Grounds for car rejection?

mswa88

Hi everyone,

I bought a used car in the last month which I noticed had quite a juddery clutch at times but since I hadn't been using it a lot I initially thought I just needed to get used to it. However the issue kept happening and I took it to a local garage just to have a general check of the car and they have found several issues with it including several clutch components which will need replaced in the coming months. As well as this, one of the wheel cylinders has a leak and a suspension bush is excessively worn. I contacted the dealership I bought it from who are going to carry out their own inspection and will likely want to repair it themselves, but I haven't agreed to anything work being carried out yet. I am annoyed that these issues weren't picked up before selling me the car and I'm not sure if I will be able to trust it even with repairs. I know I am within 30 days and should have the short term right to reject as per the Consumer Rights Act 2015, are these issues enough to decide to reject the car? And if I do how do I go about doing this?

Any advice would be appreciated thanks.

Grumpy_chap

mswa88 said:

Hi everyone,

I bought a used car in the last month which I noticed had quite a juddery clutch at times but since I hadn't been using it a lot I initially thought I just needed to get used to it. However the issue kept happening and I took it to a local garage just to have a general check of the car and they have found several issues with it including several clutch components which will need replaced in the coming months. As well as this, one of the wheel cylinders has a leak and a suspension bush is excessively worn. I contacted the dealership I bought it from who are going to carry out their own inspection and will likely want to repair it themselves, but I haven't agreed to anything work being carried out yet. I am annoyed that these issues weren't picked up before selling me the car and I'm not sure if I will be able to trust it even with repairs. I know I am within 30 days and should have the short term right to reject as per the Consumer Rights Act 2015, are these issues enough to decide to reject the car? And if I do how do I go about doing this?

Any advice would be appreciated thanks.

Did you test drive the car and were the clutch behaviours evident at the test drive?

Does the price paid take into account the state of wear of the clutch?

Did you buy the car in person or was it a wholly remote purchase?  

What exactly was the date of your purchase?

mswa88

I did test drive it and put a deposit down then and picked it up a week later as the car had only came in and the dealership still had to complete their own checks and no issues were mentioned when collecting the car and talking to the salesman. I didn't notice anything at the time but would have just put it down to being a different car than I'm used to which all have different clutches etc. it's mostly noticeable in first gear, particularly when crawling in traffic and parking etc and the car really rattles much more than what would be normal. The price I paid was standard for the model and age, but there was no mention of any clutch issues. It was purchased on the 18th Feb this year.

caprikid1

Can you provide full details of the vehicle purchased, price age and mileage.

Grumpy_chap

caprikid1 said:

Can you provide full details of the vehicle purchased, price age and mileage.

Plus, do you have a quote for the repairs?

mswa88

Grumpy_chap said:

caprikid1 said:

Can you provide full details of the vehicle purchased, price age and mileage.

Plus, do you have a quote for the repairs?

It's 2012 with around 65000 miles and I paid 3500 for it, for the age I don't expect everything to be absolutely perfect but it should be reliable. For all the repairs I would be looking at least £1000 to sort these issues out if I was to pay myself.

Grumpy_chap

As comparison to the OP's car, the local independent garage along the road from me has two 2010 plates cars (207 & i10) both up at £3,250 - that's the nearest they have today.

So, £3.5k for a 2012 does not look expensive in the current used car market.  Depending on what the car is, £4.5k (so including the repairs) might be towards the steep side but can the OP get the repairs done for less by shopping around?  Buying a used car, you normally get a used clutch (albeit serviceable).  If the OP keeps the car and gets the clutch done they have a used car with a brand new clutch that should never need changing in the remaining life of the car.

Of course, this assessment depends on what the car is - big difference as to how fair and reasonable £4.5k is depending on whether the car is a Fiesta or a Ferrari.

angrycrow

Slightly slipping clutch and a very noticeable rattle. I suspect the car needs a new dual mass flywheel as well as the clutch. That could get very expensive. 

Grey_Critic

OP says **one of the wheel cylinders has a leak and a suspension bush is excessively worn.** Still not sure what make/model of car. Did it come with a *New* MOT?

Either way if he is going to reject he needs to get move on - It is day 26 today.