{YOUR NAME} {YOUR ADDRESS} {GARAGE NAME} {GARAGE ADDRESS} {DATE} Dear Sir/Madam, WITHOUT PREJUDICE Re: VEHICLE TYPE (REG NO:) PURCHASE DATE: { }. I have not received any response to my initial letter of (Date) or to the Letter Before Action that was sent to you on (Date). I will now be instigating formal proceedings at 4pm on (Date) unless a proposal for resolution is received by return. Yours faithfully, (YOUR NAME)

{YOUR NAME} {YOUR ADDRESS} {GARAGE NAME} {GARAGE ADDRESS} {DATE} LETTER BEFORE ACTION Dear Sir/Madam, WITHOUT PREJUDICE Re: VEHICLE TYPE (REG NO:) PURCHASE DATE: { } I am disappointed that you have not responded to my letter of (DATE). I now require repayment in full of the sum owed under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended). If you do not comply fully within seven (7) days of this letter (as postmark) then a claim will be filed against you in Court for the full amount plus interest, costs and compensation. This will be done without further notice. The total amount currently owed is (£X).If you do not respond to this letter, or you do not respond positively within the stated time period, I, as the claimant, am entitled to (and will be claiming) the following: Initial outlay (£X), plus interest at 8% from the date of purchase until date of judgement (currently £X), plus any costs, plus Court fees, plus compensation at (£X) per week for car hire up until date of judgement. (You can also add storage costs here too if you are incurring any) Should you not respond to this letter accepting, unconditionally, my request in principle and advising me of a date by which I will receive resolution, I will be commencing legal proceedings under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended). Furthermore, as you hold a consumer credit licence, I will be submitting a Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint to the OFT on the basis that you have failed to comply with the OFT's direction and are therefore not a 'fit and proper person' to hold a consumer credit licence under the 1974 Act. (Delete paragraph if not applicable but any garage that offers consumer credit (i.e finance) must hold a CCL) Yours faithfully, (YOUR NAME)

{YOUR NAME} {YOUR ADDRESS} {GARAGE NAME} {GARAGE ADDRESS} {DATE} Dear Sir/Madam WITHOUT PREJUDICE Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) Re: VEHICLE TYPE (REG NO:) PURCHASE DATE: { }. The above mentioned vehicle (VEHICLE TYPE, registration number XXX XXX) is, as of the date of this letter, the subject of a claim against GARAGE NAME of GARAGE ADDRESS under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended). It is claimed that the vehicle, when purchased from GARAGE NAME, had a (OUTLINE THE PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE HERE)- I completed this bit as follows: cracked turbo manifold and inherent engine problems that have since caused catastrophic failure to the engine. Your responsibilities I would draw your attention to the Office of Fair Trading guidance for car dealers and to the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended). Under the terms of this act, the claimant may request a repair or replacement of any vehicle that is considered defective at the time of purchase. If, for any reason, a repair is not possible, then the law states that the claimant is entitled to a full refund, less any part exchange allowance (if applicable). If a part exchanged vehicle has been sold on or disposed of, then the claimant is also entitled to claim the full value of this vehicle. If a claim is made during the first six (6) months after purchase, and a resolution cannot be sought out of court, then it is the responsibility of the seller to prove that the vehicle was in no way defective at the point that it was sold to the claimant (Reversed Burden of Proof). (YOU MAY NEED TO AMEND/DELETE THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU HAVE HAD YOUR VEHICLE FOR OVER SIX MONTHS). What I require I require you to respond within 7 days of the date of this letter (as postmark). You must provide a clear indication of how you would like to proceed with this claim. The vehicle is currently located at ADDRESS AT WHICH THE VEHICLE IS LOCATED. Under the terms of the Act, you are fully entitled to view the vehicle (at your own expense), but you must inform me in writing beforehand so that arrangements can be made. THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH PROBABLY WONT BE RELEVANT TO YOU BUT IT CAN BE AMENDED/DELETED ACCORDINGLY: At present, the engine remains within the car and any additional diagnostic work or repair would fall within your responsibility under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended). Once an agreement has been reached to the points contained within this letter, you are entitled to the return of the vehicle to your business premises (at your own expense). My targets to resolve this matter I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this rather than the need for further action to be taken. I am claiming either a repair to this vehicle (to the manufacturers’ standards) or a full refund. I will give you seven (7) days to reply to me accepting, unconditionally, my request in principle and advising me of a date by which I will receive payment or a schedule for the repair. If you do not respond, or you do not respond positively within this time period, I shall send you a Letter Before Action that will outline my intention to recover the full amount plus interest, costs and compensation through the Courts. Yours faithfully, YOUR NAME

