Car rejection and how to

[Retro123]

I bought a car from Cazoo in mid October for £20,000. About a month later when it started raining properly, I reported that the sunroof was leaking excessively, the carpets were sodden and it really wasn't right. I was really ill the same month which is why it took me a while to notice that there was an issue.

I digress, after being told repeatedly that someone would call back, they finally did at the end of November to book it in.with them.

I delivered the car back to Cazoo who took a week to fit new seals to the car. I took delivery back and within a day found that the problem was still there. I have pictures and videos of water running off the A pillar and dampness from inside some of the stow hatches in the floor.

I reported the issue back who booked it in with the main dealer for mid January. They diagnosed that the roof required replacement and that there were a number of undertray items that were either missing, damaged or improperly secured. I told Cazoo that I agreed to have the main dealer do the work however Cazoo were apparently not happy with the costs.

I was offered two further appointments with different garages for diagnostics, both garages have rather poor reputations.

At this point, I want to finally reject the car. The car is on finance with Blue Motor Finance. The reasons being that it's been so long to have these issues, I have done my best to keep the car dry, it's unusable in the rain. And I noticed yesterday that the rear light cluster is now filling up with water. I know these cars have various ECUs and bits under the floor which are also now likely wet. As it's a £20k car under finance, I don't want to be in a situation in only a few years where the thing is totalled through electrical issues or even worse, corrosion.

I understand under CRA2015 I have up to six months to reject a car, but as I have never done this, I have no idea how. I have given the retailer their one repair attempt and tried to cooperate with them in terms of getting the main dealer to repair, but to no avail.

I have found some template letters but none appear to say that they have had their repair attempt and I'm done with it now. I do see a good few horror stories and given the clock is ticking, I'm fast running out of time to get rid of the thing.

Can anyone advise me?

[atticus]

"Dear ****

I am rejecting the car (model ****, Registration ****) that I purchased from you on [date].

I am doing this for the following reasons:[list reasons including failed repairs]

I require you to refund my payment of £[***].

Please confirm within 7 days so that suitable arrangements can be made, failing which I will have to take matters further.

Yours sincerely

Mr R 123"

[Pezza54]

Please read the posts under the thread started by DIZ on 29 Feb 2024 titled "Used Car Problem"

A letter template to reject a used car at which.co.uk was suggested

The last sentence in the template is a bit weak and a suggestion was made how to improve it

The car is owned by the finance company so if you end up making a claim, your claim is against them

You can write to the dealer rejecting the car. The dealer has a duty to inform the finance company.

Just in case the dealer fails to do this, send a copy of the letter to the f.c.

[echat11]

How did you pay the deposit?

[Retro123]

How did you pay the deposit?

It was with a debit card, sadly.

[R0b]

At this point, I want to finally reject the car. The car is on finance with Blue Motor Finance.

Of everything you have said, this is the crucial sentence. If the car is financed either hire purchase or a lease and the financial creditor is Blue Motor Finance (I will refer to them as BMF), then your contract is with them not the dealership or Cazoo. Financed vehicle agreements are usually a 3-way arrangement: The dealer/seller will be the seller of the vehicle, but they are also acting as agents of the creditor if you opt to take it out on finance. The legal contractual relationship is this:

Seller contracts with the creditor to sell them the vehicle
At the same time, creditor (via the seller) then contracts with the consumer to sell/hire the vehicle.

Therefore, you are legally incorrect in saying you purchased the car from Cazoo. If you haven't informed BMF about any of this, then you have no right to reject the vehicle because they were not aware of the issues. Everything must be communicated to BMF about issues with your car and anything done in terms of repair or costs before that communication, they are not going to be liable to pay. If BMF redirect you to Cazoo or the dealership then those parties will be acting on BMF's behalf and if the repair or replacement is not satisfactory, only then can you reject.

Wrongly rejecting the car could mean you are in material breach of contract yourself, being liable for the full balance of the financed agreement.

