Pressurised to buy faulty car

[VIVAVAUXHALL]

18th feb 2011

Went along to well known Car place just to look at a car 10 am got the sales banter, cutting long story short, decided to leave not wanting to purchase a Vauxhall Astra 2010 left with my friend in her car,

the sales man decided to follow me for 3 miles with the new car behind I stop on a road he continued with the banter even phoned his boss to reduce car selling price of 1k I kept telling the rep throughout the day day I didn't think I could afford the car,

time now around 5:30pm. Kids crying coz they were hungry, I told him I was going home, he told me on the street that if I didn't want the car then I could cancel the agreement, thinking that meant all the deal would be closed.

He then followed me home and begged me to "not let him lose the deal, he didn't want to go back to carC**** with no deal and that I could just see if they would give me credit, again I said I have not had time to see what I could afford, anyway he kept going on and on till I ended up back at the showroom 8pm, credit check done in less than five minutes I cleared.

They then told me I could not take the car as no checks had been done on the car and I would have to come back in the morning to collect. when I got home heard my mum was in hospital went straight to hospital where she died fours hours later.

The car had faults asked the company to repair the car which I had noticed flashing lights when i previously test drive, long and short is the car went back three times they couldnt fix it.

I asked for my deposit back and at one point returned the car with keys and log book left it there.

I ended up in hospital for ten days and was told by a friend the car was parked outside my house and the keys had been pushed through letterbox, when i came i saw the car.

Anyway two and a half years later the car has been parked up all this time been through Ombudsman, C.A.B., OFT, MP's claiming mis-selling of faulty goods, pressurised into buying. All have not ruled in my favor,

I have only paid 3,500 on car last payment was July 2011, I have default charges, and tonight 3/10/2013 recovery agent came and took the car, I am in no position to pay any regular sum of money, and stand on principle that the car was forced on me.

Can anyone help me from here on in as I feel like my head is going to explode, the total for the car was 15,499 I had told the sales man I had £3,500 to spend on a car HELP my attititude is I am not paying anymore money for a car I did not want, a car within 7 days of getting it, I wrote and told them that I would not be able to afford.
I wanted to rescind from the whole deal. I NEED HELP PLEASE!!!

[labman]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

The problem I see here is proof. It would appear the salesman harrassed you, but that would be your word against his. At the end of the day, however frustrated you were, nobody forced you to sign the agreement. If you were feeling that pressured and he was at your house, you should have called the police.

It may come under misselling regulations, but that is something I know very little about. Sorry! :beagle:

[charitynjw]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

Hi VIVAVAUXHALL,

Any chance of posting up a copy of the agreement?
It would be advantageous to see the financial details, & what type of agreement, as well as the T&C's.
Anonymise the posted copy, but do not deface the original.

[VIVAVAUXHALL]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

Thanks for the replies I received, yes Labman "call the police"! My point is how many shop assistants chased you for 3 miles to sell their product to you after you say you dont want it? Was I not entitled to breathing space to think about the purchase which I never got from 10am till 8pm?

To charitynjw, this is the edited details of my contract only with my details removed,
There are no signatures on these contract and I dont remember if I signed these papers, I dont know which papers I left with on that night.
I am unable to pay for this debt on top of what I payout already,
What happens now they have not told me if they have auctioned the car or if they have, they have not told me what the sold price was.
The only way I could pay them is to sell my house as they have completely blacklisted my previous good credit scoring.

[Amethyst]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

What was the response from the Financial Ombudsman ?

[CleverClogs]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

What was the response from the Financial Ombudsman ?

I would expect that the Fobbing Off Service just fobbed her off.

[VIVAVAUXHALL]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

According to the Ombudsman she had ruled in favour of the finance company that they had done a complete credit check on me and there was no mis-selling there, but i tried to explain to her that there were debts that i had, that were not being paid through bank accounts, she was siding on my side then at the last hour, she heard from the finance company that i had a second property and she started to change, saying she had calculated my finances and i could pay the finance. Even though I raised the fact that she had calculated £14,000 her calculation that were deposited on new house in 2010, she had calculated it with the income in 2011. I think she started to get pressure from above about length of time, as after two years she started to sound like she had to summarised pretty quickly!!

Even on my car contract its says [income £300] a month basically that's what I live on with two dependants even with the income from the other property, So how does the finance company(they agreed the credit within five mins) justify that they can take £266 a month in payments, what am i supposed to live on.

Car shaft did not write down my income and outgoings it was all done 'matter of factly' I made sure not to mention the second property because that house income was to be my life/death insurance as i have kidney disease that's not curable, and no company will give me life insurance.
I asked her about 'being mis-sold the faulty car'and being pressurised' which is what i thought she was focussing on as that was my original complaint, which somewhere down the line got overlooked. The 'O' told me that she did not think they mis-sold me the car, that was it*@?* I did asked her how many shop keepers chased you home for them to buy their products" anyway lost on both complaints.

