Consumer rights act in relation to buying a car.

adviceneeded1605

I bought a car last Wednesday. Prior to purchasing the car, I looked at the vehicle and noticed some staining on the fabric(quite visible) , the smell of cigarette smoke in the car and a few other marks. 

After discussing with the salesman, I made it clear that I would only want to purchase this vehicle, should the issues be fixed prior to me picking the vehicle up. This included car bombing the car to get rid of the smell and getting rid of all the stains. I unfortunately did not get this in writing. 

When I went to pick the vehicle up, the smell was still there and the staining was still present. The advisor noted that the smell was there still and to drive home and give them a call tomorrow if it was still bad. I did this because at this point the insurances were swapped round and I was in a different city to my home town.

Following on from this, we had a discussion through the customer care line and they took the car back to sort the issues. I went to pick the vehicle up yesterday, the smell of smoke had gone, but the stains remained within the car. The stains were wet and so it seemed like some attempt was made to clean these out. When I informed the manager I wasn't happy with them, he advised they could do it again or give me a sum of money to get the car valeted somewhere else. I advised that at this time, I would like them to fix the issues. 

I did mention in discussions with the manager my consumer rights, to which they denied that I could reject the car. Based on the information provided under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, I had assumed that ' I had the short term right to reject your car if it is unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described'. It's worth noting the car is only a couple of years old and so the staining inside is not something you would expect from a car of this age. I don't believe that it is of satisfactory quality.

Please can someone give me some advice and clarify if I am within my rights to reject the vehicle? It's worth noting that I am due to pick the vehicle up again sometime this week after they have cleaned the staining again but I am cautious that this was not removed the first two times. 

Grumpy_chap

adviceneeded1605 said:

I bought a car last Wednesday. Prior to purchasing the car, I looked at the vehicle and noticed some staining on the fabric(quite visible) , the smell of cigarette smoke in the car and a few other marks. 

After discussing with the salesman, I made it clear that I would only want to purchase this vehicle, should the issues be fixed prior to me picking the vehicle up. This included car bombing the car to get rid of the smell and getting rid of all the stains. I unfortunately did not get this in writing. 

When I went to pick the vehicle up, the smell was still there and the staining was still present. The advisor noted that the smell was there still and to drive home and give them a call tomorrow if it was still bad. I did this because at this point the insurances were swapped round and I was in a different city to my home town.

Following on from this, we had a discussion through the customer care line and they took the car back to sort the issues. I went to pick the vehicle up yesterday, the smell of smoke had gone, but the stains remained within the car. The stains were wet and so it seemed like some attempt was made to clean these out. When I informed the manager I wasn't happy with them, he advised they could do it again or give me a sum of money to get the car valeted somewhere else. I advised that at this time, I would like them to fix the issues. 

I did mention in discussions with the manager my consumer rights, to which they denied that I could reject the car. Based on the information provided under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, I had assumed that ' I had the short term right to reject your car if it is unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described'. It's worth noting the car is only a couple of years old and so the staining inside is not something you would expect from a car of this age. I don't believe that it is of satisfactory quality.

Please can someone give me some advice and clarify if I am within my rights to reject the vehicle? It's worth noting that I am due to pick the vehicle up again sometime this week after they have cleaned the staining again but I am cautious that this was not removed the first two times. 

Not all faults on a used car give rise to a right to reject.
There has to be consideration to the age, mileage, condition and price paid for the vehicle.
Matters that a lay person could reasonably be aware prior to purchase would be part of that assessment of the vehicle condition.  The staining and odour are items that you noticed prior to purchase.

The real opportunity to do something here was at the point of collection to not conclude the purchase.  It was your choice to proceed and conclude the purchase - the factors around car insurance are irrelevant as you could have swapped this back.  It was your choice to purchase from a dealer that was not local to you.

What attracted you to this unloved, abused and possibly generally neglected two year old car from a dealer that was far from home?
Why did you reject any of the other two year old cars available for sale which will have included options for a highly cherished car that was someone's pride and joy?

ButterCheese

Agree with above.  A verbal contract was made but these don't hold much water.  They did not state verbally or in writing that they will ensure the stains are removed completely.  If they did, and it wasn't in writing, then that is a very grey area.

You saw the car, bought it, took it home, you are very lucky that they took it back to rectify these cosmetic issues - 90% of dealers would not.

I've seen quite a few queries on here about "what are my consumer rights" which are often sought after the fact.  You can't accept something and then complain if it has later caused you to spend time or money for a decision you had made i.e. to buy a car outside of the area where you live, to take the car home once you'd paid for it, and to refuse the offer they made to pay for a valet.  These issues could have been sorted yourself with a bit of elbow grease and a cheap steam cleaner

fatbelly

May be better to ask How do I clean a stain?

Smells can be dealt with by an Airvidox bomb, about £25 off Amazon. Probably what they did.

But stains are going to depend on seat material and stain type if known. You could start a new thread on it or check with a specialist firm. Sounds like the vendor has offered to pay for this, which sounds reasonable.