Motorpoint car return/replace options

Cluelessdad4

HI (sorry in advance for saga) In Feb26 I bought a 21 plate, 43K miles Nissan Qashqai from motorpoint thinking I was getting some reassurance from buying from big brand that claimed to do checks and have a quality guarantee . Found immediately fault with petrol cover which was replaced then soon after over 30 days had problem with the clutch failing being very heavy. This was now warranty claim as over 30 days which was refused by the warranty provider but the motorpoint said they would replace the clutch as a gesture of goodwill which they did foc. Even after clutch replacement I found the clutch very heavy and difficult to use especially in city traffic, I complained as a friend told me the flywheel should have been replaced too, and asked why this wasn't done, Motorpoint said flywheel was inspected and was fine so wasn't replaced and claimed no fault present and that qashqai clutches are known to be heavy and said they wouldn't exchange the car and would only offer a part x price £3K less than I paid. I've lodged another warranty claim and gone to an independent garage for inspection of both clutch and gearbox as it is not smooth. They have found the following.

Our technician road tested and checked over the vehicle and found the below issues:

• When driving in 4th gear on and off the throttle the gear stick moves forward and back which indicates worn gear box or worn engine mounts as the fault only happens in 4th gear.
• On inspecting selector turret he found side to side play in the main shaft which indicates the gearbox worn internally.
• Clutch intermittently faulting indicating to flywheel worn

Therefore this vehicle would need a gearbox repair, new clutch, flywheel and slave cylinder as you cant put an new clutch to a worn / old flywheel.

I would appreciate some advice on what my consumer rights are as I believe this car wasn't fit for purpose when I bought it and how can I approach getting a exchange for a different car…….assuming I can't get a full refund

Massive thanks for any advice

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6667560/motorpoint-car-return-replace-options

It sounds like Motorpoint have been reasonable in their responses, even if you have not got fully to where you would like to be.

Your consumer rights in the first 6 months is that any fault is deemed to have been present or developing at the time of sale but, as you are over 30 days when the clutch fault first arose, your short term right to reject is passed. You have to give one attempt to fix the vehicle before you can move to reject (final right to reject). In the case of rejecting the vehicle, the dealer can deduct a sum to reflect the beneficial use (time and mileage) you have gained from the car.

As this is a used car, not every fault is grounds to reject and the car has to be considered against the age, mileage, general condition and price paid. You also have to consider wear and tear since purchase, particularly with items such as the clutch which could wear very quickly subject to the driving style.

What outcome do you want?

- Fix the car and keep? If so, what would be the cost for you to get the repair carried out if you had to pay for it?

- Reject the car and get something else? If so, what would you get for the car if sold to the online market places such as Motorway, WBAC?

I am not saying the above are the final outcomes, but they are useful metrics to understand your position. You may decide a solution that is not necessarily enforcing consumer rights is a more pragmatic way to proceed.

Here is quite a good guide to when you can / cannot reject a car:

https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/rejecting-a-car/

Practice may not always reflect the theory.

Cluelessdad4

Thanks for your advice and the link, I've done less than 200 miles since feb, the other problem I had was that for the first 30 days they had the car for days 3 to 16 of ownership due to waiting a part to fix the petrol cap, with a courtesy car to be fair but obviously not much chance to drive in that period. I flagged the clutch fault on day 31 😞. Again at that point I wasn't worried as they were being really nice about the problems I was having. The gearbox has been the same since day one which I now realise indicated underlying fault, which again motorpoint said wasn't at fault when I flagged it a couple of ago when they were looking at the clutch. Originally having driven focus' for 20 odd years I just assumed it was a different brand thing, hindsight is a great and all that.

I'm told that the fix on the clutch by them was not done correctly and this is why the problems persist but they disagree, so I feel they have had a chance to sort out but haven tried to do it on the cheap.

Ideally I would like to exchange this vehicle as I feel I've been sold a pup but sounds like that might not be as easy as people had said it would be. I'm frustrated by my own ineptitude and thinking i would be ok going with a big brand for security

Ectophile

A faulty flywheel won't result in a heavy clutch.

If it's a conventional flywheel, then the only thing that can really go wrong is if the teeth are stripped, and that will only affect starting the car.

If it's a dual mass flywheel, then it should probably last around 100K miles. A failing one results in lumpy driving accelerating or decelerating. But there's no real way to tell if it's failing without looking at it, and your friend hasn't. Ther are really expensive and garages won't change them just because they have taken the clutch off.