Used Car Fault - Rights to a refund within the first 30 days

timmah86

Hi,

I would really appreciate any advice on the following situation:

I purchased a used car from a dealership and it developed severe engine trouble after 7 days. The car is a 2012 Merc C-class diesel manual with 47,000ish miles.

I took it to a local garage and they have said the flywheel, clutch and slave cylinder have all failed. I don't consider the flywheel and slave cylinder to be wear and tear items, nor really the clutch given the current mileage.

I would like to return the car for a full refund under the consumer rights act as I need a 'trusted, reliable car for work'. The dealership says that they have a right to try and fix it but still want me to contribute to some of the costs (£500). Under the consumer rights act 2015, my right to return clearly supersedes their right to repair as it is within the first 30 days. 

They contend that they 'don't know what I've done with the car since I bought it' - but at the time the fault was apparent, I'd only had it for 6 days and driven around 130miles.

Below is my schedule of events. 

02 August 2022 - purchased vehicle. (Mileage 47,552)

03 August 2022 – Dealership delivered the vehicle to Mr ?'s home address. Journey of approximately 55.5 miles

09 August 2022 – Mr ? drove the vehicle and experienced severe engine trouble. 

10 August 2022 – Mr ? reported the issue to Dealership. 

11 August 2022 – Mr ? took the vehicle to be assessed at independent local garage. 

12 August 2022 – Due to the significant fault with the vehicle (as reported by independent local garage), Mr ? informed the Dealership of intention to return the vehicle for a full refund under the “short term right to reject” in the Consumer Rights Act 2015. 

            The Dealership refused this right and stated that they would offer a part repair.

            Mr ? reminded them of his right to a refund as the fault occurred within 30 days of purchase and could not be attributed to normal wear and tear.

16:37 – Mr ? sent a formal letter (recorded delivery) to the Dealership, informing them of his rights to a refund under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. A second opinion from the independent local garage was included in the envelope stating that the fault was not in reflective of a vehicle of its age or mileage.  A copy of the receipt of purchase was also included in the envelope.

15 August 2022 – Tracked formal letter received by the Dealership at 10:14. (WD?????). 

 The vehicle is currently on 47,732 mileage. That is a total of 180 miles from the point of purchase, including delivery miles. The Dealership drove the car for service purposes (unsure of mileage between service and SCS autos) prior to delivery. 

The garage appears to be putting up quite a lot of resistance to me returning it. Given the significance of the failures in relation to the mileage of the vehicle, I have my doubts about the condition of the car as I bought it. I understand it might be difficult to prove that the failures occurred or were occurring prior to me taking delivery of the car, but I think it would be difficult for me to have caused these components to fail in such a short period of time! 

I'd really appreciate some advice about where I can go with this and some insight into how it might pan out. I've obviously already started formal proceedings by sending a recorded letter but I've yet to receive a response from them.

Any input much appreciated!

Thanks
T

DanDare999

I don't see anything about returning the car. 

Aylesbury_Duck

DanDare999 said:

I don't see anything about returning the car. 

Quite.  OP, do you still have the car?  If not, you need to literally reject it by returning it to them.

timmah86

Aylesbury_Duck said:

DanDare999 said:

I don't see anything about returning the car. 

Quite.  OP, do you still have the car?  If not, you need to literally reject it by returning it to them.

Ah okay. I wasn't sure about giving it back to them before knowing what their response was. So just drive it back and leave it with them? What happens if they decide not to refund and have the car?

Obviously I'm still well within the 30 days so should not be an issue with timing just yet.

macman

Drive to the dealer, hand over keys and docs along with  copies of your rejection letter. Ask for return of funds in 7 days or small claims action will commence.
They have no defence under CRA2015 and are simply bluffing you in the hope that you'' go over the deadline.

DanDare999

timmah86 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

DanDare999 said:

I don't see anything about returning the car. 

Quite.  OP, do you still have the car?  If not, you need to literally reject it by returning it to them.

Ah okay. I wasn't sure about giving it back to them before knowing what their response was. So just drive it back and leave it with them? What happens if they decide not to refund and have the car?

Obviously I'm still well within the 30 days so should not be an issue with timing just yet.

They should have the car, it's not yours if you've rejected it. 

born_again

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/the-car-i-bought-has-a-problem-what-are-my-rights-aAnMC5b0ZzJb

be of satisfactory quality (taking into account its age and mileage)

So a 10 year old car things like clutch, flywheel can be considered as getting to the end of their life.

Did the garage say to take it to another garage to see what the issues were, Or was that your decision?

You really need to give the garage chance to look at the car.

Alderbank

macman said:

Drive to the dealer, hand over keys and docs along with  copies of your rejection letter. Ask for return of funds in 7 days  or small claims action will commence.
They have no defence under CRA2015 and are simply bluffing you in the hope that you'' go over the deadline.

Mr ? has told them he is rejecting the car so the clock has stopped.
However there are defences available and many claims to reject under CRA2015 are successfully challenged by dealers.

OP has told them he needs the car for work. What kind of work is that?
The dealer needs to accept that the vehicle has a significant fault. This is where many claims fail. There is a saying that a car with a fault is not necessarily a faulty car. The car sounds to be driveable. What exactly is wrong with it? I don't understand 'flywheel failed'. The dealer is entitled to examine the car for himself. Mr ? should stop driving the car and tell the dealer to collect it.

Was this a distance purchase? I see the dealer delivered it to Mr ?'s home. Since he informed the dealer of the rejection within 14 days of delivery, if it was a distance sale he can reject the car not under CRA2015 but under different legislation, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. The key difference is that he can reject for any reason or no reason and this right is much harder for the dealer to challenge.

Finally, how did Mr ? pay for the car. Has he paid yet?

macman

Since the OP was concerned about returning the car before getting a refund, I don't think there is any doubt that the vehicle has already been paid for. There is no mention of any finance co. being involved here.
The dealer has asked for a repair contribution of £500 without even asking to inspect the vehicle. So they've admitted liability but are now trying to minimise their losses. Given that, I can understand why the OP has rejected the offer of a repair.
You are correct that he could try to reject under CCR2013 instead, but I think their chances under CRA2015 are still very good, given such a major failure occurred within 130 miles of purchase.

timmah86

macman said:

Drive to the dealer, hand over keys and docs along with  copies of your rejection letter. Ask for return of funds in 7 days or small claims action will commence.
They have no defence under CRA2015 and are simply bluffing you in the hope that you'' go over the deadline.

Thanks for the information. My concern is that I hand over the vehicle and they still dont agree to give me my money back. Then I dont have the vehicle and I also dont have my money back. 

When you say hand over the documents. I registered the vehicle with the DVLA for change of ownership but I still havent received my V5C form back. Do you think That will be an issue? Thanks. 

shiraz99

timmah86 said:

macman said:

Drive to the dealer, hand over keys and docs along with  copies of your rejection letter. Ask for return of funds in 7 days or small claims action will commence.
They have no defence under CRA2015 and are simply bluffing you in the hope that you'' go over the deadline.

Thanks for the information. My concern is that I hand over the vehicle and they still dont agree to give me my money back. Then I dont have the vehicle and I also dont have my money back. 

When you say hand over the documents. I registered the vehicle with the DVLA for change of ownership but I still havent received my V5C form back. Do you think That will be an issue? Thanks. 

If they refuse to accept your rejection then you're only choice to get your money back is via the small claims court, which you should make clear when you reject the vehicle. The V5C isn't an issue for you.