[Retro123]

Of everything you have said, this is the crucial sentence. If the car is financed either hire purchase or a lease and the financial creditor is Blue Motor Finance (I will refer to them as BMF), then your contract is with them not the dealership or Cazoo. Financed vehicle agreements are usually a 3-way arrangement: The dealer/seller will be the seller of the vehicle, but they are also acting as agents of the creditor if you opt to take it out on finance. The legal contractual relationship is this:

Seller contracts with the creditor to sell them the vehicle
At the same time, creditor (via the seller) then contracts with the consumer to sell/hire the vehicle.

Therefore, you are legally incorrect in saying you purchased the car from Cazoo. If you haven't informed BMF about any of this, then you have no right to reject the vehicle because they were not aware of the issues. Everything must be communicated to BMF about issues with your car and anything done in terms of repair or costs before that communication, they are not going to be liable to pay. If BMF redirect you to Cazoo or the dealership then those parties will be acting on BMF's behalf and if the repair or replacement is not satisfactory, only then can you reject.

Wrongly rejecting the car could mean you are in material breach of contract yourself, being liable for the full balance of the financed agreement.

Cazoo have had at least one opportunity to repair the vehicle and had another opportunity for it to be diagnosed. I assume that brings me over the requirement for rejection by CRA 2015?

If so, what should my steps be at this point? Or are you telling me I'm stuck with it?

[R0b]

I think you are missing my point.

You say that the car has been financed by BMF, that immediately tells me that BMF, not Cazoo are the seller of the car for the purposes of your contract for the sale of it. You can go to Cazoo countless times to get the car fixed but you have no legal right under the CRA 2015 to reject the car. The CRA clearly states you must communicate your rejection or breach of the CRA to the trader and the trader in this case will be BMF. Cazoo has no legal ownership or right to make arrangements for repairs to the car without the authorisation of BMF.

Your next steps are to submit your issue with BMF and then allow them an opportunity to repair, irrespective of how many repairs may have been carried out or arranged by Cazoo - unless you can prove Cazoo acted on the instructions of BMF. If you choose not to do this, then you may find yourself with a large sum of money to pay BMF for breach of contract and you will only have yourself to blame.

If you are unsure who your contract is with, I suggest you go back and look at the paperwork before you do anything further to verify. Your finance agreement will tell you who the creditor is and that business will be the owner of the car.

[Retro123]

I think you are missing my point.

You say that the car has been financed by BMF, that immediately tells me that BMF, not Cazoo are the seller of the car for the purposes of your contract for the sale of it. You can go to Cazoo countless times to get the car fixed but you have no legal right under the CRA 2015 to reject the car. The CRA clearly states you must communicate your rejection or breach of the CRA to the trader and the trader in this case will be BMF. Cazoo has no legal ownership or right to make arrangements for repairs to the car without the authorisation of BMF.

Your next steps are to submit your issue with BMF and then allow them an opportunity to repair, irrespective of how many repairs may have been carried out or arranged by Cazoo - unless you can prove Cazoo acted on the instructions of BMF. If you choose not to do this, then you may find yourself with a large sum of money to pay BMF for breach of contract and you will only have yourself to blame.

If you are unsure who your contract is with, I suggest you go back and look at the paperwork before you do anything further to verify. Your finance agreement will tell you who the creditor is and that business will be the owner of the car.

So, the process should be to ask the finance company to repair it? Given I am on month five of this clock, this is surely likely to take me over the six months barrier to reject at all, isn't it?

How should I approach BMF about this? Sorry this is all new territory for me.

[R0b]

So, the process should be to ask the finance company to repair it? Given I am on month five of this clock, this is surely likely to take me over the six months barrier to reject at all, isn't it?

Sorry, I don't understand the question. If you are within month five, then you would have notified BMF before the six month period, so I don't understand how that takes you over the six month period to reject. You only need to communicate within six months that there is a fault or problem with the car, it is presumed the car is faulty unless BMF can show otherwise. Once you have communicated the problem, rejection can happen after the six month period provided you reject the car within a reasonable period if the repair has not fixed the issue.

How should I approach BMF about this? Sorry this is all new territory for me.

Be honest. Write to BMF, preferably email to customer complaints or customer services if they have one, and tell them you have had a problem with the car which you reached out to Cazoo as you believed your contract was with them. They have already tried to repair the issue and it is still not fixed, but you now understand that BMF are actually the owners of the vehicle, which is why you are writing to them to tell them of the fault/issue.

