Faulty Car - rejection - UPDATE

jocstoke

UPDATE - we emailed Trade Centre at the weekend officially rejecting the car, seems from the advice on here that was the way to go rather than attempting an S75 claim from my credit card. They have called us today saying the Vauxhall specialist has told them the wrong battery has been fitted, so as it's not a major fault and they can easily rectify they won't be accepting the rejection. This sounds like nonsense to me, how could they be so incompetent to fit the wrong battery twice? Do we have to accept this? If not, what are our next steps?

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My partner and I purchased a used car from Trade Centre on 3rd May. I paid £1000 deposit on my credit card. On 8th May we picked the car up, and my partner paid the balance on his debit card (the car is registered in his name). On 9th May the car wouldn't start, we couldn't even unlock it. Trade Centre sent a recovery person who advised the battery was totally flat. He took it back to Trade Centre who changed the battery and we collected the car again on 12th May. It started okay on 13th May, but the car wouldn't start again on 14th, again the battery was totally flat. They sent a recovery person and are currently holding the car in their repair centre. My partner has told them he wishes to reject the car, they've said they are sending it for diagnostics on Monday and we need to wait for the result of that before they will say whether they accept the rejection. Should we continue pushing, or are they justified in saying they need to run the diagnostics? Can I make a S75 claim from my credit card provider, even though the car is registered in my partner's name? What is the best way to deal with this? My partner is extremely stressed by the situation and I'm keen to get it resolved asap.

born_again

jocstoke said:

My partner and I purchased a used car from Trade Centre on 3rd May. I paid £1000 deposit on my credit card. On 8th May we picked the car up, and my partner paid the balance on his debit card (the car is registered in his name). On 9th May the car wouldn't start, we couldn't even unlock it. Trade Centre sent a recovery person who advised the battery was totally flat. He took it back to Trade Centre who changed the battery and we collected the car again on 12th May. It started okay on 13th May, but the car wouldn't start again on 14th, again the battery was totally flat. They sent a recovery person and are currently holding the car in their repair centre. My partner has told them he wishes to reject the car, they've said they are sending it for diagnostics on Monday and we need to wait for the result of that before they will say whether they accept the rejection. Should we continue pushing, or are they justified in saying they need to run the diagnostics? Can I make a S75 claim from my credit card provider, even though the car is registered in my partner's name? What is the best way to deal with this? My partner is extremely stressed by the situation and I'm keen to get it resolved asap.

Odds on that CC will reject any S75 claim. As it is not your car. 

m0bov

born_again said:

jocstoke said:

My partner and I purchased a used car from Trade Centre on 3rd May. I paid £1000 deposit on my credit card. On 8th May we picked the car up, and my partner paid the balance on his debit card (the car is registered in his name). On 9th May the car wouldn't start, we couldn't even unlock it. Trade Centre sent a recovery person who advised the battery was totally flat. He took it back to Trade Centre who changed the battery and we collected the car again on 12th May. It started okay on 13th May, but the car wouldn't start again on 14th, again the battery was totally flat. They sent a recovery person and are currently holding the car in their repair centre. My partner has told them he wishes to reject the car, they've said they are sending it for diagnostics on Monday and we need to wait for the result of that before they will say whether they accept the rejection. Should we continue pushing, or are they justified in saying they need to run the diagnostics? Can I make a S75 claim from my credit card provider, even though the car is registered in my partner's name? What is the best way to deal with this? My partner is extremely stressed by the situation and I'm keen to get it resolved asap.

Odds on that CC will reject any S75 claim. As it is not your car. 

Sorry wrong, look at the registration document, it says not proof of ownership.

Write a letter of rejection, copy in your cc. Take it to dealer with keys. That's it.

Alderbank

It's the bill of sale which proves ownership.

Since the dealer registered the car in your partner's name and (presumably) taxed it in his name also, the probability is that the bill of sale document says something like:

• SOLD to Mr [jokstoke's partner] one nice little car reg ABC 123 for £10,000

what does it actually say?

Alderbank

My partner has told them he wishes to reject the car, they've said they are sending it for diagnostics on Monday and we need to wait for the result of that before they will say whether they accept the rejection. Should we continue pushing, or are they justified in saying they need to run the diagnostics? 

The car needs to have a substantial fault to justify rejection. What that means in each individual case depends on factors such as the actual fault and the car's make and model, age, mileage and condition.

Rejection is very expensive for the dealer; neither they nor a court will agree to rejecting a car just because the battery is flat. They are quite justified in diagnosing the fault and that is in your interest as well.
Be assured that the rejection 'clock' was suspended when your partner said he wishes to reject; the dealer can't just delay until you are out of time.

