Car brought from dealership which is now being scrapped by them.

HillStreetBlues

What date did he buy the car (or had use of it if that's later) and what date was it taken back to the garage?

MalMonroe

Debsnewbudget said:

Hi
My son bought a 3 year old car from a Vauxhall dealership at the start of December 2022.
He loved the car, but he took it in this week due to engine light coming on and problems with it.
They have said it needs to be scrapped due to the amount of work required on it.
He can either get a new car off them or get his money back, however they are taking £400 off him due to the mileage he has driven since he bought it.
Does this seem fair? 

No, it doesn't seem fair at all. 

They sold him a pile of junk and it should have had a service and it should have had an MOT certificate too. A three year old car needs scrapping? They should be falling over themselves to ensure your son has a similar replacement, at no extra charge whatsoever.

Shame on that Vauxhall dealership. 

At the very least I'd have to write a letter of complaint to the Vauxhall Head Office, with a copy to the dealer who sold him the car a mere 4 to 5 weeks ago. 

How dare they charge him anything when the car was obviously not fit for purpose???

You son needs to demand a full refund and take his business elsewhere.

Please see the info in the following link  - 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim-consumer-rights/

For what it's worth, I got a four year old car from a Toyota dealership in August 2019 and it's still going strong. 

I hope this is helpful - I hate it when car dealers try to rip people off (especially single women like me and young people like your son). It'd be a great goodwill gesture for them - since your son has been greatly inconvenienced - to simply wipe the £400, which is nothing to them. 

born_again

Debsnewbudget said:

Hi
My son bought a 3 year old car from a Vauxhall dealership at the start of December 2022.
He loved the car, but he took it in this week due to engine light coming on and problems with it.
They have said it needs to be scrapped due to the amount of work required on it.
He can either get a new car off them or get his money back, however they are taking £400 off him due to the mileage he has driven since he bought it.
Does this seem fair? 

Which car & what was paid for it?

As a 3 year old car being scrapped must have some serious issues other than just engine, as even a new engine will be no where near the value of the car.

Manxman_in_exile

HillStreetBlues said:

What date did he buy the car (or had use of it if that's later) and what date was it taken back to the garage?

born_again said:

Debsnewbudget said:

Hi
My son bought a 3 year old car from a Vauxhall dealership at the start of December 2022.
He loved the car, but he took it in this week due to engine light coming on and problems with it.
They have said it needs to be scrapped due to the amount of work required on it.
He can either get a new car off them or get his money back, however they are taking £400 off him due to the mileage he has driven since he bought it.
Does this seem fair? 

Which car & what was paid for it?

As a 3 year old car being scrapped must have some serious issues other than just engine, as even a new engine will be no where near the value of the car.

And what mileage has he done?

SiliconChip

Manxman_in_exile said:

HillStreetBlues said:

What date did he buy the car (or had use of it if that's later) and what date was it taken back to the garage?

born_again said:

Debsnewbudget said:

Hi
My son bought a 3 year old car from a Vauxhall dealership at the start of December 2022.
He loved the car, but he took it in this week due to engine light coming on and problems with it.
They have said it needs to be scrapped due to the amount of work required on it.
He can either get a new car off them or get his money back, however they are taking £400 off him due to the mileage he has driven since he bought it.
Does this seem fair? 

Which car & what was paid for it?

As a 3 year old car being scrapped must have some serious issues other than just engine, as even a new engine will be no where near the value of the car.

And what mileage has he done?

This is obviously the key question, it's astonishing that we've got so far into the thread and nobody has bothered to ask it until now (almost as astonishing as the OP not bothering to give it in the first place, despite saying that the mileage done is the reason for the reduction). It would also be helpful to know what mileage the car had done at the point of purchase - 1,000 miles added to a car that had only done 5,000 previously is a different consideration to one that had done 50,000.

born_again

TDF @DullGreyGuy ask that very point on mileage covered in the 2nd reply.

