Help Needed - New Car Damaged by Dealer

Wig

bitgiggy wrote: »

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?

What you are getting at here would only apply if the repairs are not done satisfactorily.

Taxiphil,
I stand by my advice, which was to get proper legal advice before rejecting this car. When you go down this road you had better be sure you know all the facts beforehand. That means more than what trading standards has told you and what you have gleaned from an internet forum.

bitgiggy

I really don't want to end up with an expensive law case on my hands. I think my best course of action would be to go and see the car tonight, if it is satisfatorily repaired to take it and then put in a claim through the small claims court as suggested. If it is not satisfactorily repaired then i will look into rejecting the car with the advice of a solicitor. Does this sound sensible or do you think i'm being too soft on them? Also, if i'm going down the small claims route, is there anything i should do/say tonight when picking the car up. Cheers.

kitchpoo

Thats too soft. Remember, you asked to buy a new car, you wanted a new car, you paid (at least the deposit) for a NEW car. I would reject it regardless of the repair.

td

Hi,

Do you have leagal protection either through your car insurance/house ins/union? You could ring them to get the full legal position on your situation.

td

bitgiggy

Hello Everyone

Finally some good news to report and I for the first time in a week I am extremely happy!!!!

I went to the car showroom today totally deflated, expecting to get a repaired car back and never being totally happy with it. The bodywork was fine and there was no sign of any dents, the colour was also a match, but I noticed that there were little black embedded grains in the paintwork, and after I noticed one, I noticed another, and another and another. There were also several small blisters in the paintwork.

I immediately informed the manager who came and checked over the car, apparently he didn't see these imperfections earlier. He went and made a call in his office and came back to us with a deal, either we could take the car away today (incl. the imperfections) or they would give us a brand new car.

To me this was the most ridiculous deal ever, who in their right mind would choose a repaired car over a brand new one? So, I handed back the keys and the log book, and a brand new car is on order for us to arrive in around 7 weeks!

The only downside is they did not let us keep the courtesy car, I did have a moan and try to get one thrown in but they were having none of it. This is not a big deal as I do have access to another car, but it would have been nice out of courtesy.

I brought up the subject of compensation again, to which he informed me they would not be moving from their offer of the first years free service - so I think its time to raise the complaint a bit higher now - especially as they have my money for the next 2 months and I have no car.

An suggestions?

Crabman

Personally I'd have pushed for the courtesy car until delivery as you're still having to wait 7 weeks (+ elapsed time since delivery of the damaged one) longer for something you should have received at the beginning of Feb.

For a bit of fun use the savings calculator to see how much interest you could be earning on the money from the time you handed it over until delivery in 7 weeks. On a sum of £12,000 (random figure) for 4 months in the top savings account, that's £255 - how much does that first service cost?

kitchpoo

bitgiggy wrote: »

Hello Everyone

Finally some good news to report and I for the first time in a week I am extremely happy!!!!

I went to the car showroom today totally deflated, expecting to get a repaired car back and never being totally happy with it. The bodywork was fine and there was no sign of any dents, the colour was also a match, but I noticed that there were little black embedded grains in the paintwork, and after I noticed one, I noticed another, and another and another. There were also several small blisters in the paintwork.

I immediately informed the manager who came and checked over the car, apparently he didn't see these imperfections earlier. He went and made a call in his office and came back to us with a deal, either we could take the car away today (incl. the imperfections) or they would give us a brand new car.

To me this was the most ridiculous deal ever, who in their right mind would choose a repaired car over a brand new one? So, I handed back the keys and the log book, and a brand new car is on order for us to arrive in around 7 weeks!

The only downside is they did not let us keep the courtesy car, I did have a moan and try to get one thrown in but they were having none of it. This is not a big deal as I do have access to another car, but it would have been nice out of courtesy.

I brought up the subject of compensation again, to which he informed me they would not be moving from their offer of the first years free service - so I think its time to raise the complaint a bit higher now - especially as they have my money for the next 2 months and I have no car.

An suggestions?

A move in the right direction!! Are you paying insurance on a car you dont have? If so you may have recompence through the legal services of your policy, you home insurance may also stretch to it - let them do the hard work and the pushing for a while rather than all off your own back.

mookie

I thought I would share my similar experience, I ordered a brand new car a few years ago, it got delayed way past the delivery date so I managed to get a courtesy car through complaining. Anyway when the car finally arrived I went down all excited to pick it up and noticed 2 small dents in the door, I pointed them out to the salesman and obviously made it clear that I was not happy with the car, walking round it I pointed out another mark on the bonnet, the salesman then got his cuff and rubbed it saying it was wax, it was but his suit buttons then scratched the bonnet quite badly. :mad:

We came to an agreement that they would repair it but I had to take it away and book it in because the courtesy car was booked out from when I returned it, I felt I had to because I had no car. When I got home i noticed under the mat had big fat greasy footprints, by this time I was livid, took it back the next day and demanded a car to use while they sorted it out. After the repair everything was fine except I could see in the bonnet repair the sandpaper marks under the paint where it had been sprayed. I had a row with the manager who sarcastically raised his voice and said well what do you expect me to do put a new bonnet on!? Well much as he tried to back out of this he ended up ordering another new car and doing exactly that.

I'm glad you got a new car OP there is nothing worse than knowing something has been repaired when you wanted and paid for a new one!

deltic_2

Bitgiggy, I think you have done tremendously well with all of this and got the right result.

I think, in the end, the dealer acted properly too and should get some credit for not prolonging the argument or going down a legal route.

As for asking for anything else, I think the effort by you vs. the incremental return you would get over the free service does not make it worthwhile. Do you really want the stress of contuning the fight vs. looking forward to your new car again ?

I think it is also worth keeping the dealer on your side so that if (god forbid) any issues arise with your new car at any stage of ownership they will continue to be friendly and responsive to your needs.

Wig

So you've paid in full for this car, and you have previously taken the old one home (so you must have an insurance policy) so as crabman pointed out, you will be wanting to put your insurance on hold and change the registration.

Ask them to refund you the money above the deposit, work out how much interest you will lose and the cost of stopping the insurance and changing the registration on the insurance policy. Then if they refuse to refund you the money until your new car arrives, you can tell them exactly what the financial cost to you will be if they say they want to keep your money. If they still refuse after that, you can consider small claims to get your costs back. Check your contract if there is a clause about date of delivery.

Good point crabman.