CRA 2015 - Right To Reject - Questions

visidigi

I have bought a vehicle from a franchise dealer of a well known German premium brand - 10k on odo, 14 months old. Price paid was over £30k - £250 on credit card - rest settled without finance.

Vehicle was purchased remotely and delivered to me, so I only had the video and the information from the chassis number to go on (using an online search) - there was no advert as it had just come in and not gone through the listing process.

Car is missing standard maintenance parts listed on the chassis # (related to breakdowns - not cheap), was delivered in absolutely filthy condition and when washed was discovered to have a number of paint flaws - it also didn't have original parts on it (that means the manufacturer warranty it was sold with isn't applicable for it). I allowed the franchise dealer time to address my concerns. They ignored, delayed and didn't resolve - I rejected the car on day 18. They asked for a second chance and I have idiotically allowed it on this condition they resolved everything within 5 working days (as the clock starts ticking day after delivery and I wanted a few days buffer).

They didn't.

I have rejected the purchase under CRA 2015 for not being as described and for not featuring items listed on the chassis number (so actual build features, not the ad) on day 29.

Dealer has refused the rejection as 'it passed the checks to be fit for sale'. I have told the dealer to arrange collection as I do not see any reason for the rejection to be 'rejected'. They have to pay for this as the vehicle was delivered to me - I am asking for all funds to be returned in full.

Car has not been driven now for two weeks and has done under 400 miles since it was delivered.

I have escalated to the manufacturer complaints department, but haven't heard from them in 5 days (I've called them three times). In the meantime the dealer has started to sort the missing parts and they turned up to my house unannounced - they were the wrong parts.

I have clearly got a fight on my hands here which given its a franchise dealer of the brand is unbelievable (the product, service, attitude is absolutely disgusting) - mind you I think this might be because no one at the dealership seems to know what the CRA 2015 is, let along what it entitles me to.

So to my questions...

If the dealer continues to reject the car is there anything I can do to force it? is it LBA/MCO?
I have the motor ombudsman to go to but frankly not sure my blood pressure can survive the wait.
I have S75 as an option.
I note at this amount of money the MCO is 5% fee - so around £1,500 - can I add this to the claim I make?

Would appreciate any advise those in the know might have.

born_again

No S75 as over £30K
As no linked finance no S75A either

5 days is not really long for manufacture to look into issue.

Manxman_in_exile

"Price paid was over £30k"

How much did you pay?  There's a maximum value transaction limit on s75 claims.  Off the top of my head I'm not sure what it is but it's around £30k.  [Edit cross posted with @born_again]

Have you proof that the car does not conform to what the chassis # says and that the manufacturer warranty will have been invalidated by the use of non-manufacturer parts?

How did you buy it without seeing an advert if the car wasn't listed?  What were you told about the car?  (Or what can you prove you were told about the car?)

[Edit; the clock on the 30 day rejection window would have paused when you first complained to them about the problem.  Have you kept driving it during this time or has the dealer had it?]

visidigi

born_again said:

No S75 as over £30K
As no linked finance no S75A either

5 days is not really long for manufacture to look into issue.

Gah its only just over £30k - but if thats the ceiling then I guess thats that for that avenue - reading up you can't claim up to if if you were happy (as its less than a grand over).

I gave the head of the dealership 5 days as he only got involved at first rejection. His staff had 24 days prior to that to deal with the problems - that's not my fault, I am not going over 30 days as then the right of the dealer to reduce the amount repaid kicks in and I was not going to allow that to happen - I shouldn't have given them the days I did to do something about it.

Manxman_in_exile said:

"Price paid was over £30k"

How much did you pay?  There's a maximum value transaction limit on s75 claims.  Off the top of my head I'm not sure what it is but it's around £30k.  [Edit cross posted with @born_again]

Have you proof that the car does not conform to what the chassis # says and that the manufacturer warranty will have been invalidated by the use of non-manufacturer parts?

How did you buy it without seeing an advert if the car wasn't listed?  What were you told about the car?  (Or what can you prove you were told about the car?)

I have proof because the dealer has tried to provide the missing parts - but they are wrong. Its not a big deal item missing, but whether its a screw or an engine - if it doesn't comply with the specification it was shipped with I have the right to reject - it doesn't change my legal right to reject - if its on the chassis # (which is the build list) then it should be on the car unless they tell me otherwise.

It took me to tell them it was missing - because the preparation of the vehicle was, well, basically there wasn't any (it arrived to me with the previous owner's rubbish still in it....)

