2nd Hand Car Problem - Bought From Dealer!

[dfh101]

Hi,

 

Long story so hope it reads well and is understandable.

 

I hope someone can advise me on a possible situation and whats the best plan of action to be ready if a problem occurs. I am just starting to recover after suffering a physical and nervous breakdown 2 years ago and the worry over this is not good.

 

After speaking to a friend and having researched on the web it seems this company have had a lot of problems and I am worried that they will try and charge me for work by negating their warranty or other responsibilities.

 

There is no way I can pay anything or would expect to pay anything and the car going back has delayed me selling my existing car to clear off the £1000 deposit I put on my credit card.

 

If they do try and charge me for anything how should I deal with it and whats the position on rejecting the car if the work has been carried out but they try and charge me for it (Approx - £1800)?

 

Details :

 

I purchased a car from Scotland's largest dealer on Monday 21st of July 2008. A 4 year old vw, with service history (That I received by post a week after delivery). I did not require their extended warranty so only have their standard 30 days parts and labour warranty that they could not supply any info on. I intended to take out a warranty elsewhere.

 

I paid £7500 for the car with £1000 on my credit card and the balance on a hp agreement the dealer arranged.

 

During the test drive the brakes were grinding but the salesman said that it was because the vehicle had been sitting for a time (Tax ran out in march 2008) and this would go away.

At the time of the sale we were repeatedly told that the car would go through the workshop and any faults would be sorted and it would have a 12 month MOT, If anything was borderline they would fix it , high standard etc.

 

Also during the test drive I noticed that there was a warning light on the instrument cluster and pushing the ESP button did not deactivate this. I phoned a vw dealer who indicated that the abs has failed on the car and the costs of this was approx £1500 to fix and could only be done by vw, So I phoned the salesman the next day and again he confirmed that the car would go through the workshop and any faults would be sorted.

 

I picked up the car from them on the 26th July with a 12 month MOT carried out by them, there was an advisory note with the mot on the front brakes, The salesman took this from the mot certificate and never gave us this sheet or told us about it, I seen it when he was away copying docs. (As I received a detailed service history printout days after the pick up I was then able to see that it was still on its original front disc's and pads having done over 70000 miles)

 

After all the docs were signed he brought the car round the front and I drove it a few hundred yards, but noticed that the ESP warning light was still on and the computer was saying the car only had 20 miles of fuel left(30 Mile Home Drive) so i went back in to see him.

As it was near closing time and the service dept was not open again until Monday he said to phone them and they would sort it, he acted surprised that the fault was still there as they put it on the computer and cleared the fault. He also said he had put fuel in it although the computer was showing the same as it had 4 days previously.

 

Anyway I ran the car for a few days and also found that :

 

The front brakes were still grinding even when not braking

The air con was not cooling at all and did not sound right when switched on.

There was oil pooling at the filler cap which I had cleared each day and kept coming back.

 

I phoned the person who's details I had been given and told them that I had had the car 4 days and explained what was wrong so she booked it in for the following Monday 4th of august.

 

I was called on Wednesday 6th August to confirm that the front brakes were badly corroded and they had replaced the disc's and pads.

The air con was recharged and pressure tested and was working fine now.

A new oil filler cap was fitted.

 

In respect of the ABS fault they however did not have the equipment to diagnose vw's and did i want to take the car away and organise this myself?, I said for them to do it and they said they would take it to their vw franchise in the same city. This puts in doubt the salesman who confirmed they had the equipment and the fault codes would be cleared and also the basis that the car had been thoroughly checked and put through the workshop

 

No call 3 days later.

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

DFH101

Edited August 10, 2008 by dfh101

[raydetinu]

You should not have to pay anything for this and if they try just refuse and refer then to SOGA sale of goods act etc they are responsible for all faults. so soon after purcahase. also you can refer it to the HP company who should help to put pressure on dealer as it is there car.

[Conniff]

If you want a copy of the 'Advice' that they took from your certificate, you can call into any MoT station and for a fee they will print you off one.

If you wish to do it yourself, then go here MOT Information - Introduction and get one for free.

 

The flagged up faults on computers can be cleared by pulling the correct fuse and sometimes it will remain unflagged for some time, even weeks in some cases, but the fault that made the light come on in the first place is still there and it will show up again, (hopefully when the car is out of warranty).

 

As this problem was there when you had a test drive, it must be repaired at the car dealers expense especially as the salesman confirmed it would.

 

Click on the link I have put in and print out a copy of the 'Advice'.