Bought used VW in px, problems with getting repairs, and them saying our car is faulty.

[Mistyeyed]

We bought a used car, part exchange on 1st November. We bought a 2006, VW golf, priced at £2695 for £2200 and the rest px for our MG ZR. We were told that there was a one month warranty with it, but were given no paperwork to this effect.

 

Within half an hour of leaving the garage, the emissions light had come on so we immediately took it back. We were informed it was likely to be a filter problem, he made a phone call to a local auto shop so we could collect something to put in the fuel tank and we were advised that driving it in in a high gear between 2 & 3,000 revs for about 8 miles, this would clear it.

 

Having done this, the light didn't go off and they told us to go back to the dealer, which we did on the Monday. We turned up there to be told that it would need to be left for an hour, someone would need to fit a Lambda sensor and to bring it back the following Thursday, which again we did.

 

This time my partner was told that it would have to be left until the Saturday, it would take longer than an hour as the electrics would have to be reset as well. My partner explained this wasn't convenient, he needed the car for work and it was agreed that he would drop it in the following morning (Friday), on the proviso that it would be ready for collection at the end of the day. This meant he could see about getting a work colleague to go with him when he dropped it off, and then take him to collect it at the end of the day.

 

After sitting in morning rush hour traffic for over half an hour to get to the garage (5 miles from his work) they had to turn back as they had to be at work. He informed the dealer, and asked if the mobile engineer/electrician could attend his workplace instead to do the repairs. Later he rang to say the mobile engineer only covered Halifax, and wouldn't come out to my partner's place of work in Brighouse, 5 miles away!

 

Instead it was arranged that he would collect the car from my partner's place of work on the Monday, and return it to him the same day. My partner texted to find out what time he'd be collecting the car, and got a response saying 10-11. He also let the dealer know that the airbag light had also come on reporting an airbag fault on the dashboard.

 

My partner received a phone call asking if he could instead bring the VW back and he would give him a refund. My partner asked why, and was told that the coolant light on the MG had come on, it took a while to start, and when it did, blue smoke was coming out of the back. It was agreed that he would return the MG to my partner at work on the Tuesday morning and bring cash to refund us the car (he obviously couldn't bring his card machine!). We thought that the problem with the MG was likely to be due to him having had it sat on the forecourt since we left it and it being a very cold morning. Monday night my partner enquired to find out what time the MG would be returned and confirm he would pay us in cash.

 

On Tuesday morning my partner received a text reneging on this agreement (contract break?) saying that he wasn't going to drive the MG as it had problems and he didn't want to break down, and that he would transfer the money by card when the VW was returned. However our car is up for sale on their website, and today was reduced in price, with comments saying it is a good drive etc etc.

 

We felt that he was not playing fair, kept changing the goal posts and now implied that there were major faults with our car and so sought to find out what the problem was with the VW to consider our situation for getting the VW fixed, as per the original agreement.

 

My partner took the VW to a VW dealer to get an exact breakdown on the faults. What he was saying was the fault was incorrect; there is no problem with the filter or the sensor. They diagnosed problems with EGR Valve and Hose, Glow Lamps and airbag the tracking needs sorting and two of the tyres are borderline illegal, the other two at 3%. We had looked on the MOT at time of purchase it having only been done in September and nothing was stated about the wheels needing changing. So assume he has changed in the meantime and we won't really have a claim there, we should have noticed it before purchase. We have been told that we're looking at over £1k to get it fixed with them (without the price of the tyres), so have booked it into an independent garage, where the hourly rate isn't the £100ph as per the VW garage, but until they have checked out the full extent, cannot advise on the labour cost. They have confirmed the parts will be the same price as will be VW parts.

 

We informed the dealer of this, explaining it had to be booked in urgently for safety and the cost of doing so, and invited him to come to an agreement for paying the repairs or part of. He has straight out refused this, saying that it's a good car and doesn't need that much work doing on it(!!). Yet we have a report saying that it does. He simply keeps saying about a refund, no further mention of our MG. He has previously been given the chance to repair it, but didn't sort it. We explained that the parts are on now order and, again asked how much he was prepared to pay, as our car was still under warranty but he hadn't fixed it as previously arranged.

 

How do we stand at getting him to pay at least some of the bill through small claims, if he won't settle when the work is done? Further, their advert explicitly stated that it had a full service history, which he also told us, but going through the log book when we got home it only has one until 2012.

 

I understand a lot of people are probably thinking we should get our money back and walk away, but how do we know that they have not been the cause of the problems with our car, as it had been fine up until we sold it, and had had a 21 point service a few weeks prior. Also, it's about the principle that he'll put it back on the forecourt for someone else to go through the same thing with, as is likely to happen with the MG if he's saying it's broken, but is still advertising it for sale. Looking on a reviews page, seems that we've not been the only ones to be given a shoddy response when it comes to fixing faults and someone else is also reporting him to Trading Standards. Help!!!

[Joe of the Jungle]

Hi,

 

Are you still needing help on this.

 

Since you have had no replies- From reading your post, as you have only recently purchased the vehicle, you would have entitlement to some form of remedy. I.E Rejection of the car and a refund plus your part exchange vehicle returned, to put you back in the same position as before you purchased the VW. If you would like to keep the vehicle then the garage should put right the faults but you must give the garage a reasonable opportunity to repair the faults. With regards to the MG the garage was happy to accept the car as part exchange from a private individual, so as long as you pointed out any fault with the vehicle or they was willing to accept it without examining it properly then I think that the condition of the MG is irrelevant.

 

Perhaps someone with more knowledge than myself may come along soon.

[neil6534]

you can not go and get any work done without letting the dealer try fixing the problems first or unless you have an agreement from the dealer to do so

[Mistyeyed]

We gave the dealer ample opportunity to fix the problem, which initially he agreed to do. He only wanted to refund once he decided our MG was faulty and expected us to take that back as is, not in the condition which he accepted and we sold it in. We had no idea that there were any problems with it and nothing was raised at the service. It was in good condition, so much so my partner had been considering using it for hill racing, but decided it was too slow and to get a proper car for racing.

 

He could have offered to fix the car himself once we let him know that there was a lot of work that needed doing, but has not, simply stating he's only offering a refund and is not willing to pay for any repairs. He says the law is on his side, it is for him to decide what the remedy will be but I think he doesn't realise the Consumer Rights Act changes things.

 

He has said he is going to put his offer of refund in writing and that we refused it, and once we have received this we will reply explaining we refused it as his offer was of the money we paid and a broken car, not the value of the car or the car fixed. His initial offer to exchange cars at my partner's work was because in his words 'we had been doing the running around' but as he is now saying he won't drive the car as it's unsafe the car is obviously not in the condition or to the value we sold it.

 

The law says repairs should be made within a reasonable amount of time without causing significant inconvenience and this is determined bearing in mind the nature of the goods and the purpose for which they are required. My partner explained at the time of purchase the car is mainly used for him to commute to work and back, and to be without a car would cause significant inconvenience as he works in a different town. As the car is unsafe, we have no option but to get the repairs done so that it is safe to use.

[neil6534]

ok so at least you've done things the right way, thats good

[Joe of the Jungle]

You can only request that the garage repairs the VW or gives you permission to get the car repaired at their cost. you cannot demand this.

 

The garage can offer to refund you, but they must refund the total cost of the sale which was £2695 or refund you £2200 plus your part exchange in the condition that you exchanged it in.

 

If the garage refuses to refund the total cost of the sale, then the bases of any claim will be for the full amount or the price you actually paid and the condition of the part exchanged vehicle at the point of contract.