Faulty car on pcp

killergibbo

Hi all,

I brought a car from a dealership on pcp and part ex my old car.

I brought the car on the 24/08/25 and when driving home from the dealership I noticed a bad nice coming from underneath the rear center of the car. The next day I returned the car to the dealership telling them about the noise and they said to come in the next day when there repair department is open as it's a bank holiday today.

i return 26/08/25, the repair department said to bring them the car back on the 01/09/25 nearly a week later, at this point nobody even questioned the noise or wanted to quickly check it out. I left feeling shocked and like they didn't care. So I then called a local Mercedes dealership for them to check it on the 28/08/25 for peace of mind.

28/08/25 Mercedes confirmed what I was thinking ( broken rear diff ). I called the pcp company and they told me to return the car and ask for the refund. right after collecting car I return the car to the dealership showing them the report and saying i refuse to drive a faulty car and I want a full refund. 

29/08/25 I get a call from the repair department asking for a copy of the Mercedes report and I give them a copy.

everything now goes dark and I hear nothing from the finance company or the dealership even though I'm calling each of them most days. The dealership is saying they are looking into the car issue and the pcp company is saying a complaint has been logged and I need to wait for a case handler.

05/09/25 I get a call from the car dealership repair department telling me what I already knew ( the car needs a whole new diff ) and asking if I was happy with them repairing it. I then questioned the lady asking her if she didn't know I had asked for a refund, she said no, I then quizzed her in regards to the repair and I was assured it would be a whole new diff and not a recondition unit. I agreed to have the car repaired. I asked for a courtesy car and they tell me they don't have any so now I'm unable to get to work or take my son football training.

each week I'm calling the finance company in regards to what is happening and they keep telling me they haven't been able to get to my case yet and I need to wait. I then tell them I need to hire a car because I have no way of transport, the lady tells me I can email them the invoices for the hire etc but she did also say that in the company's t&c they do say not to hire another car, but I explained I didn't have any choice as the dealership wasn't helping me.

08/09/25 the dealership tell me the part has been ordered should be here 7-10 days.

19/09/25 I call the dealership repair department asking for an update, they said the part isn't here yet. Afew hours later they call me to say the part will arrive 29/09/25, I don't think they had even ordered it when they first said they did. 

29/09/25 I call the dealership and they said the part isn't here still and they will keep me updated, I call finance company in regards to the complaint and I'm told once again I need to wait for someone to call me. 

It's been 5 weeks nearly now and I'm struggling really badly to afford to keep hiring a car but i have no choice. £1000 in car hire costs and the first pcp payment is due in afew days.

ive told the finance company I'm struggling yet they don't care, I'm completely in limbo intil the 8 week point when I can take it higher to the financial ombudsman. 

Sorry for the big essay and poor grammar.

my question is who else can I ask for help as this is causing really bad hardship and I can't last another 3 weeks of doing this. 

Will I be able to recoup the costs of car hire? every week I've been asking the dealership for a courtesy car with them saying they have none. 

I'm having to hire a car on a weekly hire incase I got the call telling the car was fixed.

Finance company is motonovo and dealership is Carsa.

its a complete mess

born_again

So can we take it that this is not a new car?

Age, mileage etc.

Parts take time to source. Getting a new diff, in a month is good going..


FOS will not speed things up, they take months at best.

killergibbo

born_again said:

So can we take it that this is not a new car?

Age, mileage etc.

Parts take time to source. Getting a new diff, in a month is good going..


FOS will not speed things up, they take months at best.

2nd hand car, 2020 plate with 38k miles. I fully understand it takes time to source parts. My issue is dealing with non existent customer service from both sides.

the car was also sold with 2 recalls. 

Weekly I keep asking for a courtesy car but I'm told they currently don't have any.  

A_Geordie

Sadly this is another all too common story of the finance company and/or dealership running the show at the consumer's cost and expense. 

First of all, a hire purchase agreement is a 3 way arrangement, in that the dealer acts both as seller and agent for the finance company, so when you agree to get a car, the dealership will sell the car to the finance company who will in turn hire the car out to you on the terms agreed. Motonovo will be the named party on your contract and that's who you should be dealing with when rejecting the car, not the dealership. All complaints issues and other matters related to the car should be directed to Motonovo, not the dealership.

