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Consumer Rights on Car Purchase

Hey all,

I purchased a Nissan Juke (2019) on the 23/10/2024 from a second hand car trader.

About a week ago my car started making funny noises and it turns out my cars gearbox needs replacing. This seems to be a common and expensive fault for these cars.


It’s been just under two years since I bought the car, the warranty has run out, but I believe I still might be able to do something under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

For context, I have driven the car for less than £10,000 since having it, and the car has done under 37,000 miles in total.

I paid £500 deposit via a credit card, with the remaining £11,150 paid by debit card.

The trader has refused to offer anything, which I wasn’t surprised about. My next step is to send them a letter detailing how the car isn’t satisfactory quality (especially given the price and how long it lasted), hopefully with a letter from a mechanic to state that this fault isn’t through general wear and tear.

I wondered if anyone has been in this same situation and whether they would chase the trader and take it to small claims court, or go through the credit card supplier with a Section 75?

Many thanks

Comments

  • LightFlare
    LightFlare Posts: 1,948
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    Are those dates correct ?

    After 2 years on a (now) 7 year old car - the dealer will be under no obligation to do anything Im afraid

  • PTP123
    PTP123 Posts: 130
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    No chance OP.

  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 42,074
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    hopefully with a letter from a mechanic to state that this fault isn’t through general wear and tear

    I think the 'hopefully' is doing some heavy lifting there but if you can indeed find a reliable mechanic who's prepared to document that the fault would have been present at the time of sale, even if latent, then yes, that would strengthen your case…

  • Ayr_Rage
    Ayr_Rage Posts: 4,261
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    Is it a CVT gearbox and if so has the fluid been changed?

    They are known to be a bit flaky.

    You've no chance with the dealer or Section 75, the only (remote) possibility is a contribution from Nissan if your vehicle was part of a batch with a faulty from new gearbox, but at 7 years old, don't hold your breath.

  • Aylesbury_Duck
    Aylesbury_Duck Posts: 16,894
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    You can try, but I doubt you'll get anywhere. As Ayr-Rage suggests, there's a slim chance of Nissan contributing, but that's almost certainly only going to be if the car has hit all its service intervals since new and that those services were carried out in accordance with Nissan's specifications. That doesn't mean it must have been serviced by Nissan dealers, but that any other garages have used the specified parts and oils. If your local garage puts in the cheapest oil filter they can get hold of, and a few litres of generic oil from the giant barrel out the back, expect Nissan to not want to help.

  • Ectophile
    Ectophile Posts: 8,617
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    Why do you think that? The Consumer Rights Act has no specific limit. The Limitation Act sets a cut-off of 6 years (5 in Scotland). That would be 6 years from the date the OP bought the car.

    But it is up to the OP to produce an independent report saying that the car had an inherent fault two years and 37000 miles ago. That's the tricky bit. It's not enough that the gearbox is broken. It had to be already failing when the car was sold.

    If it sticks, force it.
    If it breaks, well it wasn't working right anyway.
  • LightFlare
    LightFlare Posts: 1,948
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    True - I should have been a touch clearer and said that any possible remedy would not be automatically implied and would require the consumer to do some "work" - which even then, would not guarantee a resolution

  • born_again
    born_again Posts: 25,159
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    edited 16 September at 9:17AM

    Sometimes you just have to realistic & that it is just wear & tear.

    For context, I have driven the car for less than £10,000 since having it, and the car has done under 37,000 miles in total.

    £10,000 for 2 years usage? (how many miles does that cover) & is that including insurance & VED?

    For context Mine cost me £1,100 last year for 8,000 miles inc VED & Insurance & fuel. So context does not really tell you much about what you actually do in the car. without data. 🤷‍♀️

    Life in the slow lane
  • photome
    photome Posts: 16,772
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    I assumed the OP meant less than 10000 miles not pounds

  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 27,297
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    edited 16 September at 11:56AM

    It's going to be much more than a bit tricky to get a report saying that, though. It's really only going to be possible at all if there's a known fault affecting a lot of this particular model of car. The OP says "This seems to be a common and expensive fault for these cars," but that's a bit vague.

    Given the required level of proof that these cars tend to have an inherent defect, it might be possible for the OP to make a case.

    A previous poster described the CVT gearbox in the Mk1 Juke as a bit flaky. According to the AI, it is actually notorious. It's probably worth the OP's while to gather information about the Jatco CVT's problems.

    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
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