Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

[Rhothgar]

Good morning,

I am helping a friend who bought a car from a trader on 09/12/2016 which broke down within 3 weeks. He failed to mention it to the trader for another 19 days and the trader basically told him to take the undriveable car to a diagnostics centre for inspection not saying whether he would pay for that. The implication is that the trader wouldn't.

The trader never answers his phone.

So I wrote a letter giving them 14 days to repair the car. He received no response so I followed up with another letter exercising the final right to reject and stating that it would go to small claims court if the car was not collected and money repaid. He received a hand written letter claiming that the business had been sold towards the end of the 14 day period. The point here is why would an alleged new owner open the mail of the previous owner.

I went to the traders and had a chat pretending to be a prospective customer. The person now running it told me he is personal friends with the original owner and is just babysitting it whilst he is away on holiday. In the next breath, he said the original owner is now working for someone else.

I asked my friend to check the business name is still the same which he did on 14/03.

I have drafted some particulars of claim to start the ball rolling but have not submitted it yet.

Question is should we go down and reveal who I was?

The main worry is that they will just change the business name signage. The business is now showing as Closed on Google Search though the phone number remains the same.

I do not know the surname of the original business owner not the surname of the alleged new owner!

Please can you advise what the next step should be.

[des8]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

You refer to a business.
Was this business a limited company, or a sole trader trading as XYZ motor dealers?
If it was a limited company which has changed ownership, then proceed against the limited company.
If it was Mr Arfur Daly t/a xyz motor dealers then proceed against mr Daly.

[Rhothgar]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

You refer to a business.
Was this business a limited company, or a sole trader trading as XYZ motor dealers?
If it was a limited company which has changed ownership, then proceed against the limited company.
If it was Mr Arfur Daly t/a xyz motor dealers then proceed against mr Daly.

Thanks des8 for the info.

I believe it is a sole trader setup as they are not listed on Companies House.

As my friend does not know the surname of the 'original' owner, how can I proceed this? Should I just put the first names of the original owner and the alleged new owner? Or is there some other way of finding these details out?

[des8]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

He has a claim only against he person who sold him the car.
He needs to be able to identify that person, and will also need an address to which court documents can be sent.
I would urge him to seek the man's surname and his current address.
If this proves impossible he could serve papers on "2 Nick t/a xyz motors" and use his current work place, or his previous premises.

A better way might be to employ a process server... yes there is a cost, but you will know the job is done!

If the person you are chasing has sold the business, what are the chances of him not having sufficient assets to pay if your claim is successful?
Probably worth doing some inveatigations to discover if it's worth pursuing this matter.

[Rhothgar]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

I've just spoken with the 'new' owner and he is now saying that he has no ties although before in person he said he was a friend of the original owners.

I'm doing all the legwork for my friend.

What is a process server please?

[Rhothgar]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

Right! Bingo! It's amazing what a bit of searching drags up. Just spoken to a friend that used to work at a bailliff and it turns out he was a process server.

I've searched Google with just the business name and his first name and it came up with a VAT ID and a home address so the question is with the VAT number being currently valid, do we simply serve papers to the chap's home address under the correct business name?

I have seen he also used a director of another local company so I am thinking of calling them and asking his whereabouts pretending to be an old colleague. Just got to think of an appropriate cover story.

[des8]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

yep... just complete claim form in name of Mr X and his current address.

the claim will be against MR X who previously traded as xyz

Court will serve the papers

[Rhothgar]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

yep... just complete claim form in name of Mr X and his current address.

the claim will be against MR X who previously traded as xyz

Court will serve the papers

Cool! I am going to contact his wife via FaceBook to confirm the whereabouts of "my old mate" and see if she confirms the address I have found for him.

The point here is he is clearly a slippery character so what would happen if it goes to court, they serve papers, my friend wins and then bailliffs turn up and his wife say he no longer lives there? I wouldn't put anything past him.

Northampton County Court Business Centre simply send the form by post. The best we could hope for is that he doesn't acknowledge service and get a default judgement and bailiffs around asap.

What else could possibly go wrong? Never been through this before. I suppose all his assets could, or more likely, will be in his wife's name?

[des8]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

Won't be the first person to own nothing!
But if he's working you might be able to obtain an attachment of earnings

[Rhothgar]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

Won't be the first person to own nothing!
But if he's working you might be able to obtain an attachment of earnings

I'm quite sure of that.

I am going to go to the local council and do an electoral roll search to ensure he is still registered at that address. I was thinking it might be a good idea to obtain one of these reports you can get from the likes of 192.com that cost £18.00. They are 28 ages long and contain all sorts of information that could prove valuable such as other CCJ's, property ownership details, etceteras.

What do you think? Is this kind of information useful? I mentioned it to my friend who is lumbered with this £1000 clapped out car and he said he doesn't want to keep throwing money at it. It's only £18 but I'm not sure what he thinks he is going to do otherwise - perhaps he thinks it's OK to just write £1000 off.

I've told him not to get an assessment on what could be wrong at the moment because it means he has to spend another £60 for a diagnostics at a local diesel specialist but they will be able to tell him exactly what needs doing and the cost. From speaking to people I know, in the know, they say the particular make and model is renowned for diesel pump issues which can cost minimum £650 to rectify and that is just the part excluding labour.

My thinking is that if this guy owns the property I have traced him to then it is merely a case of winning in court and getting the bailliffs in or applying for bankruptcy? I've no idea to be honest as I have never taken anyone to court.

Also, Civil Procedure Rules, I have sent two letters to his original business address. Should I send him something to the address I've tracked him to once I've confirmed it or is that alerting him?

[wales01man]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

Have you searched to see if he is or has been a company director

[Rhothgar]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

Hi wales01man

Yes I have. He was back in the 90's and I used that information to contact a member of his family and verify I had the right person who sells cars and his wife's FaceBook name!!!

[des8]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

To find out if he owns the property he lives in go to land Registry £3 cost http://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk...0C7IdFQG9k5Tz/

With a £1000 debt he could apply for a charging order or bankruptcy .... both a bit heavy though IMO

He doesn't need a diagnostics to show the car has a fault, which makes it unsatisfactory.
As his rejection was after the first thirty days it is for the dealer to show the fault was not present at the time the car was purchased CRA 2015 sec 19 (14)

I would now just issue the claim through MCOL

[Rhothgar]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

Evening,

My friend is round at the moment and we are discussing the potential issues and pitfalls of taking the trader to court.

As my friend has been without the car since 1st Jan, he wants to get a quick resolution (which the court route is not).

So! My question is if we file a claim against the trader on the basis that my friend wants a full refund as he wishes to exercise his final right to reject under CRA2015 and then he goes and gets a quote for repair and has the car repaired, will it cost anything to change the basis of the claim?

Say the car cost £1000 and he puts claim in for £1000 then spends £800 on getting it repaired, it is also currently taxed and insured as is legal requirement because it is sitting on the road, how would this affect the claim please?

I just said to him why don't you go and dump it on the trader's drive without a key and cause an obstruction.

Also, does anyone have any experience of the detail report on 192.com at £14.99+VAT? It is supposed to give county court judgment info and trading names, etc, etc.

Are there any other good sources for information such as this as my friend wants to be pretty sure that the guy has some assets?

[des8]

Re: Faulty Car - Consumer Rights Act

If he's not careful your friend is going to sit there checking this that and the other and do nothing.
There is no certainty in the world.

I understood that he had already exercised his final right to reject, although the claim had not been issued.
There is the possibility of claimng damages Sec 19 (11), or a price reduction(sec24)