Secondly, due to your actions you have muddied the waters in terms of your legal rights. You first rejected the car and asked for a full refund by the dealer albeit as instructed by Motonovo,and yet contrary to that, you have allowed them to look into the matter with a view to repairing the car, continue paying for the monthly instalments and now hiring a car whilst awaiting the outcome of the dealership's or Motonovo's decision. 

From a legal standpoint, by rejecting the car and asking for a full refund, you are essentially treating the contract as at an end, and any hire costs you have incurred after the notice will not be recoverable because the contract had already ended at that point and all those costs you incurred thereafter are your own - that's what I would be advising Motonovo if I was their lawyer. 

You as the consumer are in control here, not the dealership and certainly not Motonovo so it is up to you to dictate what should or shouldn't happen. Allowing  Motonovo to drive this means that they can delay, deflect or use other underhand tactics to make this go away. It's a common tactic and well observed that the longer disputes go on, people just eventually give up, which is what I see because of the cost and expense people have got themselves into. Choose rejection or choose repair, but stick to it and stop faffing about because it is confusing and is not going to help your legal position. 

That all said, you have a few options: 

1. Await the outcome of the complaint from Motonovo which may take up to 8 weeks and if they reject or otherwise refuse to agree to a repair then you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman, which could take up to another year or longer to get a final decision. You will continue to incur costs of hiring a car or using other modes of transport to get about daily life at your own expense. There is no guarantee that the FOS will award your costs back so if you disagree with their decision then you would need to follow that up with legal proceedings and wait possibly another 12-18 months to have your day in court. 

2. Stick to your rejection of the car and go back to Motonovo confirming this. Treat the contract as at an end since you have the report from Mercedes that there is a fault. At this point you should cease all further payments because continuing to pay the instalments is inconsistent with rejection. 

Now, if you were to do this there is a real possibility that Motonovo might try to treat you are being in breach for non-payment and demand outstanding sums otherwise they will report late payments to credit reference agencies. This usually happens because all systems are automated to operate in this way and there is very little human intervention until after the fact. If I were in this situation, I would wait until the first non-payment letter comes through and then email them explaining that you have rejected the goods and treated the contract as terminated. You are unlikely to get the response you want and the letters will keep coming, but the moment I discover a late payment marker, I would be pro-active and sending a letter before action to Motonovo demanding that they remove all adverse entries and seek compensation for reporting inaccurate data under the UK GDPR. Give them 14 days otherwise you will issue proceedings. 

Once proceedings are issued, you are now dealing with their legal team who should have common sense and is likely going to look to resolve the issue much faster than the time you've spent so far. Of course they can defend it, but they won't have a leg to stand on in court if you have validly ended the contract.I have experienced 3 different finance companies I have taken to court on similar matters over the years and each time their legal team gets involved, it is usually settled very early on soon after proceedings were issued. That's not to say you will have the same experience as me since every finance company is different, but this is why you have to stick to your choice decision. 

3. Continue down the path for the repair option and wait Motonovo's decision whenever that comes whilst paying for hire costs. Given the cost of hire is a sizeable amount, I would actually consider invoicing Motonovo either for the full period you have paid for, or if there is no fixed period then I would invoice on a weekly basis and demand repayment within 14 days. Failing that I would send a letter before action and start legal proceedings for the cost of that hire period. I would repeat this until such time they got their act together and agreed to repair the car - usually that would be when the legal team gets involved. 

However, a couple of points to note generally: 

(a) there is a general duty to mitigate losses otherwise you may not be entitled to recover them. In your case, is it reasonable for you to keep paying the high cost of hiring a car as opposed to buying a cheap run around, taxing and insuring it? What about the cost of paying to have it repaired and recovering that cost back from Motonovo. If you've already spend £1000 on hire costs, you may be close if not over the cost of repair?

(b) Even if you accepted a repair in lieu of rejecting the car, the Consumer Rights Act says that repairs must be done within a reasonable time and without a significant inconvenience to you, otherwise you are entitled to exercise your final right of rejection. Waiting up to 8 weeks or longer for a case handler and paying for the cost of hire is a significant inconvenience and definitely not within a reasonable period, especially when you have a report that confirms a fault. 

