Persistent Fault Advice - Rejecting Vehicle

[kirstgary765]

Evening all,

Posted this elsewhere without realising there was a motoring sub forum;

Looking for some advice based on my experience below;

- Purchased used Audi Etron (3yrs old - circa 20,000 miles) from Arnold Clark : 15th December 2023
- Logged faults on collection inc; AC not working, doors not opening correctly, no charging cable
- Vehicle eventually booked in by Arnold Clark for repairs : 31st January 2024
- Vehicle collected post repairs : 15th February 2024
- AC fault persists on collection. Additionally, rear passenger side door scraped and damaged significantly whilst in Arnold Clark's care.
- Vehicle rebooked for AC repair again (2nd time) and also repair to damage caused by the garage : 4th March 2024
- Vehicle collected post repairs : 29th March 2024
- damage to bodywork concluded. However, this has been a combination of paintwork and smart repair and not to the same standard of a new undamaged door as was what was in place in original purchase. A/C fault still persists after a few days of appearing to work
- Vehicle rebooked for A/C repair again (3rd time) Today : 9th May 2024

I am losing confidence in the vehicle at this stage with the persistent A/C fault. Additionally, in the intervening period a central locking fault has appeared which will be checked today whilst booked in. Having paid circa £28,000 for the car and it only having carried out around 20,000 miles over a 3 year duration I would not expect these faults to persist. Furthermore, with the damage that was caused whilst in the garage, I no longer have the same condition of vehicle that I purchased originally despite a "resolution" by the garage with the repair work carried out.

Looking for some advice on what I should do at this stage?

[R0b]

Hi,

I'm not trying to be unhelpful but, it's not really up to us to tell you what you should do. Everyone has a different view in these circumstances, some may wish to keep the car despite the problems, some may want to look at handing the car back, and others may want to keep the car but seek some compensation for the loss of use plus any expenses incurred not having the car.

Once you tell us what you would like to do, we can then help you on the next steps.

[kirstgary765]

Hi,

I'm not trying to be unhelpful but, it's not really up to us to tell you what you should do. Everyone has a different view in these circumstances, some may wish to keep the car despite the problems, some may want to look at handing the car back, and others may want to keep the car but seek some compensation for the loss of use plus any expenses incurred not having the car.

Once you tell us what you would like to do, we can then help you on the next steps.

Thanks for the response.

I believe at this stage after all of the garage visits, the car not living up to my expectations and then getting damaged by the garage that may affect its future value if a savvy dealer can spot where it was, even through no fault of my own. I would like to look down the route of my right to return

My concern is that I have given them the car back for a 3rd time to fix the issue, does this impact my ability to exercise this right now? Or can I proceed with intimating?

Thanks

[R0b]

If I am reading your post right, the garage has taken the car from you yesterday to carry out the repair, so I think it would now be difficult to say that you now want to exercise your right to reject the car since you agreed for them to carry out another repair. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 only requires you to offer the dealer a one-time repair, not multiple opportunities.

I think, if you tried to argue you now want to reject, the garage will say that you agreed the third repair as a remedy and if you didn't agree to a repair then why did you hand the car back to them to be repaired.

If there is a fault again with the car, especially the same fault that has occurred in the past (but can be some other fault) then you will have the right to reject the vehicle. Equally, if the repairs being carried out now are not done within a reasonable period or cause you to be significantly inconvenienced, you could also exercise your right to reject. What is a reasonable period and whether you are significantly inconvenienced will be a question of fact as there is no definition of these phrases in the Act.

If you do decide to reject the car, you should make sure you put everything in writing from then on as evidential records if the dealer decides not to play ball. If you happened to pay a deposit or a proportion of that sum by credit card, then your credit card company will be jointly liable.

[Pezza54]

If the dealer refuses your request to reject the car and you decide to make a court claim, because of the value of your claim being over £10k it is likely to be allocated to the fast track. On this track you run the risk of paying the defendant's legal costs if you lose the case.
You have owned the car for nearly 5 months and the car has been back with the dealer for repairs for a total of 40 days. I agree, you should have expected a car in better condition when you paid £28k for a 3 year old car built by a prestige manufacturer
If I was in your position, I would wait for the car to be repaired again. If the a/c fault reappears or another serious fault develops, I would obtain a diagnostic report and estimate for the repair work. Then let the dealer know you are taking the car elsewhere (authorised Audi garage) to be repaired as he has had enough chances and has failed to carry out a satisfactory repair.
CRA 2015 provides the consumer with an alternative remedy to rejection, by claiming damages.

There is no reason why you shouldn't write to the dealer stating your wish to reject the car on the grounds that you have been without the car for over 40 days, an unreasonable amount of time that has caused you significant inconvenience.
If the dealer refuses your rejection, think seriously about starting a court claim to reject the car

[kirstgary765]

Thanks for the responses and apologies for the late update.

the car was in for 1 week and had pressure sensor and some pipe work replaced. The AC appears to be working now. However, between visit 2 & 3 fir this issue it lasted a couple of weeks before the fault reoccured.

It is now 1 week since I have had the car back and I now have a parking brake fault appear on the dash and stating to contact the workshop. The parking brake will not disengage and is preventing me from using the car.

I have drafted the following email to my contact at the garage as based on Rob’s advice above re recording everything going forward.

Hi Craig,

Had the car back a week now, went to use the car tonight and now there is a parking break fault which is preventing me from driving the car. See attached photo.

The list of faults to date include;
- charging port not operating (replaced 1st time booked in)
- doors jamming (still ongoing)
- a/c not working (booked in on 3 separate occasions to be fixed)

Aside from this, it has also been significantly damaged whilst in the care of Arnold Clark. The extensive bodywork damage was repaired by AC. However, I never purchased a damaged car and now I am left with a vehicle that has been damaged and not as was sold to me through the fault of Arnold Clark.

In total, the car has been in for 51 days for faults and repairs. A totally unreasonable timeframe and due to this I have had to take almost 1 week worth of time away from work to arrange drop offs and collections at the garage. This has been a major inconvenience and one I am no longer willing to allow to continue. I have permitted AC to rectify the faults on more than one occasion. This is considerably more than my rights permit within the timeframe. I work in a job that requires me to extensively travel and this unreliability deems the car to be not fit for purpose and as it stands due to the recent fault as shown below this is now causing even further inconvenience to me.

Can you call me at your earliest convenience tomorrow please on 0xxxxxxxxx

Regards


Can anyone provide me any advice on how to now progress with my right to reject in the most successful way please ?