Faulty Car - rejection - SECOND UPDATE - at wits end now!

A_Geordie

Thanks, my comments below. 

jocstoke said:

3rd May May - Paid deposit
8th May - Paid balance and took possession of the car (nb total price was just over £10,000 which I believe means we can't go through small claims)
9th May - Battery went flat for the first time. 
11th May - Trade Centre advised issue was that car needed a new battery.
12th May - Picked up car with new battery installed.
14th May - Battery flat for the second time
16th May - Emailed trade centre rejecting the vehicle

I haven't seen the contents of the rejection email but up to this point, I would view the contract as having been terminated on 16 May when the car was rejected. 

20th May - Trade Centre advised that Vauxhall the specialist told them the wrong battery was fitted the first time it was replaced, so as it's not a major fault and they can easily rectify they won't be accepting the rejection. 
27th May - Collected the vehicle with second new battery fitted.
9th June - Battery flat for the third time, Trade Centre collected the vehicle
16th June - Visited Trade Centre and advised would not be accepting the car back. Manager was actually sympathetic this time and said that to be able to process the rejection they had to diagnose the issue first.
23rd July - Trade Centre advised issue was being resolved by ANOTHER new battery and they are not accepting the rejection. They have not given any indication as to why they think yet another new battery would actually resolve the situation this time.

I suspect when the car was collected for the second time and continuing as if nothing happened previously, it could be implied as both sides creating a 'new' contract since the previous contractual arrangement ended when it was rejected and effectively, your partner's consumer rights are reset. The way I see it, your partner has exercised his short term right to reject under this new contract, and I think given the history of the battery issues with the car, there is good reason to do so. 

Just want to make it perfectly clear, Trade Centre cannot reject your partner's rejection of the car, although they can claim wrongful termination if they can show your partner was not entitled to terminate the contract. I think that might be an uphill struggle for Trade Centre for the reasons already given. 

Your partner needs to now decide what to do, whether to accept yet another repair from Trade Centre or consider starting the legal process by sending a letter before action with a view to issuing a claim if it is not resolved. A strongly worded letter with reference to the Consumer Rights Act might do it, but then again the way that Trade Centre have been acting, I wouldn't be surprised if they chose to submit a defence and consider settling before trial. Worst case they argue their case at trial which would be risky on their part, and that's something your partner needs to consider.

I paid the deposit on my credit card

Because the contract is under your partner's name, S75 protection is not available. 

(nb total price was just over £10,000 which I believe means we can't go through small claims)

That's not strictly true. Your partner can choose to limit the claim to £10,000 which means that it should be allocated to the small claims track unless there is a good reason not to. As it's a pretty straightforward dispute, it should remain on the small claims track though I wouldn't put it past Trade Centre to try and attempt to bump it up to the next track to try and claim limited legal costs - would need to give a good reason however and not an easy task since the small claims track is designed for claims up to £10k. 

If your partner has legal expenses insurance via home insurance or some other insurance, it may be worth reaching out and seeing if he can claim on that and obtain legal representation. They usually require 51% chance of sucess (my personal view is that there is at least that chance of success). If he doesn't, check whether you have as legal insurance can cover your partner's dispute so long as he is living under the same roof. 

Alternatively, if your partner is willing to forgo a % of any winnings frm a successful claim, reach out to some consumer law firms who might offer a damages based agreement or some kind of no win no fee arrangement.