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Totally new to this but in a very bad mental state right now and seeking all the advice I can get as at a total loss :-( Very long story but here goes.
22/02 – I saw an ad on a dealer website selling a Vauxhall Vivaro. I phoned the dealer to make an enquiry and for more information. The dealer on the phone introduced himself as Fred and verbally confirmed what was in the ad about warranted miles, and said full v5 logbook present. He assured me it would have a gold warranty for 1 year so I felt confident at the time and reassured. I asked if it had any faults he said no and confirmed the MOT was valid until November. I asked about the bodywork and if there were any dents or damage? He said there was only a dent on drivers side at the rear but this was only small and was reflected in the vehicles price. I asked if the back row of seats folded and would it for two bikes when folded as we want the vehicle for our family of 5 and want to be able to transport 2 of the children’s bikes in the boot. He confirmed yes they fold and would fit the bikes (so he was aware of our intended use). He explained that as we were not trade we would have to pay VAT which came to £8394. Due to covid restrictions we believed that we could not travel to purchase a vehicle and mentioned this and was explained to us that they provide a delivery service for the vehicles We are in Cornwall). I arranged the delivery with the dealer and he explained delivery cost would be payable after delivery was made for £96 as another car was being delivered to a town nearby so delivery only charged from that point. He insisted that they could not hold the price quoted so if we wanted the vehicle then he said purchase of the car would have to be made by bank transfer and the whole amount up front. I agreed the delivery date for Feb 26th and he said an invoice would be sent to my email address. He then said I would be sent all the relevant paperwork The only paperwork I received was the vehicle warranty and invoice. Once paid I then had the receipt but that is all.
25/02 - Phoned Fred as we had not received anymore paperwork as he had said we would and had had no further contact so I was starting to feel uneasy. We had also gotten insurance quotes which were higher than expected so overall we felt that it would not be good to continue with the sale and as it was under the 14 day period felt this was acceptable. He refused, he became aggressive and was shouting saying that we could not change our minds because the vehicle was already on its way to us. He said because it was on its way we had no legal right to cancel. He advised ‘go compare’ for comparing quotes when we mentioned that our current insurer had quoted us a higher price so I would like to note he was fully aware of our intentions to insure and drive a working vehicle. We are very inexperienced in buying a car this way and pre-lockdown we would never have considered it. With his intimidating threats we felt we had no choice but to continue with purchase or else lose our money.
26/02 - at 6pm we phoned Fred as vehicle had not been delivered as arranged. He said there was an issue with a previous drop in Exeter and driver had to stay overnight and it would be with us the next day.
27t/02 - 10am and chased up delivery of vehicle. Fred said he’d spoken to driver and it would be on the way. Half hour later the other owner (Heath ) phoned and said the vehicle back in their depot in Fordham as the transport vehicle had broken down in Bristol and they would no longer deliver it but we would have to go and collect it. This contradicted what we had been told by Fred. Once again we requested a refund and he refused as he said we had no entitlement.
The main reason we bought the vehicle was because he had offered us delivery. Due to covid and work commitments, collecting vehicle was out the question. I reported them to fraud as we felt he had taken our money fraudently as the delivery stories were sounding very suspicious and we didn’t know what to do next or who to contact. I emailed once again requesting refund under the Consumer act 2013. He responded and said the act does not apply and because he had put the log book in my name and the warranty so I could not have a refund but he would pay for delivery of the vehicle if we found a transport company. He then said he was excluded from liability as per his terms on ebay. I was unaware that this vehicle was listed on ebay as I had purchased it through his website where no terms were included and no terms were sent to us nor present on our invoice. At the time I thought his reference to ebay was odd but immediately after the email was sent to us we received a phone call from Fred and thought nothing more to the ebay reference. He also mentioned in his email that they are a legitimate company trying to help us and that Fred had helped us with our insurance query (so this verifies in writing that we were intending to insure the vehicle in order to use it).
Fred then phoned and repeated what was said in the email and again refused the refund. Once again he was aggressive and repeated that our only option was to take the vehicle or else we were breaking a legal contract with them. We felt we would lose our money if we did not continue with the sale as we are inexperienced with distance selling and would never normally buy a vehicle this way. This was our life savings and the vehicle was important for our family. We found a transport company that arranged their payment with the dealer. I asked why he could not drive the vehicle to us and he said all staff were working from home or furloughed so this was not possible.
