Issues with car from main dealer

[markyparky02]

Hi everyone,

We bought a one year old car from a local main dealership back in June 2018 on pcp finance.
The car was spotless when we first viewed it but there were scratches on both offside doors when we collected it a few days later.

Dealership made 3 attempts to repair the doors but the results were really bad (smart repairs carried out in the carpark!) and just made it worse.

We made a written complaint to the dealership manager in December 2018 - no response.
A written complaint to the head office of the dealership in July 2019 - they say they will repair it in their body shop.
Heard nothing else from them so made a complaint to the Motor Ombudsman in October 2019.

No response from the ombudsman for a year but was then told that the dealership was offering a "goodwill payment of £200" for us to get the doors fixed ourselves.
A local body repair company viewed the car a few days ago and estimates the work at around £500 - £800.

A data access request to the dealership and ombudsman shows that the operations director stated to the ombudsman that we had refused to let them fix the doors!!

Obviously, covid has delayed things but we are nearly at the 4 year point of owning the vehicle and it's still not been repaired.


Couple of points that I am scratching my head about -

The operations director made a defamatory statement to the ombudsman which appears to have influenced the decision of the ombudsman - breach of data protection act?
I believe that we are entitled to a repair under the consumer rights act so offering to pay for the repair and calling it a goodwill payment is misleading us into accepting the offer?
We have now paid off the pcp finance in full so the car belongs to us - we have had to pay the amount owed on a car in excellent condition, not the damaged condition it is in.

We have got in contact with the manufacturer who has provided somebody from the executive's office (we emailed the ceo) to act as a go-between. We have said that we would accept a full repair to the doors carried out at another dealership and a goodwill gesture of £300 to end the matter but the dealership is not responding.

Any suggestions on what to try now?

Thank you.

[des8]

Court?

[markyparky02]

Court?

Hi DES8,

Yeah, it would be ideal to go to the small claims court but to be honest we just want the car fixed.

We are thinking of a complaint to the Information Commissioner regarding the operations director lying to the ombudsman. Then a complaint to trading standards for breach of consumer rights act.

We could also look at complaining to the ombudsman as they referred to the "goodwill payment of £200". How can it be called a goodwill payment if we are entitled to the repair anyway?

You pay top money to buy from dealerships but in reality, they are just as crooked as the backstreet traders (not all are bad lol).

If anyone can suggest wording/paragraph for the breach of the data protection act and the consumer rights act that would help so much.

[des8]

You want the car repaired so
1, complaint to ICO won't get that result. The dealer might get a slap on the wrist.
2.complaints to trading standards have to go through Citizens Advice, so if you want to pursue that line contact your local CAB, but will not result in an order for the car to be repaired
3, The ombudsman service is often as much use as a chocolate fireguard. They decide matters on what they consider to be a fair basis, not a legal basis.I would not be wasting my time
4. You are left with court action. A letter before action might well make the dealership sit up and smell the coffee

[markyparky02]

You want the car repaired so
1, complaint to ICO won't get that result. The dealer might get a slap on the wrist.
2.complaints to trading standards have to go through Citizens Advice, so if you want to pursue that line contact your local CAB, but will not result in an order for the car to be repaired
3, The ombudsman service is often as much use as a chocolate fireguard. They decide matters on what they consider to be a fair basis, not a legal basis.I would not be wasting my time
4. You are left with court action. A letter before action might well make the dealership sit up and smell the coffee

Thank you so much for the advice. I totally agree with your last post.

We are hesitant to proceed through the courts as we assume that we would need to get the car repaired ourselves before we can pursue them for the money.

If we are able to issue a letter before action, could you suggest any wording or a template we could use?

Thanks again

[des8]

Obtain Quotations (not estimates) and proceed with those.

LBA guide here: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rig...m-aSFAC8Q6Jqan
You can always post a redacted copy here for the once over if you wish prior to mailing

[markyparky02]

Obtain Quotations (not estimates) and proceed with those.

LBA guide here: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rig...m-aSFAC8Q6Jqan
You can always post a redacted copy here for the once over if you wish prior to mailing

Thank you for the link.

As the matter has already gone through the motor ombudsman can I state that we have attempted to resolve the situation through an appropriate adr scheme but they provided incorrect information for that process in an attempt to influence the judgement of the ombudsman?

