MY RIGHTS TO REJECT A CAR

Jenni_D

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007218#Comment_82007218

@GavCB mentions VWFS, so it certainly sounds like a PCP or other financial arrangement.

I'm assuming that you're thinking of the S75 angle. But .. are all PCP agreements covered by S75? OP also mentions a price of £30k as I recall .. that might kybosh S75 too, depending on the exact purchase price. 🤷‍♀️

GavCB

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007218#Comment_82007218

yes, Volkswagen FS on a PCP agreement

GavCB

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007229#Comment_82007229

it was closer to £50K…….

A_Geordie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007229#Comment_82007229

I was thinking quite the opposite.

@GavCB My immediate concern here would be that your initial post suggests you have been going between the local and supplying dealer trying to sort this issue out but only VWFS afterwards. However, if your car is financed under a HP/PCP type agreement then all complains and issues should have been directed to VWFS.

This is because your contract lies with VWFS not the supplying dealer. Hire purchase agreements are a 3 way arrangement. Supplying dealer acts both as seller and agent on behalf of VWFS, so you negotiate the terms with the dealer and when you agree terms, the contractual paperwork means that the dealer will sell the car to VWFS who in turn then hires it out to you, hence the PCP/HP agreement.

To trigger your consumer rights, you must have specifically communicated your issues to VWFS first and complained about this first. They then fob you off to the supplying dealer or some other garage to try and fix the car. But anything you've done prior to contacting VWFS would not count and could affect your 30 day rejection right or any attempted repairs that than triggers your final right to reject.

It would be helpful if you could give a brief timeline of events e.g. Who you contact first, how long after did it take you to you involve VWFS, what was their position etc. How long has it been since you first contacted VWFS?

Also, just to confirm, when you had the car replaced did you contact VWFS about that and did they agree to it? Your paperwork should have been updated to reflect this otherwise it would have the old car registration details. Otherwise, potentially another headache you're going to face.

GavCB

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007751#Comment_82007751

Good morning. Once I had collected the car from my local dealer on March 24th following diagnostics, and being told no repairs were made, the car continued to show signs of repeated electrical issues plus some new ones. I called VWFS on the 9th April (phone lines down), again on the 10th April (was promised a call back, nobody called). I emailed VWFS on the 10th April suggesting that I wanted to reject the car due to the volume of faults. VWFS (on March 20th) emailed so say that they would be assigning me a case handler. As yet, I have never had a call from VWFS although they have acknowledged my email complaints. I have had a couple of emails from VWFS to apologise for the delay in assigning a case handler, the most recent was 13th May. I was advised on one of the calls that I made to VWFS that they would be responsible for agreeing that the car should be returned. I escalated the matter to Audi UK on the advice of VWFS who then told me that the decision to return the car would be theirs and that they would be speaking with the supplying dealer. Having told the supplying dealer first of the faults and suppling them with photographic evidence, I followed their advice to take the car to my local Audi dealer.

In answer to you question, I contacted the supplying dealer first to report the fault 8 days after collection, followed by my local dealer to book in for diagnostics, followed by VWFS after no faults were repaired. I called VWFS again on April 13th which was acknowledged by email the following day. Audi UK were due to speak with the supplying dealer on Wednesday of this week, and are due to call me on Tuesday of next week. I have spoken with the supplying dealer this week, confirming that I will not be returning to collect the car. My concern is that I haven't done enough in time, for me to reject the car although I reported the faults by email and with photo evidence of the fault within 10 days. I have kept a diary note of issues, photo evidence, all of which I have supplied to Audi UK, VWFS and the supplying dealer. I'm not sure what more I could have done. Sadly, I wasn't aware, or made aware, of my rights to reject the car, or I would have.

The whole episode has been shocking. Call/emails ignored and I don't feel that I've been taken seriously. The relationship with the car has soured, along with my relationship with the brand!

VWFS were aware of the vehicle change, new documents were signed. Apologies for the long winded reply, I could go on……..

Jenni_D

 VWFS (on March 20th) emailed sto say that they would be assigning me a case handler.

