Used Car: Consumer rights or warranty claim

f.castle

Hello,

I bought a used car 2 months ago from what appears to be a reputable dealer. Local brand x garage (up north) selling new and used cars. I bought a different brand of used car from them. Eg Renault dealer selling a used Honda Civic that someone traded in, which I bought.
The dealer is a 4 hour drive from me (south) and they delivered the car to me, I have it on finance.

2 months in, I have a many fault lights showing all of a sudden, I think it is a battery or electrical issue given everything was fine upto this/ no accidents/ hits etc. I contacted the dealer who told me to go through the warranty they set up for me. The car seems to drive with no issues, but some features now do not work eg adaptive cruise control and lane assist.

The warranty company are saying there is an excess, and will only pay a diagnostic fee if the claim is succesful. So the warranty seems like a faff. 

Under the CRA 2015, I believe if a fault is present after 30 days the dealer has to repair it. There is no local dealer around me (south) of the local brand x (north) which I bought the car from.

I have not booked in anything.

questions:

• What should I do?
• What can I do? I think the CRA should be the first port of call.
• How can I get the dealer to deal with it if they/ I am 4 hours apart from each other.?
• What if they say they will only deal with it if the car is brought back to to them.

thanks,

Aylesbury_Duck

I agree that the CRA is the best bet initially.  Ask the dealer if they have a franchise partner or similar nearer you that they'd be happy for you to use.  If they aren't happy, then yes they can insist you take it to them if you want them to do anything.  It was your choice to buy from so far away, so they're not liable for the cost of getting it back to them from where you live, nor for organising the return.

Edited to add: Just re-read and realised they delivered to you, sorry - read it too quickly first time.  That might change things with respect to the distance.

Wonka_2

Given you say the fault(s) only appeared after 30 days then, in my view, there is no direct responsibility back to the dealer. Obviously if they were local and you had a relationship with them you may have more joy than if there were at the other end of the country and it was a simple 'transactional' relationship.

If you can get them to agree to look at it then you have to weigh up the cost of fuel/time vs the excess on the warranty ?

What car/age/value are we talking about - given you mention adaptive cruise I'm suspecting not the lower/older end of the market ?

f.castle

Wonka_2 said:

Given you say the fault(s) only appeared after 30 days then, in my view, there is no direct responsibility back to the dealer. Obviously if they were local and you had a relationship with them you may have more joy than if there were at the other end of the country and it was a simple 'transactional' relationship.

If you can get them to agree to look at it then you have to weigh up the cost of fuel/time vs the excess on the warranty ?

What car/age/value are we talking about - given you mention adaptive cruise I'm suspecting not the lower/older end of the market ?

2018, 36k miles, roughly 14k value now on forecourt, but insurers would would probs say £12k. 

visidigi

Is it a BMW? 

Might be worth getting a battery test on it.

Ectophile

visidigi said:

Is it a BMW? 

Might be worth getting a battery test on it.

A lot of cars will start throwing up random warning lights if the battery is low, not just BMWs.

HillStreetBlues

visidigi said:

Is it a BMW? 

Might be worth getting a battery test on it.

Random warning lights on BMWs are what other makes call indicators

tedted

what a stupid coment

photome

visidigi said:

Is it a BMW? 

Might be worth getting a battery test on it.

OP said it was a honda civic ( I think)

OP if there is a fault, which is likely then the warranty company will pay , wouldnt that be the best way fwd given you are past the 30 day deadline.

as for the 4 hour travel it was your choice to buy from so far away

Biketrials08

What is this 30 days several of you are on about? The 30 days is the short term right to reject, you're not suddenly on your own after this. The Consumer Rights Act states, in essence, if a fault occurs within the first 6 months then it is deemed to have been present at purchase. Look at decisions/case studies on the Motor Ombudsman page, they are all based on this.