(c) Personally, stop harassing the dealership. They have no contract with you nor do they have any legal obligation to provide you with a hire car. Arguably, if they did supply a courtesy car, they could charge you for the privilege. Your contract is with Motonovo so stick to them and it should be them who should be providing a courtesy car if anything (check the contract terms on this, it might support your case). 

born_again

So a 5 year old car on PCP. Best avoid this type of finance in the future on 2nd hand cars.

There are many posts where people have done this, ended up with a non working car, that they have to continue paying for & can not return at the end, so have the balloon to pay as well.

killergibbo

A_Geordie said:

Sadly this is another all too common story of the finance company and/or dealership running the show at the consumer's cost and expense. 

First of all, a hire purchase agreement is a 3 way arrangement, in that the dealer acts both as seller and agent for the finance company, so when you agree to get a car, the dealership will sell the car to the finance company who will in turn hire the car out to you on the terms agreed. Motonovo will be the named party on your contract and that's who you should be dealing with when rejecting the car, not the dealership. All complaints issues and other matters related to the car should be directed to Motonovo, not the dealership.

Secondly, due to your actions you have muddied the waters in terms of your legal rights. You first rejected the car and asked for a full refund by the dealer albeit as instructed by Motonovo,and yet contrary to that, you have allowed them to look into the matter with a view to repairing the car, continue paying for the monthly instalments and now hiring a car whilst awaiting the outcome of the dealership's or Motonovo's decision. 

From a legal standpoint, by rejecting the car and asking for a full refund, you are essentially treating the contract as at an end, and any hire costs you have incurred after the notice will not be recoverable because the contract had already ended at that point and all those costs you incurred thereafter are your own - that's what I would be advising Motonovo if I was their lawyer. 

You as the consumer are in control here, not the dealership and certainly not Motonovo so it is up to you to dictate what should or shouldn't happen. Allowing  Motonovo to drive this means that they can delay, deflect or use other underhand tactics to make this go away. It's a common tactic and well observed that the longer disputes go on, people just eventually give up, which is what I see because of the cost and expense people have got themselves into. Choose rejection or choose repair, but stick to it and stop faffing about because it is confusing and is not going to help your legal position. 

That all said, you have a few options: 

1. Await the outcome of the complaint from Motonovo which may take up to 8 weeks and if they reject or otherwise refuse to agree to a repair then you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman, which could take up to another year or longer to get a final decision. You will continue to incur costs of hiring a car or using other modes of transport to get about daily life at your own expense. There is no guarantee that the FOS will award your costs back so if you disagree with their decision then you would need to follow that up with legal proceedings and wait possibly another 12-18 months to have your day in court. 

2. Stick to your rejection of the car and go back to Motonovo confirming this. Treat the contract as at an end since you have the report from Mercedes that there is a fault. At this point you should cease all further payments because continuing to pay the instalments is inconsistent with rejection. 

Now, if you were to do this there is a real possibility that Motonovo might try to treat you are being in breach for non-payment and demand outstanding sums otherwise they will report late payments to credit reference agencies. This usually happens because all systems are automated to operate in this way and there is very little human intervention until after the fact. If I were in this situation, I would wait until the first non-payment letter comes through and then email them explaining that you have rejected the goods and treated the contract as terminated. You are unlikely to get the response you want and the letters will keep coming, but the moment I discover a late payment marker, I would be pro-active and sending a letter before action to Motonovo demanding that they remove all adverse entries and seek compensation for reporting inaccurate data under the UK GDPR. Give them 14 days otherwise you will issue proceedings. 

Once proceedings are issued, you are now dealing with their legal team who should have common sense and is likely going to look to resolve the issue much faster than the time you've spent so far. Of course they can defend it, but they won't have a leg to stand on in court if you have validly ended the contract.I have experienced 3 different finance companies I have taken to court on similar matters over the years and each time their legal team gets involved, it is usually settled very early on soon after proceedings were issued. That's not to say you will have the same experience as me since every finance company is different, but this is why you have to stick to your choice decision. 

3. Continue down the path for the repair option and wait Motonovo's decision whenever that comes whilst paying for hire costs. Given the cost of hire is a sizeable amount, I would actually consider invoicing Motonovo either for the full period you have paid for, or if there is no fixed period then I would invoice on a weekly basis and demand repayment within 14 days. Failing that I would send a letter before action and start legal proceedings for the cost of that hire period. I would repeat this until such time they got their act together and agreed to repair the car - usually that would be when the legal team gets involved. 

