Puchased car on Friday and now told its unroadworthy

[HappyBuyer]

I signed up to this forum after seeing a similar post.

 

On Friday 16th April 2010 i bought a 1999 VW Golf Mark 4 1.4 after seeing this advert on autotrader:

 

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 1.4 S 3DR+UP GRADED ALLOY'S+TINTED GLASS+, 3 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Petrol, 1999 S Reg , 102,422 miles, Metallic Black, MOT-04-2011. ABS, Adjustable seats, Adjustable steering column/wheel, Air conditioning, Alloy wheels, Anti theft system, CD, Central locking, Cloth upholstery, Colour coding - Body, Driver airbag, Electric mirrors, Electric windows, Foglights, Head restraints, Headlight washers, Heated seats, Lumbar support, Metallic paintwork, Passenger airbag, Pearlescent paint, Power assisted steering, Radio, Side airbags, Steel wheels, Sunroof, Tinted glass, Traction control. Insurance Group:4, CHEAP ROAD TAX & INSURANCE,SMART LOOKING CAR,MUST BE SEEN, All Dealer Facilities, £1,995

 

Upon viewing the car initially, there were aparent cosmetic faults with the car such as cigarette burns, small bit of rust and scratched alloys, damaged interior door, rear passenger seatbelt faulty. I left the dealership to think about it and came back the following week on the 16th April to purchase after negotiating a lower price of £1650.

On Monday the 19th April i started to experiance issues with the breaks finding them slow and unresponsive on the way to work. I decided i would take it to the garage when i finished work that day and had a nerous drive back the short distance home. Today I have received notification from the garage that the car is unroadworthy. Faults reported upon initial inspection are that the car needs new front and rear disks, rear brake callipers, new pads and had leaked brake fluid all over the rear callipers to the point that there is no brake fluid left.

The Road Traffic Act 1988 states that a vehicle sold must be roadworthy (it is a criminal offence to sell an unroadworthy car) and describes that a car is not roadworthy if its brakes make it unfit for the road.

None of these faults were described upon purchase and I was even allowed to take the vehicle out on the road for a test drive which put myself and my friends who came to view and test drive the car in danger, not to mention other road users.

I spoke to the car dealership who sold it me and they said its not their problem and it was sold as seen, they also commented saying it was the garage who are trying to rip me off and were rude and dismissive to me.

If the garage was trying to rip me off they must have some how known i was buying a car and decided to leak my break fluid (very smart).

 

I'm furious as this is my first car and i have had it less than 4 days and that people are allowed to operate and sell things as dangerous as a car that is unroadworthy.

 

If i worked as a chemist and sold them something they sure as hell would like to know if there was anything wrong with my product.

[sequenci]

Hello there,

 

You should reject the vehicle under the Sale of Goods Act. Since you purchased the vehicle within the last 6 months the onus is on the Dealership to prove that the fault WASN'T there when they sold the vehicle to you. You can do a lot worse than get Trading Standards involved.

 

In the meain time please take a read of this:

 

Consumer rights and where to get help : Directgov - Government, citizens and rights

 

Best wishes,

 

Seq.

[HappyBuyer]

Thanks for the advice. What else can i do apart from trading standards?

[sequenci]

You can write to the dealership telling them that you wish to reject he vehicle in accordance with the sale of goods act and that you will return it back to them for a full refund. May could also see about a complaint to the OFT.

 

I'm going to move this post to the vehicles section, there are folks with more knowledge than me within it.

 

Best wishes,

 

Seq.

[Conniff]

You can write to the dealership telling them that you wish to reject he vehicle in accordance with the sale of goods act and that you will return it back to them for a full refund. May could also see about a complaint to the OFT.

 

I'm going to move this post to the vehicles section, there are folks with more knowledge than me within it.

 

Best wishes,

 

Seq.

 

 

It's not 'can', it's must. You can only reject in writing. Send it by recorded letter and enclose a copy (keep the original) of the report that says it is unroadworthy.

 

It is up to them to come and collect the car so tell them where the car can be collected.

[HappyBuyer]

They offered to take the car back but they won't pick it up meaning i have to pay for a low loader/trailer to take it there plus a vehicle to drive me back. Its a 60 min journey there and back and i'm unwilling to get this sorted. Worst still its been at the garage for two weeks and i'm waiting for Trading Standards to call me to see what i can do as the garage is getting impatient. I actually want to keep the car but want what i paid for. The chap at the garage has taken photos and marked down everything that was wrong with the car however i am wondering if i can get it fixed as i need a car and i don't know how long this will go on for.

[buzby]

Don't let TS divert your attention or slow your decision process. They will not act on your behalf in any meaningful way, and assuming the dealership does agree to refund in full on delivery, the costs to you in doing so are not recoverable (only if they agree as a goodwill gesture).

[pussycat10]

If the dealership have agreed to take the car back I would get it back to them asap and put a close to the matter. There are people on ebay who offer car transportation at sensible prices, I used one last year and it was only about £60 to move a car 45 miles. Its got to be better to at least get a full refund on the car for the cost of transport. You could always try getting the cost of transport refunded once you have the bulk of the money back, might even be worth trying the small claims court for a refund of transport costs.

[buzby]

might even be worth trying the small claims court for a refund of transport costs.

 

Absolutely not. If that's the route the OP wishes to take, then he needs to get the garage to agree to meet the costs, then they don't pay up. You cannot arbitrarily run up a material cost with the intention of going to court to force repayment. You'd lose.

[HappyBuyer]

Absolutely not. If that's the route the OP wishes to take, then he needs to get the garage to agree to meet the costs, then they don't pay up. You cannot arbitrarily run up a material cost with the intention of going to court to force repayment. You'd lose.

 

 

It not arbitrary costings. This is something the garage has quoted me to make the car roadworthy and they have taken pictures and written a report.

[buzby]

No - I was talking about the suggestion of getting a third party firm to deliver the car to the garage and seeking repayment of noth the car cost and the return delivery charges. Whilst the garage may have no issue in repaying the car cost, taking them to court for the delivery charges would not work unless they authorised it.