Unforeseen problem or was it?

Thesaltmustflow

Having studied the market for a fair few months and eventually buying the car I wanted at a good price I have a problem with it (which will be resolved) that I don't know whether it should cost me and I find myself in an area I'm unfamiliar with, I will attempt to explain (might be a bit overkill on the detail though) .

The car is a wheelchair adapted car (used for work) and is a conversion by Allied mobility. The car basically has the ability to carry a wheelchair passenger and when not being used for that converts back into a nice 5 seater so I have the best of both worlds. I'm impressed with the conversion and Allied are one of the UK's leaders in this area.

When I first used the car for work everything worked as it should, electric winch, electric restraints ramp folding etc UNTIL I ventured over a speed bump (a particularly aggressive speedbump I may add) and I heard an horrendous 'tinny' scrape. I pulled over and looked underneath, no apparent damage, put car on mechanics ramp, again no damage we could see but could see where the underside box has 'maybe' scraped in the past and a scrape or 3 on the stainless steel angle beam which is there to protect the box (think it's the repositioned and resized fuel tank).

After a few weeks now of researching altering the ride height (Heavy duty springs, coil spacers or even an air suspension kit) I took the car to an Allied service centre close to me (found it by accident really as Allied Glasgow were not inspiring confidence in me and is too far away from anyway) the chap there was extremely helpful and after a quick inspection told me it's sitting too low and has the wrong springs fitted!!!!!

I told him the dealer in Scotland fitted new coil springs after I found out they were advisories on latest MOT and requested new springs as I didn't fancy driving 260 miles back and one goes on me. To the dealers credit he did tell me they had put new springs on the back but it would appear they are aftermarket cheapos (nothing wrong with aftermarket stuff imo providing it does the same as OEM) and they are not as strong as Peugeot OEM.

The chap at allied has quoted me £300 +vat which is okay imo, not cheap but not expensive either and I've booked it in for next week, He's even gonna straighten the protector bar so all looks good.

My question is, before I ring the dealer I bought it from with the bad news, where do I stand with this cost? I only purchased the car just over 3 weeks ago, paid £99 deposit on CC and rest by debit card. I'm hoping he will accept his mistake and pay for the correct springs to be put on OR at least go halves with me but if he point blank refuses to pay anything, what am I actually covered for legally.

It came with a 3 months 'used car' warranty but I know warranties don't mean a lot in reality and if he did say bring it back for repair that's not really viable either so before I make the call tomorrow, thoughts welcome and appreciated. 

jimjames

The dealer isn't under an obligation to pay someone else to fix it, they may offer to repair the issue themselves and expect you to get the car to them for that so it would be your choice if you can't. They may offer something to pay another garage to replace the springs as goodwill but they wouldn't be obliged to do so.

Thesaltmustflow

jimjames said:

The dealer isn't under an obligation to pay someone else to fix it, they may offer to repair the issue themselves and expect you to get the car to them for that so it would be your choice if you can't. They may offer something to pay another garage to replace the springs as goodwill but they wouldn't be obliged to do so.

That's what I am thinking tbh and of course I will approach them tomorrow from a very diplomatic viewpoint but I'm sure you can understand that for a potential £360 cost to put things right it's just not viable for me to do a round trip of 520 miles and as a secondary thought I can at the very least prove they have fitted 'wrong' parts so are you saying that means nothing? 

Flight3287462

You can only speak to them and then decide.

AdrianC

The vehicle was bought for work purposes? Not just for commuting to/from work?
Then the usual consumer rights do not apply.

The round trip of 520 miles to the supplier is solely due to your choice to buy from a vendor 260 miles away.

Thesaltmustflow

*Update*

Finally got new springs fitted, protector bar straightened and it's now all good. They are 'uprated' springs which mechanic at the new garage informs me they do quite a few of as the standard springs just aren't up to the job that a modified car like mine requires. I even tested the car over all the speed bumps I go over on a regular basis, not a sound even feels like it drives better.

I knew from minute one it was my choice to buy from a vendor 260 miles away, just wasn't sure what my rights (if any) were. Well I rang the dealer to explain the situation, he said If I wasn't happy bring it back for a full refund but nothing more, he was adamant he has put the right springs on so fair enough I wasn't getting into an argument over it.