06/03/21 - We received the vehicle on. Upon inspection we found lots of dents and scratches none of which were in the vehicle description on their website. There was no paperwork whatsoever. The seatbelts are severely damaged and completely unusable so we cannot use the car with our children in it. No mot paperwork, no service paper work and no logbook despite it saying in description it had the logbook, absolutely nothing. I then found the front drivers tyre was gashed in the side wall (2cm ) exposing the skin). I took the vehicle to my nearest tyre depot where they replaced the tyre. I messaged Fred about missing paperwork but did not get a response. I returned home and only covered 30 miles in total for the tyre change. Overall the vehicle was in extremely poor condition.
07/03 - I got in the vehicle started engine and the ‘check stop/start’ warning light illuminated and the car would not go in gear and was stuck in neutral. I tried to turn the vehicle off and on and tried to put in gear with engine off all to no avail. I tried again later in the day and still cannot get out of neutral. Besides the safety aspect in regards to the seatbelts and tyres the vehicle is also in very poor cosmetic condition with fluid all over the floor and I don’t know where this is coming from. The car has a strong coolant type smell internally which is overbearing. On the short period I did drive it, it felt like the clutch was going-very short and unstable.
I called a local garage who has agreed to check out the vehicles roadworthiness for us but the seatbelt issue alone was cause for concern by the mechanic as was our description of the smells and condition.
Since looking at the warranty he provided, it is only usable with a recent service. It appears the car has not had one as Fred had stated so the warranty is invalid. The warranty also only covers up to the value of £250.
Heath had mentioned ebay in his earlier email so we searched and found the listing. We were able to obtain the information provided on his ebay listing but he has put a statement on his ebay listing in very small print in the terms and conditions of sale box saying all his vehicles are sold as seen and are spares or repair only. He states vehicles are bought at your own risk and buyer is made aware of all faults at time of purchase. We were completely unaware of these terms as they are not on his company website and we did not see this listing until today 07/07. There was no mention of these terms in the invoice sent to me. His small print on ebay also mentions all sales are trade but we paid VAT and there is no mention of trade sale on the invoice. His small print states his vehicles are spares or repairs but Ebay require spare/repair items to be clearly shown in the sellers title and description (his is only in the small print of the terms box that also require the viewer to scroll through in order to see) . I have also noticed that the ebay listing had changes made to it on the day that we purchased it so even if we had seen the car through his ebay ad, he could have put in these terms at any point on this date. His terms also states there are no return options so why would a dealer provide a purchaser of a vehicle with a gold warranty if he didn’t believe the car would be used?
08/03 - A letter before court claim was sent to the dealer by post and email. Because I contacted the warranty company to find out if they would warranty a car that was sold as spares or repair I also detailed the whole scenario to them (Warranty Assist). Unfortunately they were unable to help but were very sympathetic.
Later today I received a response from the dealer in regards to my email in which I had listed the faults and lack of paperwork. He stated the paperwork must have been lost by the transport company we had arranged and so they accept no liability. (This is despite them having paid for the delivery and not us so my understanding is that if papaerwork is lost then this is up to the dealer to chase as it is them that paid for the delivery service?). He stated he spoke to me on the phone and was correct in saying we spoke about the dent on the drivers side but was incorrect when saying he had mentioned other scratches and dents. He said these were visible in the photos bu they were not. He said the seatblets were cosmetic so he is not liable but it is a legal requirement that all seatbelts are working so I do believe he is incorrect in saying this and again we were not notified this prior to sale. There was definatly no photos of this because there was only a photo of the front seats (which is still visible on his ebay listing) and we would most definitely not purchase a car without them as we could not safely transport our family if all seatbelts were not working. He tried to blame the tyre on the transport company and said theres no damage shown in photos of the ad. The photo of the tyre would have to have been taken very close up to see this which they were not. He said we could have the mechanical fault addressed but this would be through the warranty company. I do believe that he is trying to dismiss his legal responsibility and having relayed this to trading standards they advised that all this information indicates deadlock after my ‘letter before court’ and I should now seek court action. I mentioned in my final letter to him about my rights under the distance selling act and consumer rights act, which enables the 14-day return period of which today would be day 14 after payment was made and day 3 after receiving my goods to which he has dismissed.
He then emailed asking what do I want to do? I responded again with the letter before court and on what grounds. He responded again saying he’ll cover repairs of gearbox if faulty? I haven’t responded as I am no longer falling for his lies and deception and just want the refund I’m legally entitled to.
