Car mis-sold by Audi dealership

Wonka_2

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.

The next steps to this are likely to be revealed from the original sales invoice. Unless said salesman was in cahoots with the admin team at the dealership he's unlikely to have been able to manipulate the invoice to show a different model from the chassis number - and for the value involved there's got to be easier ways of making money.

Is there finance on the vehicle or was it a cash purchase ?

Assuming you wanted a 40 and your documentation (other than V5) shows a 40 then you suggest the dealer replace with the 40 you bought or you'll raise with finance company.

Without knowing what you paid a £1k offer for the difference seems like 'go away' money - a nominal check seems to show around £3k difference

sheslookinhot

What model does your invoice state ? This does seem like a fraud, though not sure what the gain is. Perhaps the salesman ordered the wrong model. The garage are full responsible for sorting it out.


What do you mean you have no way of checking the price differential  but then in the next sentence you state “ as far as you can tell the price difference is greater than £1000 ?

Get on to them immediately and advise them you will be putting it into the hands of your solicitor, within the next day, if they do not give you satisfactory compensation. (Price difference and £1000 compensation or what ?)

DT03

Wonka_2 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.

The next steps to this are likely to be revealed from the original sales invoice. Unless said salesman was in cahoots with the admin team at the dealership he's unlikely to have been able to manipulate the invoice to show a different model from the chassis number - and for the value involved there's got to be easier ways of making money.

Is there finance on the vehicle or was it a cash purchase ?

Assuming you wanted a 40 and your documentation (other than V5) shows a 40 then you suggest the dealer replace with the 40 you bought or you'll raise with finance company.

Without knowing what you paid a £1k offer for the difference seems like 'go away' money - a nominal check seems to show around £3k difference

It shows as a 35 on the paperwork but the salesman assured us that the paperwork could only be corrected once the DVLA had sorted out the problem at their end. We have lots of emails from him stating that this car was a 40 model. The dealership are distancing themselves from this salesperson and yes I feel they are trying to fob us off with this 7 day time limit. The car was bought on finance and the price was £43988.84

Hoenir

sheslookinhot said:

Get on to them immediately and advise them you will be putting it into the hands of your solicitor, within the next day, if they do not give you satisfactory compensation. (Price difference and £1000 compensation or what ?)

There's nothing to suggest an overcharge has been made though. Nor is it likely given the way accounting software works in the industry.

Wonka_2

DT03 said:

Wonka_2 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.

The next steps to this are likely to be revealed from the original sales invoice. Unless said salesman was in cahoots with the admin team at the dealership he's unlikely to have been able to manipulate the invoice to show a different model from the chassis number - and for the value involved there's got to be easier ways of making money.

Is there finance on the vehicle or was it a cash purchase ?

Assuming you wanted a 40 and your documentation (other than V5) shows a 40 then you suggest the dealer replace with the 40 you bought or you'll raise with finance company.

Without knowing what you paid a £1k offer for the difference seems like 'go away' money - a nominal check seems to show around £3k difference

It shows as a 35 on the paperwork but the salesman assured us that the paperwork could only be corrected once the DVLA had sorted out the problem at their end. We have lots of emails from him stating that this car was a 40 model. The dealership are distancing themselves from this salesperson and yes I feel they are trying to fob us off with this 7 day time limit. The car was bought on finance and the price was £43988.84

Assuming this is an Audi Dealership and not an online/broker transaction then you dig out the corresponding list price for the 40 with same spec (might be difficult but I'm sure someone on HonestJohn of an Audi Forum will help) and you turn up there with your paperwork and comparisons. You then need to decide whether you want the 35 at a price or you want the 40 you 'bought'

TBH without knowing options and what line of the invoice the £43,988 number is from that looks very much like the price for a 35. If that's the case then rebadging and £1k might be a good offer but the crux may be whether you have anywhere in your paperwork the quotation of a 40 at that price and whether the finance company will support you ?

Neil49

Assuming you didn't get a discount then you paid the price of a 35 model. The difference in performance is significant but so is the insurance rating.

Either way, your contract has been through the dealership and they are responsible for the actions of their employees. Don't let them fob you off. 

Grumpy_chap

DT03 said:

It shows as a 35 on the paperwork but the salesman assured us that the paperwork could only be corrected once the DVLA had sorted out the problem at their end. We have lots of emails from him stating that this car was a 40 model. 

Exactly which paperwork shows the car as being the 35 model?
I initially understood that was just the DVLA V5 registration document (log book).
Outside of the e-mails, what does the order paperwork say you ordered and paid for?

I find the whole situation very odd if it is as I read from the thread.  OP ordered a 40 model but was supplied with a 35 model.  When the showroom received the 35 model, their solution was to swap the badge from the back of the car to change the 35 badge to a 40 badge.  That is dishonesty at its very best and appear to be clear fraud. 

There are lots of ways that a customer could order a 40 model and the dealership receive a 35 model - all of the plausible ones really come down to simple error.  In the event of simple error, I'd expect the dealership to be honest and either say, you can have the car 35 model (with possible compensation), or wait for the supply of a 40 model (which might not be quick).

I can't believe that an individual member of the sales staff acted wholly alone on this badge swap.  Even if an individual had done so, I would expect this comes under "vicarious liability" so the Dealership cannot distance themselves from the individual.

born_again

This has to be down to what the OP wants, sadly not been back to answer.

MeteredOut

born_again said:

This has to be down to what the OP wants, sadly not been back to answer.

I suspect they now realise the price they paid was for the 35. I do wonder whether a claim that the actions of the dealer caused the OP to purchase from that dealer (due to the probably much lower price for the 40 compared to any other dealers) rather than purchasing elsewhere; a form of false advertising.

But, barring any more details, it sounds like the OP got the car they paid for, and could get £1K for the relatively minor inconvenience. But, if they want the higher powered 40, then that's a different fight.

Grumpy_chap

born_again said:

This has to be down to what the OP wants, sadly not been back to answer.

That depends, though, on exactly what paperwork reveals the car to be 35 model.  If it is only the V5 and all other order paperwork says the car will be the 40 model, then the OP has to make a decision about acceptable outcomes.  If the reference to being the 40 model is only in conversation or discussion e-mail, then the actual formal signed order paperwork probably takes precedence.