Cazoo administration has left me without a car

MeteredOut

Bigphil1474 said:

OP, might it be worth considering a good will payment towards the bill so that they get more than they would waiting for admin to be sorted out, but you don't have to foot the entire bill?

....but we wary of doing anything that suggests you accept liability for the repairs.

MeteredOut

If Cazoo authorised the payment , could the garage sell the car to cover that payment ? Could the garage undo the work they have done and return to the OP ? I really have no clue ,just thinking aloud

saajan_12 said:

Would a mechanic's lien apply here?
Whereby if the garage did the work, they can hold onto the car until the cost is paid [by whoever] and if payment is not forthcoming then eventually sell the car to recoup. My knowledge is limited in this and I don't know how that works where the client is not the same as the car owner. 

Wonder if you can demand return of your car, via a civil standby / police but if not, then what are the relative values of the car vs repair cost? Might be better to pay and get back the car at least. 

The garage does not own the car. The OP does not owe any debt to the garage.

I very much doubt the garage has any legal basis to sell (or perhaps even hold onto) the car.

DullGreyGuy

In normal operations the garage has a lien against the vehicle for the cost of repairs and legally can hold onto the vehicle as collateral for the repairs to be paid for.

The question is given the 3 party structure here does that change anything or does the garage still get their lien and so Garage claims against Cazoo for repair costs and OP claims against Cazoo for the vehicle they gave them for repair that hasn't been returned? I dont know and would suggest the op should speak to any legal advice service they have like on their home insurance or if they are a member of a union etc

Goudy

I think this is a pretty grey area.
Yes another party entered into an agreement with the garage to repair your car but you the owner are the one benefitting from that.

It's only the owner that is getting value out of the garages work.

The best advise has already been given, get some legal advice.

letom

It may be worth asking this on a legal forum, however my view is you are in fact a party to the contract (even implied) because you are the owner of the vehicle. Even if you didn't specifically authorise the works and you have given permission for cazoo to act in some way as an agent and therefore given them some form of delegated authority to act on your behalf.

If the garage were to sue cazoo and put you as a joint defendant, I find it difficult to see how you could get your name off the claim. However realistically the garage is going to go for whoever has the money and that's you.

Ultimately the garage can hold the vehicle until payment from cazoo (or whoever decodes to pay), they have completed their side of the contract so cazoo need to complete their side. Again because you have delegated authority to cazoo you simply can't just rip up the contract and take back your vehicle.

saajan_12

MeteredOut said:

If Cazoo authorised the payment , could the garage sell the car to cover that payment ? Could the garage undo the work they have done and return to the OP ? I really have no clue ,just thinking aloud

saajan_12 said:

Would a mechanic's lien apply here?
Whereby if the garage did the work, they can hold onto the car until the cost is paid [by whoever] and if payment is not forthcoming then eventually sell the car to recoup. My knowledge is limited in this and I don't know how that works where the client is not the same as the car owner. 

Wonder if you can demand return of your car, via a civil standby / police but if not, then what are the relative values of the car vs repair cost? Might be better to pay and get back the car at least. 

The garage does not own the car. The OP does not owe any debt to the garage.

I very much doubt the garage has any legal basis to sell (or perhaps even hold onto) the car.

Agree on the first line. The possible legal basis is a mechanic's lien. If applicable in this situation (with different debtor / car owner) then ultimately yes they could hold and then sell. The question is just whether its applicable - from a quick read, I can't see this addressed in the legislation, so one for legal advice. 

Herzlos

Did you make any progress?

In theory, the garage had the contract with Cazoo and thus should add the entire debt to the debtors list for the administration. BUT they do still have possession of your car and you may need to involve the court to get them to hand it back. They may also start charging a storage fee if it drags on too long.

Can you talk to the garage and try to make a deal - like you pay for the parts so they aren't out of pocket and they pursue Cazoo for the labour?

Danien

Neil49 said:

This article doesn't sound too promising. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3gg520np4xo

In that case the work hadn't been done yet. So the woman had to pay to get the work done.

In this case the work was done for cazoo under warranty, not the car owner, which should make the garage a crediter of cazoo. They shouldn't be able to hold the car as it is owned by the OP and is not an asset of cazoo, and so cannot be held in lieu of payment. That's how it seems to me anyway.

Danien

saajan_12 said:

Would a mechanic's lien apply here?
Whereby if the garage did the work, they can hold onto the car until the cost is paid [by whoever] and if payment is not forthcoming then eventually sell the car to recoup. My knowledge is limited in this and I don't know how that works where the client is not the same as the car owner. 

Wonder if you can demand return of your car, via a civil standby / police but if not, then what are the relative values of the car vs repair cost? Might be better to pay and get back the car at least. 

But the debt is with cazoo, not with the OP. The OP owns the car. You can't hold or sell another person's property for a debt with a third party, surely. They may try and hold the car, but legally I think they are on dodgy ground - the owner does not owe them the money, cazoo do. 

Danien

Nobbie1967 said:

photome said:

If Cazoo authorised the payment , could the garage sell the car to cover that payment ?

Could the garage undo the work they have done and return to the OP ?

I really have no clue ,just thinking aloud

I don’t think they can legally do that and I expect they’ve thrown out the faulty parts. This is a clear dispute between Cazoo and the garage. I don’t see what legal right they have to retain the car as the OP doesn’t owe them any money. If they threaten to remove parts I suspect it would constitute criminal damage.

If I was the Op, I’d tell them I was coming to pick up the car and for them to have it ready for a certain time. Turn up with the spare key and if the car is in sight, explain that the dispute is with Cazoo and ask for the key they hold. If they refuse, use the spare to drive the car away and follow up with a letter before action for the return of the key.

Not sure I'd tell them I was coming. But when I turned up I would have a letter explaining the situation and also explaining the legal costs involved if they try and keep the car. It's cheaper for them to let the car go now, than have to pay for the entire cost of the car if they do something stupid, or be liable for criminal damage if they reverse their work.