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Im really hoping someone can help me out here - i am at my wits end with a dodgy dealer, who is trying to duck out of any responsbility!!!
grab a cuppa, this is a long one
I viewed and purchased a well known hardy brand 2006 4x4 with 160k miles in mid July this year for 6500 of my hard earned british pounds ( 160k not particularly high mileage for this brand of 4x4 )
I met with the owner/dealer ( who told me he was a mere salesman ) who showed me the car, and told me it had a full service history, owned by his friend etc etc excellent motor, recently serviced, very well looked after no expense spared etc...
The garage was extremely impressive with lots of luxury cars parked around and big signs with their business name, the dealer spoke of many prestigious clients and multiple locations and long trading history so i thought i was in safe hands and took him at his word regarding the state and history of the car..
on test drive i did notice some defects that he assured me were minor and not unsafe and so i negotiated the price down 500 quid. he said for that price no warranty, i said ok... He wrote ' trade sale ' on the receipt but knowing full well i was a personal buyer! he said his director had told him to do this ....
In the first 3 weeks of car ownership i started feeling more and more unhappy about the car - first off a massive paint stain had been badly hidden by rubbish car mats, and there was no way it will ever come out.. then i found the defects that i were told were minor on viewing the car, were actually quite dangerous and cost a lot more to fix then he first told me ... i was away when i found this out so i just told my guy to go ahead and get it fixed as car was needed for a well deserved holiday when i got back from a conference.
Last week ( day 27 of car ownership ) i got back from my conference and we set off for a quick family holiday.
Before we left we checked oil, fluid, lights and tyres as normal before starting a long journey. All seemed to be normal.
The car had been running for around 2.5 hours ( its first long journey ) when we heard 2 knocks from the engine. We immediately pulled over onto the hard shoulder, and stopped and called recovery.
The car was then recovered to a garage at our destination area for further diagnostics.
The car was inspected the next morning and from removing the bottom plate it was very obvious that a catastrophic failure had occurred. There was a man-fist sized hole on the side of the engine block!
They quoted a new engine with parts and labour coming to 7-8K
I then contacted the dealer to inform them of what had happened, they spoke to the garage, which had explained the issue, they intimated to them they may get it recovered, but informed me that he would need to speak to his director ( who i since found out doesnt exist) and to call again the next morning
When i called again the next morning the dealer informed me the best he could do is offer a repair at ' trade cost' which would be less than what the garage it was in was offering but still in the region of 3-4k. I rejected this and informed him that the vehicle is not of satisfactory quality nor fit for purpose and that i wanted to return the vehicle for a full refund. Dealer informed me that because i declined the warranty ( for 100 extra) , that i had waived any right to a ' comeback ' and a refund would not be forthcoming. The conversation got quite heated with Dealer accusing me of ' tricking' him. He advised me i had my facts wrong and that i would not win a court case, and he was recording our conversation and that he had CCTV footage of me (illegal, no signs up saying so ) and i was being recorded ( 20 mins into the call )
He advised if i tried to return the vehicle it would not be accepted and he would accept no responsibility if the car was delivered back to the area/place of business.
Further to this, Dealer informed me that i needed to contact his lawyers and he would not speak to me any further regarding the matter. I tried to contact the above solicitor, only to be told they only correspond with Dealer and not with me. I rang Dealer back and informed him of this but didnt hear anything for a number of days.
I spoke then to citizens advice, and to my home insurance legal helpline who informed me i had short term right to reject under consumer rights act. i explained exactly what had gone wrong, how long id had the car etc and they advised me i was within my rights to write a letter formally rejecting the car ( see attached ) which was sent via email that day and recorded delivery next. It gave dealer 7 days to refund me before court action.
Holiday ruined due to no transport, we had to fork out for car hire back home and recovery of the car ( 500 all up ) and also look into getting the car inspected to get the the root of the engine issue but that said- there were also other significant faults at the time of sale that he clearly knew about but lied about not to mention the paint in the boot!!!
