Help! Bought used car from garage and its gone majorly wrong, they refuse to pay!

[boychild]

Hi,

 

I bought a used Megane from a garage in November, I part exed my reliable working car for this one as I needed a slightly bigger car. The ad said it was in excellent condition, full service history etc, the salesman said it was an 'excellent runner'. My husband took it for a test drive and all was well. On the sales invoice the salesman wrote '2 months warranty on major items' across it.

A week later the car started struggling to start. It would take 4/5/6 attempts, then once started and driving it would have loss of power and constantly felt like it was about to stall. However, it would always start, it just took a lot of attempts. As I've just had a baby I felt unsafe driving it as it was in case it stalled at a busy junction or such like.

So 9 days after purchasing the car I contacted the salesman, he arranged for his local mechanic to come and have a look, the mechanic said it needed a 'dephaser pulley' which apprently is a common fault with meganes which this engine, and its big bucks. The mechanic and salesman then went back and forth and back and forth until this week when the mechanic finally came for the car, 4 weeks after I initially raised the issue. The car has not been used during this time, I've been paying out insurance for a car I was afraid to use.

So the car is still with the mechanic, I get a call today saying the job is much more expensive than orignally thought and the salesman refuses to pay, so I had to ring the salesman myself. I phoned him and he said his boss wont pay, I said I've got in writing a 2 month warranty on major items and that the car cant be used as it is, he said if it still starts then they wont pay and they wont let us return the car for a refund. We are awaiting a phone call tomorrow from the boss.

I dont know where I stand? Consumer Advice mentioned the Sale of Goods act, as the car was not as described etc, the car was fine when it was test driven and the fault is not something that can be seen as its deep inside the engine so we bought it in good faith,but how can I use this to my advantage, how can I word it etc?

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated. We simply cannot afford the repair ourselves, even back street garages are quoting £500+.

Thanks

[BankFodder]

Don't worry, you are covered. It all depends on what action you are prepared to take.

 

S.14 Sale of Goods Act says that goods must be of satisfactory quality given the price, any claims made for the item and all the circumstances of the case.

what is satisfactory quality is based upon the view of the expectations of a reasonable consumer. Section 14 of the Sale of Goods Act applies to all goods whether they are new or secondhand. You cannot contract out of them.

 

This means that your car is covered by the satisfactory quality protection of the Sale of Goods Act. The protection continues for a reasonable time – which will depend on the kind of fault which materialises. The two month warranty is nonsense. Although you haven't told us how much you pay for the car, I am pretty sure that almost anything would be covered for far longer than that.

 

Please will you tell us what you paid for the car.

 

It seems to me that you don't want to get involved with this garage any more. They are clearly trying to avoid their responsibilities – even under their own warranty. I would be very frightened of returning my car back to them in the circumstances because I would never be certain that they had done a proper job.

 

I would start off by sending a letter of complaint to Trading Standards.

 

Next, I would take the car to a good independent dealer and get it inspected for any defects – as well as the problem that is causing you difficulties at the moment.

 

I would get a written report about it and also an estimate for the work to be done.

 

I would then write to the Seller with a copy of the list of defects and the repair estimate and offer them an opportunity to inspect the car – but not on their premises.

 

They would then give their view of what was wrong and also an estimate for repairs. Normally speaking you would have to give them an opportunity to repair the car. In the circumstances, this worries me. It would certainly be easier if they did repair it – but I think in those circumstances I would make it clear to them that I was going to have the car inspected again by an independent garage to make sure the job had been done to a correct standard.

 

I would give the seller only seven days to carry out his inspection and if he refused to do so – or he of his inspection was unsatisfactory, then I would begin a County court action.

 

A County court action is very easy to begin. It is cheap. As long as the claim is for less than £5000 then it will go onto the Small Claims Track and even if you lose, all you risk is your claim fee.

 

If you do end up letting the Seller repair the car, then I would get your written quotation, a date on which the work will begin – and the dates that it will finish. Get this in writing. I would take pictures of the condition of the car before it went into the garage.

 

Do everything in writing with the garage. Do nothing verbally. You need to be protecting your rear at all times.

[rebel11]

Hi boy

 

Welcome to CAG

 

Here's some info:- http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/c_secondhand_cars.pdf

Further info in 10,12 and 13 in my signature.

[boychild]

Thank you very much for your replies.

 

I paid £1795 for a 54 reg Megane, no tax, I paid that additionally myself which was a further £90. The price seems to be about the average cost for that type of car and age, so I wouldnt say that they reflected the problems in the price. My car that went in was a great runner! Only problem was it was too small....now I wish I had made done with it, it at least I'd have a car to drive!

 

I shall ask for the car back off the mechanic and get a quote from a garage whom I trust, and put it in writing as you suggest. The mechanicwho currently has the car said he may be able to get hold of a used part, but im reluctant to allow them as how do I know the same thing wont happen another few months down the line!

[heliosuk]

Would you be prepared to pay a contribution for having a new part fix the problem as opposed to a used part?

 

Apart from the SOGA brigade who have valid contributions, is that it is a used car. Legally under SOGA, and often failed to be mentioned, is that all the dealer has to do is repair the car. If they fit a new part then they can claim the have bettered the condition of the car and it is not unreasonable for them to ask for this.

 

Just bare this in mind before the 6 month ruling people give their opinion. You also need to remember that in the circumstance you describe, that threatening court action often means, if defended, you could be looking at a two year turn around and is fraught with grief.

 

Best course of action is to negotiate a solution with the dealer knowing you have Soga on your side provided you understand it.

 

BTW, whether the car has tax or not is irrelevant

[dannysport]

it needs a new Cam belt kit fitted with a new 'dephaser pulley'

[heliosuk]

Ok. These could be deemed to be serviceable items depending on what the manufactuers specifications are. Don't think you have much to go on. When buying a used car these are some things which need to be considered, especially with older cars. The dealer is under no obligation, even under SOGA, to be responsible for normal service items.

 

And before the SOGA brigade join in, dealers are also not responsible to bring the cars service history up to date prior to sale.

 

I would though home in on the dephaser aspect as this suggests a unit on the end of a cam which varies the timing of the applicable shaft. This would not normally be part of a normal service but could be depending on age and mileage.

 

This is why I say you need to negotiate this one rather than take court action.