Returning a year old car after failed repairs, car on pcp

dobedo

I bought a new car from a reputable brand dealer in Dec '24 on PCP after trading in my golf which had nothing wrong with it for £11.5k (regretable decision now).

Car went for its first service in late Jan 26 and shortly after then the auto locking feature stopped working properly.

Went to garage to ask them to look at keys as thought it might be the batteries or something on the car. That did not fix it. They asked me to book it in the following week. The garage had it a few days later and kept it ever since. They loaned me a demo car to use, thinking it would only take a week or so to get repaired.

They thought it was a sensor on the handle. Tried a part, ordered a new part and then said the handle needed to be resprayed. Had to wait weeks for this to be done and chase them each time.

Since then their contact has been minimal, I have had to call into their showroom, call them but I don't get much joy. Weeks later they said that part they fitted did not work so had to order another part. More weeks past.

I then contacted customer services and they contacted the garage, they then said they were waiting for a tool to fix the car. Customer services contacted me weekly since then and chased the garage numerous times. I was told they have a tool to fix the car. Waited weeks again…. nothing.

Eventually the garage rang me just over a week ago and said they now have the tool. I said how is this, I thought you had a tool, they said oh no we realised we need a different tool and we are fixing your car for you the next day. The man on the phone was very blunt and I felt rude.

Since then… you guessed it… nothing!!

I have told the customer service person I am absolutely fed up with it, he agreed with me that it is ridiculous now. I am paying monthly for a car I do not have. The customer service from the garage is rubbish. I do not know what they have done with my car, what is wrong or anything. I feel I have no faith or trust in the car or the garage now. How do I know what they have done on the car will last and not go wrong again. There is no transparency.

Apologies for the long post… where do I stand in returning the car and getting my money back? The car is not fit for purpose… they have had two attempts and approx 5 months to fix it.

I would appreciate some advice please?

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6669252/returning-a-year-old-car-after-failed-repairs-car-on-pcp

Can we start with the very basics? At £11.5k on PCP, this was not a brand new car.

What make and model?

What age at purchase?

What mileage at purchase?

What mileage now?

What general condition at purchase?

What type of test drive did you do?

Did you buy in person or remote?

Edit: I now realise the above questions are all irrelevant as it is a brand new car and not a used car.

A_Geordie

The starting point is not the dealer but the finance company. PCP agreements are a branch of hire purchase agreements, so your contract is with the finance company who owns the car. If you check your contractual paperwork, it will say the name of the finance company and not the dealer.

Unless and until they become aware of it, you have no right to end the contract and any work done by the dealer prior to contacting them does not count as attempted repairs/delays for the purposes of the Consumer Rights Act.

It is more than likely that the finance company will send you straight back to the dealer to fix the issues but you need them to do that because up until then, the dealer is not acting on behalf of the finance co. Unfortunately, you've wasted months of your time for not following the correct process.

Arunmor

He traded his car in for £11.5k.

LightFlare

Although you are paying for a car that is in the garage and you aren’t using - on the plus side, you have use of a demo car in the meantime.

That means less mileage,wear and tear going onto yours which will boost its value at the end of the PCP

A_Geordie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82006797#Comment_82006797

Not sure what point you are trying to make but it doesn't change the outcome. The finance company still purchases the car so any trade in would not have been with the dealer but the finance co, which would have been offset or put down as a deposit against the new car price.

Even if the OP sold the car directly to the dealer, that would be a separate contract to the PCP arrangement.

Arunmor

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82006814#Comment_82006814

Was responding to Grumpy_chap's post. When I wrote it was the only reply. Even so thought that would be obvious.

A_Geordie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82006825#Comment_82006825

Apologies, it looks like we posted at the same time. I'm afraid I can't always take anything as being obvious on here because sometimes what is obvious to one is not always obvious to the another.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82006797#Comment_82006797

Thanks. Yes, I misread the OP and understood it was a used car that was purchased. With your assistance I now understand this was a brand new car. My previous queries are irrelevant.

dobedo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82006795#Comment_82006795

Hi thanks for your response, I am just putting the feelers out as to what i can do, what is available to me at this stage. I haven't contacted the finance company yet as I initially was hoping the retailer/garage could fix the problem with the car. But as time has gone on it appears they cannot fix it so I need a resolution. thank you for the information regarding "unless and until they become aware of it……" - this I was not aware any process, I would have assumed any repairs should be counted as it is a manufacturing fault. thank you.

dobedo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007187#Comment_82007187

Hi Thank you, yes it was a brand new car purchased and the £11.5K was my deposit (car trade in). The vehicle in question is a Cupra Formentor 1.5 V2 2024