Rejecting a Lease Vehicle

jdodge92

Hi all,

First time posting in here and I’m looking for a bit of help please.

I leased an automatic car through a Main Seat dealer in October 2021 and didn’t have any issues up until about 6months ago. 

The car started throwing up lots of different error codes on the dash and dropping out of gear at random moments, even on the motorway. I would then have to drop it back in to gear to carry on, sometimes it wouldn’t go back in first time round and on the motorway with my family in, which isn’t ideal to say the least. 

The car was booked in with the main dealer to be looked at but in the meantime the car then broke down and had to be recovered in to the dealer. After 3 days they said the car was fixed and that they had done a software update. 

A few days later the car started with the exact same problems as before so it was booked in again. All the time with the same error codes cycling through and the car dropping out of gear. The car went in to the dealer and they said the fault was now with the mechatronic unit on the gearbox, to take the car away and wait until the parts were ordered and then book in to get it fixed.

The car then broke down again and was recovered in to them. It has now been 2months since I’ve had the car that I’ve still been paying for. 

I complained to Seat Finance to see if I can cancel the agreement based on the fact they have already “repaired” the car once and it is still experiencing the same problems. 

Seat have said that I am unable to leave the agreement without paying an early termination fee. But they have offered a monetary compensation but I don’t feel that it represents the issues that I have experienced.

My question is, if I was to take this to the ombudsman would there be a likely chance this decision would be overturned and I would be able to get out of the agreement at no cost to me. If so - is there anything I could put in my complaint to help my situation. I.e wording or quoting legislation etc.

Has anyone successfully rejected their car after the 6months window? 

Appreciate any help with this!

Thanks in advance,
J

m0bov

Is this a Personal Contract Hire or PCP??

jdodge92

m0bov said:

Is this a Personal Contract Hire or PCP??

This is a PCH provided through Seat

flashg67

After 6 months, the onus may be on you to prove the fault is inherent or can't be rectified in a reasonable time frame. An independent report will cost you and there's no guarantee the report will say what you need. What have they said the delay is ? Parts delays are common at the moment. Have they given, or have you requested a loan/hire car for the time off road?
You don't have to accept their compensation, ask for a final resolution letter and go to the ombudsman  - it may take some time for their response though

Penelopa.Pitstop

How long do you have left until the end of the contract? It must be minimum 3y deal and I assume you are still within warranty. Did you get courtesy car during the time when car was unavailable?

I was able to reject the car after initial 6 months, but I used excuse of software issue from the beginning and described problems that started within 6 months period. In my case, they accepted rejection at 8 months and I returned it them at 9th months, after waiting to remove private plate. I got refund of 75% payments made until rejection date. 

I think, in your case, it's too late for rejection. It's more about fixing the car and getting courtesy car in the meantime and possibly some compensation. People usually mention one month payment as compensation. 

jdodge92

flashg67 said:

After 6 months, the onus may be on you to prove the fault is inherent or can't be rectified in a reasonable time frame. An independent report will cost you and there's no guarantee the report will say what you need. What have they said the delay is ? Parts delays are common at the moment. Have they given, or have you requested a loan/hire car for the time off road?
You don't have to accept their compensation, ask for a final resolution letter and go to the ombudsman  - it may take some time for their response though

Hi flashg67,
They never actually contacted me at any point through the 2months I was without my car to say there was a delay or anything. When the car was collected they just put it down to it being a big job and that in between getting other peoples cars sorted they were doing little bits at a time on mine. 

When my car was recovered the AA luckily provided me with a hire car but this was not arranged through the dealership.
Their compensation offer was quickly put in to my bank account when I emailed them back with further questions about my case and going to the ombudsman (this has been put to one side so it is not going to get spent) since then I haven’t received anymore communication from Seat though.
Thanks J

jdodge92

Penelopa.Pitstop said:

How long do you have left until the end of the contract? It must be minimum 3y deal and I assume you are still within warranty. Did you get courtesy car during the time when car was unavailable?

I was able to reject the car after initial 6 months, but I used excuse of software issue from the beginning and described problems that started within 6 months period. In my case, they accepted rejection at 8 months and I returned it them at 9th months, after waiting to remove private plate. I got refund of 75% payments made until rejection date. 

I think, in your case, it's too late for rejection. It's more about fixing the car and getting courtesy car in the meantime and possibly some compensation. People usually mention one month payment as compensation. 

Hi Penelopa.Pitstop
It was a 4yr deal that I took out with them and yes the car is still in warranty until October 24 so it will be another 1yr without being covered under warranty.
The courtesy car was provided through the AA & Enterprise as the first time the car broke down they were reluctant to give me a courtesy as they were all booked out at the time. 

The compensation they have offered me was under the total amount that I had to still pay while the car was with them on the multiple occasions that they had the car. Hence the reason I don’t think the compensation is worth the issues I’ve had.

Thanks J