Rejected car under CRA 2015 — dealer gone quiet, advice welcome

jazzythumper

Hi all, first post about this, I have found this board really useful reading through other threads while dealing with this.

Quick background:

Bought a used car from a small independent AA Approved dealer in April for £8,000, by bank transfer.

• Air con wasn't right shortly after purchase, had it regassed myself.
• About a month in, gearbox failed catastrophically — AA diagnosed a bearing failure, dealer repaired/replaced it under their own steam.
• A few months later, gearbox failed again, even more catastrophically — no gears at all, engine still running, fluid leaking underneath. AA's own report this time says (verbatim): "suspected gearbox differential failure... member has already had gearbox replaced previously. Same issue has returned again."
• Separately, an independent garage (routine puncture repair, unrelated) noted the under tray was missing and the A/C pipework was insecure/missing bolts — AA's own second report also independently mentions "fixings missing such as pipe for AC unit."
• The original advert described the car as "MECHANICALLY PERFECT NO ISSUES" and included a 3-month engine/gearbox warranty "through our company" — the second failure falls inside that window.

What I've done:

• Sent a formal Notice of Rejection under ss.20 & 24 Consumer Rights Act 2015 (email + Royal Mail Tracked 24, both confirmed delivered), relying on: satisfactory quality (s.9), the s.9(5)-(6) "public statement" point re: the advert, the s.19(14) six-month presumption, and the final right to reject under s.24(5)(a) given the repair had already failed once.
• Also flagged that the invoice's "returns at our sole discretion" small print isn't binding under s.31.
• Dealer's tone before the formal notice was fairly cooperative — "can't stop you returning it, refund within 14 days" — not an outright refusal.
• Since the formal notice: acknowledged it, asked for a mileage photo (sent), said they'd "reply shortly," then nothing. Two follow-ups since, the second one firmer with a clear 14-day deadline (1 August) referencing possible Letter Before Claim / court action.
• Opened a free mediation case with AA Cars given the dealer's accreditation to their Dealer Promise Code.
• Have a Letter Before Claim drafted, ready to send if nothing by 1 August.
• Reported the misleading advert wording to AutoTrader's Customer Experience team separately (not expecting this to help the refund, just flagging the advert itself).

Questions:

1. Does this sequence (formal notice → AA Cars ADR in parallel → LBA → small claims if it comes to it) look right, or is there a step I'm missing?
2. I've kept the car taxed and insured since the rejection date (18 July) purely because it's sitting on a public street awaiting collection, and I've also started paying for daily visitor parking permits since a replacement car arrived and took over my resident permit. Reasonable to add these as consequential losses, or is that pushing it?
3. Given the AA's own wording ("same issue has returned again") — does that carry real evidential weight, or is a breakdown patrol's note likely to carry less weight than a proper engineer's report if this were ever disputed?
4. Anyone been through AA Cars' ADR process for a similar dispute — how did it actually go in practice?

Trying to do this properly and by the book rather than rushing to court, but also don't want to be too patient if the dealer's just hoping I'll give up. Any thoughts appreciated.

Grumpy_chap

Have you actually returned the car?

jazzythumper

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082178#Comment_82082178

No — and I’m not obliged to. The car is undriveable (that’s the whole point of the second failure — no gears, engine still runs), so “returning” it isn’t something I could physically do myself even if I wanted to.

Under s.20(7)(b) CRA 2015, my duty on rejection is only to make the goods available for collection — not to deliver or transport them back to the trader. I’ve made that clear in writing: the car is sitting on-street near my home, available for collection at their expense, and I’ve asked them to confirm a date. They haven’t yet.

Isthisforreal99

Biggest concern I see is 'small independent dealer'. Are they a Ltd company? Have you checked companies house to see their status and assets?

It's all to easy for a Ltd to go into liquidation or have very little in the way of assets so all the legal action in the world won't neccessarily get you any money back.

jazzythumper

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082242#Comment_82082242

Yes they are a limited company

Isthisforreal99

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082355#Comment_82082355

And what does companies house show?

jazzythumper

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082392#Comment_82082392

Yes, checked this morning. They're Active on Companies House, incorporated in mid-2024, sole director who's also the 100% shareholder — so no wider corporate structure to worry about. Their first accounts (filed a few months back) show net liabilities of around £4,500 — current liabilities outstrip current assets, and there's almost nothing in fixed assets. No red flags like a strike-off action or dormant filings, and they're up to date with confirmation statements, so nothing suggests they're about to disappear. But it's a thin balance sheet — not a business with much of a cash cushion. Doesn't change the legal merits, but I guess it's useful to go in with eyes open, especially if this ends up needing enforcement after a judgment rather than just winning the claim itself.

Isthisforreal99

What about the history of the director - any previous for dissolved companies?

A_Geordie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082423#Comment_82082423

It would be sensible for you to set up an alert for this company in case the owner tries to dissolve it. You can do this by creating an account and selecting the option "Follow this company" from the company details page.

That aside, any large transaction involving cash or bank transfer with a business is always going to attract an increased risk because your rights of recovery are limited, and zilch if the company goes under. Credit card transactions should be the way to go and any business who doesn't offer that would at least raise suspicion for me.

Given the poor accounts at the moment, if you did want pursue this, I would be skipping AA mediation service and issuing an LBA then legal proceedings with a view to securing default judgment if no defence is a filed and sending in bailiffs ASAP.

Seen this situation play out many times where the owner dissolves the company, sets up a new one and then claims to have transferred the assets to a new company (known as phoenixing). So you need to get in quick and I would suggest going round to the dealer and photographing the cars (if any) on site as evidence of potential assets if you have to instruct bailiffs.

Whilst phoenixing can be lawful, you should have a read around Section 216/217 of the Insolvency Act 1986. You should also look into the Court of Appeal case PSV 1982 v Langdon 2022 and English v Secretary of State for Business and Trade [2026] EWHC 1711 as it may be relevant to your situation, because it can hold the director of the dissolved company personally liable for those debts.

mta999

Another option you might want to consider is that if you are satisfied with the car apart from the gearbox then get the gearbox repaired and sue them for the cost of that

it is likely to be a lot less than the car value and they may have the assets to pay that whereas they might not have the assets to refund you the full 8,000

jazzythumper

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82082625#Comment_82082625

I didn't realise this was something I could do? But having now formally rejected the car. This wouldn't be a sensible move.