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Hello Beagles,
I am hoping you can assist me with the following case:
On Saturday, 7th of August, I purchased a used vehicle from a dealership. The car is 2009 Ford Focus with 99,000 miles on the clock. I paid the total sum of £2600 /£300 for a deposit paid via a credit card, and I paid the rest £2300 via debit card/. Sadly, the vehicle has developed a rattling noise shortly after purchase. I brought the car back directly to the dealership to inform the salesperson about the noise. He has attributed the noise to the fact that the car has been hand washed a short while ago and has advised to allow some time for the noise to go away.
Needless to say, the noise did not go away, and I took the car to a local garage on the 11th of August - the first available date for an inspection. On the same day, they have informed me that the car should be taken to an automatic gearbox specialist, as there appears to be a problem with the transmission. As you can imagine, such news can be quite concerning. Hence, my next action was to first - speak with the dealer, and then get a second opinion from a different garage. Unfortunately, the second diagnostic check, performed on the 17th of August, has revealed an automatic gearbox bearing and the report states that "this is not something we do advise to drive", which leads me to believe that the car is/was not fit for purpose. Following their advice, I immediately left the car with an automatic gearbox specialist, which has identified that "debris from failing bearings will have contaminated transmission components so will require gearbox reconditioning", quoting £2600 + VAT for parts, fluid and labour.
Until then, the communication with the dealer was really slow, so I have decided to personally hand over my letter of rejection, along with the latest report. That happened over the weekend, on the 21st of August. The following day, I received an email from the "person in charge", who has agreed to collect the vehicle, however, in his email he failed to recognise my short-term right to reject and discredited the car diagnostics report, by simply stating that they do not take reports from independent garages and at the point of sale there was no fault with the car. Thankfully, he did follow-through and collect the car last week, on the 26th of August. But what I find concerning is that when he inspected the car, he has completely disregarded the three independent diagnostic checks, and suggested that the fault is elsewhere. Obviously, he needs to check with his mechanic and confirm the fault first. I have communicated that I am not confident in having them repair the car and the only resolution for me would be to get a refund. I am particularly worried that a flaw in the automatic gearbox is likely to lead to larger problems in the future. I have been under a lot of stress lately and the whole situation has given me a lot of anxiety, which is something I want to avoid in the future.
But while waiting to hear what their mechanic has to say.. I wanted to get clarity on a few questions:
1. Am I correct to assume that I am within my rights to reject the vehicle and request a full refund, on the basis that the dealer is in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and I have owned the vehicle for less than 30 days?
2. Can my short-term reject letter be interpreted as a letter before action given that it includes the following paragraph:
"I await confirmation that you will provide the remedy set out above within 14 days of the date of this letter. If I do not hear from you and receive a full refund, I will be legally pursuing you with the next steps to recovering my lost money"?
Apologies for the long post! I will try to summarise it and provide a timeline later today!
Thank you all!
I am hoping you can assist me with the following case:
On Saturday, 7th of August, I purchased a used vehicle from a dealership. The car is 2009 Ford Focus with 99,000 miles on the clock. I paid the total sum of £2600 /£300 for a deposit paid via a credit card, and I paid the rest £2300 via debit card/. Sadly, the vehicle has developed a rattling noise shortly after purchase. I brought the car back directly to the dealership to inform the salesperson about the noise. He has attributed the noise to the fact that the car has been hand washed a short while ago and has advised to allow some time for the noise to go away.
Needless to say, the noise did not go away, and I took the car to a local garage on the 11th of August - the first available date for an inspection. On the same day, they have informed me that the car should be taken to an automatic gearbox specialist, as there appears to be a problem with the transmission. As you can imagine, such news can be quite concerning. Hence, my next action was to first - speak with the dealer, and then get a second opinion from a different garage. Unfortunately, the second diagnostic check, performed on the 17th of August, has revealed an automatic gearbox bearing and the report states that "this is not something we do advise to drive", which leads me to believe that the car is/was not fit for purpose. Following their advice, I immediately left the car with an automatic gearbox specialist, which has identified that "debris from failing bearings will have contaminated transmission components so will require gearbox reconditioning", quoting £2600 + VAT for parts, fluid and labour.
Until then, the communication with the dealer was really slow, so I have decided to personally hand over my letter of rejection, along with the latest report. That happened over the weekend, on the 21st of August. The following day, I received an email from the "person in charge", who has agreed to collect the vehicle, however, in his email he failed to recognise my short-term right to reject and discredited the car diagnostics report, by simply stating that they do not take reports from independent garages and at the point of sale there was no fault with the car. Thankfully, he did follow-through and collect the car last week, on the 26th of August. But what I find concerning is that when he inspected the car, he has completely disregarded the three independent diagnostic checks, and suggested that the fault is elsewhere. Obviously, he needs to check with his mechanic and confirm the fault first. I have communicated that I am not confident in having them repair the car and the only resolution for me would be to get a refund. I am particularly worried that a flaw in the automatic gearbox is likely to lead to larger problems in the future. I have been under a lot of stress lately and the whole situation has given me a lot of anxiety, which is something I want to avoid in the future.
But while waiting to hear what their mechanic has to say.. I wanted to get clarity on a few questions:
1. Am I correct to assume that I am within my rights to reject the vehicle and request a full refund, on the basis that the dealer is in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and I have owned the vehicle for less than 30 days?
2. Can my short-term reject letter be interpreted as a letter before action given that it includes the following paragraph:
"I await confirmation that you will provide the remedy set out above within 14 days of the date of this letter. If I do not hear from you and receive a full refund, I will be legally pursuing you with the next steps to recovering my lost money"?
Apologies for the long post! I will try to summarise it and provide a timeline later today!
Thank you all!
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