Used Car - Garage Refusing Refund

stomping

Hi all!

I bought a used automatic 2015 car in January this year. No issues were disclosed, it only had 30k miles, it passed the MOT and test drove great. Less than a week later it had a major "check transmission" error and wouldn't move out of neutral. After restarting it a few times the fault stopped showing and I drove home with no issues.

Two days later it happened again so I called the garage (I had a 3-month warranty) and they couldn't fit me in until over three weeks later. They looked at it in February, filled the transmission fluid up and told me it was perfectly fine.

The fault continued but only rarely, and only while parking, so I decided it wasn't worth the faff. And then at the end of April it jumped out of 4th gear into neutral while I was going 40mph, meaning I had to crawl it to my exit where it stopped and held up traffic while I tried to restart it. Since my warranty was over, I called a trusted dealership for diagnostics. A week later, they said it needed a new actuator and solenoid, costing around £2.5k.

I called the garage I bought it from asking them to do these repairs, since the issue was reported during the warranty and they failed to fix it. They agreed but asked me to take it to one of their trusted garages - an automatics "expert" an hour from me. I had to wait an entire month for an appointment here. It was "repaired" on June 17th, and yet on July 4th the same fault happened again, where it jumped into neutral going 40mph again.

I emailed the garage explaining this and asking for a refund. A few days later the fault happened again, narrowly avoiding a crash on an A-road, and I stopped driving the car altogether at this point. I have only driven around 1900 miles since buying the car, and I asked for the refund within 6 months of buying it. After finally getting in touch with them (they ignored my calls and emails for over a month), the garage said it has been too long since I bought the car to give me a refund, but they have offered to repair it.

I have refused this offer, as they supposedly already did repair it and it is still broken. They had an independent engineer come out despite my protests that the fault is intermittent and he would be unlikely to encounter it. He spent half an hour with the car and couldn't get the fault to appear, as suspected, which I think the garage is using as evidence that the repair worked. I wasn't even given evidence to suggest they did the repairs.

I followed the template from Citizens Advice asking for a refund and they simply sent the same response again. I'm now looking at escalating it with the second letter threatening court action, but I'm so nervous this will just be a total waste of time and possibly money?

I'm truly desperate for a car now. I've been getting buses to work and have spent hundreds on buses and trains, as I have been without a car for the better part of 10 months. I'm moving house soon and the commute to work will be much harder, longer and pricier by bus than it is now, and the MOT and insurance etc. is up in January. I can't even figure out a way to get rid of it without losing the ridiculous amount I spent on it, and I can't really afford a car without at least a partial refund or selling it on somehow. Any advice would be much appreciated. 

TLDR; I bought a used car in Jan that ended up having a major fault. The garage repairs failed to solve it. They now say it has been too long to refund it, although I asked for a refund within 6 months. Is it worth going to Small Claims or will I likely lose out?

Mark_d

"The fault continued but only rarely, and only while parking, so I decided it wasn't worth the faff." - Since you were happy to accept the car having minor faults, would I be right in assuming the car was bought very very cheap?  If so, cut you losses with WeBuyAnyCar.com and buy a new car.

One issue with cars is that often it's difficult to diagnose the root cause of the problem.  The garage were very cooperative and carried out the requested £2500 repair job you requested but this didn't solve the problem.  They were happy to continue with repairs but you declined their offer.

There is no evidence that the garage was aware of this intermittent fault when they sold you the used car.  I don't believe you have any legal right to a refund.  I suggest you let the garage try to diagnose and fix the car.

stomping

Mark_d said:

"The fault continued but only rarely, and only while parking, so I decided it wasn't worth the faff." - Since you were happy to accept the car having minor faults, would I be right in assuming the car was bought very very cheap?  If so, cut you losses with WeBuyAnyCar.com and buy a new car.

One issue with cars is that often it's difficult to diagnose the root cause of the problem.  The garage were very cooperative and carried out the requested £2500 repair job you requested but this didn't solve the problem.  They were happy to continue with repairs but you declined their offer.

