Car buying company wants to return car

[Cheeselet]

Hello

 

A car buying company bought my car and collected it last Fri 14th. They test drove and inspected it for over 2hrs, knocked the price down as expected, transferred funds and drove off. Since then I have received three (automated) emails saying the collection had gone well and did I wish to leave feedback.

 

Today (19th) I received a call to say the car is not the model they paid for and they want £1k refunded or they will return the car to me. I stated they had the reg number from day one and their collection team had spent more than two hours driving and inspecting the vehicle before purchase. The reg does clearly relate to the vehicle, however, I can now see that their paperwork relates to a different edition, confusingly called 'Edition' (which I know nothing about, but which is presumably a more expensive model). I have genuinely not thought anything about this until receiving their call, thinking 'Edition' meant it was a 1.4 edition.

 

The company is typically hard sell and their tone is now rather intimidating. For some reason I can no longer access the contract I signed and returned online, nor was I left copies of anything I signed on the day. Since selling I have collected my new used car. Could anyone help me understand my/their rights please? Many thanks.

[renegadeimp]

They dont have any rights. It was advertised to them, they came, fully inspected it, were satisfied and then paid and took the car. Their fault if they never checked properly.

[Cheeselet]

Thank you for the quick response. I agree with your comments and this is what I have stated to them. I have now received an email stating I either refund £1k or they will return the car. I have been asked to respond within 24hrs. Any advice on how best I should handle the situation? Thanks.

[renegadeimp]

Tell them they had ample opportunity and they inspected the car and documents in detail. They were happy with it so tough luck. Others will no doubt advise you as well, but thats what i would reply to them. ESPECIALLY if you advertised it as the non special edition model.

[Cheeselet]

Although I advertised on several sites for a private sale, this company is one of the many that buys cars direct. I supplied full and absolutely accurate details on their site, to include registration, and negotiated from there. I was pestered daily with calls & emails, and eventually decided to sell to them. It would appear they priced the wrong model of car from the start, even though they were using and subsequently quoting my registration in all communication. Their argument appears to be that having signed their contract, which describes the vehicle as an 'edition', I have misrepresented it?

[Conniff]

I don't think I would bother answering, let them return the car, you can report it to the council as 'abandoned'.

[ashmk]

I can only echo what has already been said. They have no rights, you were honest and upfront and they have made an error. Let them return it, it's nothing to do with you any more. Report it to the council if it's dumped at your property but do not give in to their demands. Chances are this is standard procedure for them, you said it's a hard sell company, this is likely a well used tactic to claw more profit. Don't give them another second, ignore them.

 

 

As a side note you have to play these companies at their own game. They have made all the effort to travel to view your car, they have spent 2 hours viewing it. They won't want to go away empty handed. I would not have budged on what I wanted. It would be a case of that's the price, take it or leave it. When people haggle with me and I'm not budging I increase the price. They soon get the message.

[Cheeselet]

Thanks for the further responses. Having slept on this and chatted it over with others, I really believe they can go whistle! I will no doubt hear from them later today, but will not answer their calls.

 

Ashmk, I did contact these companies for quotes with my eyes open (perhaps not wide enough!) and understood that what I would (hopefully) gain in convenience of not having to sell privately, I would lose in price. That said, my gut instinct was telling me not to sell this way. Where this company is quite clever is in charging a £90 fee upfront prior to collection, which is fully refundable if and when the car is purchased (I deliberated for ages before committing to this). Of course on the day, once they start pulling the car to pieces and reducing the price offered, you're mindful you're going to kiss goodbye to £90 if you don't reach agreement. In fact we nearly didn't because the initial revised offer was ridiculous! I negotiated hard until we reached agreement and although initially irritated with myself for selling this way, I soon got over it and moved on with collecting and enjoying my new used car. But to have them contact me 6 days later as they have, demanding £1k be refunded or they return the car, well, let's just say lesson learned!

[renegadeimp]

I would have laughed at them if they asked me for £90. Theyre the ones that want to buy the car and want to come and view it. Why should i pay them to do that?

[ashmk]

Keep us updated.

[Cheeselet]

Well one week later and I have heard no more. Fingers crossed, and without wishing to tempt fate, that will hopefully be the end of the matter! Thanks again for the responses.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Cheeselet

[JoeyJoeC]

Tell them they can do what they like with the car, it's already a done deal, their mistake!

 

I worked with a dodgy guy that had a van that could barely move. He took it to one of those places, where they inspected the van for 10 minutes, started it up, sounded fine, but didn't bother to try and drive it. paid him £4k for it, he was considering scrapping it before then. Still nothing they could do.