Bought a car that isn't working - can I insist on a return?

[bwills34]

We've recently purchased an electric Nissan Leaf from London (we live in the North East).

Car had to be transported up due to no battery range and I've since noticed that the heater isn't working. I notified the dealership (had the car about 2 weeks at this point), and they said we would need to get a cost to repair and they would probably offer a token cash payment towards it.

I paid for the car to go into the Nissan dealership for a diagnostic and they've said it's the heater element and the cost will be just shy of £4k to repair. I've notified the dealership of this and now he wants me to organise for the car to be transported down to london so he can do his own diagnostic on it before discussing further.

It's £300 a time for the transporter to take it up or down... I trust the Nissan dealership knows their vehicles and that the heater is in fact going to cost that much to repair. Do I have to allow the oroginal dealership the opportunity to investigate or can I insist on a return? I organised finance for the vehicle and would intend to use the same finance company to fund another one.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[des8]

Can you post up a timeline please?
Date purchased
Date delivered
Have all your discussions with dealer been by phone or in writing (email?)
Car was bought from an advertisement? Do you still have a copy?
Presumably used so how old, mileage and price paid?
How did you pay for it: cash/credit card/finance?

[mse]

well, if fault occurred within 30 days period and if you believe issues were there at time time of purchase, immediately return the car and seek refund. If dealer seems very sweet with you, asking you to bring the car to him, he may do botched job to look like all is well now, then matter closed as you accepted the repairs. dnt listen to dealer he is no friend of yours, just press on refund. unless repaired done from third party garage, with no links to car dealer.
from my experience,car had issues within 2 weeks, I was quoted £1350 repairs costs from another garage. car dealer asked to bring the car to his garage, then claimed he repaired the car and I took the car back. but then same issue reappeared...Then dealer wont listen then he will tell, you are lair..

[des8]

Sorry to contradict but if you are rejecting car it is for dealer to collect.
Also we don't yet know if there is a finance house in play, which will make a difference on how to reject.

[bwills34]

Sorry this is just a quick response for now

ill get the full timeline together later

the car was bought from a dealer, finance was organised using an external funder (through carfinance 24/7)

all communications regarding the fault have been bia email

[des8]

As the purchase was financed (HP?) the car is owned by the finance company and you need to write to them .
Refer to the purchase details
Tell them of the faults which render the car unsatisfactory, not fit for purpose and possibly not as described.
Tell them this puts them in breach of contract (terms implied by Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015) mean the car has to be satisfactory, fit for purpose and as described) and you are exercising your short term rights to reject.
You require a refund of all monies paid (including any deposit to the dealer) and for them to arrange collection at their cost

[bwills34]

The dealer is saying they’re entitled to diagnose the fault for themselves and that the return of the vehicle needs to be at our cost.

im not sure if it is classed as HP or not - but it probably is as it’s car finance

[bwills34]

I've included a timeline below, I hope it makes sense. To clarify, the car is a 2012 Nissan Leaf

30th June - Travelled from Sunderland to London and signed paperwork for car
5th July - Took delivery of car
29th July - emailed Dealership to inform them the heater had a fault asking if he'd organise a repair
30th July - Dealer responded advising that the heating element wouldn't be covered on a car this age and suggested we get a quote and he may be able to make a goodwill payment towards it
5th August - advised the Dealer that the car was booked in for a diagnostic at the Nissan dealership
7th August - advised him that the heater had gone and it's going to cost £3,746 to replace and that we'd send the report
8th August - emailed the Nissan report to the dealer - told the dealer that we'd keep the car if it was repaired but obviously it's over 50% of the value of the car (£6,544). If not, we will reject the car as it's within the 30 days. Advised we'd spoken to the finance company to trigger the rejection, if required.
8th August - Dealer responded to say with the estimate being that high, they wouldn't proceed with the repair and in any case, they would need to have the car back to them to do their own investigation and diagnosis and asked us to make arrangements for the car to be returned.
8th August - advised the dealer that we felt it was fair they took responsibility of the cost of transportation as we'd already paid to transport it up here and that we'd only accept a repair if an independent assessment had been carried out by Dekra or similar.
8th August - Dealer advised they wouldn't bear the cost of transportation and would only be able to agree to a repair or rejection once they've had the chance to diagnose themselves.
9th August - Dealer declined to negotiate on transportation fee's and said our sales agreement states we're responsible for the return of the vehicle

**I have checked the contract and what it actually says is "I acknowledge that it is my responsibility to return the vehicle to the seller in the event that I require a statutory repair"

[bwills34]

I had pointed out to my husband after we had the car for a week, that the heater wasn't working. He said they take a while to heat up in the electric vehicles. We hadn't needed the heater, only the aircon in this heatwave.

He was travelling late one night and put the heater on and realised it wasn't heating up at all.

[mse]

The dealer is saying they’re entitled to diagnose the fault for themselves and that the return of the vehicle needs to be at our cost.

im not sure if it is classed as HP or not - but it probably is as it’s car finance

I was told the same, left the car @ dealers and one week later was told, "the car is fine, and the issue were caused by your driving behaviour, hence, we have made some repairs as "Goodwill Gesture" and we reject your claim".
they may say to you heating not working is not a valid rejection reason.
you have diagnostic done from other garage, so why another diagnostic!!

[bwills34]

We’re also worried they’ll do a bodge job. They’re saying they would usually use a local independent repair shop for work like this... but my fear is that the EV market is still so new that small independents won’t have the knowledge to do a proper job.

[des8]

How was the car described in the advertisement?
How old and what mileage?

A car is deemed satisfactory if it meets the standard that a reasonable person would consider satisfactory taking into account age, mileage and price paid.

If you agree to a repair, you must allow the supplier the chance to repair.

The repair, including all costs (that means transport) are at supplier's cost as per CRA 2015 Sec 23 2:
"If the consumer requires the trader to repair or replace the goods, the trader must—
(a)do so within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer, and
(b)bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of any labour, materials or postage)."

The sales agreement cannot override your statutory rights

I would suggest you write (email ok) to finance company rejecting vehicle as unsatisfactory etc as previously, and advise that the dealer refused your request to repair the vehicle as he denied your statutory rights to meet the cost of transportation.
Include a copy of the Nissan report as proof of the cars unsatisfactory condition and tell the finance company you are also claiming the cost of that report.

Are you willing to keep the car if it is repaired and brought to a satisfactory condition?
As your rejection to finance company is outside the 30 day short term period, they have the right to attempt one repair.
If that fails, or they accept the rejection they will be able to deduct an amount from the price you paid to reflect the usage you have had from the vehicle.

[bwills34]

The car is 2012 (6 years old), 51,000 miles

We would be prepared to accept a repair if one was offered, only concern is that he’s already said he uses local garages for work like that. It’s an electric vehicle and not many will have the knowledge of it... so I’m weary of a botch job happening.

Ok we can get onto the finance company today about it. So he should bear costs? He’s adamant that he won’t, we even asked if he would meat us part way and he said no and pointed us to the sales agreement that said we had to transport the car to them for statutory repairs.

[bwills34]

The car was listed with all features, car was described as being good condition

[ostell]

He cannot override the requirements of the CRA otherwise everybody would do it. So if he won't comply with the CRA then mention that to the fiance company.