Motorhome purchase: can we demand the warranty offered in the vehicle listing?

Haras

This is a tale of two dealers and we are caught in the middle. We bought our first motorhome some months ago.  It was advertised by Dealer 1 and they offered a 5 year warranty. We asked to view it and they offered to send it through to a dealer nearer to our address to save us travelling as far. These two dealers often did each other favours. We bought the motorhome, paying Dealer 2. I have now realised that we didn't receive the warranty as advertised on Dealer 1's listing. I phoned Dealer 1 who have said it's nothing to do with them as we didn't buy the motorhome from them. So I phoned Dealer 2 who said they were just acting on behalf of Dealer 1 to help them out. We're in a ridiculous situation where each dealer claims that we bought from the other one. Do we have a right to claim the warranty as advertised and if so, from which dealer?

Grumpy_chap

Haras said:

This is a tale of two dealers and we are caught in the middle. We bought our first motorhome some months ago.  It was advertised by Dealer 1 and they offered a 5 year warranty. We asked to view it and they offered to send it through to a dealer nearer to our address to save us travelling as far. These two dealers often did each other favours. We bought the motorhome, paying Dealer 2. I have now realised that we didn't receive the warranty as advertised on Dealer 1's listing. I phoned Dealer 1 who have said it's nothing to do with them as we didn't buy the motorhome from them. So I phoned Dealer 2 who said they were just acting on behalf of Dealer 1 to help them out. We're in a ridiculous situation where each dealer claims that we bought from the other one. Do we have a right to claim the warranty as advertised and if so, from which dealer?

You probably can't do anything now.  The time to sort this was when purchasing.  Did you pay the price in the advert, or did you negotiate?

[Deleted User]

Welcome to the world of motorhoming.

The community is quite small and most dealers have some degree of relationship with each other.

If you bought from dealer two, your contract is with them.

Unless you have written proof that dealer two advertised or agreed the five year warranty, I fear that there's little you can do.

Is this a new vehicle, or vehicle under manufacturer warranty, as I've never heard of a five year warranty being offered otherwise (over 20yrs motorhome experience).

Motorhome ownership is seldom straightforward. Build quality is generally disappointing almost regardless of price.
Faults are common, as are dealers who disappoint. Warranties generally have onerous conditions attached.
Sorry to be so miserable about it, there are some great vans and some great dealers but they are the minority.

There's a handful of busy motorhome and caravan forums, I would suggest joining one, not only to share your experience but to get familiar with the challenges that you might well face. 
You'll get better advice and learn more - good luck with it...

Aylesbury_Duck

It sounds like your contract is with dealer 2, so I can't see that you can hold them to promises made by dealer 1.  You effectively started the purchase from scratch when you were referred to dealer 2, so whatever deal you made with 2 is the contractual one.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

[Deleted User] said:

If you bought from dealer two, your contract is with them.

I'm not so sure, there are situations where one party is acting as an agent/facilitator to bring 2 people together and this sounds very much like that kind of situation.

I think ultimately it will depend who had the title before it transfer to the OP but given both are claiming the contract wasn't with them they need to put their heads together and, as a start, give OP an answer as to who the contract is with.

OP I would email both of them (cc one in so it's the same email) along the lines.

With regards to the sale of xxx, having spoken to dealer 1 and dealer 2 both have advised that the contract for sale is with the other, obviously this is incorrect as the contract for sale is with one or the other, may you please clarify which it is. 

If it's dealer 1 then the guarantee applies, if they say it's dealer 2 you could ask for proof title passed before you purchased if you really want to push the on the guarantee aspect.

As a side note, which ever one it is, the dealer has breached the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations by making a misleading statement which does give you the right to unwind the contract should this issue cause enough concern to no longer wish to own the motorhome. 

Grumpy_chap

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

If it's dealer 1 then the guarantee applies

As a side note, which ever one it is, the dealer has breached the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations by making a misleading statement which does give you the right to unwind the contract

I am not wholly sure that is the case.

