Car finance denying liability- Financial ombudsman help - misfuelling

Grey_Critic

Why would you contact the Finance Company - nothing to do with them. 

Mildly_Miffed

Grey_Critic said:

Why would you contact the Finance Company - nothing to do with them. 

Because, if it IS a CRA issue, then they're equally liable with the supplier.

Ectophile

Grey_Critic said:

Why would you contact the Finance Company - nothing to do with them. 

Consumer Credit Act, usually section 75 or 75A applies.  The credit company is jointly liable for any failings of the retailer.

Grey_Critic

I still ask why you would contact the finance company They do not repair anything 

born_again

Grey_Critic said:

I still ask why you would contact the finance company They do not repair anything 

You clearly do not understand your consumer rights & S75 which makes finance providers jointly and severally liable for breach of contract &/or misrepresentation 👍

Exodi

To be honest, I don't think it looks good for the OP. The OP seems to be implying that the justification is disingenuous in some way, however made clear the car went to a 'specialist garage (separate to the dealer)'.

I'm certainly not a fuel analysis expert, but given that the garage has seemingly diagnosed the presence of petrol from the smell and an ignition test, it could be interpreted that the OP is pushing for a 'sample to be sent off for analysis' specifically because they know the old fuel was discarded. And let's be honest here, even if it wasn't discarded, what would stop the OP, in the case of a positive test for petrol, then alleging "well how do I know the garage didn't just mix some petrol and diesel and send that off?".

The initial fault in December was diagnosed as a lack of fuel by another independent party (of course, they could be wrong also), and then the car drove fine until April/thousands of miles.

nicolea1998 said:
It’s possible that there isn’t any petrol in at all, they have done no diagnosis other than it smells funky and that it ignited when they lit it. 

nicolea1998 said:

Zopa has just sided with the garage and their smell tests with no actual proof.

But despite what you keep suggesting, I'd say they do have some level of proof, and it's now two independent companies that have suggested misuse by the driver as the cause of an issue.

The only thing I'm not clear on is Zopa's response - "Zopa asked for a receipt of the last time fuel was put into the car"..."Zopa called me to tell me that the receipt was not good enough, because it had no REG on the receipt". As you say, no receipt contains the reg number (maybe a fuelcard one does?), and you successfully provided a receipt which showed diesel (which I accept they rejected). It also makes you wonder why they bothered asking if they weren't willing to accept the receipt.

I wonder if it's actually the 5/6 hour gap that's the problem (which could lead to suspicion about an additional undisclosed potential mis-fuelling)?

paul_c123

OP says "separate from the dealer" but are they independent of the dealer? Or simply a different branch of the same overarching brand? If so the OP's next step is to seek another inspection from a completely independent garage. If there is no fuel left in the fuel system at all, then it cannot be said that there was petrol in the diesel. And given its within 6 months, the dealer would have to come up with some other reason to prove it wasn't a latent defect.

Grey_Critic

So has the car been misfueled? - Perhaps it has. Did the vehicle break down before the OP took delivery? 

Dealers do not put fuel in a car unless forced to do so and cars on test or just being moved around often have a can in the boot in case they do run out.

Perhaps someone picked up a can and put some in - often have a can in the boot - and having put it in the tank realised they have put in the wrong fuel in. May have only driven a few yards before realising but the damage has been done. Taken into garage and drained but doubt they will have got it all out.

The car is then fuelled to the top but the damage has already been done.. If still within the time limits hand it back

Years ago you could get away with it but modern cars are far more sensitive to such things