Faulty used car, undriveable.

[AlexV]

Hey all, I am after some advice.
On 28 of July I bought a used car from a RAC dealer, I paid 25.500 via bank transfer.
Me and my friend drove about 300 miles to collect it. I test drove the car and everything seemed OK.
3 weeks later I was getting an error regarding the chassis, I tried contacting the seller and he did not respond, so I called citizen advice and they suggested that I should write a letter and also send an email to them requesting for a refund or repair. Next day he called back and apologies as he was on holiday, he instructed me to use the warranty he provided(RAC Platinum) and take it to a garage and have it fixed, after about a week I managed to get it booked on a BMW specialist garage. They used a diagnostic tool and managed to clear the faults, the mechanic over there recommended to continue drive it and see if the faults come back, I called the seller to let him know and also took a picture of the diagnostic and sent it to him, he said fine and refunded me the cost for the diagnostic, nice of him.
Next day I went shopping and as I was about to drive away the car became almost undrivable as the suspensions raised all the way up, I called the garage and they told me to drive it slow to the garage, good thing they are only 5 minutes away. Got there and the diagnostic picked a similar code/codes, as it was a Saturday and they were about to close shop they told me they will look into it on Monday, Monday I went back to them and they said they will get in contact with RAC and BMW for parts and fix it.
It's now been 2 weeks since I don't have a car, I texted the seller and told him that I used all my holiday because I can't drive to work and I would like him to refund me or provide me with a curtesy car as I need one to get to work, he said that he has no legal obligation to provide a curtesy car and the best thing he can do is give me one his cars, the problem is, his garage is almost 300 miles away, so I called the BMW specialists and asked if they made any progress, they told that communication with RAC is extremely slow, they also warned me that they might not cover the whole expense, if any at all. So that got me worried a bit more now.
I am not sure what to do anymore.. am I stressing for nothing, is this normal? I am really losing my mind over this, any advice is appreciated, thanks in advance.

[des8]

You could contact the dealer and point out that you paid £25,500 for a car which has been unsatisfactory.
Remind him the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you certain rights, which include rejection of the vehicle.
On top of that you can claim damages for the breach of contract.
If he wants to avoid that scenario it would behove him to lend you a car at no cost whilst yours is repaired.
That will include delivery to your house.
If he refuses tell him you will be hiring one and claiming the costs when the matter of the repair or rejection has been resolved.

[AlexV]

You could contact the dealer and point out that you paid £25,500 for a car which has been unsatisfactory.
Remind him the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you certain rights, which include rejection of the vehicle.
On top of that you can claim damages for the breach of contract.
If he wants to avoid that scenario it would behove him to lend you a car at no cost whilst yours is repaired.
That will include delivery to your house.
If he refuses tell him you will be hiring one and claiming the costs when the matter of the repair or rejection has been resolved.

Hey thanks for the reply, he did say that he will give me a car of his own but I have to travel all the way there.. and once I get my car take his car back to him, which is a 1200 mile journey in total, give or take. I also told informed him that I would like to have a refund as the repair is taking far to long, he said that he gonna repair it and as it's nothing "major" a refund won't be possible. I just feel like he's taking advantage of me not knowing what to do.

[des8]

I suggest you read (if not already done so) the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

You have agreed to a repair, but this has to be done within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer, and the trader must bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of any labour, materials or postage).

[AlexV]

I suggest you read (if not already done so) the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

You have agreed to a repair, but this has to be done within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer, and the trader must bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of any labour, materials or postage).

I did read it, I am a bit confused as what a reasonable time exactly means, 10 days 30 days? I also could not find anything related to a curtesy car, I suppose that falls into the "inconvenience" category. I will call him again tomorrow and explain my situation once more, hope he won't play the same card as "come get the a car from me anytime you want".

[echat11]

Here's some information - https://www.theaa.com/car-buying/legal-rights

[AlexV]

Here's some information - https://www.theaa.com/car-buying/legal-rights

Hey thanks, this explains it very well, I will give him a call tomorrow morning and ask him to either refund or find a solution that works for both of us.