An advert is merely an "invitation to treat" - notification that the item is for sale and the vendor willing to agree a price.
It is exactly for that reason that I asked upthread:

Grumpy_chap said:

Did you pay the price in the advert, or did you negotiate?

If the OP saw an advert for the camper van and it read something like "Camper van with full gas bottle, five-year warranty, £35k" but the OP negotiated the price down to, say, £32k it may be that the extras - full gas bottle, five-year warranty and such like were removed from the deal as part of the price negotiation.
Even if the OP paid the original advertised price, perhaps the five-year warranty was removed in lieu of paying the costs to transfer the vehicle to the local Dealer.  Relocating a camper van is not free.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Grumpy_chap said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

If it's dealer 1 then the guarantee applies

As a side note, which ever one it is, the dealer has breached the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations by making a misleading statement which does give you the right to unwind the contract

I am not wholly sure that is the case.

An advert is merely an "invitation to treat" - notification that the item is for sale and the vendor willing to agree a price.
It is exactly for that reason that I asked upthread:

Grumpy_chap said:

Did you pay the price in the advert, or did you negotiate?

If the OP saw an advert for the camper van and it read something like "Camper van with full gas bottle, five-year warranty, £35k" but the OP negotiated the price down to, say, £32k it may be that the extras - full gas bottle, five-year warranty and such like were removed from the deal as part of the price negotiation.
Even if the OP paid the original advertised price, perhaps the five-year warranty was removed in lieu of paying the costs to transfer the vehicle to the local Dealer.  Relocating a camper van is not free.

Can't disagree with that but if OP were told the warranty isn't included as part of the chat forming the deal why would they be asking us if they are entitled to a warranty? 

The part about the CPRs relates to both dealers telling OP the purchase is with the other dealer, one of them is wrong and the statement is misleading, aside from anything else, CPRs include "the nature, attributes and rights of the trader (as defined in paragraph 6)" which is broken down to include "(6) In paragraph (4)(j), the “nature, attributes and rights” as far as concern the trader include the trader's— (a)identity"

Jenni_D

Whose name is on the sales invoice? Surely that's who the contract was with?

Grumpy_chap

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Can't disagree with that but if OP were told the warranty isn't included as part of the chat forming the deal why would they be asking us if they are entitled to a warranty? 

The part about the CPRs relates to both dealers telling OP the purchase is with the other dealer, one of them is wrong and the statement is misleading, aside from anything else, CPRs include "the nature, attributes and rights of the trader (as defined in paragraph 6)" which is broken down to include "(6) In paragraph (4)(j), the “nature, attributes and rights” as far as concern the trader include the trader's— (a)identity"

Won't all of the discussions have been captured in a "Vehicle Sales Form" or whatever title the trader gives the form?
This form will note:
 - the selling dealer
 - the vehicle make, model, date of first registration, VIN, registration etc.
 - any extras like warranty (whether 3 months, or 1 year, or 5 years or whatever), floor mats and such like

The onus is on the purchaser to read and check that form as the correct summary of all discussions and the agreement to purchase, not to blindly sign away and then decide some time later there is something missed out that was previously indicated in an advert or mentioned in discussions.

In fact, that "Vehicle Sales Form" or equivalent will resolve the comment about the trader's identity.  The advert may have been listed under "Lunatic Motors" but the form will have a statement "the_lunatic_is_in_my_head trading as Lunatic Motors" or "Lunatic Motors Limited" or "Lunatic's Brother-in-Law in the town 200 miles away".

The OP really needs to review the purchase paperwork.

In terms of resolving the "missing" warranty, it may also help if the OP confirms whether this is just they noticed the warranty was never confirmed, or is there now a fault with the vehicle that they are unable to claim from the warranty because the warranty was never taken out?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Grumpy_chap said:

The OP really needs to review the purchase paperwork.

If OP has paperwork confirming everything then yes this would be sufficient and answer their question, again I assumed OP doesn't have such.

Perhaps if OP is still reading they can clarify what paperwork they got from either of the dealers?

sheramber

Is this  the same van as here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6544657/motorhome-damage/p2