EV from CarSupermarket faulty in 4 months

[nlntr79]

I recently purchased an electric VW car from a dealer, carsupermarket.com. I also purchased independently an extended warranty from VW themselves as it was coming up to 3 years old when I got the car, for piece of mind given how much EV repairs can cost.

4 months after getting the car, it wouldn’t start one day, had it towed to VW and they have confirmed it needs a new DC to AC inverter, which would have cost £2600 but will be settled with my extended warranty, I have to pay a £250 excess.

My question is, would I have any recourse to try and claim the £250 back from the dealer I purchased the car from? I am aware that under 6 months from purchase, they should accept responsibility for a defect unless they can prove it was not present at the point of sale.

I expect the doubt would be cast because I didn’t have it go to them when the fault occurred, and went straight to VW. This is because I wouldn’t have thought that any of these car supermarket places would have the knowledge and expertise to deal with an EV fault.

[echat11]

How did you pay for the car?

[nlntr79]

Hello, it was paid with finance (arranged by myself and they paid the dealer) along with a small deposit on credit card.

[Pezza54]

I am inclined to agree with your last paragraph
Under CRA you could have asked the dealer to repair the car at no cost to you as the serious fault occurred within 6 months of delivery
However you decided not to give the dealer a chance to repair and had the work done under warranty, paying the £250 excess
Although more costly it was probably the easier route. At a repair cost of £2600 the dealer is likely to have given you a difficult time getting the fault fixed

[echat11]

Hello, it was paid with finance (arranged by myself and they paid the dealer) along with a small deposit on credit card.

There are protocols regards Section 75 claims, there is joint liability, finance company (dealer) and Credit Card company. I would make a Section 75 claim, it's going to be an 'uphill struggle', you lose nothing in making the claim.

[Pezza54]

Under CRA the dealer should have been given a chance to repair or replace the vehicle
OP didn't do this, so IMO the dealer hasn't breached the contract
For a successful S75 claim the credit card company would want to see that the supplier has breached the contract, and in this case was given the chance to repair the fault

[echat11]

Under CRA the dealer should have been given a chance to repair or replace the vehicle
OP didn't do this, so IMO the dealer hasn't breached the contract
For a successful S75 claim the credit card company would want to see that the supplier has breached the contract, and in this case was given the chance to repair the fault

As I said an 'uphill struggle'.

[nlntr79]

Thanks for your replies.

Yes I thought this would be the case (uphill struggle!).

I had the car taken to a franchised dealer that I knew would have qualified EV technicians with knowledge of my car, and indeed the speed of using my extended warranty. Perhaps this has scuppered any claim against the seller of the car for the reasons stated.

I wondered if my angle could be to go down the route of saving the seller about £2,400 - because I am asking for £250 - whereas if I had gone to them first and battled with them to sort it out, they would have ended up having to pay the full whack.