We have also involved the manufacturer who is acting as a mediator but the dealership is not in a rush to deal with the matter and is yet to respond.

I was thinking of sending a letter before action tomorrow stating that they have until this coming friday to accept our offer of resolution (a repair and 300 compensation).

As we originally made the offer last monday then we would have given them a total of 14 days to respond.
If they ignore this then the letter would state that we would then get the repairs done ourselves and present them with the bill.
If they don't pay the bill plus the 300 then we would issue a civil claim.

Sorry if I seem like I want to resolve this quickly but I don't wish to give them the option of delaying this for another few months. If we can get the car repaired then we can sell it and move on with our lives.

Thank you again.

[des8]

forget about a quick resolution if the matter goes to trial.
On the small claims track the current delay is about a year (https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/co...111742.article)

If you intend sending an LBA tomorrow expecting to receive an answer by Friday is unreasonable.
The lba is the start f the court process and you really should give them two weeks from receipt in which to respond.
If they don't respond at the end of that time is when you file court papers.

You don't say what compensation you are claiming
Your claim is for damages following a breach of contract,
You claim for all losses arising directly from the breach, the purpose being to put you back into the position you would have been in had the breach not occurred.
Damages rarely include compensation

Certainly remind them that you attempted ADR, but due to their dishonesty in providing incorrect information to the ombudsman his recommendations were unacceptable to you

[markyparky02]

forget about a quick resolution if the matter goes to trial.
On the small claims track the current delay is about a year (https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/co...111742.article)

If you intend sending an LBA tomorrow expecting to receive an answer by Friday is unreasonable.
The lba is the start f the court process and you really should give them two weeks from receipt in which to respond.
If they don't respond at the end of that time is when you file court papers.

You don't say what compensation you are claiming
Your claim is for damages following a breach of contract,
You claim for all losses arising directly from the breach, the purpose being to put you back into the position you would have been in had the breach not occurred.
Damages rarely include compensation

Certainly remind them that you attempted ADR, but due to their dishonesty in providing incorrect information to the ombudsman his recommendations were unacceptable to you

We have asked them for a goodwill payment of 300 which we feel would cover the multiple trips to the dealership when they attempted the repairs and for all the time spent complaining/writing emails/letters.

We do want the car fixed as soon as possible so that we can sell it. Any delays after it has been sold wont be a problem.

Maybe an email sent via the manufacturer tomorrow stating that if we dont have a satisfactory response by friday then we will have the car fixed ourselves and then present them with the bill once we have paid it.

Then if they dont cover the cost plus the 300 for damages then we could send a lba.

How does that sound to you?

Thansk again.

[des8]

Yes, you could have the car repaired and then start the court claim.
It won't harm your case to tell them what you intend, but I would not just say you will send them the invoice, but tell them yoy will initiate a court claim if they fail to pay.
Regarding your £300 you will need to substantiate it if you go to court, not just pluck a figure out of the air!

good luck

[markyparky02]

Thank you DES8

[markyparky02]

Hi.

Could anyone give me a little advice please?

After getting multiple quotes for the work required we then proceeded with the most reasonable (which turned out to be the cheapest too) and the car has now been repaired with us paying for the work done.

I am looking to send an invoice to the dealership but am I able to claim for the multiple trips (mileage & time) to the dealership trying to get the matter resolved then the multiple trips getting quotes plus the journey for the actual repair?

I have logged all the trips and times taken so can justify any claim but, if I can claim for these, what formula can I use?

Thanks,

Mark

>just a little note, one of the body shop repair sites we got a quote from was the dealership's own at another location and they agreed with all the other quotes. Good job they didn't realise it was us lol.

[MIKE770]

From 1 June 2022 to 31 August 2022

1400cc or less	14 pence	9 pence
1401cc to 2000cc	17 pence	11 pence
Over 2000cc	25 pence	16 pence

[markyparky02]

From 1 June 2022 to 31 August 2022

1400cc or less	14 pence	9 pence
1401cc to 2000cc	17 pence	11 pence
Over 2000cc	25 pence	16 pence

Thanks Mike,


Where has this come from?

I would be looking to claim for journeys from as far back as 2018 so would need further rates for previous years.


Thanks again.

Mark