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Hi,
I'm new to the forum and am having an issue with a used car dealer. In essence, I bought a car for £16k and then found a fault with the car within the first week and the dealer collected the car to inspect/repair. They've had the car for 6 weeks now (21/10/2021) and have not repaired it. I discovered on 19/10/2021 that they had actually sold the car to someone else - probably on 15/10/2021.
Note, the car has a tracker built-in, so I was always aware of it's location. The dealer still seems to be unaware that somehow I always knew where it was ;-)
Here's a timeline of events:
14/08/2021 – I bought the car. Paid via 2 credit cards and a debit card.
18/08/2021 – I had all 4 tyres replaced on the car – and noticed the near-side front (NSF) wheel rubbing. I then had the alignment checked and they told me the wheel was too far out to be adjusted.
19/08/2021 - I informed the dealer, who said to get a report...(I just asked a local mechanic - who informally quoted me £1.5k+ to fix, and then had to wait for the dealer as the boss was on holiday). I then told the dealer that I wanted to reject the car.
... Emails between me and the dealer, where they insisted that they collect the car for investigation...I told them I had it booked in with BMW for a more formal report...they insisted that I not do this.
07/09/2021 – I had the car inspected by BMW who notified me of a serious alignment issue and a £2K+ bill to repair
08/09/2021 – The dealer collected the car to inspect the fault themselves.
10/09/2021 – The dealer delivers a courtesy car for us to use.
Numerous emails asking what the dealer was doing with the car etc…
23/09/2021 – I inform the dealer that the courtesy car appears to be untaxed and uninsured. They completely ignore any mention of the courtesy car and refuse to confirm or deny that it is taxed & insured. I obviously stop using it.
28/09/2021 – The dealer tells me there’s nothing wrong with the car and the car is ready but they can’t deliver it any time soon due to the fuel crisis. (They've had the alignment checked in a local alignment shop - which used the wrong spec for the alignment. In any case, the alignment report shows the NSF wheel is way out of spec. The dealer refuses to acknowledge this.)
04/10/2021 – I repeatedly inform the dealer that I will collect the car on 05/10/2021 around midday. This is acknowledged by a member of staff there. I also email them about the new V5/logbook as we still haven’t received it. They reply saying they’ll look into it.
05/10/2021 – I go to collect the car from the dealer but they tell me it’s not ready and is stored in their second secure site. I discover they’ve hidden it in a public car park nearby. I take photos/videos of the car and tell them so – they are not interested and repeatedly tell me to just put it in writing. They have now had the car for a month and essentially done nothing and won't let me collect the car. I wanted the car back so I could get an independent report from an IAEA approved assessor.
05/10/2021 – I send the dealer a formal rejection letter – rejecting the car and hence cancelling the contract on the basis of misrepresentation ("excellent condition" requiring £2K+ repairs), lack of repair (had the car for a month without repair causing me inconvenience esp as I can't use their courtesy car) and then "failure to deliver" (I went to collect the car and they essentially refused to give it to me).
Edited: 05/10/2021: I initiated a chargeback request via my credit card issuers and my debit card issuer.
06/10/2021 – They insist that they will take the car to BMW and have it fixed. I tell them I have rejected the car and am due a refund. I initiate credit/debit chargebacks for the amount I have paid.
10/10/2021 – As I haven’t received any real response re the logbook, I send off the V5C-Part10 to the DVLA.
13/10/2021 – They tell me that BMW did not find any faults. However, BMW emailed me the quote given to the dealer to repair the NSF wheel (£2300), and then sent me another email confirming that the steering rack also needs to be replaced.
13/10/2021 – I notice that they have the car listed for sale on their website. I email them asking what they intend to do with it, and then email them with a letter-before-action which includes all the additional costs I’ve had to pay. Car cost £16k, other costs: £1.7k (road tax, insurance, new tyres, lost pay and mileage when I went to collect the car and they hid it from me)
Probably 15/10/2021 - they sell the car to the "new owner" and it leaves their site.
18/10/2021 – They send me an offer of a refund of the purchase price only. It specifically states the car is at their site and has not been sold. It says they will refund 2/3rds of the money within 14 days and then the remainder when I have cancelled my complaints/chargebacks with the debit card company (as they don't want to run the risk that I receive a refund from them and a payment via chargeback).
