30-day rejection - no response or acknowledgment from Dealers

[Kel176506]

Hi all,

Hopefully this isn't too long or painful of a read and someone might recommend the right next step:

I bought a used Jaguar F-Type for £29k, it is a 2017 registration with under average mileage for the year, it was bought from a Dealer that i would describe as a prestige Car Dealer (non-main Dealer) that deals in all brands of similar price pointed cars.

I paid outright by bank transfer and collected the vehicle on the 30th Oct. The Dealer in question was located 4-hrs away from me, so i did not inspect the car before purchasing but their website had good pictures and spec description, and they told me that their vehicles are all serviced and MOT'd before sale. Their website described their stock as handpicked, vetted by experts and prepared to a high standard.

On the day of collection i had a 5-min walk around the vehicle, a quick look at the vehicle paperwork (I’d checked the online service history via Jaguar already) and then paid £149 on the day for vehicle tax purposes and was on my way - i understand this collection in person means it's not considered a distance sale which i have no issues with.

A disappointment on collection day was to find that the vehicle only had one remote key. This was never mentioned to me before purchase but at the time i took it on the chin. The car looked lovely, the junior sales exec didn't really seem to know much and i rationalised in my head that I’d get a second key programmed for it at a small cost to me.

The Jaguar service records are now online and because i could see it was due a service at Jaguar to maintain the Jaguar full service history, i had already booked it in for service on the 9th Nov + on the same day i had an engineer come and programme a new second key.

Key Programming - all went as normal on the morning, expect the engineer pointed out to me that the module they have to access for programming should be secured by two screws and he found on my car one screw was completely missing. During programming he also said that they can see a history of fault codes that have been present on the vehicle - i didn't think to take evidence of this in any way. He fitted a second screw when he put the module back in and i went off to get the car serviced.

Oil leak - At the Jaguar dealership while completing the routine servicing, they found an oil leak on the engine. Oil has covered the side of the engine, the alternator and is on the engine undershield, which the service advisor said to me is not a recent leak. I have a video of this oil leak taken during the service inspection. They contacted me in follow up to say that the car should be booked in for diagnosis to investigate where the leak is coming from as they could not confirm the location due to the amount of oil. In email the service advisor has said "this is not recent however the selling dealer may have another opinion and it would be hard to date stamp an oil leak".

At this point i tried to contact the selling Dealer because either the vehicle was not serviced before sale, or the leak was seen during the service and ignored. I emailed about the key programming and what the engineer had told me about the module and sent over the video that was taken by the Jaguar main dealer during the service. For a couple of days, the selling Sales Manager at the Dealer told me via email they couldn't see the video or wanted photos of the fault codes. I sent the video via email and WhatsApp and asked to speak by phone multiple times as i wanted to discuss these issues. Eventually i got hold of the junior sales exec on the phone, who fumbled through a conversation saying, "sorry i don't deal with problem cars" and literally stated he knew nothing about what to do next.

The Sales Manager sent me an email on the 13th when i asked if he had viewed the video which said "I will take a look and come back to you within the next 48hrs" - by this point I'd had enough. I stopped using the vehicle as soon as the oil leak was reported to me, so on the 13th Nov i decided to formally reject the car via email due to it being "not of satisfactory quality" and followed this up by letter the next day.

The Sales Manager acknowledged the email by replying on the 14th Nov saying, "Sorry I am in and out today. You are within your rights to return the vehicle. Please bear with me while I try and sort this out for you"

After that message, the Dealer has removed their website, their phone goes straight to answer machine and all existence of the trading name is being deleted as far as i can see (on Google etc.). Companies House still has the acutal business listed but the operation that was the trading name for this company has disappeared.

On the 22nd Nov i sent a 'letter before action' via email and post - although in hindsight, i did not send this by recorded delivery nor did i have a read receipt option on the email, which leads me to...

Next Steps and advice :

Due to the cost of the vehicle i understand this is not a matter for small claims court.

Should i instruct a specialist consumer law Solicitor to start legal actions? Or is it worth paying the solicitor to send a formal "letter before claim" to see if this is acknowledged by the Dealer and the actually respond?

