Rejecting used vehicle

[jim_cam]

Hi -- I purchased a used electric van from a dealer, paid for it in full on a debit card, and have found it not fit for purpose. I want to reject it and get a refund. I'm starting this thread because I'd like to check that things are proceeding appropriately from both my and the dealer's end, and to ensure that I understand my rights in full. This is the email that I sent them last night:


Hi, hope this finds you well -- thought it would be useful to write to
you in addition to calling as I've had some problems with my mobile
phone reception; thought it would be useful too to get some details down
in writing. I got the vehicle on the 19th August and contacted you on Monday (4th September)
about problems I was having. There have been several issues:

- The mileage available available drops very significantly, regardless
of road conditions and driving style (it consistently registers fairly
flat, low speed drives as using two or three times as much charge as the
actual distance covered)

- Over the previous week it had failed several times to take a charge
from public chargers (got nothing from two local CSS charges, despite in
each case being plugged in for several hours, having money on the
account, etc.)

- It additionally takes no charge from the rapid charging CHAdeMO
charger -- I spoke to a Geniepoint engineer about this and he was able
to detect no fault in the charger and could not detect that the van was
plugged into it at all (other cars were using the charger successfully)

- The only thing that has consistently charged it is the three pin cable
that came with the van, but yesterday it was plugged in for about 7
hours and took no charge from it. Overnight the charge did go up,
however, but this is much too slow and unreliable (it was also charging
extremely slowly at the dealership when I picked it up).

- This means that it's now failed with the supplied three pin
attachment, the CSS cable that I purchased for it, and the CHAdeMo cable
that is attached to the public rapid charger.

As I understand it, having found that the van's not fit for purpose, I
have a right to reject it and request a refund (per the Consumer Rights
Act 2015) -- I'd like to do this, please. Best,

J____


I had mentioned on the phone on Monday that I wanted to return the van for a refund, since these faults have made it useless for my purposes, but was first directed to the service department and then told by the service department that refunds were not their area. The dealer collected the van and returned it to their showroom yesterday afternoon. This is the email response I received this morning:

HI J___

Thank you for your email, I will speak with the workshop manager, it may be that we send the vehicle to our local Citroen dealer for them to confirm if there is a fault or not.

Kind Regards

B___


Have I covered all my bases here? Do I need to wait for it to be repaired at the showroom or at the Citroen dealer before I can receive a refund? If they do repair it, do I need to accept it back? Many thanks in advance for any advice you might have.

[jim_cam]

Sorry, I should have mentioned -- I'd also like to know if the problems detailed in the email above constitute the kinds of faults that merit a refund.

[Pezza54]

As you purchased a van I assume it is a business to business contract. If I am right CRA 2015 does not apply to your purchase as the legislation only covers consumer to business contracts.

[Pezza54]

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 applies to business to business contracts.
Under this act the retailer must repair or replace faulty goods within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience.
If the seller fails to do this you are entitled to claim your money back less an amount for usage.
The buyer can also claim a reduction in price based on an amount to arrange the repair work himself.

[jim_cam]

Many thanks for your reply -- the van was bought for personal use, however, not for business.

[Pezza54]

If you end up going to court your evidence proving that you bought the van for personal use will be your insurance document stating personal use only.
You have told the dealer there is a serious fault with charging the battery and the dealer is currently checking whether there is a fault.
If the the dealer says he can't find a fault (he could repair it but deny doing so) and refuses to refund your money you have the following options:
Refuse to take redelivery of the van, write a LBA and start a court claim if necessary. You could be without the van or your money for 8-12 months and there is no certainty that your claim will succeed.
Take redelivery of the van and if you find the fault is not there any more, all well and good.
Take redelivery and if the fault still exists write to the the dealer rejecting the van under CRA.
Take redelivery and if the fault still exists get the fault fixed by a specialist garage if the quote is not uneconomic and then LBA and a court claim for the cost of the repair known as a partial refund

[jim_cam]

Thanks for this. As you can see from the delay in replying, it's been quite a drawn out process. The dealer sent the van to a garage to have the problem checked, and then returned it to me saying that the garage had been unable to detect any faults. I immediately had the same faults and contacted the garage directly to try and find out what was going on; they replied that the dealer had not asked them to check the van's fast charging, and that they didn't have the resources to do so anyway. Needless to say, at this point I feel I'm getting the runaround. The dealer offered to take the van back as a part exchange, for about four thousand pounds less than I paid for it. I said no.

I've contacted the dealer again about this, and they said that I should take a video of the van failing to charge and then ask Citroen to repair the battery under warranty.

Can I ask -- at what point can I definitively reject the van? I have no confidence that the problem will be rectified, and do not trust the dealer any more. At what point are they obliged to take it back? Do I need now to take it to a garage myself?

[Pezza54]

As the dealer is denying that there is any problem with charging the car, my advice is to take the car to a specialist garage and obtain an engineer's report.
If the report states there is a fault with the car, you should write to the dealer rejecting the car. Less than 6 months after delivery it is assumed that the fault with the car was present at the time of purchase and it is up to the dealer to prove that was not the case.
You have given the dealer a chance to repair the fault.
You should claim a full refund plus the cost of the engineer's report.