19/10/2021 – My son phoned the dealer asking about the car for sale - he was told the car had been sold. I then phoned the police, who located the car with its "new owner". The dealer was contacted by the police as well and obviously didn't like it. The dealer then phoned me to say that as the logbook wasn't updated to be in my name, then he was still the owner of the vehicle, the car was still on their site (although the Police had found it with it's new owner 50 miles away). He then made me a verbal offer that he would refund the purchase price only the next day if I would agree that it was a full and final settlement and if I cancelled the credit card/chargeback complaints. I told him I would reply in writing.
20/10/2021 - I reject their offer of 18/10/2021 and make a counteroffer of the purchase price of the car plus only £1.5K consequential costs.
Obviously, there's been no response from them and the police are busy investigating. The police say it will probably end up as a civil issue around the legal owner of the car. I obviously don't want the car as I've rejected it - what I do want is a full refund plus my consequential losses (the new tyres alone were £750).
I have screenshots from the tracker of where it was on relevant days and a video of the car in the public car park where it was hidden. I also have my BMW dealer report of the fault, their BMW dealers report of the fault and I'm sure the IAEA assessor that I was talking to could provide a report of some sort as he was adamant that if the NSF wheel was 1degree out then that was a major issue. I also have previous MOTs for the car - 1 states the NSF wheel is sitting at an angle (impacted) and the next states the NSF tyre has uneven tyre wear - both clearly showing that the NSF wheel has issues prior to me purchasing it. The BMW reports also state the car has been in a frontal collision. I think this all points to the car being repaired but the wheel not being repaired properly.
Given the very dodgy nature of the dealer I don't think I should be cancelling my chargebacks etc until I've been refunded.
Given the amount of consequential losses - I'd like then paid back.
I think I'd be happy if they refunded me in full for the purchase price (£16k),then I'd cancel the chargebacks and then I'd be happy to use the small claims court for the consequential losses (£1.7k)
Am I right in thinking like this?
What should I be doing now?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
JBoss
I'm new to the forum and am having an issue with a used car dealer. In essence, I bought a car for £16k and then found a fault with the car within the first week and the dealer collected the car to inspect/repair. They've had the car for 6 weeks now (21/10/2021) and have not repaired it. I discovered on 19/10/2021 that they had actually sold the car to someone else - probably on 15/10/2021.
Note, the car has a tracker built-in, so I was always aware of it's location. The dealer still seems to be unaware that somehow I always knew where it was ;-)
Here's a timeline of events:
14/08/2021 – I bought the car. Paid via 2 credit cards and a debit card.
18/08/2021 – I had all 4 tyres replaced on the car – and noticed the near-side front (NSF) wheel rubbing. I then had the alignment checked and they told me the wheel was too far out to be adjusted.
19/08/2021 - I informed the dealer, who said to get a report...(I just asked a local mechanic - who informally quoted me £1.5k+ to fix, and then had to wait for the dealer as the boss was on holiday). I then told the dealer that I wanted to reject the car.
... Emails between me and the dealer, where they insisted that they collect the car for investigation...I told them I had it booked in with BMW for a more formal report...they insisted that I not do this.
07/09/2021 – I had the car inspected by BMW who notified me of a serious alignment issue and a £2K+ bill to repair
08/09/2021 – The dealer collected the car to inspect the fault themselves.
10/09/2021 – The dealer delivers a courtesy car for us to use.
Numerous emails asking what the dealer was doing with the car etc…
23/09/2021 – I inform the dealer that the courtesy car appears to be untaxed and uninsured. They completely ignore any mention of the courtesy car and refuse to confirm or deny that it is taxed & insured. I obviously stop using it.
28/09/2021 – The dealer tells me there’s nothing wrong with the car and the car is ready but they can’t deliver it any time soon due to the fuel crisis. (They've had the alignment checked in a local alignment shop - which used the wrong spec for the alignment. In any case, the alignment report shows the NSF wheel is way out of spec. The dealer refuses to acknowledge this.)