I don't understand how any letter can be recieved by a business if they are effectively saying they are permantly closed?! If this were to go to court, how would the Director that is listed for the business on Companies House be contacted if the registered address is not opening their mail.

Just for those that are wondering, i love the car! It's a special purchase and i would of liked to resolve this without multiple emails or phone calls + the idea of court action fills me with dread. I feel like i am heading to court becaue the intial estimate for the diagnosis work only is circa £600 and that's without the actual repair cost, this is ontop of the routine service and key programming i have already paid for.

[des8]

So what do you really want tom do with this vehicle?

I know you have given notice of rejection, but you do sound as if you want the vehicle.

Another course of action is to have the vehicle repaired, and then sue the dealer for your costs.
Hopefully this would be below the £10000 small claims limit and so no solicitors would be needed.

By the by where did "collection in person means it's not considered a distance sale which i have no issues with." come from?

[Kel176506]

Thanks for the welcome and I appreciate the response.

That's a good suggestion on the repair and something I had not really considered. I thought the Dealer would immediately suggest this avenue rather but the lack of contact and avoiding tactics ( is why I went down the rejection route.

I wanted to make it clear that it was rejected within 30-days because the vehicle has been supplied to me with an oil leak present on it already.

I haven't got a clue whether £10k would be sufficient but I understand the logic for this route. A large part of me would like the refund so I can avoid the inconvenience and time of having the car off the road during the diagnosis and repair but equally the legal costs and time to take this to court do not appeal

If I were to repair and then sue for the costs, i'm still not clear on how I could get the business into a small claims court if they are not responding and their business address is now closed? Should I consult with a solicitor and explain my intentions before proceeding with any diagnostic/ repair work?

Also, if I pursue this repair avenue, i thought it would need to be done via agreed mediation following a letter before claim from the solicitor? Otherwise wouldn't the small claims court say that is the proper process?

Distance Sale - my understanding must be wrong but I thought that because I collected in person at their location with a so called inspection of the vehicle, it is technically not a distance sale. Happy to be proved wrong on this but it's not the reason I rejected the vehicle if that makes any difference.

[Pezza54]

Under CRA 2015 you have the legal right to reject the car as you discovered a major fault (oil leak) and wrote to the dealer within 30 days of possession stating you wanted to reject the car.
After writing to you on 14 November saying that you are within your rights to reject the car and he would sort it out, the dealer is now not replying to your emails or responding to your phone calls left on his answer machine.
You should email the dealer and let him know that you intend to get the prestige car repaired at a local jaguar garage if you don't hear back within 2 working days. If he agrees to rejection you should make the car available for collection and you should not pay for this and will expect your full refund transferred back to your bank within 14 days.
If you don't hear back from him or he refuses rejection you should get the car repaired.
Then make a court claim for the repair cost, the service cost (it was advertised as recently serviced), the second key, and any other costs such as alternative transport, plus interest.
Is the dealer's limited liability company name and registered company address on the invoice -it could be in small print?

[Kel176506]

Yes, on the invoice it has the trading name and the Ltd company name which is the registered companies house name. This companies house name is also the banking details name where I sent funds to pay for the car.

So that I'm clear, your advice is.
Email the Dealer informing them that if the car is not taken back a a rejection with refund, I intend to get the car repaired at a Jaguar garage and will seek to recover this cost via small claims court for the repair + the service + second key.

Should I consult a solicitor to write that letter formally?

The issue I have is that the Dealer is ignoring everything I send via email so far. So I'm expecting no response and therefore have to do the repair anyway and then try to get them to small claims court.

[Pezza54]

No need to involve a solicitor. There is no certainty that if you win your claim the dealer will refund your money so the less you spend on legal fees the better.
Look at the last trading accounts for the dealer on Companies House website and see how much assets exceed liabilities if at all.

[Pezza54]

If you decide to make a court claim it is the LLC name and registered address that is entered on claim form N1

[Kel176506]

Please could you advise if you think this is the right information to convey in the letter adressed to the business and i will send this recorded delivery:

Letter before court claim, 5^th December 2023


To whom it may concern,

Re: Faulty 2017 Jaguar F-Type


I have not received further reply to my letter before action email and letter sent on 22 November 2023 regarding the faulty goods which I bought from you on 30 October 2023. The letter explained what is wrong with the goods and why I am entitled to a refund.