MikeJXE

Could do with some answers from the OP 

DullGreyGuy

SiliconChip said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

HillStreetBlues said:

What date did he buy the car (or had use of it if that's later) and what date was it taken back to the garage?

born_again said:

Debsnewbudget said:

Hi
My son bought a 3 year old car from a Vauxhall dealership at the start of December 2022.
He loved the car, but he took it in this week due to engine light coming on and problems with it.
They have said it needs to be scrapped due to the amount of work required on it.
He can either get a new car off them or get his money back, however they are taking £400 off him due to the mileage he has driven since he bought it.
Does this seem fair? 

Which car & what was paid for it?

As a 3 year old car being scrapped must have some serious issues other than just engine, as even a new engine will be no where near the value of the car.

And what mileage has he done?

This is obviously the key question, it's astonishing that we've got so far into the thread and nobody has bothered to ask it until now (almost as astonishing as the OP not bothering to give it in the first place, despite saying that the mileage done is the reason for the reduction). It would also be helpful to know what mileage the car had done at the point of purchase - 1,000 miles added to a car that had only done 5,000 previously is a different consideration to one that had done 50,000.

I did ask already thanks... remember we are talking about paying for use and not depreciation, it's not clear why the cars original mileage would be directly relevant? I'd argue it may be indirectly relevant as the cost of use is probably related to the value of the vehicle which would be driven by the prior mileage (but also model, mark, optional extras etc)

MikeJXE

DullGreyGuy said:

SiliconChip said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

HillStreetBlues said:

What date did he buy the car (or had use of it if that's later) and what date was it taken back to the garage?

born_again said:

Debsnewbudget said:

Hi
My son bought a 3 year old car from a Vauxhall dealership at the start of December 2022.
He loved the car, but he took it in this week due to engine light coming on and problems with it.
They have said it needs to be scrapped due to the amount of work required on it.
He can either get a new car off them or get his money back, however they are taking £400 off him due to the mileage he has driven since he bought it.
Does this seem fair? 

Which car & what was paid for it?

As a 3 year old car being scrapped must have some serious issues other than just engine, as even a new engine will be no where near the value of the car.

And what mileage has he done?

This is obviously the key question, it's astonishing that we've got so far into the thread and nobody has bothered to ask it until now (almost as astonishing as the OP not bothering to give it in the first place, despite saying that the mileage done is the reason for the reduction). It would also be helpful to know what mileage the car had done at the point of purchase - 1,000 miles added to a car that had only done 5,000 previously is a different consideration to one that had done 50,000.

I did ask already thanks... remember we are talking about paying for use and not depreciation, it's not clear why the cars original mileage would be directly relevant? I'd argue it may be indirectly relevant as the cost of use is probably related to the value of the vehicle which would be driven by the prior mileage (but also model, mark, optional extras etc)

The mileage would be very important, the car at 3 years maybe is only just out of warranty and the difference between 30,000 miles and 60,000 mile is significant 

Bought from a main dealer is also relevant, service intervals are also 

Grumpy_chap

Debsnewbudget said:

Hi
My son bought a 3 year old car from a Vauxhall dealership at the start of December 2022.
He loved the car, but he took it in this week due to engine light coming on and problems with it.
They have said it needs to be scrapped due to the amount of work required on it.
He can either get a new car off them or get his money back, however they are taking £400 off him due to the mileage he has driven since he bought it.
Does this seem fair? 

He has had the car for just one month.
That £400 would seem to reflect what might be a typical lease charge for a brand new car.  No reason that would necessarily be the applicable way to calculate in this case.
How many miles were covered in that month?  What is the per mile charge that is being applied?

When did the fault first occur?
When did he notify the dealer?
Did he drive the car after the light illuminated?

What is, apparently, wrong with the car?
It seems very quick, from taking the car in this week, for the message to be communicated that this 3-yo car is now beyond economical repair.  That kind of decision is one you would expect has some authorisation from senior managers or even the manufacturer and that process takes time.  Even more so given this is a four-day week and not everywhere fully back from Christmas break etc yet.