Tell them you are offering them an opportunity to repair the car notwithstanding the fact attempts have already been made, and provide them with evidence of communications with Cazoo as well as the history and background to the problem. If they don't want to repair the car then they should offer a replacement equivalent to what you contracted for on a like for like basis but if nothing is available, then you want to reject the car entirely.

Make sure to put a timeline and request a reply from them within 14 days. If you want any feedback on your email/letter to BMF then post up a draft here for comment, just make sure to remove any personal data.

[Retro123]

Sorry, I don't understand the question. If you are within month five, then you would have notified BMF before the six month period, so I don't understand how that takes you over the six month period to reject. You only need to communicate within six months that there is a fault or problem with the car, it is presumed the car is faulty unless BMF can show otherwise. Once you have communicated the problem, rejection can happen after the six month period provided you reject the car within a reasonable period if the repair has not fixed the issue.


Be honest. Write to BMF, preferably email to customer complaints or customer services if they have one, and tell them you have had a problem with the car which you reached out to Cazoo as you believed your contract was with them. They have already tried to repair the issue and it is still not fixed, but you now understand that BMF are actually the owners of the vehicle, which is why you are writing to them to tell them of the fault/issue.

Tell them you are offering them an opportunity to repair the car notwithstanding the fact attempts have already been made, and provide them with evidence of communications with Cazoo as well as the history and background to the problem. If they don't want to repair the car then they should offer a replacement equivalent to what you contracted for on a like for like basis but if nothing is available, then you want to reject the car entirely.

Make sure to put a timeline and request a reply from them within 14 days. If you want any feedback on your email/letter to BMF then post up a draft here for comment, just make sure to remove any personal data.

What I mean is, I am happy to follow what should be done. If I report the issue to BMF and they ask me to allow another repair and it doesn't work, surely that time period is going to be past month six? That is between now, BMF asking for it to be assessed and then determining if the issue is resolved? That surely puts me in the situation of attempting to reject the car after the six months defined by CRA?

I will happily detail a letter and post it for examination.

Edit: Sorry, re-read what you have said now. So long as I report the issue within the six month period, that is sufficient should I need to rely on the CRA 2015 to reject it outright?

[Retro123]

Make sure to put a timeline and request a reply from them within 14 days. If you want any feedback on your email/letter to BMF then post up a draft here for comment, just make sure to remove any personal data.

Hi, this is the body of the letter. I think I have redacted enough info.
-----

On the xx October, I purchased the above vehicle at a cost of £19k supplied under a hire purchase agreement with yourselves.

I noticed on the xx November that the car inside was excessively damp and wet inside. I had not noticed prior to this date as I was very ill and not in a fit state to use the vehicle.

I reported the issue to Cazoo on xx November via phone. I was told I would get a call back in 4 days. I chased this on the 20th November, the person then told me it would take up to 7 days.

I chased again on the 21st November via webchat and the person told me it would be 24 hours to get a response. I was finally able to book the car in for xx November. I was told the car was ready to pick up on the xx November, but actually picked it up on Saturday xx December as Northampton is a fair distance away from me. I was told at the time that the panoramic roof was responsible for the excessive leaking.

On the xx December (1 day later), I noted that the car was still excessively leaking with water flying off the A pillar on the passenger side. I have a video of this occurring whilst it was raining. I contacted Cazoo on xx December to tell them. I was initially booked back into the Northampton branch of Cazoo for xx December. This was subsequently cancelled by Cazoo as their initial repair attempt had failed. Cazoo booked me into the main dealer in xxx for diagnosis for 15th January.

The car was at main dealer for one day. The person there told me that the entire roof required replacement and pointed out a number of other issues that had apparently gotten through Cazoo’s own checking system, including missing floor covers on the underside of the car, exhaust cover being held on with a cable tie and the brake flexi-hose components on the rear suspension being damaged. I have a video taken of these issues by a main dealer technician if this is of use.

After picking up the car, I was told by phone on xx January that Cazoo were attempting to negotiate with main dealer sover labour charges and this was currently in contest.