Then i started questioning exactly who i was dealing with, the website had no clues such as company number, so i looked the dealer up on various social media and plain as day it states hes the owner and MD! i couldnt believe it. i had even addressed my letter before action to someone who didnt exist ( but luckily i included him and the name i guess he is trading under )
Spent a day trying to track down who he is - almost a dozen companies in the last 4 years he has run, all dissolved and all dormant then compulsory strike off due to not filing accounts. none of them directly related to car sales either. i dug out the receipt and no company number, just a trading name ( doesnt exist in CH ) , with a company name underneath ( which is in CH records but unrelated to car sales) , which is also dormant and not in his name - turns out its his mum is named as the director!
He also told me he is FCA regulated as he offers finance, yet i cannot find him at all on the register....unless there is another company i dont know about?
His solicitors finally for in touch to say theyre acting for him and theyre not entertaining any claim as they have seen no evidence. i wrote back to them explaining that in essence if a car cant last 30 days and <1000 miles given what i paid for it ( 6500) then thats good enough evidence its not satisfactory quality. i offered them the car back at my cost which is not inconsiderable in return for a full refund in 14 days, and guess what...
The dealer and the solicitor both decide to go on holiday! apparently it will be ' some weeks' before i hear back.
That doesnt help me, costs are rising and im struggling without a car. I need to get this sorted asap, but im not sure exactly WHO i should be putting on the claim form?
* Dodgy Dealer Trading as Dodgy trading name or
* Dodgy Dealer Trading as Dodgy trading name(registered Company name)
* Dodgy Trading name trading as Registered Company Name
* Dodgy Dealers Mum trading as Registered Company Name
Also how long is reasonable to wait until i file the claim? I called CA and also MCOL helpdesk, CA said to ask MCOL as if i file on Tuesday ( which is after the 7 days Letter before action ) and hes away 'some weeks ' he might not get to defend it and it might get set aside and/or viewed as ' unfair' by the judge, but on the other hand, i cannot wait ' some weeks ' and MCOL helpdesk said file whenever i want, he has 14 days to answer anyway and it depends on what view the judge takes on it.
I cant help but feel that the dealer is giving me a massive runaround here, i dont even know for sure if he is actually on holiday or not, who he really is or what company hes actually trading under, what company hes running under the FCA ( not warranty related as he told us he ' does his own warranties(?) ) and how to be sure i am claiming against the right person?
Any advice would be very much appreciated and i hope you all enjoyed your lovely cup of tea
grab a cuppa, this is a long one
I viewed and purchased a well known hardy brand 2006 4x4 with 160k miles in mid July this year for 6500 of my hard earned british pounds ( 160k not particularly high mileage for this brand of 4x4 )
I met with the owner/dealer ( who told me he was a mere salesman ) who showed me the car, and told me it had a full service history, owned by his friend etc etc excellent motor, recently serviced, very well looked after no expense spared etc...
The garage was extremely impressive with lots of luxury cars parked around and big signs with their business name, the dealer spoke of many prestigious clients and multiple locations and long trading history so i thought i was in safe hands and took him at his word regarding the state and history of the car..
on test drive i did notice some defects that he assured me were minor and not unsafe and so i negotiated the price down 500 quid. he said for that price no warranty, i said ok... He wrote ' trade sale ' on the receipt but knowing full well i was a personal buyer! he said his director had told him to do this ....
In the first 3 weeks of car ownership i started feeling more and more unhappy about the car - first off a massive paint stain had been badly hidden by rubbish car mats, and there was no way it will ever come out.. then i found the defects that i were told were minor on viewing the car, were actually quite dangerous and cost a lot more to fix then he first told me ... i was away when i found this out so i just told my guy to go ahead and get it fixed as car was needed for a well deserved holiday when i got back from a conference.
Last week ( day 27 of car ownership ) i got back from my conference and we set off for a quick family holiday.
Before we left we checked oil, fluid, lights and tyres as normal before starting a long journey. All seemed to be normal.
The car had been running for around 2.5 hours ( its first long journey ) when we heard 2 knocks from the engine. We immediately pulled over onto the hard shoulder, and stopped and called recovery.
The car was then recovered to a garage at our destination area for further diagnostics.
The car was inspected the next morning and from removing the bottom plate it was very obvious that a catastrophic failure had occurred. There was a man-fist sized hole on the side of the engine block!
