Or ask the Dealer to help with the pairing

That will then only leave the heated seat.
Try a warranty claim.
Try to ask the Dealer to fix it.

For anything with the Dealer, appealing to their better judgement is probably more likely to be successful than going in all-guns-blazing for rejection.

Good luck OP and do let us know how you got on.