Sorry everyone for the BIG! delay in getting back! Here are templates of the letters I sent: There are three initial letters you need to send before you can start legal proceedings. I'll paste them in order below. I don't have a legal background and haven't kept up with the SOGA since my claim so please do your own research before proceeding with anything. These letters were sucessful for me but may not be relevent to all.

Thanks for all your support guys. I'm in the process of gathering all the info now and I'll post it all shortly! Just moved house so I'm a little behind at the moment! I'm getting soooo many emails from people who are in a similar situation so I'll talk to a Mod to see if we can post up all the template letters.

Thanks Livelylad, that was v quick!

I'm at the stage where both AQ's have been sent to the court and am waiting a hearing date but I just called my local court for a progress update and they told me that the judge has reviewed the case and has requested that "skeleton legal arguments should be prepared and taken to the court 14 days prior to the hearing date". Does anyone know what this means?? Has anyone else had to do this?? I think my hearing date will be scheduled for early December.

Hi Allyxia Have a read through my post here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/vehicle-retailers-manufacturers/23827-sale-goods-act-buying.html#post185920 Seems to be a similar story to what I went through. Let me know if you need any template letters to send to the dealer. Simon

Hi Pedro, I sent you an email about this and the Sale of Goods Act.

Hi all! Just heard that the court has now ruled in my favour i.e I WON THE CASE! and the garage has been ordered to pay me my money back in full plus expenses & interest. I'm just compiling all the info and will post the full details in a few days. Simon

Hi Southernscoucer. If you PM me your email address I'll forward you the letter that I think the Court are asking for.

Firstly, what is the Court date with Lloyds for???

Yeah, that bit was just put in there for the benefit of the original post. OK, thanks. With your claim, did the court ask you to send a CPR 18 defence to them or did Corbetts just pay up after you completed the AQ??

Hi DanMoz Did I get the order right in the above post? I'm about to approach the same stage so wasn't entirly sure of the procedure. Did you file a CPR Defence & Request at the same time???? Simon

Hi Southernscoucer, as I understand it, the letter you received from Corbetts will have been (or contained) a CPR part 18 request. You can send something like this back to Corbetts & the Court - I think. I'm almost at that stage too now. MODS, could you please verify this please. ================== In response to your defence and CPR18 request dated XXX please find enclosed a list of unlawful charges applied to my account between 2001 and 2006. My calculations have been taken directly from information National Westminster Bank has supplied to me. I have sent this calculation to National Westminster Bank PLC twice already (DATE and DATE) and whose final response was that they would be notifying their lawyers and litigation department of my intentions to pursue this matter through the court. I assume they have already provided you with this information but if not, National Westminster Bank have full access to my past statements and can provide a list of these charges themselves. I would suggest you obtain a schedule from your clients as to their confirmation of the charges they have made so you can compare their list of stated charges against my own. I shall of course require a copy of their schedule and calculations if it transpires the figures are disputed. In response to the CPR Part 18 Request, it seems I must offer you some legal advise of you own! (optional!) (as) this does not apply to the small claims track and I am only obliged to respond at the request of the court. I take offence that you appear to have attempted to obtain this information by being deceitful and by making suggestions that I am under strict obligations to obey your requests rather than those of the Court. I am fully aware that this is nothing more than an intimidator tactic designed to ‘encourage’ me to withdraw my claim and I shall be bringing this to the attention of the court. Of course, now that the Court have requested this information I will not hesitate to meet their requirements, however, I will have no difficulty in making a reciprocal request. I will be sending a copy of this letter to the Court. Yours sincerely ==================================== I think you then send your CPR 18 defence & your CPR 18 request with this letter to both Corbetts & the Court. AGAIN, MODS - PLEASE COULD YOU VERIFY THIS PLEASE. There's a very nice lady called Lynne who has drafted copies of these two letters and she'll probably send them to you if you PM her : http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/search.php?searchid=223005 If you can't get hold of her, I've got the letters too. Hope this helps.