CRA2015 Questions About a Fault With a used Car

[Guest]

Background: I bought a 6 year old used car, under average milage, in July for over £10k. After a bit over 3 months it developed a fault with the transmission. It came with a 3 month warranty (apparently provided by the dealer directly rather than a 3rd party insurer). I became aware of the fault about a week ago when the car went into limp mode And presented a warning on the dash screen. Contacted the dealer who advised that the car was still under warranty and to take to a local mechanic for diagnosis (as the dealership are about an hour's drive away). I had obtained the error code from the car as I have a reader, and sent this to a local garage who indicated what the likely work would be and a quote. Sent this to the dealer, who then said the car would need to go back to them. Had the car recovered to them (at around £100 cost to me), they then had the car checked by their (3rd party) mechanic. Dealer phoned me to say they could find no fault, and that as the warranty was just up (contradicting their initial assertion), they weren't sure how to proceed. They told me they had a gearbox specialist nearby, they could send it to 'for me' but they were pricey, insinuating that I would have to bear the cost. Based on what I've read, I believe that they are responsible for repair under the consumer rights act given that no reasonable person would expect a £10k, 6 year old, under average milage car to develop a fault with a critical system such as transmission, in such a short timespan, that renders it unreliable and not fit for purpose, and also that mechanical faults rarely just magically happen, so in all likelihood, the.parts were already significantly partially deteriorated when I bought it. The dealer claims they have no liability, as I told them about the fault after the 3 months, and that there have been no issues to indicate a fault prior to the car alerting last week. They then said they were willing to send the car to their gearbox specialist 'to help me out'. At that point, given they were clearly not goingo honour their obligations under CRA2015, I sent them a templated letter from Which, asserting my right to expect a repair at no cost to me. They then sent the letter to their legal representation (which they appear to get through membership of an industry association who, ironically, they are probably in breach of the code of conduct for by not honouring Thier statutory obligations). Anyway, I digress. Their legal people's letter makes a big deal about the fact that the car (even at +£10k) is significantly less than the car was new. , And that the mileage means that it was significantly used. They say that there is therefore no indication that the fault was there at the time of purchase. Based on what I've read on many, many websites (and tried but failed to find counter claims that support their position), I understand that a) their position that the fault didn't exist at the point of sale because I only raised it over 3 months later and (as a non expert noticed no other symptoms) is nonsense, as if the car had been properly checked before sale then they should be able to prove categorically that any fault with a critical system wasn't present at sale. B) the law assumes that if the fault happens after 3 months, but before 6 months that the fault was present before the car was purchased. And c) within that same time period there is a reverse burden of proof, in that the dealer has to prove that the fault wasn't present at the time of sale (their legal seems to be indicating my claim doesn't prove it was). It would be helpful if anyone can 1) verify my understanding, and 2) provide citations for a), b) & c) so I can verify these assertion as currently they are based on what I have read on consumer websites which appear to be interpretation s of the 2015 act, but don't give any indication of which bit they derive from. Thanks