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Fault on car minutes after driving away - options?
Hi all,
I am posting this on behalf of a friend who has had some advice already on another (non-legal driven) forum but I spend a fair bit going through various threads on here so I thought it would be worth asking
Vehicle Details:
Audi Q5 £35000/35000 miles
Payment Method: 16k Part Ex, £99 reservation on credit card, £2000 on credit card and rest via debit card
Purchased from:
One of the largest Group dealers in Europe with multiple branches all over for specific brands - in this case, it is a BMW dealer although car is a non-BMW
Timeline:
1. Car test-driven once lockdown 2.0 was eased (3/12?) and reserved via credit card £99.
2. Picked car up 12/12/2020, had quick visual inspection, started car, tested basic functionality, all good
3. Under 5 minutes into drive home (100+ miles), noticed air con was off and ability to switch on failed (options greyed out to switch on)
4. Drove back to dealership who due to being BMW, took it to their Audi specialist who did their 100+ point check and MOT.
5. 20 minutes later car was back stating air con gas was out and needed regassing but they could not do it. Sales Manager handed car back over to new owner and said to get it done locally, he would reimburse.
6. Said owner took car into Audi main dealer for a Air con service 16/12 as many locals cannot do it due to a newer gas? Audi after 4 hours handed car back stating they cannot do it due to it "having an issue" and would need the car for 3 days : day 1 to add dye to find leaks in the system + trace fault and diagnose. If parts required to be ordered in, this can take 1-2 days and then finally fitting.
They key part however is: If part is under warranty (car is still under 3 years old), its free but if external influence eg a rock hitting the compressor which seems to be a common issue, this is chargeable.
7.Rebooked in for the 4th Jan but without loan car as the earliest they have one is end of Jan.
The supplying dealer are quite transparent on their order form in regards to CRA and specifically state the 30 day/6 month rules so I don't think he has any issues with this especially as they accepted the fault was there minutes after what should have been a problem-free drive post sale.
Also all discussions have been recorded.
Questions:
1. Given the fault was reported within minutes of leaving the dealership, has this stopped the 30 day CRA clock from that moment?
2. If dealer does not want to pay the dealer he is using (another main dealer group) and insists on returning to his specialist, does he have to comply or can he then just reject at that point? Reason for this question is he does not trust their specialist - more on this later but also they're over 100 miles away.
3. As he part-exed a car towards it, if rejected, can he insist on the monetary value given of this instead of the car back which has now lost it's part-ex value if he were to trade it in elsewhere or can he claim the difference back? (Potentially £1000-£1500)
4. If it were to be rejected, would costs paid on the day be refunded? ie road tax paid would lose a month of it, the cherished plate would incur an £80 fee to put back on certificate etc
5. Does the dealership have to accept the rejection within the 30 days or would they still require to first examine the car/faults (despite having already seen them )
6. Finally, the fact holidays are round the corner, back to Q5, does the dealership have to formally accept or if it was rejected on Xmas day or while closed due to Covid, this is still legit.
140 point check on 14/10/2020
Most are minor but all the boxes were ticked for this check however in reality:
*Air conditioning/Outlet temperature (heating and cooling) : does not even switch on and error code stored suggests this stopped in May 2020.
*Fault codes wiped: Total of 9 faults existed on the fault scan though only the Air con one has come back as expected. The rest were much older so not a worry but clearly not wiped as per check
*Wipers: Rear wiper drags badly but he'll just replace the blade as they're so cheap these days.
*Keys: 1 fob works to lock and open boot but not unlock. Caught him out at the dealership when the specialist returned the car, second set was in the car, faulty fob used to lock the car and then could not unlock without using the hidden key. They are ordering in a new fob. Relating to the key should be a plastic key containing a code to pair the car to a phone app, this is missing and is going to cost £60 to replace which the supplying dealer has said they will not reimburse as its not part of their requirements even though "Audi Connect" was listed as a feature of the listing.
*The dealer will check all vehicles sold will have appropriate manufacturer recall actions completed: The work order job card for the 16th from Audi, 2 recalls were not carried out previously.
Nothing hugely major but missed all the same
Final thoughts:
He likes the car so happy to get it fixed and reject only if there is likely to be a big job resulting in many key components to be removed or supplying dealer do not want to pay - a compressor replacement can go into the thousands. If they are happy with the car being booked in, I have advised Audi carry out a full health-check on the car as well
Nothing so far I am being told is indicating the dealership are being cagey or obstructive and so this is more a fact-finding thread more so hampered by the fact the owner is now in Tier 4, xmas holidays are also round the corner and so things can delay the resolution if going for a repair first.