Dealer will not confirm proof non original equipment is covered by warranty. But given the parts are not made not sold by them and were replaced by the previous owner I can't see how the brand could cover the warranty of a company they do not own. The manufacturer CS did confirm they couldn't replace faulty parts they did not manufacture nor sell.

Its a sought-after model - it was listed as being traded in to a dealer through a group a friend is a member of on Facebook and coming up for sale - I called the dealer, they didn't have one and I asked them to be in touch when something came in, it of course came in the following day to the dealers desk (trade in and sales weren't in on the same day).

They wanted a quick flip and they cut serious corners on preparation and service to do so. I am seriously kicking myself for not rejecting on day one, but I spent three months trying to find the right spec...

Manxman_in_exile

What is the time-line?

You may have missed the edit to my post but my understanding is that the 30 day clock on the short-term right to reject stops ticking when you tell them of a fault.  It doesn't start ticking again until they've fixed (or attempted to fix) it.  What actually happened?  Did they take it away?  Did you keep driving it?

Other posters will know better than me.

visidigi

Manxman_in_exile said:

"Price paid was over £30k"

How much did you pay?  There's a maximum value transaction limit on s75 claims.  Off the top of my head I'm not sure what it is but it's around £30k.  [Edit cross posted with @born_again]

Have you proof that the car does not conform to what the chassis # says and that the manufacturer warranty will have been invalidated by the use of non-manufacturer parts?

How did you buy it without seeing an advert if the car wasn't listed?  What were you told about the car?  (Or what can you prove you were told about the car?)

[Edit; the clock on the 30 day rejection window would have paused when you first complained to them about the problem.  Have you kept driving it during this time or has the dealer had it?]

I stopped well before first rejection. As the head of the dealer said he would sort it I said I would go back to using it (as I didn't buy it to look at).

I used it for a few days and then stopped again when it was clear the head of the dealer was not going to deliver on his promises - I gave the dealer the current mileage when I rejected it last week so it can be clear its not in use.

Manxman_in_exile

See what others think.

Depending on exactly what happened - and when - you might still be within 30 days...

visidigi

Manxman_in_exile said:

See what others think.

Depending on exactly what happened - and when - you might still be within 30 days...

I am still within 30 days. The problem is the dealer is refusing my rejection. The reason they gave was the car past the manufacturer specification for a used car and therefore they deemed it fit for sale.

Its laughable that the head of the dealer used this as the reason to reject.

The problem I have is there doesn't seem to be anything I can do if they do reject it (maybe he does know more about the CRA 2105 than I thought...)

visidigi

Manxman_in_exile said:

What is the time-line?

You may have missed the edit to my post but my understanding is that the 30 day clock on the short-term right to reject stops ticking when you tell them of a fault.  It doesn't start ticking again until they've fixed (or attempted to fix) it.  What actually happened?  Did they take it away?  Did you keep driving it?

Other posters will know better than me.

Reported problems, didn't reject - Day 0 - 17 - used car in limited circumstances until day 14.
Reported more problems on day 16 (+ all original ones unresolved)
Rejected car on Day 19.
Dealer called on day 20.
Day 20-26 allowed head of dealer to address problems
Left if a few more days
Rejected second time on the 29th day.

Like I say, I couldn't have given the dealer more rope here...

They never took it away, they said they would ship the missing parts (they did on day 31 - wrong parts). They asked for a paint repairer to come to my home to repair it, request came for availability after rejection.

Dealer clearly doesn't want me to return to the dealership 100+ miles away, or to a nearer group dealer 25+ miles - I know this as I have offered multiple times to drive the car back for resolution.

Manxman_in_exile

I'm not certain but I think the only way the seller can refuse to accept your rejection is if they say there's nothing wrong with it.  That's because there has to be some "fault" with the car in the first place to entitle you to exercise the short-term right to reject.

I've simply no idea if the issues you describe with the car would be sufficient to justify rejection.  (I'm not a car geek).

If you can't persuade the dealer to change their mind I think you will have to go down the Letter Before Claim route.  I'm not certain about the practical difficulties of issuing a diy claim for £30k either.

Again, see what others can advise...

visidigi

The primary reason for rejection are areas of paint damage on the car - two of which are through the to the metal (on both front doors) and a third through to the primer.

The condition of these panels is not up to expectation of wear/age/quality.

I gave them 14 days to fix these issues (even though I didn't actually have to give any).