[VIVAVAUXHALL]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

Charitynjw:
Sorry did not attached the terms and conditions, please note that I put it into writing three days after I got the car that I wanted to return the car and rescind from the whole agreement due to faults and affordability. Only on the advice of the Trading Standards was payments made on the car till September 2011. nothing else has been paid since.

[labman]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

Charitynjw:
Sorry did not attached the terms and conditions, please note that I put it into writing three days after I got the car that I wanted to return the car and rescind from the whole agreement due to faults and affordability. Only on the advice of the Trading Standards was payments made on the car till September 2011. nothing else has been paid since.

Who did you write to informing them of your wish to do this?

[PlanB]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

They then told me I could not take the car as no checks had been done on the car and I would have to come back in the morning to collect. . .

The car had faults asked the company to repair the car which I had noticed flashing lights when i previously test drive, long and short is the car went back three times they couldnt fix it.

Could you have been barking up the wrong tree with the pressurized selling argument since this was a faulty product which you bought from a garage that has admitted it sold the car to you (on a regulated CCA Hire Purchase agreement) without any pre-delivery checks? You've got a long list of people you've complained to about all this pressurized selling argument but have you made a complaint to finance company (Black Horse) under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act which makes them jointly responsible for any breach of contract?

The FOS regularly upholds complaints about car finance and faulty vehicles, but the basis of your original complaint to them is not clear. If you only referred to the pressurised selling argument and not faulty goods they may well have missed the point because you didn't put it to them.

Here's some similar cases where the FOS have upheld complaints (and some rejected) and why. This may help you to formulate a complaint to BlackHorse Finance:

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.u...ar-finance.htm

[labman]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

Good post Plan B!

Part of the reason I asked who the OP had complained to was that the T&C's state the complaint must be to the Finance Company NOT the garage. If the complaint was made to the garage about cancelling the contract, sadly, although I'm sure it would be frowned upon, they are within their rights to ignore it as it is not within their gift to cancel the contract.

In the early days this could have been done by writing to the Finance Company direct (I think the T&C's state within either 12 or 14 days - something like that); now, it would have to be a Section 75 as you rightly say. I think we're thinking down exactly the same lines. :beagle:

[PlanB]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

According to the Ombudsman she had ruled in favour of the finance company that they had done a complete credit check on me and there was no mis-selling there

^^^^ The OP has already said that he made a complaint to the finance company (presumably in writing) which progressed to the FOS. However his complaint was based on pressurized mis-selling not faulty goods which is covered by the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973. I think he should pursue this argument under section 75.


This is what the FOS says about vehicle Hire Purchase and faulty goods complaints:

" Consumers frequently find the technicalities of hire purchase transactions confusing. Typically, they believe they simply went to a dealer and bought a car with the aid of credit, when what actually happened is rather different:

• they chose a car, and asked the dealer for credit to help them pay for it;
• the dealer acted as a credit broker, arranging hire purchase through another business;
• the hire purchase business bought the car from the dealer, and then provided it to the consumer under a hire purchase agreement - so the car is owned by the hire purchase company (not the consumer).

Hire purchase agreements are covered by the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973. This says there are implied conditions in a hire purchase agreement, including a condition that the goods will be of satisfactory quality and will be fit for purpose. (Implied conditions are those that can be assumed to be included in the agreement, even if they do not actually appear in writing.) So where a consumer has a complaint about faults in a car that was bought by means of a hire purchase agreement, we can consider the complaint if it has been made against the hire purchase business. We are not able to pursue such complaints if they are made against the dealer. This is not just because the selling of cars is not a consumer credit activity but because, under a hire purchase agreement, the dealer does not sell the car to the consumer. In our experience, some businesses encourage consumers to complain to the dealer in these circumstances, which adds to the consumer's confusion."

[labman]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

Sorry, you misunderstand. I was referring to the OP's letter stating he wished to rescind the contract. The T&C's state this must be sent to the finance company, but it is unclear whether it was sent to them or the garage.

Sorry did not attached the terms and conditions, please note that I put it into writing three days after I got the car that I wanted to return the car and rescind from the whole agreement due to faults and affordability. Only on the advice of the Trading Standards was payments made on the car till September 2011. nothing else has been paid since.