I am once again requesting a full refund of the purchase price of £29087 on the grounds that the goods were not of satisfactory quality under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.


I would like a reply as soon as possible so that I know you have received this letter. If you don't agree to the refund, could you please then send me a detailed response saying why you don't agree.


If I do not receive a satisfactory response from you within 2 working days of the date of this letter, I intend to proceed with the repair of the vehicle at the local Jaguar main dealer that diagnosed and reported the oil. I will then procced to claim all costs involved since purchase via the small claims court without further notice. This may increase your liability for costs.


I refer you to the Practice Direction on pre-action conduct under the Civil Procedure Rules, and in particular to paragraph 13-16 which sets out the sanctions the court may impose if you fail to comply with the Practice Direction.


I look forward to your acknowledgement.

Yours faithfully,


Would this be sufficient as a letter to then begin the repair action and when would you advise i involve a solicitor? I am assuming once the vehicle is considered fully repaired?

[Pezza54]

Change to whom it may concern to the director's name if you know it otherwise use Sir
Change faulty goods to the serious fault with the car.
Change goods again to Jaguar and add in 1st paragraph "why I am rejecting the car and am entitled to a full refund"
Delete the 3rd paragraph. You are within your legal rights to reject the car and asking why he disputes rejection could start a lengthy argument.
If you are sending a letter change 2 working days to 5, send the letter by email and post. Send 1st class and keep a copy of the post office receipt.
Delete "I look forward to your acknowledgement" You probably don't really mean this
If you have included the director's name change faithfully to sincerely. If you don't have the director's name change to whom it may concern to Sir and leave sincerely

[Kel176506]

Thanks for the guidance. I do know the directors name according to Companies House although I never dealt with them at all during the sale process.

On the postage front, is it not better to send recorded so I have some proof it was delivered to someone at the business? Or does that become a line of defence if the seller can show no one ever received the letter physically.

[des8]

Thanks for the guidance. I do know the directors name according to Companies House although I never dealt with them at all during the sale process.

On the postage front, is it not better to send recorded so I have some proof it was delivered to someone at the business? Or does that become a line of defence if the seller can show no one ever received the letter physically.

Letters sent "signed for" or recorded do not have to be accepted by the addressee
So send the letter first class and obtaining a free certificate of posting from post office

[Kel176506]

Again, thank you. I'll send tomorrow and hopefully have some acknowledgment from the Dealer, although i am very doubtful of this!

Not sure this matters much but today i noticed that Google no longer refers to the business as 'Permantely closed' and instead is reflecting that they are open to their normal business hours.

[Kel176506]

This morning i have received email from a firm that is acting on behalf of the Dealership i bought the car from in regards to the director placing the business in voluntary liquidation. I'm working my way through the mass of paperwork attachments they have sent but note there is a "A Proof of Debt form" included as an attachment.

I assume they got my email address from the previous email or letters i was sending to the Dealer.

Also today, i was contacted by the former sales exec just after the email landed where he basically explained that he was nothing to do with the company and had been made redundant. This is why the email correspondence stopped. The call was quite long to explain that but he said he had not way to help me or help me contact the director of the business.

I wasn't really expecting any of the above. I was following the company on HMRC companies house to see if it would be liquidated as i was advised i could notify them that i had an outstanding issue with the business to stop the liquidation so i did not expect to be contacted directly?!

Any advise on what i should be doing next? FYI the vehicle is not yet repaired or diagnosed, so I’m not clear what i could sate my debt would be unless i said i wanted the original refund to be considered as debt??

[Pezza54]

Can you get an estimate from a jaguar garage to repair the car?
Then send this estimate and invoices and correspondence to the company as proof of debt.
In the meantime you should consider getting the car repaired yourself. You could wait months for a payout that never happens.
If you decide to get the car repaired you should sent the invoice to the company to replace the repair estimate.