[des8]

Just a reminder for you:
From your posts it seems that you first raised the unsatisfactory condition of the car within the first thirty days.
As it is still unsatisfactory you are still within the first thirty days in which to claim a full refund
This means he cannot make any deduction for usage

[AlexV]

Just a reminder for you:
From your posts it seems that you first raised the unsatisfactory condition of the car within the first thirty days.
As it is still unsatisfactory you are still within the first thirty days in which to claim a full refund
This means he cannot make any deduction for usage

Thank you once again, at this point I wouldn't mind if he deducts a small amount, the whole thing caused a lot of stress and put me in a really bad position.

[AlexV]

So I texted him this morning, he said that the law does not apply because I took the car to a different garage and not to him even though he is the one that said to take it to any VAT approved garage. he also said that I need to give them time to fix it, I mean 2 weeks isn't enough? He still did not answer my question if he can supply me with a curtesy car. I pretty much copy pasted the Consumer Rights Act to him and he went silent now.

[des8]

I wonder where he found that exemption from the law.

The final arbiter of what is reasonable is the court.
Your difficulty here is that if you have to go to court to enforce your rights the case is unlikely to be allocated to the small claims track due to the value involved.
it will most likely end up on the fast track where there are costs implications.

[AlexV]

I wonder where he found that exemption from the law.

The final arbiter of what is reasonable is the court.
Your difficulty here is that if you have to go to court to enforce your rights the case is unlikely to be allocated to the small claims track due to the value involved.
it will most likely end up on the fast track where there are costs implications.

I asked him the same question, he didn't give any answer, I told him that I don't want to sound unreasonable and I can accept that the car might need to be in a garage for a bit longer but at the same time I need a car to travel to work, I don't really want it to get to court as that might take a lot of time and I can see it last for months and at the same time I won't have a car.. nor the money.

[AlexV]

Had a few more talks with him, for some reason he won't reply to emails but he does to texts, I told him I went ahead and called Citizens advice and they took all the details and asked if I want to report him to trading standards, I told them to let me try and sort this out with him first as he might want to help. He claimed that he is a trading standard approved dealer and he always wanted to help but I did not bring the car to him so he can't, I did mention that I took the car at a garage because that's what he recommended, and he was the one that had to arrange for the car to be fixed and not me, and if he wanted to fix the car at his garage he had to arrange for it to be collected, he kept insisting I should drive it to him even though the car was not safe to drive. At first he said that I should go ahead and report him as he did his best to help and he has nothing to worry about, 2 minutes later he texted back claiming he wants to help and asked what do I suggest, I told him that I can go ahead and rent a car and once I get my car back I will claim the damages of him, and if for some reason they can't fix my car or it takes to long I would like him to come and collect it and refund me in full, to which he texted again that he wants to help but he has no man power to deliver a car. I don't know, for a second he seems like he wants to help but at the same time I believe he is taking the .. and believes I am a moron. What do you think I should do? I literally hate the car right now and I even thought to myself that I will sell if once it's fixed, I bought it thinking I will enjoy it but it's been sitting in a garage for 2 weeks now and the amount of stress and problems it caused I don't want to go trough that again.

[des8]

First up, i would put everything in writing from now on, either hard letter or email followed by a hard copy.
Keep copies and send first class letter with free certificate of posting from post office.

You could write and confirm briefly what has happened and what the current situation is.
Point out that this is his problem and that if it is not resolved shortly you will exercise your short term right to reject the vehicle.
In the meantime, as repairs should cause as little inconvenience as possible to you, you anticipate he will arrange for you to have use of another car while repairs are ongoing.

Incidentally have you checked to see if he is a TS approved dealer (https://www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk/find-a-business/) and even if he is that is not a reason to report him.

[AlexV]

First up, i would put everything in writing from now on, either hard letter or email followed by a hard copy.
Keep copies and send first class letter with free certificate of posting from post office.

You could write and confirm briefly what has happened and what the current situation is.
Point out that this is his problem and that if it is not resolved shortly you will exercise your short term right to reject the vehicle.
In the meantime, as repairs should cause as little inconvenience as possible to you, you anticipate he will arrange for you to have use of another car while repairs are ongoing.

Incidentally have you checked to see if he is a TS approved dealer (https://www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk/find-a-business/) and even if he is that is not a reason to report him.

I just checked now, can't find him, guess he is not. Monday I will send a letter. As he doesn't seem to bother to find a solution do you think I should go forward and let Citizen advice report him to trading standards?