04/10/2021 – I repeatedly inform the dealer that I will collect the car on 05/10/2021 around midday. This is acknowledged by a member of staff there. I also email them about the new V5/logbook as we still haven’t received it. They reply saying they’ll look into it.
05/10/2021 – I go to collect the car from the dealer but they tell me it’s not ready and is stored in their second secure site. I discover they’ve hidden it in a public car park nearby. I take photos/videos of the car and tell them so – they are not interested and repeatedly tell me to just put it in writing. They have now had the car for a month and essentially done nothing and won't let me collect the car. I wanted the car back so I could get an independent report from an IAEA approved assessor.
05/10/2021 – I send the dealer a formal rejection letter – rejecting the car and hence cancelling the contract on the basis of misrepresentation ("excellent condition" requiring £2K+ repairs), lack of repair (had the car for a month without repair causing me inconvenience esp as I can't use their courtesy car) and then "failure to deliver" (I went to collect the car and they essentially refused to give it to me).
Edited: 05/10/2021: I initiated a chargeback request via my credit card issuers and my debit card issuer.
06/10/2021 – They insist that they will take the car to BMW and have it fixed. I tell them I have rejected the car and am due a refund. I initiate credit/debit chargebacks for the amount I have paid.
10/10/2021 – As I haven’t received any real response re the logbook, I send off the V5C-Part10 to the DVLA.
13/10/2021 – They tell me that BMW did not find any faults. However, BMW emailed me the quote given to the dealer to repair the NSF wheel (£2300), and then sent me another email confirming that the steering rack also needs to be replaced.
13/10/2021 – I notice that they have the car listed for sale on their website. I email them asking what they intend to do with it, and then email them with a letter-before-action which includes all the additional costs I’ve had to pay. Car cost £16k, other costs: £1.7k (road tax, insurance, new tyres, lost pay and mileage when I went to collect the car and they hid it from me)
Probably 15/10/2021 - they sell the car to the "new owner" and it leaves their site.
18/10/2021 – They send me an offer of a refund of the purchase price only. It specifically states the car is at their site and has not been sold. It says they will refund 2/3rds of the money within 14 days and then the remainder when I have cancelled my complaints/chargebacks with the debit card company (as they don't want to run the risk that I receive a refund from them and a payment via chargeback).
19/10/2021 – My son phoned the dealer asking about the car for sale - he was told the car had been sold. I then phoned the police, who located the car with its "new owner". The dealer was contacted by the police as well and obviously didn't like it. The dealer then phoned me to say that as the logbook wasn't updated to be in my name, then he was still the owner of the vehicle, the car was still on their site (although the Police had found it with it's new owner 50 miles away). He then made me a verbal offer that he would refund the purchase price only the next day if I would agree that it was a full and final settlement and if I cancelled the credit card/chargeback complaints. I told him I would reply in writing.
20/10/2021 - I reject their offer of 18/10/2021 and make a counteroffer of the purchase price of the car plus only £1.5K consequential costs.
Obviously, there's been no response from them and the police are busy investigating. The police say it will probably end up as a civil issue around the legal owner of the car. I obviously don't want the car as I've rejected it - what I do want is a full refund plus my consequential losses (the new tyres alone were £750).
I have screenshots from the tracker of where it was on relevant days and a video of the car in the public car park where it was hidden. I also have my BMW dealer report of the fault, their BMW dealers report of the fault and I'm sure the IAEA assessor that I was talking to could provide a report of some sort as he was adamant that if the NSF wheel was 1degree out then that was a major issue. I also have previous MOTs for the car - 1 states the NSF wheel is sitting at an angle (impacted) and the next states the NSF tyre has uneven tyre wear - both clearly showing that the NSF wheel has issues prior to me purchasing it. The BMW reports also state the car has been in a frontal collision. I think this all points to the car being repaired but the wheel not being repaired properly.
Given the very dodgy nature of the dealer I don't think I should be cancelling my chargebacks etc until I've been refunded.
Given the amount of consequential losses - I'd like then paid back.
I think I'd be happy if they refunded me in full for the purchase price (£16k),then I'd cancel the chargebacks and then I'd be happy to use the small claims court for the consequential losses (£1.7k)
Am I right in thinking like this?
What should I be doing now?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
JBoss
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