Mis sold a faulty car - please help

[mrcraigboo]

I have used Legal Beagles before and the advice I received was superb and helped my situation.
I hope somebody can help with my current problem.
Myself and my partner brought a car using finance from a garage in June 2013. When we spoke with the salesman and owner of the company he assured us that we would not have any problems with the car and it would cost no more than a normal BMW. When I took the car for a test drive I also asked the salesman what the whirring noise was coming from the engine, I was told that because the car was designed to be driven at high revs this was a normal sound and there was nothing to worry about.
The car came with a 6 month warranty and during this time we had no end of problems. Within a week the engine management light came on and we booked the car into be fixed. It was apparently fixed and yet again within 24 hours the light came on again. I took the issue up with the garage and it was booked in again, this time the problem was sorted.
The within another month my car broke down again, I called the AA and there was a more serious issue, once again I contacted the garage and once again it was booked in with the engineers. I was without my car for almost a month while the problem was fixed. Upon picking up the car I took the issue up with the salesman and was told he would give me an extra 3 months warranty from when the 6 months ran out. Which would take me to the end of March.
Recently the car has been making a horrible sound (the original sound I mentioned to the salesman when I test drove the car, but much louder and more severe), the coolant has been running out and the engine management light has been flicking on and off again.
I called out the AA to have a look at it today and after spending an hour looking over the car he came to the conclusion that the rear axle needs replacing, a job that will cost my £1000's. The AA mechanic mentioned that I should not drive the car at all until it is fixed. My fiancee uses the car for her child minding business and therefore we have a real problem on our hands.
I phoned the garage and told him about the problem with the rear axle to which he replied he would call me back in a minute. No phone call after 2 hours so I sent a text asking to ring me urgently. Still no call. My fiancee is pregnant and is causing her a lot of stress so I need to sort the problem out ASAP. We don not have £1000's to spare to fix the car.
I need to know where I stand with this situation and how to resolve it. I feel I have been mis sold a car that the salesman knew had problems from the beginning when I mentioned the noise.
My warranty has expired by 11 days and I am worried the salesman is going to say "it is not his problem anymore."
Since I brought the car in June last year it has been in and out of the garage at least 5 times and the mechanics and the salesman have driven it and should have picked up on this problem.
PLEASE HELP!! Do I have a leg to stand on? It is causing a lot of stress and if the salesman doesn't call me soon I am going to phone him again.
Any help would be very much appreciated

[beanosbeej]

Re: Mis sold a faulty car - please help

Hello,

I have read your description and tried to provide you with some helpful assistance. I am trying to cover as much as possible from the points raised so if its a bit blunt, I apologise. I have a great deal of knowledge on the legal side of these things but I imagine there will be others with differing opinions.

Having a look at the facts provided, the first issue you suffered with the vehicle, being the engine management light issue "that came back on again within 24 hours" was rectified. The second issue where your car was not with you for a month was also rectified. I am assuming these were separate vehicular issues as you have not provided sufficient further information, but let me know exactly what fault these where and what was done and what parts were used to rectify them and we can confirm for definite.

The most recent and apparent problem sounds like a brand new issue - the whirring from the engine you first heard was likely something of nothing - no fault takes 9 months of use to develop on a car - think of all the miles you have done since you actually bought it!

Legally speaking, the burden of proof is now on you to prove that your most recent fault was there at the time of sale, as its after 6 months since you first purchased the car (see SoGA 1979 s.48A-F). Saying you "heard a whirring noise at the time" is not considered proof, or evidence for that matter. Getting any mechanic or engineer to produce you with a formal report after an inspection which categorically states that this issue was present 9 months ago is unlikely and unrealisitic.

Also the salesmen's original sale of the car is and would never be considered mis-selling under SoGA 1979 or any other relevant statute either.

Additionally, a salesmen is no more of a mechanic than you are. There is no legal obligation for them to pick up on a problem, but I think that in this instance, the fault only recently occurred so they cannot pick up on something that wasn't actually there when they were using the car!

Furthermore, an AA man saying it will cost you thousands of pounds doesn't necessarily mean it will do - AA van men are not all qualified mechanics and certainly don't all have the level of technical expertise necessary to work as full time mechanics in main dealers or full time garages or repair centres.

I would go and get the vehicle booked in at a local garage and get it looked at for an accurate assessment of exactly what is wrong with it, what parts are needed and an estimate of the actual cost first to see how much it will actually cost you to repair rather than unnecessarily stressing yourself and your partner out!

I am sorry if this seems like no help but cars are machines and their components do have wear lives. Used cars are exactly that - used goods. Unfortunately the "fitness for purpose" test under s.14 SoGA that consumers constantly mention on these sorts of forums fail to acknowledge that it is based on the age, mileage and condition of the vehicle that you bought its a reasonableness test - it is not a brand new car, so why would you expect it to operate like one?

Finally, I would point out that if you purchased the car on finance, then, actually you bought the car from the Finance company and not the car seller - the Car seller sells it to the finance company, not to you. So any legal rights you are trying to enforce are against......that's right, the finance company. That is a massive customer misconception about buying cars on finance amongst the general public. In this case, that might not be much help as I don't think you have any strong legal position, but its useful to know.

However, in your situation, consider this - if you don't pay for the car - the finance company will eventually repossess it. Then they have a car that they have to auction off for a greatly decreased value - so they lose.

Other option is trade the car in as a part exchange and buy something else?

Cheers

B

[MissFM]

Re: Mis sold a faulty car - please help

When we spoke with the salesman and owner of the company he assured us that we would not have any problems with the car and it would cost no more than a normal BMW.

What do you mean by this, Mrcraigboo please?