short term right to reject on a used car - Issues since day 1

Okell

Jenni_D said:

If you request/agree to a repair, have you voided your Initial/Short-term Right to Reject?

No.  All you have done is paused the 30 day short term to reject window. 

It only starts again from the date you get the car back from that originally requested/agreed repair.  Otherwise unscrupulous dealers could agree to a repair, but then delay the repair to allow the 30 day window to run down and expire.

What I'm concerned about in this case is that the OP requested/agreed to a repair on 18 October 2024, but the dealer delayed taking it in for that* repair until 05 March and the OP only got their car back on 27 March - when the 30 day clock would start ticking again after being paused on 18 October 2024 - day zero for this purpose.

If that interpretation is correct, then the OP could have exercised his short term right to reject on the 27 March (it's not clear to me if he rejected the car on that date or not).  If he didn't, then it's possible the 30 day window didn't, or doesn't, expire until yesterday, or today.  (I'm not certain from the legislation whether the 30 day clock starts ticking agian from the point when it was paused, which was day zero, or whether it starts ticking at day 1).

The significance of exercising the short term right to reject is that the trader cannot charge the consumer for use of the vehicle.

I'm not saying my view as expressed as above is correct.  In my initial three posts on this thread I told the OP he had no chance of using the short term right to reject, but as the OP provided more detail I became unsure.  Unfortunately most people who made earlier replies to the thread seem to have missed the possibility of the 30 day window being paused until 27 March.


*I'm basing that on an answer from the OP to a specific question from me as to whether the car only went in on 05 March for the repair requested/agreed on 18 October.  If the waiting period is paused on 18 October for particular requested/agreed repairs, I don't know if it matters that other issues are addressed between 18 October and 05 March, when the car went in for the requested/agreed repairs that paused the 30 day window in the first place

Jenni_D

I wasn't asking regarding a pause to the timeline ... I was asking if agreeing to a repair voided the initial right to reject, whereupon the final right to reject would come into force. Per yours and @DullGreyGuy's replies I think the answer is No - you're still able to allow a repair and retain the initial right to reject.  

Okell

Jenni_D said:

I wasn't asking regarding a pause to the timeline ... I was asking if agreeing to a repair voided the initial right to reject, whereupon the final right to reject would come into force. Per yours and @DullGreyGuy's replies I think the answer is No - you're still able to allow a repair and retain the initial right to reject.  

Sorry if I misunderstood your question but I wasn't sure what you were getting at by asking if it voided the initial/short term right to reject.

If a consumer requests or agrees to a repair within the first 30 days after delivery, then they do not lose the short term right to reject simply because they have requested or agreed to a repair.

How the 30 day short term right to reject window is affected by requesting or agreeing to a repair is covered by s22(6), (7) and (8) of the CRA