We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

[juju020]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

It might be helpful perhaps before you send a letter to the solicitor, if you could post up your original letter and the solicitors response so we know how to help you further. Redact any personal information on there before you do.

And if you post up your response then we can point you in the right direction or give any further suggestions as to what to include.

I'll tag @des8 in this as he also has some knowledge in this area, but if you email the letters to Kati@Legalbeagles.info she can post them up for you, @Kati


Just to add, if you commence proceedings it will cost £70 to issue the claim and then a further £115 if the claim goes to trial. If successful the fees will be paid back to you in addition to the amount for the car.

Oh how wonderful!! Thank you sooo much. I can see a light

[wales01man]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

JUJU
From here looks a win for you with the help LB will give

[juju020]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

Thank you wales01man :stars: tbh I am feeling so much more confident!! I nearly gave up. I am so grateful for this advice you would not believe the relief of even being able to talk to someone, let alone get such great help. I don't have the money for a solicitor, and he knows that.

I've sent the letters and responses to Kati (thank you Kati) as advised by R0b (thank you R0b)

I feel excited.

[R0b]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

[MENTION=91468]juju020[/MENTION]

Kati doesn't seem to have received an email yet, have you sent it to the right email address - Kati@legalbeagles.info ?

[CLL1]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

Ultimately, it needs to be determined what exactly caused the engine light to come on. I will admit, I don't like that the car was still used after the light came on. That might have amplified any problems with the car.

[juju020]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

@juju020

Kati doesn't seem to have received an email yet, have you sent it to the right email address - Kati@legalbeagles.info ?

I've checked and I appear to have used the correct email address. I'll try and re-send it. Thanks R0b

Actually I spelt it wrong...sorry.

[juju020]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

Ultimately, it needs to be determined what exactly caused the engine light to come on. I will admit, I don't like that the car was still used after the light came on. That might have amplified any problems with the car.

I know, that is what is so frustrating. I bought the car 24 August, light came on 25 August, took it to an independent garage for inspection that night who said it was very minor and was fine to drive. They said it would cost approx £300. The owner of the garage when confronted with this said do not pay the other garage as he could do it cheaper but was going away. When my son said he needed the car badly for work (he works all over) the owner said use the car and bring it in when I return in 3 weeks. The solicitor was lying when he says my son was told to bring the car back (well the owner is lying to his solicitor or they're lying together)In any case it appears the fire was electrical, started by the battery.

We had sent the owner the report from the garage, he seemed happy enough to let my son carry on driving. My son has two small children, he does not get paid if he doesn't work and he must have a car. His previous car broke down the Friday night, we looked at many cars and rejected them for various reasons, we would definitely have rejected this one if we had known about the CAT C write off.

I'm seeing someone from the garage to see whether the 'minor' faults could have anything to do with this, though from speaking to a friend who is a mechanic it's highly unlikely.

Thanks

[R0b]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

Hi Juju,

Kati still hasn't received the email you have sent, perhaps you might want to upload it to www.postimage.org

Then copy and paste the thumbnail for forum link on here and we can take a look.

[juju020]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

Hi Juju,

Kati still hasn't received the email you have sent, perhaps you might want to upload it to www.postimage.org

Then copy and paste the thumbnail for forum link on here and we can take a look.

R0b, I'm useless.....I have tried to send it again. I think I keep re-sending it to the typo I originally sent it to. Useless! If she doesn't get it this time let me know and I'll try your suggestion above.

Thanks for letting me know.

[Kati]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

R0b, I'm useless.....I have tried to send it again. I think I keep re-sending it to the typo I originally sent it to. Useless! If she doesn't get it this time let me know and I'll try your suggestion above.

Thanks for letting me know.

Got it ... give me 2mins to sort it out and I'll post up xx

[juju020]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

Got it ... give me 2mins to sort it out and I'll post up xx

Yaay...thank you Kati

[Kati]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

[MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION] the attachment is the first letter

His reply

On Wednesday, September 14, 2016, 19:02, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX wrote:

1. The vehicle was sold by you in the 3^rd week of August.

2. You say you were notified by XXXXXX (or her partner XXXXXXXXXXXXX) of the EML illuminating a few days later and that the advice was to bring it back to you immediately.

3. Instead,the car was taken to another garage on 25.8.16 who diagnosed worn out air flow circuit and oxygen sensors – no indication that they were replaced.

4. I am told that you again repeated that the car was to be brought back to you for free replacements to be fitted.

5. The car caught fire whilst being driven on 5 September and damaged beyond repair.

6. We do not know what the cause of the fire was – no-one does.

7. If it was due to the inoperative components identified in 3 above then it is the fault of XXXXXXXXXXX/XXXXXXXXX that they did not get them replaced either by you or another garage.

8. They were aware of the problems and took the risk of continuing to drive the car and with no indication that they would bring the car back to you.

