Consumer Rights in relation to second hand car.

Username53

Long story short bought a second hand ev, out of 6 months warranty with the second hand dealer the door handle has malfunctioned. By this I mean it opens while driving and can not be opened from the outside. Cost to fix from manufacturer dealer is close to £900.

The kicker here for me is that there has been a recall on this part in the US of around 100,000 cars, but no such recall in the uk or Europe. Even though the issue is showing exactly the same.

There are many examples of the issue on forums where’s people handles have broken in the uk, luckily for them under warranty.

Do I fight this out with the manufacturer that they should be fixing it under a recall, which they seem intent on refusing to acknowledge, or suck it up and pay for the repairs which they are offering some discount on but it is still
around £700.

Am I wrong in understanding that Under Part 1, Chapter 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and last a reasonable length of time. This door handle has failed on all counts: it no longer functions as intended, it has not lasted a reasonable time (only four years)? Would this be with the company I bought the car from or the manufacturer?

Any thoughts would be greatly welcomed.

Alderbank

Username53 said:

Long story short bought a second hand ev, out of 6 months warranty with the second hand dealer the door handle has malfunctioned. By this I mean it opens while driving and can not be opened from the outside. Cost to fix from manufacturer dealer is close to £900.

The kicker here for me is that there has been a recall on this part in the US of around 100,000 cars, but no such recall in the uk or Europe. Even though the issue is showing exactly the same.

There are many examples of the issue on forums where’s people handles have broken in the uk, luckily for them under warranty.

Do I fight this out with the manufacturer that they should be fixing it under a recall, which they seem intent on refusing to acknowledge, or suck it up and pay for the repairs which they are offering some discount on but it is still
around £700.

Am I wrong in understanding that Under Part 1, Chapter 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and last a reasonable length of time. This door handle has failed on all counts: it no longer functions as intended, it has not lasted a reasonable time (only four years)? Would this be with the company I bought the car from or the manufacturer?

Any thoughts would be greatly welcomed.

Welcome to the forum.

Your consumer rights as defined by CRA2015 are strictly between you and the trader with whom you have a contract of sale. The manufacturer is not part of that contract.

However, this sounds like it might be a safety issue if the door could fly open while you are driving. If so that might be covered under different legislation where the manufacturer could be liable, because under other legislation they are liable to anyone who could be harmed by their faulty product (there doesn't have to be a contract) and they can't pass that responsibility on to anyone else. That is the case where there are safety recalls, etc.

You are right that goods must meet those consumer rights standards, but the evidence must be stronger than just your opinion. Usually after 6 months you need an independent report describing the exact nature of the fault and confirmation it was there when you purchased the vehicle and has not arisen since. Presumably it worked OK when you test drove and the car and then used it without issue for some time? Has the car model had a software update?

Manufacturers buy in components such as door handles from third party suppliers, they don't make everything themselves. Door handles in US cars are probably made by companies in Mexico or Brazil whereas UK versions might look the same but will have come from factories in Slovakia or Ukraine. Not a good comparison.

Mildly_Miffed

By "out of 6 month warranty", do you mean you've had the car more than six months?

VW iD4?

https://electrifynews.com/news/auto/volkswagen-vw-resolves-id-4-suv-door-handle-recall-with-free-repairs-production-sales-resume/

The fault is due to water ingress in the door handle.
You may have a case to push VW for a goodwill replacement of the faulty part, but I'm not sure there's much of a consumer rights case against the vendor.