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

timmah86

Alderbank 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.

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?

Thanks Alderbank, 

I will answer your questions in order. 

1. I am a school teacher (30 min drive to work from home). Also required to use personal car at times as part of job. 

2. I immediately took it to an independent garage as I wanted some evidence incase the dealership was going to dispute the claim. Here is what the mechanic wrote. 

"Dear Mr ???,

This diagnosis was performed without any prejudice. 

From cold the engine has an imbalance which is very similar to a 2 cylinder missfire that gets slightly better for a short while then gets worse again when hot. 

The dual mass flywheel certainly appears broken and is chattering, the noise from which can be made worse when clutch is disengaged or held on biting point. On the engine itself,

live data when imbalance is at its worst, all 4 injectors are trying to compensate for the imbalance. Obviously there is a significant power, performance and comfort loss.

At the vehicle's current mileage of under 48000 this is a premature failure of a major transmission component. It is certainly possible that this fault was in its infancy, if not apparent to the dealer at the time of purchase on 02/08/2022.

Until faulty flywheel / clutch replaced, which is most likely cause of this current issue as it stands, then further investigation is not possible.  

3. I have not driven the car since the assessment. (If I had to return it, I could potentially drive it the 55.5 miles return but the garage advised that there is a reasonable case of it breaking down). 

4. Not a distance purchase. I viewed it in person and they delivered it the following day. 

5. I paid for the car by transfer which I am now aware gives me a lot less protection.

Thanks

DanDare999

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 you've rejected it then technically you don't have a car now as it's not yours. 

Alderbank

DanDare999 said:

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 you've rejected it then technically you don't have a car now as it's not yours. 

CRA2015 attempts to be fair to both parties. The dealer can do his own investigation and can refuse to accept the rejection. The car belongs to the OP. Title only passes when the dealer pays him for it.

The life of a dual mass flywheel and clutch plates is very dependant on the driver and how the car has been driven. Mercs are pretty tough but DSGs have been known to fail at 20,000 miles. This car has averaged less than 5,000 miles a year for 10 years which suggests more stop-start than motorway. The picture the third party garage is painting seems to be that a leaky hydraulic piston has led to a spongy clutch which was slipping and overheating, and overheating is the principal cause of DSG failure. I think there is scope for argument between the two garages there.

timmah86, is the dealer a member of the motor ombudsman scheme or a similar ADR?
If there is deadlock, using such a body would be much less stressful than going before a judge and if you don't agree with their decision you still have the right to go to court.

Aylesbury_Duck

timmah86 said:

5. I paid for the car by transfer which I am now aware gives me a lot less protection.

Thanks

Did you pay any of it on credit card, perhaps the deposit?  Even putting £1 on a credit card gives you section 75 protection on the purchase.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

DanDare999 said:

I don't see anything about returning the car. 

I don't see any advice noting that in the event of rejecting the goods the trader has a duty to collect them unless the consumer has agreed to return them nor a question to the OP as to whether there was any given in writing that came with a stipulation it's their duty to return. 

macman

You are not going lose the use of the car, since it's not in a driveable state at present anyway. And they are clearly not going to refund you until you physically return it. So you will probably have to arrange for it to be towed back at your expense.
You can still retain the V5C, once it arrives, until you have been refunded., though this does not prove ownership in itself.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

macman said:

You are not going lose the use of the car, since it's not in a driveable state at present anyway. And they are clearly not going to refund you until you physically return it. So you will probably have to arrange for it to be towed back at your expense.
You can still retain the V5C, once it arrives, until you have been refunded., though this does not prove ownership in itself.

The car was delivered to the OP's home and the trader is responsible for the return costs from where the consumer took physical possession of the goods.