They quoted a new engine with parts and labour coming to 7-8K
I then contacted the dealer to inform them of what had happened, they spoke to the garage, which had explained the issue, they intimated to them they may get it recovered, but informed me that he would need to speak to his director ( who i since found out doesnt exist) and to call again the next morning
When i called again the next morning the dealer informed me the best he could do is offer a repair at ' trade cost' which would be less than what the garage it was in was offering but still in the region of 3-4k. I rejected this and informed him that the vehicle is not of satisfactory quality nor fit for purpose and that i wanted to return the vehicle for a full refund. Dealer informed me that because i declined the warranty ( for 100 extra) , that i had waived any right to a ' comeback ' and a refund would not be forthcoming. The conversation got quite heated with Dealer accusing me of ' tricking' him. He advised me i had my facts wrong and that i would not win a court case, and he was recording our conversation and that he had CCTV footage of me (illegal, no signs up saying so ) and i was being recorded ( 20 mins into the call )
He advised if i tried to return the vehicle it would not be accepted and he would accept no responsibility if the car was delivered back to the area/place of business.
Further to this, Dealer informed me that i needed to contact his lawyers and he would not speak to me any further regarding the matter. I tried to contact the above solicitor, only to be told they only correspond with Dealer and not with me. I rang Dealer back and informed him of this but didnt hear anything for a number of days.
I spoke then to citizens advice, and to my home insurance legal helpline who informed me i had short term right to reject under consumer rights act. i explained exactly what had gone wrong, how long id had the car etc and they advised me i was within my rights to write a letter formally rejecting the car ( see attached ) which was sent via email that day and recorded delivery next. It gave dealer 7 days to refund me before court action.
Holiday ruined due to no transport, we had to fork out for car hire back home and recovery of the car ( 500 all up ) and also look into getting the car inspected to get the the root of the engine issue but that said- there were also other significant faults at the time of sale that he clearly knew about but lied about not to mention the paint in the boot!!!
Then i started questioning exactly who i was dealing with, the website had no clues such as company number, so i looked the dealer up on various social media and plain as day it states hes the owner and MD! i couldnt believe it. i had even addressed my letter before action to someone who didnt exist ( but luckily i included him and the name i guess he is trading under )
Spent a day trying to track down who he is - almost a dozen companies in the last 4 years he has run, all dissolved and all dormant then compulsory strike off due to not filing accounts. none of them directly related to car sales either. i dug out the receipt and no company number, just a trading name ( doesnt exist in CH ) , with a company name underneath ( which is in CH records but unrelated to car sales) , which is also dormant and not in his name - turns out its his mum is named as the director!
He also told me he is FCA regulated as he offers finance, yet i cannot find him at all on the register....unless there is another company i dont know about?
His solicitors finally for in touch to say theyre acting for him and theyre not entertaining any claim as they have seen no evidence. i wrote back to them explaining that in essence if a car cant last 30 days and <1000 miles given what i paid for it ( 6500) then thats good enough evidence its not satisfactory quality. i offered them the car back at my cost which is not inconsiderable in return for a full refund in 14 days, and guess what...
The dealer and the solicitor both decide to go on holiday! apparently it will be ' some weeks' before i hear back.
That doesnt help me, costs are rising and im struggling without a car. I need to get this sorted asap, but im not sure exactly WHO i should be putting on the claim form?
* Dodgy Dealer Trading as Dodgy trading name or
* Dodgy Dealer Trading as Dodgy trading name(registered Company name)
* Dodgy Trading name trading as Registered Company Name
* Dodgy Dealers Mum trading as Registered Company Name
Also how long is reasonable to wait until i file the claim? I called CA and also MCOL helpdesk, CA said to ask MCOL as if i file on Tuesday ( which is after the 7 days Letter before action ) and hes away 'some weeks ' he might not get to defend it and it might get set aside and/or viewed as ' unfair' by the judge, but on the other hand, i cannot wait ' some weeks ' and MCOL helpdesk said file whenever i want, he has 14 days to answer anyway and it depends on what view the judge takes on it.
I cant help but feel that the dealer is giving me a massive runaround here, i dont even know for sure if he is actually on holiday or not, who he really is or what company hes actually trading under, what company hes running under the FCA ( not warranty related as he told us he ' does his own warranties(?) ) and how to be sure i am claiming against the right person?
Any advice would be very much appreciated and i hope you all enjoyed your lovely cup of tea
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