9. Their risk back-fired but that is not your responsibility.

10. A claim can be made under the insurance. If the insured party chose such a huge excess (£750) so as to keep their premiums down,that was their choice and no-one else.

Ina nutshell I do not see how you can be responsible for their failure not to have new parts fitted at no cost to them when they were all too aware of the need to do so - nor for the fact that their choice of insurance excess leaves a shortfall between insurance settlement and purchase price.



"Other than my saying the car was being driven when it caught fire when actually it was stationary, my comments remain the same as those I emailed to you yesterday. The issue as to whether it was formerly a Cat C car is irrelevant because the repairs were done satisfactorily and to an approved and MOT standard pre-sale. It is a dubious attempt by the insurance company to reduce the value of the car but has no bearing on the likely cause of the fire – the fact that the car was continued to be driven for over a week after the problems were identified and ignored by the owner/driver. Had they returned the car for repair as offered none of this would have happened."


Hi,that is the comments from my lower and I should stick with their verdict and refuse to settle your claim.
Regards: XXXXXXXXXXX
AvusAuto Ltd

Juju's response was this:

To whomever it may concern


1. The date is correct of the purchase of the car.
2. This second statement is incorrect, The engine light came on the very next day. XXXXXXXXX was at that point actually 'offered' his money'back' by XXXXXXXXXXX.
3. XXXXXXXXXX told XXXXXXX that he was out of the country until 8 September, XXXXXXXXXXX had no choice but to take it to an independant garage.
4. XXXXXXXXXXX was assured by the independant garage that there were minor faults only and that the car was safe to drive. XXXXXXXXXXX asked for the report with which was provided. He then 'advised' XXXXXXXXXXXXX NOT to have the minor parts done at the independant garage and that he would complete the work himself when he returned from Bulgaria under the terms of the Warranty as he could do it cheaper.
5.Correct statement.
6. If no-one knows what made the car catch fire then I re-iterate that XXXXXXXXXX stated that a lot of work was done on the car before we bought it. We want proof of that work as it could have contributed to the cause of the fire.
7. It was not due to the faulty components as it had been checked by a reputable garage, who said it was safe to drive. Again, XXXXXXXXXX,when presented with the fairly hefty bill of replacing saidc omponants, did not want to pay that and said he would repair the car himself upon his return, cheaper.
8. The car was declared safe to drive, they took no risk whatsoever. XXXXXXXXXX did not repeat bring the car back as he was not in the country and kept telling XXXXXXXXXXXX he would repair it upon his return.
9. Once again he took no risk and had the car checked immediately when the light came on. It was declared SAFE to drive and we will get the statement from the garage to say so for court. We will get independant advice as to whether these componants could possibly have caused such terrible destruction. The fire appears to have started around the battery.
10. It is not just about the excess, the car is still under warranty, he should not have to make a claim that will lose him so much, including his no claims bonus. Yes, would make a claim and if this was a genuine accident of course he would. It is very lucky he was not injured and that of passers by. I will obtain the photos and send them to you in due course.


We believe the fire had nothing to do with the faulty components as it was declared safe to drive, but we will get professional advice to corroborate this. Something else may have caused the fire and we feel XXXXXXXXXX's Auto garage is to blame. The car is still under warranty which is why he will not make a claim and we are excercising our consumer rights.


Once again the car was stationary when it caught fire, which we believe is'very' relevant! Nothing was ignored as you have stated, that is an untruth. XXXXXXX was in Bulgaria and XXXXXXXXXX took every precaution to ensure he was driving a safe car, which is what hebelieved he had bought! In a nutshell XXXXXXXXXXXX was sold a'Lemon' and there are laws which we hope will prevail and protect his rights. XXXXXXXXXXXXXX gave XXXXXXXXXX a warranty and should honour that and return his £1400 as he has no goods to show for it.


We shall go back to Fair trading standards with your reply, and take their advice which from our last conversation will be Court proceedings. I will forward your reply to them and shall be seeking further advice.


Just to inform you we are also examining the MOT history search to check the validity of the MOT after the last 'write off' and subsequent MOT's and to see who did them.

[R0b]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

Thanks for that, so your initial letter to them, did you actually tell them that unless the refund was made, you will be taking legal action or did you just make a complaint asking for a refund under your consumer rights?

[juju020]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

Thanks for that, so your initial letter to them, did you actually tell them that unless the refund was made, you will be taking legal action or did you just make a complaint asking for a refund under your consumer rights?

R0b, I think its more like a complaint under our consumer rights. I haven't actually said we will take him to court yet, it was a threat at the end that that would be our next move.

[wales01man]

Re: We just bought a car and it blew up within 3 weeks! Won't give me my money back!!

Time for a letter before action to this solicitor a copy to dealer as he is using his solicitor email and hard copy recorded delivery interesting to read the reply from them.