I know I’ll be judged for my naivety for making the purchase in the first place so please go easy on me, I haven’t slept for days, am physically sick and in a bad way :-(
22/02 – I saw an ad on a dealer website selling a Vauxhall Vivaro. I phoned the dealer to make an enquiry and for more information. The dealer on the phone introduced himself as Fred and verbally confirmed what was in the ad about warranted miles, and said full v5 logbook present. He assured me it would have a gold warranty for 1 year so I felt confident at the time and reassured. I asked if it had any faults he said no and confirmed the MOT was valid until November. I asked about the bodywork and if there were any dents or damage? He said there was only a dent on drivers side at the rear but this was only small and was reflected in the vehicles price. I asked if the back row of seats folded and would it for two bikes when folded as we want the vehicle for our family of 5 and want to be able to transport 2 of the children’s bikes in the boot. He confirmed yes they fold and would fit the bikes (so he was aware of our intended use). He explained that as we were not trade we would have to pay VAT which came to £8394. Due to covid restrictions we believed that we could not travel to purchase a vehicle and mentioned this and was explained to us that they provide a delivery service for the vehicles We are in Cornwall). I arranged the delivery with the dealer and he explained delivery cost would be payable after delivery was made for £96 as another car was being delivered to a town nearby so delivery only charged from that point. He insisted that they could not hold the price quoted so if we wanted the vehicle then he said purchase of the car would have to be made by bank transfer and the whole amount up front. I agreed the delivery date for Feb 26th and he said an invoice would be sent to my email address. He then said I would be sent all the relevant paperwork The only paperwork I received was the vehicle warranty and invoice. Once paid I then had the receipt but that is all.
25/02 - Phoned Fred as we had not received anymore paperwork as he had said we would and had had no further contact so I was starting to feel uneasy. We had also gotten insurance quotes which were higher than expected so overall we felt that it would not be good to continue with the sale and as it was under the 14 day period felt this was acceptable. He refused, he became aggressive and was shouting saying that we could not change our minds because the vehicle was already on its way to us. He said because it was on its way we had no legal right to cancel. He advised ‘go compare’ for comparing quotes when we mentioned that our current insurer had quoted us a higher price so I would like to note he was fully aware of our intentions to insure and drive a working vehicle. We are very inexperienced in buying a car this way and pre-lockdown we would never have considered it. With his intimidating threats we felt we had no choice but to continue with purchase or else lose our money.
26/02 - at 6pm we phoned Fred as vehicle had not been delivered as arranged. He said there was an issue with a previous drop in Exeter and driver had to stay overnight and it would be with us the next day.
27t/02 - 10am and chased up delivery of vehicle. Fred said he’d spoken to driver and it would be on the way. Half hour later the other owner (Heath ) phoned and said the vehicle back in their depot in Fordham as the transport vehicle had broken down in Bristol and they would no longer deliver it but we would have to go and collect it. This contradicted what we had been told by Fred. Once again we requested a refund and he refused as he said we had no entitlement.
The main reason we bought the vehicle was because he had offered us delivery. Due to covid and work commitments, collecting vehicle was out the question. I reported them to fraud as we felt he had taken our money fraudently as the delivery stories were sounding very suspicious and we didn’t know what to do next or who to contact. I emailed once again requesting refund under the Consumer act 2013. He responded and said the act does not apply and because he had put the log book in my name and the warranty so I could not have a refund but he would pay for delivery of the vehicle if we found a transport company. He then said he was excluded from liability as per his terms on ebay. I was unaware that this vehicle was listed on ebay as I had purchased it through his website where no terms were included and no terms were sent to us nor present on our invoice. At the time I thought his reference to ebay was odd but immediately after the email was sent to us we received a phone call from Fred and thought nothing more to the ebay reference. He also mentioned in his email that they are a legitimate company trying to help us and that Fred had helped us with our insurance query (so this verifies in writing that we were intending to insure the vehicle in order to use it).
Fred then phoned and repeated what was said in the email and again refused the refund. Once again he was aggressive and repeated that our only option was to take the vehicle or else we were breaking a legal contract with them. We felt we would lose our money if we did not continue with the sale as we are inexperienced with distance selling and would never normally buy a vehicle this way. This was our life savings and the vehicle was important for our family. We found a transport company that arranged their payment with the dealer. I asked why he could not drive the vehicle to us and he said all staff were working from home or furloughed so this was not possible.
