Help Needed - New Car Damaged by Dealer

Thunderbird_2

A brand new car is a brand new ar. No repairs, no dents, no nothing!
You paid for a brand new car. You didn't take the car for a service or something and they caused the dent. You went to collect a brand new car. Nothing less than a perfect finish is acceptable. The colour of this ''new'' car is likely to show the difference in the future! You can't tell if they used a filler or not easily. If they did, you might and might not have a small dent in the same place of the repair in the future and the filler will crack.

Be careful if you spot a small difference in the paint and they justify it by being a new paint and that it will be the same as the clolour of the rest of the car later. This might happen, and might not happen, by the time will be too late to reject the car obviously.

Good luck, you will need it!

P.S Stick to your gun and be firm, but polite at the same time when speak to them. Don't forget, a brand new car should not have been resprayed at the dealer, a resprayed panel make the car '' refurbished'' one, if you you know what I mean.

Thunderbird

bingo_bango

Contact your local Trading Standards Office. They will give you all the correct legal advice you need FOC. You could point them to this thread to see where you're at if you wanted to email them.

kiddy_guy

Keep us updated, but tbh, I'd refuse it. You are 110% within your rights to do so.

Wig

It's one thing to be within your rights to reject, but quite another to actually prove it. If you do reject, they will most likely refuse to accept your rejection and send you legal letters asking you to collect your property, eventually charging you storage fees or disposing of your property as they see fit.

You of course will be sending legal letters demanding a return of monies. And ultimately it will end up in court. As the car s more than £5,000 in value, you will spend thousands on legal fees and so will they, and whoever loses will have to pay the other parties legal costs.

I'll just remind you that you agreed to the predelivery repairs.

Take PROPER legal advice before doing anything rash.

taxiphil

Wig wrote: »

you will spend thousands on legal fees

Not at all. Seems like a pretty straightforward case; there's no reason why the OP can't be a litigant in person.

If you're referring to the court fee then we're talking £210 for an online claim for between £5 - 15k.

It's true that Fast Track cases (generally for claims over £5k) require the losing party to pay the other party's costs, but only "within reason". It wouldn't be considered reasonable for the car dealer to spend thousands on a barrister, for example.

Sorry Wig, I know you're a well informed guy and you mean well, but I just felt your post was a bit too scaremongering.

The obvious solution, as I see it, is to accept the car on an "under protest" basis (given the level of coercion being employed by the dealer) - making sure to scribble "under protest" in heavy type all over documents at the same time as signing them, then make a claim for
a) diminution in the car's value
b) loss of enjoyment, and
c) out of pocket expenses

The claim will thus fall within the scope of the Small Claims track.

The "paid under protest" argument could be further supported by the potential "loss of bargain" the OP would incur by pulling out of the deal.

bitgiggy

To be fair I didn't strictly agree to the repairs - I just didn't know any better. It wasn't until I got home and started reading up about it that I realised that this was not acceptable and I had a legal right to reject the car, they can't have expected to me to know all my legal rights there and then in the showroom.

I have contacted trading standards regarding this you have informed me I am within my rights to reject the car, and that the dealer cannot refuse to replace the car. I was told to put everything in writing from now on and to contact them should the dealer refuse a replacement.

bitgiggy

Also, doesn't the sale of goods act state that acceptance is not assumed on the basis that the consumer has agreed to the repair of the goods?

Thunderbird_2

As far as I remember, if the case go to court, it is down to the manufacturer to prove the car was not faulty at the time of sale within the first 6 months and it is down to the buyer to prove this after 6 months. So, a brand new car with re-sprayed panel is a faulty brand new because a brand new shouldn't have a re-sprayed panel. If you drive the car, they are unlikely to accept it back if you return it as it will have several miles on it by then and they might offer you a compensation if you win the court case.

Goods should be as described. The goods you are buying here is described as brand new car and the car now is not as described! As simple as that in theory! But here, your chances of a replacement or full refund is more likely compared with you driving the car away and coming back at later date to return it or demanding a full refund.

To be fair I didn't strictly agree to the repairs - I just didn't know any better

I don't know how this might affect the whole matter!

Good luck!

Poppy9

I would expect a new car to be in mint condition not refurbished. Other refurbished goods are typically sold at hefty discount to reflect the fact that they have been damaged. I doubt the dealer is offering a hefty discount because of the damage. This is the dealer's problem not the buyers. Given the amount of money involved in the purchase of a new car I would instruct a solicitor to force the dealer to either refund you or for "specific performance" of the contract. i.e. provide a brand new undamaged vehicle.

bitgiggy

Thanks for your advice thunderbird. I can see where you are coming from and it all makes sense, the only problem could be is the fact i did actually take the car home for 3 days. It was always going to be repaired however and wasn't the case that i had returned it then as i was now unhappy with the damage. The damage was present at the time of purchase as pointed out by me, not them.