Repair of fault on 11 year old used car purchased from a dealer

[jetster]

I purchased a used car from a local dealer in late April 2023 for £6,500 - the car is 11 years old, mileage around 68k.
Around late June/early July, the cruise control on the car stopped working intermittently. I informed the garage about this via email and asked if they could investigate and fix this under warranty (the statutory 3 month warranty issued with the car). The dealer replied to say they he could and advised me to bring their vehicle to their premises.
I left the car with the dealer on 19th July. By Friday 28th they still had not resolved the issue and I collected the car on that day (because I needed it over the weekend) and agreed with the dealer to drop it back with them the following Tuesday (1st August).
When I called today (3rd August) to check on progress, I was informed that they had not even examined the car again because the mechanic was off sick. They could not tell me by when they would be able to work on the car. The dealer also told me that the cruise control system is not covered by warranty and that they were doing this purely as a 'goodwill' job, which is not what I had understood from the dealer's response when I first informed him about the fault.

Given the price and age of the car, is the dealer legally obliged, under the Consumer Rights Act, to repair this fault?

[Pezza54]

Hi
A warranty does not override your statutory rights under CRA 2015.
Under CRA 2015 if a serious fault develops on a car a consumer has purchased from a dealer within 6 months then it is assumed the fault was present at the time of purchase.
After 1 month the consumer must provide the dealer one opportunity to fix the fault within a reasonable time.
If the dealer fails to do this the consumer has a final right to rejection. If the consumer rejects the car the dealer must refund the consumer's payment less an amount for usage, normally based on the number of miles driven, within 14 days.
The cruise control fault on your car is serious. The cruise control should not be used until it is fixed as the repercussions of not being able to cancel it once it is set could be dangerous.
Clearly you can't force a dealer to repair a fault if he refuses.

[Pezza54]

Please add at the end of the 2nd sentence in my previous post "unless the dealer can prove otherwise".

I should have asked if you use the car for business purposes?

[Pezza54]

There is another option.
CRA provides for the negotiation of a price reduction.
You could phone authorised repairers for your car and obtain guide prices to correct the fault with the cruise control.
Then contact your dealer by email and see if he is prepared to negotiate a price reduction based on the estimates you have received.

[jetster]

Thanks Pezza54.

"I should have asked if you use the car for business purposes?" - no, just personal.

In case this makes any difference, the cruise control was working initially, including when I test drove it for around 20 mins, but then started malfunctioning intermittently a few weeks after purchase

[Pezza54]

No. Dealer has to prove the intermittent fault didn't exist at time of purchase.
You should write to the dealer giving him one week to repair the fault successfully otherwise you will reject the car under CRA or seek a partial refund to get the work done elsewhere

[jetster]

Update: I contacted my regular mechanic to examine my car. From his diagnostics check he recommended replacing the 'clock spring' (an electromechanical module which allows the steering wheel buttons to function). A local Ford dealer sent me a written quote of £358 to supply and fit this part.
I emailed the dealer (from whom I purchased the car) on 25th August and gave him until 1st September to either repair the car of issue a price reduction of £358. I have received no reply.

I now plan to send him a pre-action letter (via recorded delivery post and email) demanding that I be paid £358 within 2 weeks, informing him of my intent to go to the small claims court if this is not done - and citing CRA legislation https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga...ion/19/enacted (19)(14) "For the purposes of subsections (3)(b) and (c) and (4), goods which do not conform to the contract at any time within the period of six months beginning with the day on which the goods were delivered to the consumer must be taken not to have conformed to it on that day."

Is this a reasonable and correct next step?

[Pezza54]

My advice is to get the repair work done. The garage that quoted may find other problems that pushes the bill up. Your claim will be stronger with an itemised bill.
Don't forget to mention that you gave the dealer a chance to carry out the repair in a reasonable time which he failed to do.

[theberenger]

You're also entitled to recover costs that dealing with this issue has cost you, for example, have you had to take time off work, hire a car, expend money in fuel that you wouldn't otherwise have had to, public transport etc. Anything you can demonstrate as a cost directly attributed to this issue.

Also, I agree with Pezza, if you claim for this £358, you somewhat box yourself in to only being able to claim that amount. You couldn't re-litigate the same issue later to extract more money.

[jetster]

The person with whom I have been dealing with thus far (a salesman at one of the company's two garages) seems completely unaware of the dealership's responsibilities under the CRA. As a last 'throw of the dice' (before initiating my own repair and subsequent legal action), should I write to the Director of the Ltd company in the hope that he will have a better grasp of the law and will resolve the matter?

[Pezza54]

If the director of the company has only got 2 garages he is probably already aware of the dispute and is letting his employee handle it.
The more you write the more the dealer will think you are not serious about court action.
The dealer kept the car for 9 days in July and failed to fix the fault. Nor did he provide a good reason, such as unavailability of a part, for his failure to repair it within a reasonable time.
It is your decision whether to write to the director.

[jetster]

I've booked the car in for repair at a Ford garage in around a month's time (they can't fit it in sooner). I will post an update here after the work is complete. Thanks again for your contributions.

[Pezza54]

Thanks for your update.
Ask the Ford garage to write a few comments about the seriousness of a faulty cruise control on their invoice.

[jetster]

In the end, the problem was simply down to a faulty connection which was quick and easy to fix. The bill from the Ford garage was only around £82. I therefore won't be bothering with a legal claim against the seller. I'll give them a crap customer review online and leave it that. Thank you PEZZA54 and THEBERENGER all for your input - much appreciated!

[Pezza54]

That's good news. Fingers crossed it's a permanent fix.