Car mis-sold by Audi dealership

DT03

Hi everyone,

I was looking for some help or advice with the following problem please .

Last year (June) we got a new Audi A5 40 tfsi black edition on PCP from an Audi dealership. The salesman sent over the paperwork and my husband noticed that it was registered as a 35 tfsi which he brought to their attention.  The salesman came back and assured us that it was an error with the DVLA and took a picture of the car with the badge showing 40 which he claimed he hadn’t wanted to do before the grand reveal the following day when we were picking it up.

We collected the car and over the next several months, my husband kept in communication with the salesman over the paperwork error. He constantly reassured us and blamed the DVLA being slow to issue the correct paperwork. The last attempted correspondence with him was a few months ago to which we received no reply (turns out he had left the company). Cut to last week when we took the car in for its first service. My husband mentioned the ongoing issue and one of the people at the dealership suggested that they should put it on the diagnostic machine just to check if it was a 35 or 40.
Turns out that the car was indeed a 35 and not a 40 as it had been sold as.

After a few calls and emails, Audi have currently offered to change the badge and compensate us with £1000. They have told us that this was the work of a rogue salesman (their words, not mine) who rebadged the car. They also said that it was sold to us at the price of a 35 and not a 40 which we have no way of checking. This does not make sense though as why rebadge a car with a higher spec just to sell it at the same price as its original specification? From what I can tell, there is a much greater price difference than £1000 between a 35 and a 40. Also their offer will only stand for 7 days. Does this seem right or lawful?

Sorry for the long email but I was really hoping someone could point us in the right direction as to what to do. 

Many thanks in advance.

Hoenir

DT03 said:

Last year (June) we got a new Audi A5 40 tfsi black edition on PCP from an Audi dealership. The salesman sent over the paperwork and my husband noticed that it was registered as a 35 tfsi which he brought to their attention.  The salesman came back and assured us that it was an error with the DVLA and took a picture of the car with the badge showing 40 which he claimed he hadn’t wanted to do before the grand reveal the following day when we were picking it up.

You bought a car without seeing or test driving it first? 

EssexExile

Hoenir said:

DT03 said:

Last year (June) we got a new Audi A5 40 tfsi black edition on PCP from an Audi dealership. The salesman sent over the paperwork and my husband noticed that it was registered as a 35 tfsi which he brought to their attention.  The salesman came back and assured us that it was an error with the DVLA and took a picture of the car with the badge showing 40 which he claimed he hadn’t wanted to do before the grand reveal the following day when we were picking it up.

You bought a car without seeing or test driving it first? 

That's the way you buy new cars.

DT03

This was a brand new car, he had driven the exact same model and the car was brought in from the factory. We had seen pictures and it matched the pictures and registration plate.

caprikid1

This does not feel like miss-selling, this feels like fraud !

DT03

caprikid1 said:

This does not feel like misspelling, this feels like fraud !

I know! We’re really not sure where to go or what to do as they have put a time limit on their offer!

DullGreyGuy

Hoenir said:

DT03 said:

Last year (June) we got a new Audi A5 40 tfsi black edition on PCP from an Audi dealership. The salesman sent over the paperwork and my husband noticed that it was registered as a 35 tfsi which he brought to their attention.  The salesman came back and assured us that it was an error with the DVLA and took a picture of the car with the badge showing 40 which he claimed he hadn’t wanted to do before the grand reveal the following day when we were picking it up.

You bought a car without seeing or test driving it first? 

How do you propose test driving something that hasn't been built at the time of ordering it? You test drive a demo car and then order your own one.

born_again

DT03 said:

Hi everyone,

I was looking for some help or advice with the following problem please .

Last year (June) we got a new Audi A5 40 tfsi black edition on PCP from an Audi dealership. The salesman sent over the paperwork and my husband noticed that it was registered as a 35 tfsi which he brought to their attention.  The salesman came back and assured us that it was an error with the DVLA and took a picture of the car with the badge showing 40 which he claimed he hadn’t wanted to do before the grand reveal the following day when we were picking it up.

We collected the car and over the next several months, my husband kept in communication with the salesman over the paperwork error. He constantly reassured us and blamed the DVLA being slow to issue the correct paperwork. The last attempted correspondence with him was a few months ago to which we received no reply (turns out he had left the company). Cut to last week when we took the car in for its first service. My husband mentioned the ongoing issue and one of the people at the dealership suggested that they should put it on the diagnostic machine just to check if it was a 35 or 40.
Turns out that the car was indeed a 35 and not a 40 as it had been sold as.

After a few calls and emails, Audi have currently offered to change the badge and compensate us with £1000. They have told us that this was the work of a rogue salesman (their words, not mine) who rebadged the car. They also said that it was sold to us at the price of a 35 and not a 40 which we have no way of checking. This does not make sense though as why rebadge a car with a higher spec just to sell it at the same price as its original specification? From what I can tell, there is a much greater price difference than £1000 between a 35 and a 40. Also their offer will only stand for 7 days. Does this seem right or lawful?

Sorry for the long email but I was really hoping someone could point us in the right direction as to what to do. 

Many thanks in advance.

So the question is what do you want?

Return car & unwind deal?
Or take the cash & move on?

Or something else?

eskbanker

caprikid1 said:

This does not feel like misspelling

That does

MeteredOut

"They also said that it was sold to us at the price of a 35 and not a 40 which we have no way of checking."

I'm struggling with this.

Surely your documentation states list price, discounts, part-ex contribution, dealer contribution etc?

Have you checked the difference between the 35 and the 40 (for the otherwise space spec) today?

If you provide the above, or even what you paid, then I'm sure people here will be able to determine whether you the base price was the 35 or the 40.

Hoenir

DullGreyGuy said:

Hoenir said:

DT03 said:

Last year (June) we got a new Audi A5 40 tfsi black edition on PCP from an Audi dealership. The salesman sent over the paperwork and my husband noticed that it was registered as a 35 tfsi which he brought to their attention.  The salesman came back and assured us that it was an error with the DVLA and took a picture of the car with the badge showing 40 which he claimed he hadn’t wanted to do before the grand reveal the following day when we were picking it up.

You bought a car without seeing or test driving it first? 

How do you propose test driving something that hasn't been built at the time of ordering it? You test drive a demo car and then order your own one.

Didn't appreciate that the only difference between the models is the higher engine power output.  

I'm surprised the salesman was able to doctor the information on the sales documentation to alter the vehicle model sold.