There is no evidence that the garage was aware of this intermittent fault when they sold you the used car.  I don't believe you have any legal right to a refund.  I suggest you let the garage try to diagnose and fix the car.

The car was bought for more than I should have paid in terms of market value, but I was desperate for a car and automatics are hard to come by. I was willing to accept it because the garage was an hour away, didn’t seem interested in repairing it the first time around and had long waiting times. 

They supposedly carried out the repairs (again, no evidence was given and the car broke again a few weeks later - plus in one of their emails they said the place they asked me to take it to “simply reset all the transmission systems which should have fixed the fault” which doesn’t seem to me like the repairs it was sent there for). 

In terms of legal rights, the fault was there when I bought it and evidenced by the diagnostic in May, which is within the 6 month period stipulated in the 2015 consumer rights act. This act says I have to give them chance to repair it, of which they have had two, and if the repairs do not work I am entitled to a full refund if I bought it less than six months ago, which was true at the point at which I did request the refund. The only reason it has dragged out so long is their lack of communication and outright avoiding speaking to me.

Aylesbury_Duck

stomping said:

Mark_d said:

"The fault continued but only rarely, and only while parking, so I decided it wasn't worth the faff." - Since you were happy to accept the car having minor faults, would I be right in assuming the car was bought very very cheap?  If so, cut you losses with WeBuyAnyCar.com and buy a new car.

One issue with cars is that often it's difficult to diagnose the root cause of the problem.  The garage were very cooperative and carried out the requested £2500 repair job you requested but this didn't solve the problem.  They were happy to continue with repairs but you declined their offer.

There is no evidence that the garage was aware of this intermittent fault when they sold you the used car.  I don't believe you have any legal right to a refund.  I suggest you let the garage try to diagnose and fix the car.

The car was bought for more than I should have paid in terms of market value, but I was desperate for a car and automatics are hard to come by. I was willing to accept it because the garage was an hour away, didn’t seem interested in repairing it the first time around and had long waiting times. 

They supposedly carried out the repairs (again, no evidence was given and the car broke again a few weeks later - plus in one of their emails they said the place they asked me to take it to “simply reset all the transmission systems which should have fixed the fault” which doesn’t seem to me like the repairs it was sent there for). 

In terms of legal rights, the fault was there when I bought it and evidenced by the diagnostic in May, which is within the 6 month period stipulated in the 2015 consumer rights act. This act says I have to give them chance to repair it, of which they have had two, and if the repairs do not work I am entitled to a full refund if I bought it less than six months ago, which was true at the point at which I did request the refund. The only reason it has dragged out so long is their lack of communication and outright avoiding speaking to me.

So take them to court, then.  You seem confident you're entitled to a refund, and if the garage will only offer a repair, court (or the threat of it) is the only way you're going to give yourself the chance of the resolution you want.

stomping

Aylesbury_Duck said:

stomping said:

Mark_d said:

"The fault continued but only rarely, and only while parking, so I decided it wasn't worth the faff." - Since you were happy to accept the car having minor faults, would I be right in assuming the car was bought very very cheap?  If so, cut you losses with WeBuyAnyCar.com and buy a new car.

One issue with cars is that often it's difficult to diagnose the root cause of the problem.  The garage were very cooperative and carried out the requested £2500 repair job you requested but this didn't solve the problem.  They were happy to continue with repairs but you declined their offer.

There is no evidence that the garage was aware of this intermittent fault when they sold you the used car.  I don't believe you have any legal right to a refund.  I suggest you let the garage try to diagnose and fix the car.

The car was bought for more than I should have paid in terms of market value, but I was desperate for a car and automatics are hard to come by. I was willing to accept it because the garage was an hour away, didn’t seem interested in repairing it the first time around and had long waiting times. 

They supposedly carried out the repairs (again, no evidence was given and the car broke again a few weeks later - plus in one of their emails they said the place they asked me to take it to “simply reset all the transmission systems which should have fixed the fault” which doesn’t seem to me like the repairs it was sent there for). 