On February xx, main dealer called me to state that they had now had an agreement with Cazoo over the labour charges and I was booked back in to have the work undertaken on March xx However, this did not happen.

In the interim between these two dates, Cazoo requested that I drop the car to another garage for diagnosis. I am aware of the garage in question, xx in xx. They are not a reputable garage given my own past experiences. I refused this by email to Cazoo, requesting that the date with main dealer be kept.

Later, Cazoo sent another appointment request for xx in xxx on xxx March. However this garage is a clear hour away from me and is for diagnosis only. This will require me to take time off of work, as well as arranging forward transportation.

On Saturday March xx main dealer contacted me to state that Cazoo were completely unresponsive, despite Cazoo’s request for the hourly labour rate be met and so cancelled the booking.

Over the past few weeks, I have noted more issues coming up with the car. Apart from the inside being constantly wet when it rains and the windows requiring to be wiped with a towel for any use whatsoever, I have now noted that the electronic rear tailgate is occasionally malfunctioning, sometimes refusing to open without manual intervention and that the offside rear light cluster has started to fill with water.

I have been patient with Cazoo and ultimately as the retailer, I understood my contract to be with them. Their own repair attempt has not been successful and they have been rather unwilling to respond to my questions in email. I have full copies of all emails if this is of use.

Having reached this point, I am only now becoming aware of the legal side of things and understand now that my contract is actually with Blue Motor Finance as the actual owners of the vehicle. This is why I am writing to you today.

I would like to extend to you the opportunity to have the car diagnosed yourselves, or if you are happy to contact main dealer in xxx. I am sure they will be of help. Of course, as time has gone on, the issues are now exacerbated. Not only are electrical issues beginning to come up, as well as the rear light cluster now suffering damp issues, but the smell of mould that has not been treated is extremely apparent inside the cabin. I am also very concerned that the water present in the vehicle is corroding seals and causing damage to electrical components under the cabin floor.

Given these issues, I am extremely concerned about the car as it is and request your involvement at this point. I have been patient with Cazoo however it seems that we are not getting anywhere with this. If you would like an opportunity to intercede and repair the vehicle, I am happy to oblige you.

[R0b]

Edit: Sorry, re-read what you have said now. So long as I report the issue within the six month period, that is sufficient should I need to rely on the CRA 2015 to reject it outright?

Yes. Reporting it after 6 months means the onus is on you to prove the fault existed from the start. The CRA does not specify a time limit on exercising a final rejection of the goods because each issue is fact specific. For example, some repairs may take longer due to spare parts being ordered in from other countries or they need to be manufactured and cut to specific dimensions or sizes. Typically, the courts have indicated that the rejection remains for a reasonable period after the repair or replacement (again fact specific). What you are unlikely to be able to do is have the car repaired, use it for 12 months and then the issue arises again and only then do you want to reject the car, unless you can show the repair was problematic which led to the same issue 12 months later.

[Retro123]

Yes. Reporting it after 6 months means the onus is on you to prove the fault existed from the start. The CRA does not specify a time limit on exercising a final rejection of the goods because each issue is fact specific. For example, some repairs may take longer due to spare parts being ordered in from other countries or they need to be manufactured and cut to specific dimensions or sizes. Typically, the courts have indicated that the rejection remains for a reasonable period after the repair or replacement (again fact specific). What you are unlikely to be able to do is have the car repaired, use it for 12 months and then the issue arises again and only then do you want to reject the car, unless you can show the repair was problematic which led to the same issue 12 months later.

I put a letter template above. Not sure if you were busy responding to me and didn't see it, just thought I would ask in case.

[Pezza54]

1st paragraph: include the year in the date

6th paragraph: do you really mean the "whole roof" or just the whole panoramic sunroof?

I wouldn't end with "happy to oblige you" You have been caused a lot of inconvenience and been put to much expense. You should state this firmly in your letter in its own paragraph

Would you consider a replacement vehicle? You haven't mentioned this in your letter. Under CRA the dealer is entitled to offer you a suitable replacement vehicle but you don't have to accept it if you wanted a particular model, colour etc