[VIVAVAUXHALL]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

OK GUYS!, listen up, I did write to all three companies the same letter to each that would be the CarShaft dealers, Black Horse Finance, and All-In-One Finance (carshaft very own finance) The letter was sent within 3 days of getting the car, this would have been the next day (but due to mum's sudden departure). The letter was short and brief but clearly states the reasons I wanted to return the car because of faults, and I would not be able to afford the monthly payments. then i was asked to do a quality assurance forms for carshaft, they said they never recieved these, even though the paperwork was faxed to them from a solicitors office, this I noticed as they took time to respond. I made numerous calls to a Lisa,(carshaft complaints dept) regarding my complaints about the faults on the car, she kept fobbing me off. All within the first week of having the car I went to C.A.B told my plight there and the agent said straight away that I had done everything I was supposed to, and that I should be able to take the car back. But Still they wouldnt take it back.
I had, sent letters to all three, and quoted "the Supply of Goods Act", with regards to faults on the car, not fit for purpose, aggressive selling from the sales rep, being mis-led about the true price of the car. When they were selling me the car he kept saying through the whole conversation you only have to pay £12,000 not once did they mention that it would cost you £18,000 at the end of five years. Please remember this sales person had battered my head all day about buying the car, the only time they gave me paperwork was when we left at 8pm in the evening, when I got home I got the news about the hospital, so it was not read at all, even when I went to collect the car in the morning, my Mum had died six hours earlier.

Honestly i'm rubbish with maths and percentages, so it was brought to my attention from a friend the true value of the car, on the third day. The other loan of £600 A.I.O.Finance put on the car from carshaft, has been since been written off, as well as their NAC service package £1,575 I signed off, refusing to pay for that about March 2012.
I think I was making the right noises regarding the faults on the car, but when I was told by CC out that the vehicle now belonged to the finance company, I thought you then had to make noise about the finance so that's why there was a switch but they were aware that the car had faults, when payments stopped, and i was questioned by BHF, eight months later as to why I took the car out knowing I couldn't afford it, I then told him BHF agent, that I wrote and told you this in about two - three letters sent within the first three months of purchase. I read out the letters which he had copies, and it was BHF that started the complaints against carcraft, and telling me that when they get the money back of carshaft, i could return the car and get a full refund, but i still kept up with my payments till my money of £4000 ran out!
I also wrote letters under the 'Implied Terms' as advised to by the OFT and still I was ignored. I made sure that all three received my correspondences as the confusion over who's responsibility it was, was doing my head in! and yes I did state and write more than once that i wish to rescind from agreement/contract to the finance and dealer/ finance just to be sure.

[VIVAVAUXHALL]

Re: Pressurised to buy faulty car

I have just read the link ALSATIAN sent me and i would have to say the faults i had on my car were electrical, as the lights in the car kept flashing a spanner sign I pointed this out to the dealers before driving the car home for the first time. The dealer said it was just a light that needed turning off. I asked why was that not done, as the car had just completed its 120 point check, he said its nothing don't worry about it. The advice of the OFT he told me to park up the car and not to drive it, and to not let them repair it. I had a funeral to arrange.Anyway after I was not comfortable about the driving the car I again called the dealer and said I wanted this checked out, as I needed to know this car was safe as I would have to drive my child and foster children around in it. They took it in, couldn't fix it and told me to take it to Vauxhall where they would fix it.
The vauxhall dealer told me i shouldn't bring the car to them it should be Carshaft to bring it in as I would have to pay for the repair if anything was found, and this would invalidate my warranty on the car.
I went back to CC and told them, they took the car off me for the repair and I complained because they took the car for ten days even though they said three days, but after I complained about needing the car back for the funeral, there was £15 petrol in the car when they took it, they brought the car back about 15 mins before i was leaving for my mums funeral, with an empty tank, and told me they had not fixed the fault again, and that the car had been taken to vauxhall's in Rochdale. I couldn't understand why this was as there as there was a Vauxhall's 2 miles away from their place in Manchester.

They did offer me £300 compensation which i refused and I kept saying and writing that I wanted my £1,400 deposit back. They then without my consent sent the cheque in the post as a 'gesture of goodwill'. I use this money to give to my friend who had been taxing me to and from work work, as my work place is just under ten miles away, she had been taking and picking my son up from school, and taking me and my mother who relied on my transport to go weekly shopping.

I have read that just because you take the 'goodwill gesture'that does not mean your not within your rights to reject the goods.
Every time, after I was driving I noticed people kept tailgating me, it was only when my friend was driving behind me one day she noticed that my red lights did not come on when I was braking, and then when I stopped,they would come on and they would be flashing, that's was when I refused to drive the car again The faulty car was taken by CC for the third time to Vauxhall again, and it was found to have three recall faults that should have been done before the car was allowed being on the road again. The vauxhall engineer said I should not have been allowed to drive the car the way it was. Even though the car had been fixed I lost confidence in driving it. But I had been rejecting the car before CC had taken the car for repairs, which they could not fix, and was not covered by the NAC Service package.