In terms of legal rights, the fault was there when I bought it and evidenced by the diagnostic in May, which is within the 6 month period stipulated in the 2015 consumer rights act. This act says I have to give them chance to repair it, of which they have had two, and if the repairs do not work I am entitled to a full refund if I bought it less than six months ago, which was true at the point at which I did request the refund. The only reason it has dragged out so long is their lack of communication and outright avoiding speaking to me.

So take them to court, then.  You seem confident you're entitled to a refund, and if the garage will only offer a repair, court (or the threat of it) is the only way you're going to give yourself the chance of the resolution you want.

I swing between feeling confident and doubting myself, hence why I came here to see if anyone had experienced something similar or had input. Feeling confident doesn’t necessarily equate to being right. 

eskbanker

An alternative option might be to research the issue by visiting forums relating to the specific make and model to ascertain if it's a known issue and what the solution is - it's obviously not your responsibility to do so and a garage should be competent enough to identify the issue, but you might find that it's a pragmatic direction?

Or if you paid at least some of the purchase by credit card, you might be able to claim under section 75 (of the Consumer Credit Act)?

stomping

eskbanker said:

An alternative option might be to research the issue by visiting forums relating to the specific make and model to ascertain if it's a known issue and what the solution is - it's obviously not your responsibility to do so and a garage should be competent enough to identify the issue, but you might find that it's a pragmatic direction?

Or if you paid at least some of the purchase by credit card, you might be able to claim under section 75 (of the Consumer Credit Act)?

I have looked into this, and couldn’t find anything for the model. I truly believe that they didn’t carry out the repairs they said they would do, and that is why the issue has continued. Judging by their google reviews I’m not the only one they’ve done this to. I’m at a point now of just wanting a new car because I can’t see myself ever feeling safe in this one. I’ve been in a bad accident and my driving confidence is already shot from that.

Unfortunately I paid the entirety with my debit card, but thank you for your suggestion.

Aylesbury_Duck

stomping said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

stomping said:

Mark_d said:

"The fault continued but only rarely, and only while parking, so I decided it wasn't worth the faff." - Since you were happy to accept the car having minor faults, would I be right in assuming the car was bought very very cheap?  If so, cut you losses with WeBuyAnyCar.com and buy a new car.

One issue with cars is that often it's difficult to diagnose the root cause of the problem.  The garage were very cooperative and carried out the requested £2500 repair job you requested but this didn't solve the problem.  They were happy to continue with repairs but you declined their offer.

There is no evidence that the garage was aware of this intermittent fault when they sold you the used car.  I don't believe you have any legal right to a refund.  I suggest you let the garage try to diagnose and fix the car.

The car was bought for more than I should have paid in terms of market value, but I was desperate for a car and automatics are hard to come by. I was willing to accept it because the garage was an hour away, didn’t seem interested in repairing it the first time around and had long waiting times. 

They supposedly carried out the repairs (again, no evidence was given and the car broke again a few weeks later - plus in one of their emails they said the place they asked me to take it to “simply reset all the transmission systems which should have fixed the fault” which doesn’t seem to me like the repairs it was sent there for). 

In terms of legal rights, the fault was there when I bought it and evidenced by the diagnostic in May, which is within the 6 month period stipulated in the 2015 consumer rights act. This act says I have to give them chance to repair it, of which they have had two, and if the repairs do not work I am entitled to a full refund if I bought it less than six months ago, which was true at the point at which I did request the refund. The only reason it has dragged out so long is their lack of communication and outright avoiding speaking to me.

So take them to court, then.  You seem confident you're entitled to a refund, and if the garage will only offer a repair, court (or the threat of it) is the only way you're going to give yourself the chance of the resolution you want.

I swing between feeling confident and doubting myself, hence why I came here to see if anyone had experienced something similar or had input. Feeling confident doesn’t necessarily equate to being right. 

It's a tricky one.  I can see both sides here.  They've supposedly spent quite a bit fixing it already, and they're offering to fix it again.  Your not wanting the "faff" of rejecting it sooner doesn't help, but I can also see that they've had the chance to fix it and the fault exists.  I can't see any other way of obtaining the outcome you're after other than court proceedings.  The S75 route isn't there.