06/03/21 - We received the vehicle on. Upon inspection we found lots of dents and scratches none of which were in the vehicle description on their website. There was no paperwork whatsoever. The seatbelts are severely damaged and completely unusable so we cannot use the car with our children in it. No mot paperwork, no service paper work and no logbook despite it saying in description it had the logbook, absolutely nothing. I then found the front drivers tyre was gashed in the side wall (2cm ) exposing the skin). I took the vehicle to my nearest tyre depot where they replaced the tyre. I messaged Fred about missing paperwork but did not get a response. I returned home and only covered 30 miles in total for the tyre change. Overall the vehicle was in extremely poor condition.
07/03 - I got in the vehicle started engine and the ‘check stop/start’ warning light illuminated and the car would not go in gear and was stuck in neutral. I tried to turn the vehicle off and on and tried to put in gear with engine off all to no avail. I tried again later in the day and still cannot get out of neutral. Besides the safety aspect in regards to the seatbelts and tyres the vehicle is also in very poor cosmetic condition with fluid all over the floor and I don’t know where this is coming from. The car has a strong coolant type smell internally which is overbearing. On the short period I did drive it, it felt like the clutch was going-very short and unstable.
I called a local garage who has agreed to check out the vehicles roadworthiness for us but the seatbelt issue alone was cause for concern by the mechanic as was our description of the smells and condition.
Since looking at the warranty he provided, it is only usable with a recent service. It appears the car has not had one as Fred had stated so the warranty is invalid. The warranty also only covers up to the value of £250.
Heath had mentioned ebay in his earlier email so we searched and found the listing. We were able to obtain the information provided on his ebay listing but he has put a statement on his ebay listing in very small print in the terms and conditions of sale box saying all his vehicles are sold as seen and are spares or repair only. He states vehicles are bought at your own risk and buyer is made aware of all faults at time of purchase. We were completely unaware of these terms as they are not on his company website and we did not see this listing until today 07/07. There was no mention of these terms in the invoice sent to me. His small print on ebay also mentions all sales are trade but we paid VAT and there is no mention of trade sale on the invoice. His small print states his vehicles are spares or repairs but Ebay require spare/repair items to be clearly shown in the sellers title and description (his is only in the small print of the terms box that also require the viewer to scroll through in order to see) . I have also noticed that the ebay listing had changes made to it on the day that we purchased it so even if we had seen the car through his ebay ad, he could have put in these terms at any point on this date. His terms also states there are no return options so why would a dealer provide a purchaser of a vehicle with a gold warranty if he didn’t believe the car would be used?
08/03 - A letter before court claim was sent to the dealer by post and email. Because I contacted the warranty company to find out if they would warranty a car that was sold as spares or repair I also detailed the whole scenario to them (Warranty Assist). Unfortunately they were unable to help but were very sympathetic.
Later today I received a response from the dealer in regards to my email in which I had listed the faults and lack of paperwork. He stated the paperwork must have been lost by the transport company we had arranged and so they accept no liability. (This is despite them having paid for the delivery and not us so my understanding is that if papaerwork is lost then this is up to the dealer to chase as it is them that paid for the delivery service?). He stated he spoke to me on the phone and was correct in saying we spoke about the dent on the drivers side but was incorrect when saying he had mentioned other scratches and dents. He said these were visible in the photos bu they were not. He said the seatblets were cosmetic so he is not liable but it is a legal requirement that all seatbelts are working so I do believe he is incorrect in saying this and again we were not notified this prior to sale. There was definatly no photos of this because there was only a photo of the front seats (which is still visible on his ebay listing) and we would most definitely not purchase a car without them as we could not safely transport our family if all seatbelts were not working. He tried to blame the tyre on the transport company and said theres no damage shown in photos of the ad. The photo of the tyre would have to have been taken very close up to see this which they were not. He said we could have the mechanical fault addressed but this would be through the warranty company. I do believe that he is trying to dismiss his legal responsibility and having relayed this to trading standards they advised that all this information indicates deadlock after my ‘letter before court’ and I should now seek court action. I mentioned in my final letter to him about my rights under the distance selling act and consumer rights act, which enables the 14-day return period of which today would be day 14 after payment was made and day 3 after receiving my goods to which he has dismissed.
He then emailed asking what do I want to do? I responded again with the letter before court and on what grounds. He responded again saying he’ll cover repairs of gearbox if faulty? I haven’t responded as I am no longer falling for his lies and deception and just want the refund I’m legally entitled to.
I know I’ll be judged for my naivety for making the purchase in the first place so please go easy on me, I haven’t slept for days, am physically sick and in a bad way :-(
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