New Car Wrong Spec

sacarr82

We would appreciate some help in knowing where we stand on an issue.

We ordered a new high end car at the end of June, and at the time understood there would be a 3 month wait due to the global issue with shortages of semi-conductor chips.

After a couple of further delays, we were delighted to finally receive the car last week, after a 6 month wait.

We went to the showroom to pick it up and finalise the paperwork (finance agreement, registration etc) and drove away. On getting home we noticed that the interior was not the colour that was ordered and double checked the order to confirm this. The same evening we contacted the salesperson at the dealership and the following day he confirmed that it was their error in placing the order with the manufacturer.

After some further correspondence we have been told that the interior cannot be changed now that the car has been built. The only options given to us are to either allow them to buy the car back (unsure of how this works as it’s on a finance agreement) and wait a further 6 months to get a brand new car with the correct interior or accept £300 in High Street vouchers for a retailer of our choice.

The first option isn’t appealing at all as we have just about managed to get by the last 6 months without a car of our own. With that said the second just doesn’t seem to be enough to compensate for the issue, given that we will have this car for between 3-4 years, and it’s not as we ordered it.

We were informed that if neither if these options were suitable we could contact the customer complaints manager, which we are more than happy to do.

I understand that there are global issues with supply chains and resources, however we feel we’ve been given a response along the lines of “like it or lump it”. It would be great to get some help to see where we stand on this and what our rights are.

[Deleted User]

You have the right to reject the car for a refund, or to accept any offer to keep it, eg the £300 vouchers.

If you're inclined to keep it, there's no harm in asking if they'll improve the offer.

Aylesbury_Duck

As above, you have those options.  If they don't improve their offer, you have a right to accept that offer or return the car.  You don't have a right to anything else.

Keep_pedalling

The difference can’t be that great otherwise you would have noticed as soon as you saw it. I would keep it and push for a bit mor compo

mattyprice4004

They’ve effectively offered a return for refund, a new car or compensation - all 3 bases covered. 

If you don’t think the compensation is enough then push for more, but there’s no way to expedite an order given how supply chains are at the moment. 

Is this ‘high end’ as in £50k everyday German saloon, or ‘high end’ as in one-off £1m MacLaren? 

bris

You can reject it but bottom line is if your keeping it for 3-4 years and you don't like the interior then there is no amount of compensation that can change that.

Whethe you get £300 or a bit more, will not change that fact. A mistake has been made eith live with it or reject it, whats £300 in vouchers worth in comparison to the cost of a high end car?

The_Fat_Controller

Whenever I have ordered "high end" cars which have option lists as long as your arm, the dealer has always provided a printout of the order with all chosen options and prices.

I am quite surprised you did not notice the error at the time or ordering.

ElefantEd

Surely you will get used to the wong colour pretty quickly - will you even notice after a few weeks? If you didn't notice straight away it can't have been that bad!

I might press for a better offer, but in the end if I wanted/needed the car I would take the £300.

Grumpy_chap

sacarr82 said:

We would appreciate some help in knowing where we stand on an issue.

We ordered a new high end car at the end of June, and at the time understood there would be a 3 month wait due to the global issue with shortages of semi-conductor chips.

After a couple of further delays, we were delighted to finally receive the car last week, after a 6 month wait.

We went to the showroom to pick it up and finalise the paperwork (finance agreement, registration etc) and drove away. On getting home we noticed that the interior was not the colour that was ordered and double checked the order to confirm this. The same evening we contacted the salesperson at the dealership and the following day he confirmed that it was their error in placing the order with the manufacturer.

After some further correspondence we have been told that the interior cannot be changed now that the car has been built. The only options given to us are to either allow them to buy the car back (unsure of how this works as it’s on a finance agreement) and wait a further 6 months to get a brand new car with the correct interior or accept £300 in High Street vouchers for a retailer of our choice.

The first option isn’t appealing at all as we have just about managed to get by the last 6 months without a car of our own. With that said the second just doesn’t seem to be enough to compensate for the issue, given that we will have this car for between 3-4 years, and it’s not as we ordered it.

We were informed that if neither if these options were suitable we could contact the customer complaints manager, which we are more than happy to do.

I understand that there are global issues with supply chains and resources, however we feel we’ve been given a response along the lines of “like it or lump it”. It would be great to get some help to see where we stand on this and what our rights are.

Can the OP advise what exactly is the error with the interior.

I initially read that that the order was for a car with black leather interior and the car built with cream leather (or a similar level of discrepancy) and that meant my disbelief that the error was not noticed until the purchaser got home.

I now imagine that the error was something far less obvious, such as piano black rather than brushed silver gear lever surround.

Does the error have a difference on what the price of the car would have been at the outset?  For example, cloth seats instead of leather is a large cost option difference but change of inlay somewhere may be zero cost option.

Knowing the level of discrepancy will guide the importance of the error and what is reasonable.

The Dealer seems to have offered refund, replacement in 6 months, or the £300 goodwill.  There are not many other options that can be tabled, so it is for the OP to choose one and / or negotiate around these starting points.

One discussion might be, given the OP is currently car-less, is whether the Dealer can take this car back and order the correct car for 6-months' time and provide some kind of loan car in the mean-time.  It won't be likely that a brand new car is reasonable, but they may have a functional "scrappage" trade in that they could lend without ending up out of pocket for doing so.

What outcome is the OP looking for?

gettingtheresometime

The_Fat_Controller said:

Whenever I have ordered "high end" cars which have option lists as long as your arm, the dealer has always provided a printout of the order with all chosen options and prices.

I am quite surprised you did not notice the error at the time or ordering.

I read the initial post as being the OP ordered cream interior (for example) and the car arrived with brown interior 

lincroft1710

One has to presume that when you picked the car up it was evening so you didn't realise the interior colour was wrong. Or that the shade was similar that you didn't notice at first. Or because of the time lapse you had forgotten exactly what you had ordered.


In any event this is one of those occasions where although you are in the right, the remedy puts you at a disadvantage. If you can live with the interior colour, keep the car and take the vouchers whilst politely asking if they will increase the amount.