To be fair both the dealer and myself knew I wouldn't be bringing it back for such a minor issue and him offering me full refund was his way of trumping me asking for a contribution for new springs. I think I was just a bit unlucky with this issue, definitely unforeseen and couldn't have been predicted imo, I did my due diligence but shame that the dealer in Scotland doesn't know about the 'uprated' spring scenario or maybe he would have put the uprated springs on for me when they showed up on MOT test.

He did tell me he has sold another dozen vehicles same as mine and not had any issues so I'm beginning to think it was the bent protector bar that was more the issue here than the springs, surprised he didn't see it when he changed the springs but nothing he can do now, the uprated springs have lifted the ride height 20mm and the protector bar is straight now so problem solved and even less chance of further issues now with the added ride height.

It cost me £350 to solve the scraping problem meaning the car stands me at around 9K, sometimes you just have to 'swallow the pill' with cars whether you've just bought them or owned them a while but considering cars like mine are still being advertised at between 10-13K for same spec I still think my buying from Scotland was a worthwhile effort.   

 

Herzlos

I suspect he's fitted the correct spec for the unmodified car, so on paper he's correct and you'd have just wasted a lot of time.

AdrianC

Herzlos said:

I suspect he's fitted the correct spec for the unmodified car, so on paper he's correct and you'd have just wasted a lot of time.

The OP says "Peugeot", so I presume this is a Berlingo or Expert van?

The vehicle was converted, presumably when new, to a WAV. Are the "correct" springs for it the ones fitted to the standard van, or uprated ones fitted during the WAV conversion? Or perhaps the conversion used the standard springs, quickly found lacking, so uprating is simply an aftermarket good-thing-to-do...?

Put the reg or VIN into any parts-supply website, you'll almost certainly get the standard van part number. But...

Thesaltmustflow

Herzlos said:

I suspect he's fitted the correct spec for the unmodified car, so on paper he's correct and you'd have just wasted a lot of time.

Yep I agree and he actually said as much. Wasn't a bad chap to deal with and asked me to keep him informed of the outcome which I will do but I didn't even bother asking him to contribute as like you say on paper he fitted the correct parts.

Little surprised that as a 'specialist vehicle' dealer he hasn't come across this minor issue before but according to him he hasn't. Your right though for £350 there was no way I was driving the car back to Scotland, I actually do like the car, it's a nice drive, fuel economy is great and now it can go over speed bumps at more than 2mph it's happy days again.  

Thesaltmustflow

AdrianC said:

Herzlos said:

I suspect he's fitted the correct spec for the unmodified car, so on paper he's correct and you'd have just wasted a lot of time.

The OP says "Peugeot", so I presume this is a Berlingo or Expert van?

The vehicle was converted, presumably when new, to a WAV. Are the "correct" springs for it the ones fitted to the standard van, or uprated ones fitted during the WAV conversion?

Put the reg or VIN into any parts-supply website, you'll almost certainly get the standard van part number. But...

It's a Peugeot partner Horizon (Horizon being the name Allied mobility give it AFTER conversion) so the small WAV. 

I've found out much more information regarding this vehicle from the helpful mechanic at the Allied mobility service centre which are NOT Allied themselves but do service work for Allied, all official etc.

He said Allied don't upgrade the springs as part of the conversion but they really should as the standard springs aren't good enough. He said they have uprated quite a few of these partners so it looks like I'm not the first to have this problem. There was no way I could foresee this issue as I didn't know the vehicle/Allied specs until I bought it.

I asked the question initially about my rights etc on here and having been informed I would have to take it back to Scotland It looks like I found the right place (only 12 miles from so a little bonus) locally and now it's been uprated it's all good.

I would say I've been a little unlucky having to shell out £350 on a new car purchase but it happens even on brand new cars, just gotta suck it up. Although I'm no mechanic I know when something isn't right and Dealer should know about this issue but apparently doesn't?? that is surprising considering he does have a workshop at the back the dealership.

Still all's well that ends well

   

AdrianC

Thesaltmustflow said:

He said Allied don't upgrade the springs as part of the conversion but they really should as the standard springs aren't good enough. He said they have uprated quite a few of these partners so it looks like I'm not the first to have this problem. There was no way I could foresee this issue as I didn't know the vehicle/Allied specs until I bought it.

So the supplier didn't do anything wrong - he replaced standard-spec springs with aftermarket standard-spec ones...

The £350 is a "good practice" modification which you would have been well advised to do, even if the van was on its original springs.

As I said, though, if this is a purchase for your work, then the normal consumer rights simply don't apply...