Did you mean April?

GavCB

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82008344#Comment_82008344

sorry, April.

A_Geordie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82008199#Comment_82008199

So the starting point is that once you agree for a repair, you can't then reject the car unless the you have allowed them a reasonable time to repair, or that the time period for the repair would create a significant inconvenience to yourself.

Given your timelines, if this has been rumbling on for 2-3 months now since you contacted VWFS and they have only just got round to ordering the part then I think that is an unreasonably long delay. However, I can foresee some problems with the way you rejected the car.

VWFS are the owners of the car, not the supplying dealer or the local dealer so neither dealer have any legal obligation to take the car back. If you send the car back to the dealer and leave it there, you remain responsible and liable for it. VWFS could look to sue you if either of the dealers decided to work on the car without authorisation. If the car is damaged or stolen whilst in their possession, you're responsible and liable as the hirer of the car and again, VWFS can sue you for that damage or stolen car and there's nothing you can do about it. When you reject a car on PCP/HP you should keep the car in your possession until it is collected by the finance company - anything else is at your own risk and liability.

By communicating the rejection to the dealers, you have not complied with your consumer rights which says you must communicate the rejection to the business that you contracted with i.e. VWFS. Until you've done that, legally you have not rejected the car. Now that Audi have come back and said the part has been ordered, you're now in a difficult position to argue rejection. I would suggest you wait for that telephone call on Tuesday and you should be asking them when that part will arrive at the dealership. If it is more than a week, I would be saying that's not acceptable and they need to take whatever steps to expedite that part and repair the car.

I would then email VWFS, copy in the local and the supplying dealer and tell them that this has been going on for 2-3 months without resolution and there has been more than a reasonable amount of time to repair the car and nothing has been done about it. I would explicitly say that time is now of the essence and you are demanding that all faults on the car are repaired by a specific date - I would allow no more than 2 weeks. If the car is not repaired and ready by 5pm for you to collect on that date, the email should be taken as your rejection of the car with immediate effect and you will treat the finance contract as terminated from that date.

If you're not comfortable with the above process then you can just wait for the car to be repaired and if it's still faulty after then you will be on much stronger grounds to reject the car. since their first and only attempt at repair failed. Forget what Audi says about them deciding whether to accept the car as rejected, that is not what the law says and 90% of the time those people who say something like that just don't have a clue about the law, it's more about stall and delay tactics.

I also think that you are still within the 30 day short term right to reject because until the repair has been carried out, you are still within the "waiting period" and the clock won't start again until you collected it. Unless I've missed something that suggests something different.

GavCB

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82009586#Comment_82009586

Thanks again for taking the time out to respond.

I spoke with VWFS on Friday. They claim that the decision to reject to vehicle is down to Audi UK.

The supplying dealer ordered a part last Monday (to be fitted the following day) which they suggested should 'fix' the issues although I had an email from the technician on Wednesday suggesting no faults could be found so at this stage 'renewal of gateway J533 is recommended as the next step'. The email also said that they were looking into faults that I have never mentioned. The car has been sat with the dealer since inspections ended last Wednesday. My Audi app records the vehicles mileage/location so I know when it is parked up, or if it has been moved. I did note that it was on a residential street last Thursday night after 9PM, 9 miles away from the dealer (presumably being tested?) returning to the dealer on Friday morning.

It wasn't until April 11th that I informed VWFS that I wanted to reject the car (by email) as my local dealer were unable to repair it. I informed them again on the 13th April (by telephone). The supplying dealer was aware on February 3rd of the faults, by email with photograph images of the fault.

I am at a lose what to now going forward and if my rights to return have been compromised. I do know that I don't want the car back as I know the faults/troubles that the car has. I get the impression form the radio silence from the supplying dealer, that they have been unable to repair it. Let's see what Audi UK say when/If they call tomorrow as promised……

GavCB

By way of an update. The supplying dealer has today confirmed that the vehicle rejection has been accepted by Audi Customer Service. It feels like a weight has been lifted! Many thanks to those that contributed to the thread.