Faulty car at nearly 6 months

[Pezza54]

Keep a note of the extra cost for insurance and add it to any claim

[ALI2024]

Well, this has been a lengthy one! We have used the AA mediation service which has had a limited effect in that the dealer has only agreed to contribute £500 to the repair. However this process has taken MUCH to-ing and fro-ing as the dealer seems to be regarding the law as nothing to do with them. I am not totally sure how much the AA has helped this process if I am honest or whether they have just added to the delay. For example, the AA has reported several times that they "can't get hold of" the dealer and I do wonder how hard they have tried/ how much they have stressed the importance to the person taking the message. We are finally picking up the car today after it has had both a head and head gasket repair - well, that is if the dealer/AA clarify whether they are actually going to pay the repair garage directly or us as they "can't get hold of them" again. I suspect in the end it will be neither, as we have said we do not regard this as settlement of the case and will go to small claims for the rest of the cost (about £500) plus the extra insurance we have had to pay out, mostly because of the time this has taken to be resolved (the fault was first reported to them over 2 months ago!). So, I think we have to do a letter before action? I can check the guidance about this. At what point do we post a review on their website? I haven't wanted to prejudice mediation but will it impact on small claims at all?

[Pezza54]

So mediation failed and you intend to start a court claim.
If you instigated the garage repair after the dealer refused to repair the car or pay another garage to repair it, you will have to pay the garage yourself, otherwise the garage will probably refuse to release the car
IMO you should not accept a part payment from the dealer. Your court claim should be for the full amount of the bill plus your loss and expense (additional insurance)

Your claim is under CRA 2015 Section 24 (5)(c) right to a price reduction

How much was the repair bill?

[ALI2024]

Thanks yes it looks like they haven't paid up anyway. We are going to pay and claim it all back.
Through mediation we agreed that we would use our warranty (that we purchased when we got the car) for the elements covered and that they would pay the rest and take out a new warranty for us. But they have decided they will only pay £500. The total bill is about £1700, the warranty covers nearly £700. I hope the AA takes them off their "approved dealer" list.

[Pezza54]

Your LBA should contain the following:

A summary of the facts in chronological order
The basis of your claim - CRA, unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose and right to repair
The financial remedy sought and how the sum is calculated
An intention to start a court claim without further reference if you are not satisfied with their response

[ALI2024]

Thank you! Will let you know how we get on...

[ALI2024]

Hi, just wondering how this sounds as a letter before action? Also, do we include the cost of a new warranty (having used up quite a bit our ours on the repair, having basically been conned through mediation!) or let this go as something we can't claim? We haven't taken one out yet as it is all very recent.

Letter before action

Ref: xxx

I am writing in follow up of my previous communication, including my complaint letter of 15^th September 2024 and the subsequent failure to reach a satisfactory resolution of this issue through the AA mediation service.

Just to remind you of the facts of this matter.

On 28^th March 2024 I purchased the above vehicle from you from your premises in Bournemouth, which I collected on 2^nd April 2024. On 12^th September 2024 I was informed by an AA warrantied repairer that it was not of satisfactory quality and not fit for purpose (S9, S10 & S11of the Consumer Rights Act), and I advised you of this on 15^th September.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires dealers to supply goods that are fit for purpose, as described and of satisfactory quality (as above S9, S10 & S11). The vehicle was clearly not roadworthy. You are therefore in breach of contract. As advised previously, as the vehicle is within the first six months following purchase any faults are deemed to have been present when purchased. As such you we gave you the opportunity to repair the vehicle at your own cost and with as little inconvenience to ourselves as possible, or to reimburse the original purchase price of £2895, minus an agreed amount for fair usage.

At this point you initially failed to reply to our original complaint. When we finally managed to speak to you, you sent us an email on 26^th September where you replied: “I am sorry to hear about the problem you have experienced with your Mini but as this issue has only arisen recently we do not agree that there was a fault present when the vehicle was purchased in March. I advise you to pursue redress via your AA warranty which should at least provide a contribution to the repair.”

As you clearly did not recognise your responsibilities under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and as you are signed up to the AA dealer “promise” we requested their involvement in mediation on 2nd October 2024. Through this process you declined the opportunity to refund us the cost of the vehicle, or to retrieve and repair the vehicle yourself, and through mediation it was agreed that we use a local garage instead and that you would pay them directly. As an act of good faith in the mediation process we agreed to use our warranty to meet those costs which were covered by this warranty, having made it clear that this would not cover the whole cost and on the basis that you would pay any additional costs and provide us with a new warranty. When the garage started to strip the engine they discovered a further fault, that the head was cracked, which was not covered by the warranty, and we advised you of this via the mediator on 12^th November.

You were advised that the car was ready for collection on 28^th November, but have refused to make any payments at all or provide us with a new warranty. You have therefore failed to meet your obligations under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

In accordance therefore with my rights bestowed by The Consumer Rights Act 2015 I am requesting the sum of £1543.13. This is made up of £940.30 (the costs of repair that we have had to pay which were not covered by warranty) plus £602.84 in consequential loss, namely the cost of temporary insurance for my son for the 2.5 months that the car has been unroadworthy.

I look forward to receiving your written response within 14 days of sending this letter to you electronically.

If I do not hear from you in this time I will initiate legal proceedings for recovery of the money plus court costs without further reference to you.

[Pezza54]

Sorry I think your letter is too wordy and needs to be shortened. There is no need at this stage to pinpoint clauses in the CRA, leave that to the poc.
I think you should omit the quotation in paragraph 5, save that for your witness statement
No need for the one line 2nd paragraph
The last 2 paragraphs should be combined into one para. Leave out "I look forward to ..." IMO this doesn't sound correct in a LBA

[ALI2024]

Ok thank you that's really helpful.Am I right in saying we need to give them 14 days (even though we went through mediation etc) but at that point we can submit through the small claims court?

[Pezza54]

If you are asking can you start a court claim if the dealer does not respond to your letter within 14 days from receipt of it, then the answer is yes

[Pezza54]

There is a letter template that can be downloaded to reject a new or used car bought from a dealer at www.which.co.uk