Rejecting a used car within 30 days of purchase 11 October 2021 at 1:45PM in Motoring 45 replies 3.1K views

TheMidnightSkulker

Hello all,

I bought a used car from a dealer which had a fresh MOT carried out as a condition of purchase. It passed the MOT outright.

They delivered the car and I told the dealer I would not drive it until I had it inspected by my usual local garage (dealership is 2 hours away by public transport).

I had the inspection done at a "proper" MOT service centre and they found a number of faults that had not been disclosed to me, some of which should have appeared on the MOT as advisory. Based on the garage's advice I rejected the car. I obtained a written report and sent it to the dealer. I also told them I did not feel safe driving it back to them myself, as one of the faults was a dodgy wheel bearing.

They said they would collect the car today. I have messaged them twice for confirmation, but had no reply.

I have already confirmed with my credit card provider that I will be able to do a chargeback, since I paid 90% of the price of the car by credit card. The bank confirmed that I would be able to file a complaint to get the deposit back, which I paid by bank transfer.

So I am not too worried about getting my money back, as even if the dealer is uncooperative I have other ways. If I do not hear back from them today, when they were supposed to have come to collect the car, I will go ahead with the chargeback/report etc.

What I'm curious about is this: I would assume that having neither their money nor their car would motivate the dealer to come and get it. I also understand that I must make the car available for them to collect, which I have done and which in fact is what I am waiting for (Consumer Rights Act 2015 section 20 paragraphs 7 and 8). 

However, what if they don't come to collect it? It's very restricted parking where I live, and I will have to apply to the council to get a parking permit before I can complete purchase of a replacement car; I'm not sure they'll let me have two permits at once.

How long do I have to leave it available for collection? Is there some period of time I have to hang onto it, after which I can tell them I'm scrapping it or whatever?

Grumpy_chap

Did you do the purchase of the car totally remotely and unseen and the car was delivered to you?

In that case, the 30-days is irrelevant and the CCR apply.  This gives you 14 days from delivery to return for a full refund for any (or no) reason:
https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-contracts-regulations-ajWHC8m21cAk

That should be a simpler and stronger process to return the car than CRA.

If the Dealer said they'll collect today, why don't you think they will?  Still plenty of working hours left to do the collections.

If you start suggesting to them to collect or you'll scrap it, that is really going to be seen as unreasonable behaviour and not helpful to your cause.  Best to try co-operation in the first instance.

TheMidnightSkulker

I am not assuming that the dealer won't collect today, I am just trying to work out what to do if they don't. 

I didn't buy the car remotely, I went to the dealer and did a test drive. They then had a fresh MOT done which passed with no advisories, and delivered it to me on 29 September. I have not driven it except (6 days later, the earliest appointment) to and from the garage which did the inspection, which showed faults inconsistent with the MOT test results as reported.

Grumpy_chap

TheMidnightSkulker said:

I am not assuming that the dealer won't collect today, I am just trying to work out what to do if they don't. 

I didn't buy the car remotely, I went to the dealer and did a test drive. They then had a fresh MOT done which passed with no advisories, and delivered it to me on 29 September. I have not driven it except (6 days later, the earliest appointment) to and from the garage which did the inspection, which showed faults inconsistent with the MOT test results as reported.

The hardest thing is getting the Dealer to accept the vehicle return / rejection. 
They seem to have done that, and acted very fairly.
It seems only fair that you give them reasonable opportunity to collect the car even if that is more than one appointment.
Based upon other threads on here, you've had a simple (albeit annoying and upsetting) process so just need to allow that to complete in fair manner.

TheMidnightSkulker

OK, well, they have not collected the car and have not responded to my messages today.

I guess the reason I thought this might happen was because the garage where I took it to be inspected (who I know to be trustworthy) interpreted the discrepancies between the dealers' MOT and their checks as dishonesty, not error. Of course the dealers could just be the victims of a dodgy garage in this case. Either way, my own garage encouraged me to reject the car since it was clearly not as described.

I will call them again tomorrow to try to make a new appointment for them to collect it. 

I appreciate what you have said about my being treated fairly and having a better experience than most so far. However - I'm only being treated fairly if the dealers do what they say they'll do, which is collect the car and refund my money. I haven't changed my mind, I haven't harboured unrealistic expectations, I've only expected the car to be in the condition as described by the dealer, backed up with ample evidence which didn't hold up to scrutiny by a third party.

[Deleted User]

@TheMidnightSkulker Purely out of interest - any update to this ?

Also - what was the model of car and how much did you pay the dealer for it ?

TheMidnightSkulker

@Deleted_User no update yet, but I haven't had a chance to call/message them.

It was a 2009 Honda Civic, paid £5000.

Herzlos

How bad is the wheel bearing? Is it actually unsafe to use?

Whilst the dealer should be collecting it from you, you may be easier to dropping it off on them and starting the chargeback.

You say it's 2 hours away by public transport, but how far of a drive is it?There's places here that are <30 minutes in a car and >2 hours on a bus.

TheMidnightSkulker

It's about an hour on the motorway, and I can't say whether or not it's safe to use nor could my garage assure me it was on brief inspection. 

I would also have to spend some time trying to get petrol, which I would probably have to do by obtaining a jerrycan as the tank is almost empty.

I see is listed for sale again, or still, which suggests to me that they will be motivated to collect it.

Grumpy_chap

TheMidnightSkulker said:

I see is listed for sale again, or still, which suggests to me that they will be motivated to collect it.

Maybe they are using your driveway (whether you have one or not) as free storage. 

They'll either sell the car as remote sale and pick up to take direct to the next buyer, or they'll wait until someone makes an appointment to view and collect ahead of that.

This could be awkward for you as if you are not available to provide access for pick up, the garage will try to use that somehow to refuse / lessen the refund.  (Not sure how that would work, but I can see the approach being tried.)

TheMidnightSkulker said:

I would also have to spend some time trying to get petrol, which I would probably have to do by obtaining a jerrycan as the tank is almost empty.

You probably need to provide the car for collection with at least enough fuel for the return journey, or to get to a reasonable choice of petrol stations.  Otherwise, you will seem to be acting unreasonably.

TheMidnightSkulker

I guess that will depend on how many petrol stations within range are operational. I haven't driven a hybrid car before, so I don't know how far three bars will go.

I guess I have to order a jerrycan on Amazon, then get a taxi to take me round all the petrol stations until I have enough. 

Of course all this is happening while I'm on deadlines that are critical to my continued employment.