However, a couple of points to note generally: 

(a) there is a general duty to mitigate losses otherwise you may not be entitled to recover them. In your case, is it reasonable for you to keep paying the high cost of hiring a car as opposed to buying a cheap run around, taxing and insuring it? What about the cost of paying to have it repaired and recovering that cost back from Motonovo. If you've already spend £1000 on hire costs, you may be close if not over the cost of repair?

(b) Even if you accepted a repair in lieu of rejecting the car, the Consumer Rights Act says that repairs must be done within a reasonable time and without a significant inconvenience to you, otherwise you are entitled to exercise your final right of rejection. Waiting up to 8 weeks or longer for a case handler and paying for the cost of hire is a significant inconvenience and definitely not within a reasonable period, especially when you have a report that confirms a fault. 

(c) Personally, stop harassing the dealership. They have no contract with you nor do they have any legal obligation to provide you with a hire car. Arguably, if they did supply a courtesy car, they could charge you for the privilege. Your contract is with Motonovo so stick to them and it should be them who should be providing a courtesy car if anything (check the contract terms on this, it might support your case). 

Wow amazing post, helps me no end thank you. 

I have been emailing motonovo with the invoices for car rental each and every week, I have been contacting motonovo in regards to the complaint and only speaking to the dealer about the timescale of the repair.

the car is an amg gla45s so the rear diffs are very expensive, what I've seen for a new one is £5k+.

yes this is a major lesson learnt and I won't be touching pcp again. 

Today the dealership gave me a courtesy car, Motonovo manager called me an hour ago asking for details and saying because the dealership has agreed to repair the car they will honor my complaint. He said he'll call me again in 2-3 days after contacting the dealership in regards to the timescale of the repair. 

I just wish I had listened to my wife and fully rejected the car, could have had another car by now. 

Once again thank you for your in put. 

   

visidigi

If you know the part number....call mercedes parts at your local dealer and ask them for a price and availability.

If they don't have it in stock either in country or region then you know your dealer isn't going to either a) get it any quicker or b) is trying to source used.

born_again

visidigi said:

If you know the part number....call mercedes parts at your local dealer and ask them for a price and availability.

If they don't have it in stock either in country or region then you know your dealer isn't going to either a) get it any quicker or b) is trying to source used.

I think it would be very lucky if any dealer had anything like that sat on a shelf. Especially for a 2020 car. Covid scuppered not often required parts sat on shelves.

visidigi

born_again said:

visidigi said:

If you know the part number....call mercedes parts at your local dealer and ask them for a price and availability.

If they don't have it in stock either in country or region then you know your dealer isn't going to either a) get it any quicker or b) is trying to source used.

I think it would be very lucky if any dealer had anything like that sat on a shelf. Especially for a 2020 car. Covid scuppered not often required parts sat on shelves.

Exactly the point. You also know if the dealer is fixing it quicker than Mercedes cant get one that its highly unlikely to be new.

I can see used on eBay for £2k. I wouldn't want one of those (and it seems quite a common fault...from the number of threads on the subject returned from a quick google).

killergibbo

visidigi said:

born_again said:

visidigi said:

If you know the part number....call mercedes parts at your local dealer and ask them for a price and availability.

If they don't have it in stock either in country or region then you know your dealer isn't going to either a) get it any quicker or b) is trying to source used.

I think it would be very lucky if any dealer had anything like that sat on a shelf. Especially for a 2020 car. Covid scuppered not often required parts sat on shelves.

Exactly the point. You also know if the dealer is fixing it quicker than Mercedes cant get one that its highly unlikely to be new.

I can see used on eBay for £2k. I wouldn't want one of those (and it seems quite a common fault...from the number of threads on the subject returned from a quick google).

According to the dealer the part was ordered from Poland hence why it's taking so long, I've got it in emails with me asking if the rear diff will be brand new and then replying saying yes and 12 month warranty. 

There will be only one way of knowing if it's brand new, day of collecting the car, roll underneath and see if the diff aluminum casing is new or old. 

Myself I can't see them buying a brand new one but maybe I'll eat my own words 

sheslookinhot

Is it too late to change your mind about rejecting the car ? Can you threaten a rejection if they don’t supply a loan car in 2 days ?