Rights after buying a car.

[Deleted User]

Hi, I have just purchased a car and when I was doing the purchase the guy mentioned I had 90 days to change my mind under the consumer rights...now in 40 days the wheel bearings have gone on the car also it needs a new undertray as it had ripped off due to unsecured refitting buy their garage, also it needs another part for the exhaust..now they have had the vehicle for 15 days with no update what so ever on the car being repaired weeks months. Now I have asked for the car back until they have this other part and they replied it was unroadworthy so I mentioned they had sold me an unroadworthy car...I mentioned I had not had the car for over 90 days and I would like a refund and her response was and I quote "Unfortunately under the Consumer Law you can’t reject the car unless we have failed in the repair which at this point we haven’t and we can’t (annoyingly) control when the parts will arrive from suppliers. I am so sorry it is dragging on, I have emailed our parts department again this morning to chase the part" is she correct? is she correct also what is the point in 90-day consumer rights if they mean only what they say at the company to suit them.. puzzles me any help would be great thanks.

Jenni_D

There is no 90 days change of mind under consumer rights legislation - that sounds more like their own 90 day (limited) warranty.

The key timescales in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 are:

a) Initial Right To Reject within 30 days - if the goods do not conform to contract then you can reject them for a full* refund; the seller can require you to prove the non-conformance

b) Burden of proof timeline of 6 months - beyond 30 days but under 6 months then any fault is assumed to be inherent (present at time of sale); the seller must prove otherwise if they wish to avoid providing a remedy of repair, replace or full* refund. After 6 months then the seller can require the consumer to prove the non-conformance, and any refund can be reduced to account for time of ownership.

c) Statute of limitation of 6 years per the Limitations Act - the timescale within which a consumer can bring a claim against a seller for the goods being non-conformant. The consumer would (probably) need to prove the non-conformance and that it was there at the time of sale.

If the seller opts to repair then they get one opportunity to do so - if the goods are still non-conforming afterwards (for any reason, not just the same reason) then the consumer can exercise their Final Right To Reject for a refund*.

* With vehicles the seller is always allowed to reduce the amount of refund if the amount of miles put on the vehicle are significantly greater than those at time of sale. e.g for a 2nd hand car then +100 miles would be negligible, but +1000 miles would be significant.

Grumpy_chap

[Deleted User] said:

Hi, I have just purchased a car and when I was doing the purchase the guy mentioned I had 90 days to change my mind under the consumer rights...now in 40 days the wheel bearings have gone on the car also it needs a new undertray as it had ripped off due to unsecured refitting buy their garage, also it needs another part for the exhaust..now they have had the vehicle for 15 days with no update what so ever on the car being repaired weeks months. Now I have asked for the car back until they have this other part and they replied it was unroadworthy so I mentioned they had sold me an unroadworthy car...I mentioned I had not had the car for over 90 days and I would like a refund and her response was and I quote "Unfortunately under the Consumer Law you can’t reject the car unless we have failed in the repair which at this point we haven’t and we can’t (annoyingly) control when the parts will arrive from suppliers. I am so sorry it is dragging on, I have emailed our parts department again this morning to chase the part" is she correct? is she correct also what is the point in 90-day consumer rights if they mean only what they say at the company to suit them.. puzzles me any help would be great thanks.

Jenni has given a good summary of the rights on this, but it seems as though the Dealer is trying to be fair.

The other consideration in consumer rights is "reasonable expectation", which vary with the age / mileage / condition / price of the vehicle, though the basic requirement of "roadworthy and works" is a reasonable expectation regardless for a car (unless sold clearly as non-runner etc.).