Thanks for taking the time to go through this long thread!
I am posting this on behalf of a friend who has had some advice already on another (non-legal driven) forum but I spend a fair bit going through various threads on here so I thought it would be worth asking
Vehicle Details:
Audi Q5 £35000/35000 miles
Payment Method: 16k Part Ex, £99 reservation on credit card, £2000 on credit card and rest via debit card
Purchased from:
One of the largest Group dealers in Europe with multiple branches all over for specific brands - in this case, it is a BMW dealer although car is a non-BMW
Timeline:
1. Car test-driven once lockdown 2.0 was eased (3/12?) and reserved via credit card £99.
2. Picked car up 12/12/2020, had quick visual inspection, started car, tested basic functionality, all good
3. Under 5 minutes into drive home (100+ miles), noticed air con was off and ability to switch on failed (options greyed out to switch on)
4. Drove back to dealership who due to being BMW, took it to their Audi specialist who did their 100+ point check and MOT.
5. 20 minutes later car was back stating air con gas was out and needed regassing but they could not do it. Sales Manager handed car back over to new owner and said to get it done locally, he would reimburse.
6. Said owner took car into Audi main dealer for a Air con service 16/12 as many locals cannot do it due to a newer gas? Audi after 4 hours handed car back stating they cannot do it due to it "having an issue" and would need the car for 3 days : day 1 to add dye to find leaks in the system + trace fault and diagnose. If parts required to be ordered in, this can take 1-2 days and then finally fitting.
They key part however is: If part is under warranty (car is still under 3 years old), its free but if external influence eg a rock hitting the compressor which seems to be a common issue, this is chargeable.
7.Rebooked in for the 4th Jan but without loan car as the earliest they have one is end of Jan.
The supplying dealer are quite transparent on their order form in regards to CRA and specifically state the 30 day/6 month rules so I don't think he has any issues with this especially as they accepted the fault was there minutes after what should have been a problem-free drive post sale.
Also all discussions have been recorded.
Questions:
1. Given the fault was reported within minutes of leaving the dealership, has this stopped the 30 day CRA clock from that moment?
2. If dealer does not want to pay the dealer he is using (another main dealer group) and insists on returning to his specialist, does he have to comply or can he then just reject at that point? Reason for this question is he does not trust their specialist - more on this later but also they're over 100 miles away.
3. As he part-exed a car towards it, if rejected, can he insist on the monetary value given of this instead of the car back which has now lost it's part-ex value if he were to trade it in elsewhere or can he claim the difference back? (Potentially £1000-£1500)
4. If it were to be rejected, would costs paid on the day be refunded? ie road tax paid would lose a month of it, the cherished plate would incur an £80 fee to put back on certificate etc
5. Does the dealership have to accept the rejection within the 30 days or would they still require to first examine the car/faults (despite having already seen them )
6. Finally, the fact holidays are round the corner, back to Q5, does the dealership have to formally accept or if it was rejected on Xmas day or while closed due to Covid, this is still legit.
140 point check on 14/10/2020
Most are minor but all the boxes were ticked for this check however in reality:
*Air conditioning/Outlet temperature (heating and cooling) : does not even switch on and error code stored suggests this stopped in May 2020.
*Fault codes wiped: Total of 9 faults existed on the fault scan though only the Air con one has come back as expected. The rest were much older so not a worry but clearly not wiped as per check
*Wipers: Rear wiper drags badly but he'll just replace the blade as they're so cheap these days.
*Keys: 1 fob works to lock and open boot but not unlock. Caught him out at the dealership when the specialist returned the car, second set was in the car, faulty fob used to lock the car and then could not unlock without using the hidden key. They are ordering in a new fob. Relating to the key should be a plastic key containing a code to pair the car to a phone app, this is missing and is going to cost £60 to replace which the supplying dealer has said they will not reimburse as its not part of their requirements even though "Audi Connect" was listed as a feature of the listing.
*The dealer will check all vehicles sold will have appropriate manufacturer recall actions completed: The work order job card for the 16th from Audi, 2 recalls were not carried out previously.
Nothing hugely major but missed all the same
Final thoughts:
He likes the car so happy to get it fixed and reject only if there is likely to be a big job resulting in many key components to be removed or supplying dealer do not want to pay - a compressor replacement can go into the thousands. If they are happy with the car being booked in, I have advised Audi carry out a full health-check on the car as well
Nothing so far I am being told is indicating the dealership are being cagey or obstructive and so this is more a fact-finding thread more so hampered by the fact the owner is now in Tier 4, xmas holidays are also round the corner and so things can delay the resolution if going for a repair first.
Thanks for taking the time to go through this long thread!
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