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Need legal advise please. A tree fell onto my car when it was in the care of a well known dealer workshop. The car was originally taken in due to a recall.
We were not told about the accident and only found out about it due to an unannounced visit (13th April) and insisting on seeing the car as been in workshop 2 months. The tree fell on the car overnight 10th March and would have been discovered 11th March. We received a text update 11th March to say the recall part wasn’t in yet. We received a phone call to say the car was ready for collection 19th March and then a later phone call saying that was a mistake and the car wasn’t ready - but don’t worry the insurance isn’t affected???) We have photos of the damage to the car and the A pillar (among other things) is damaged. We have rejected the car as even after complaining to the Dealership they still haven’t shown us any paperwork regarding independent assessors saying the car is safe and they have done nothing but threaten us with debt collectors (if we didn’t return the courtesy car - which we did immediately) and didn’t collect the car (which we can’t do as we don’t know it’s safe) and they now want to charge us a storage fee. They have filled the damaged areas with filler and resprayed the car so can’t see damaged (horribly poor paint job and only on damaged areas. This is now being dealt with by a solicitor who doesn’t seem to know our rights. Could someone please advise the below:
Should the dealership have seeked an independent assessor?
Should the dealership have started work without a signed permission from us?
Is A pillar damage a Category insurance write off?
Can the dealership charge us for storage when the car is still in dispute?
Can workshops tell if filler has been used and a car resprayed - does this affect the value.
I am really being intimidated by this dealership and feeling bullied into taking my car back or they will get rid of the car and charge us.
The ombudsman has our case but after 2 months is still yet to look at it. The car was bought 8 months before it was taken in for the recall for £21k. The dealership are offering to buy it from me for £15k. An assessor won’t look at the car now as the damage has been covered uk. Any advise would be appreciated- Thanks in advance.
We were not told about the accident and only found out about it due to an unannounced visit (13th April) and insisting on seeing the car as been in workshop 2 months. The tree fell on the car overnight 10th March and would have been discovered 11th March. We received a text update 11th March to say the recall part wasn’t in yet. We received a phone call to say the car was ready for collection 19th March and then a later phone call saying that was a mistake and the car wasn’t ready - but don’t worry the insurance isn’t affected???) We have photos of the damage to the car and the A pillar (among other things) is damaged. We have rejected the car as even after complaining to the Dealership they still haven’t shown us any paperwork regarding independent assessors saying the car is safe and they have done nothing but threaten us with debt collectors (if we didn’t return the courtesy car - which we did immediately) and didn’t collect the car (which we can’t do as we don’t know it’s safe) and they now want to charge us a storage fee. They have filled the damaged areas with filler and resprayed the car so can’t see damaged (horribly poor paint job and only on damaged areas. This is now being dealt with by a solicitor who doesn’t seem to know our rights. Could someone please advise the below:
Should the dealership have seeked an independent assessor?
Should the dealership have started work without a signed permission from us?
Is A pillar damage a Category insurance write off?
Can the dealership charge us for storage when the car is still in dispute?
Can workshops tell if filler has been used and a car resprayed - does this affect the value.
I am really being intimidated by this dealership and feeling bullied into taking my car back or they will get rid of the car and charge us.
The ombudsman has our case but after 2 months is still yet to look at it. The car was bought 8 months before it was taken in for the recall for £21k. The dealership are offering to buy it from me for £15k. An assessor won’t look at the car now as the damage has been covered uk. Any advise would be appreciated- Thanks in advance.