What is the car's make and model, age, mileage and condition? All are relevant to your rights.

jocstoke

Alderbank said:

My partner has told them he wishes to reject the car, they've said they are sending it for diagnostics on Monday and we need to wait for the result of that before they will say whether they accept the rejection. Should we continue pushing, or are they justified in saying they need to run the diagnostics? 

The car needs to have a substantial fault to justify rejection. What that means in each individual case depends on factors such as the actual fault and the car's make and model, age, mileage and condition.

Rejection is very expensive for the dealer; neither they nor a court will agree to rejecting a car just because the battery is flat. They are quite justified in diagnosing the fault and that is in your interest as well.
Be assured that the rejection 'clock' was suspended when your partner said he wishes to reject; the dealer can't just delay until you are out of time.

What is the car's make and model, age, mileage and condition? All are relevant to your rights.

Thanks for your reply. It's a Vauxhall Astra, 5 years old, 45,000 miles, seemed to be good condition when we viewed it. Was £10,000. Yes would understand we couldn't reject for a flat battery which is why we were fine with them replacing it, but there's clearly something more serious wrong to cause a brand new battery to go flat within 2 days. Hopefully it won't be too drawn out a process for diagnostics etc, they've been very dismissive when we've spoken to them so far. 

jocstoke

Alderbank said:

It's the bill of sale which proves ownership.

Since the dealer registered the car in your partner's name and (presumably) taxed it in his name also, the probability is that the bill of sale document says something like:

• SOLD to Mr [jokstoke's partner] one nice little car reg ABC 123 for £10,000

what does it actually say?

Yes all documents, invoice, receipt etc in my partner's name. 

Ectophile

Alderbank said:

My partner has told them he wishes to reject the car, they've said they are sending it for diagnostics on Monday and we need to wait for the result of that before they will say whether they accept the rejection. Should we continue pushing, or are they justified in saying they need to run the diagnostics? 

The car needs to have a substantial fault to justify rejection. What that means in each individual case depends on factors such as the actual fault and the car's make and model, age, mileage and condition.

Rejection is very expensive for the dealer; neither they nor a court will agree to rejecting a car just because the battery is flat. They are quite justified in diagnosing the fault and that is in your interest as well.
Be assured that the rejection 'clock' was suspended when your partner said he wishes to reject; the dealer can't just delay until you are out of time.

What is the car's make and model, age, mileage and condition? All are relevant to your rights.

A car that runs the battery flat very quickly and then won't start is simply not fit for purpose.  Arguing over age, model, mileage or condition is irrelavant if the car won't even start.

born_again

m0bov said:

born_again said:

jocstoke said:

My partner and I purchased a used car from Trade Centre on 3rd May. I paid £1000 deposit on my credit card. On 8th May we picked the car up, and my partner paid the balance on his debit card (the car is registered in his name). On 9th May the car wouldn't start, we couldn't even unlock it. Trade Centre sent a recovery person who advised the battery was totally flat. He took it back to Trade Centre who changed the battery and we collected the car again on 12th May. It started okay on 13th May, but the car wouldn't start again on 14th, again the battery was totally flat. They sent a recovery person and are currently holding the car in their repair centre. My partner has told them he wishes to reject the car, they've said they are sending it for diagnostics on Monday and we need to wait for the result of that before they will say whether they accept the rejection. Should we continue pushing, or are they justified in saying they need to run the diagnostics? Can I make a S75 claim from my credit card provider, even though the car is registered in my partner's name? What is the best way to deal with this? My partner is extremely stressed by the situation and I'm keen to get it resolved asap.

Odds on that CC will reject any S75 claim. As it is not your car. 

Sorry wrong, look at the registration document, it says not proof of ownership.

Write a letter of rejection, copy in your cc. Take it to dealer with keys. That's it.

What about the invoice?

While you are correct V5 is not proof of ownership. OP would have a fun time explaining why they used their CC & balance was on partners debit card & car V5 is in partners name. What about insurance? 

Even FOS might have a hard time with that evidence.

jocstoke

UPDATE - we emailed Trade Centre at the weekend officially rejecting the car, seems from the advice on here that was the way to go rather than attempting an S75 claim from my credit card. They have called us today saying the Vauxhall specialist has told them the wrong battery has been fitted, so as it's not a major fault and they can easily rectify they won't be accepting the rejection. This sounds like nonsense to me, how could they be so incompetent to fit the wrong battery twice? Do we have to accept this? If not, what are our next steps?

daveyjp

Do your own investigations into whether the battery that is fitted is correct for the vehicle.  If it is Trade Centre aren't being truthful, if it isn't ask which battery it should be the  ask TC what they intend to fit and see if they match.

As the battery is going flat you could also have a charging check carried out (my local fast fit centre do them free of charge) to see if there is a deeper issue,