Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

[des8]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

When you return the AQ will be the time to reply to the defence

[explorer121]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

Good evening,
AQ received and returned with the indication that I have no objection to Small Claims Mediation Service by way of a booked phone call. In the meantime I have had a call from the defendant saying he can't understand why I'm pursuing this as he offered to repair the vehicle, not at a main dealer though. No mention of my claim for £149.40 Fiat diagnosis) or the full price paid for the car, £3749. His closing gambit was I could return the car to him (300 miles) and get a refund of £3459 as he feels he can't be penalised for distance.
At this stage I do feel the Small Claims Mediation Service may be a wasted exercise though.

[des8]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

Mediation might be a wasted exercise, but you have nothing to lose.
You can use your per diem claim as a negotiating point, as even if you win you may not get that awarded.
That's why I suggested putting it in... mediation looks for compromise, and that's where you can give way without losing what you were originally seeking!

[explorer121]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

Good evening,
just an update and my attempt at mediation.

Dear Mr *******,



re ; ******* County Court Claim ********.



I refer to the above claim and advise as follows.

Provided the vehicle is removed from my premises within the next
ten days and the following amount refunded by way of bank transfer then I am
prepared to cancel the claim :

£3749 purchase of car.

£149.40 Fiat diagnosis. (you wrote 'Keep me
updated ******,
we'll not see you stuck. If you could mention to the Fiat dealer
that we will
be paying the bill & see if they'll give us trade labour
rates'.)

Agreed to be paid by you 13.1.16

I am prepared to forego £10.00 per diem loss of use, or as the
court may direct
and the £185.00 Court fees.
This is a fair offer and is not negotiable.
You should think very carefully before rejecting this offer and
bear in mind the following points of law and evidence substantiating my
claim.
1.I purchased ****** by deposit on 30th December 2015 and took
delivery on 10th January 2016
The vehicle was not of satisfactory quality and I advised you I
was rejecting it under rights bestowed by Consumer Rights Act 2015. This was
as described in a Letter before Action dated 16 January 2016.
2. I would refer you to section 20 of The Consumer Rights Act
2015.
Section 20 Right to reject.

(7) From the time when the right is exercised—

(a) the trader has a duty to give the consumer a refund, subject
to

subsection (18), and

(b) the consumer has a duty to make the goods available for
collection by

the trader or (if there is an agreement for the consumer to
return

rejected goods) to return them as agreed.

(8) Whether or not the consumer has a duty to return the
rejected goods, the
trader

must bear any reasonable costs of returning them, other
than any costs

incurred by the consumer in returning the goods in person to the
place where

the consumer took physical possession of them.

(9) The consumer’s entitlement to receive a refund works as
follows.

(10) To the extent that the consumer paid money under the
contract, the
consumer

is entitled to receive back the same amount of money.

(11) To the extent that the consumer transferred anything else
under the
contract,

the consumer is entitled to receive back the same amount of what
the consumer

transferred, unless subsection (12) applies.

I received the following reply,
Thank you for your e-mail dated 06/03/2016.

We believe our refund offer of £3499 should the vehicle be returned is more than fair.
However,
I am also willing to accept the diagnosis charge of £149.90 from Fiat. Please bare in mind that this diagnosis charge is actually more than the cost of the required part to cure the problem.

I am therefore prepared to offer you a refund of £3648.90 should the vehicle be returned to ourselves in undamaged condition.

Our offer still stands of having the car repaired at 100% cost to ourselves.

I have also attached proof of your payment to *********

My simple reply is :
your offer is not acceptable for the following reasons :



1. A total of £3749 and £149.40 has been paid for the vehicle.

31.12.15 £100

1.1.16 £249 (this payment has been omitted by yourselves)

4.1.16 £3400

Fiat Garage receipt and payment details to yourselves
available.

By law you are required to collect the vehicle and refund all
monies paid for the purchase of *******.
My offer contained in my email dated 6.3.16 still stands from that
date. Should this not be accepted then I am at liberty to pursue
the claim to the full extent of the law,
We will see where we go from here.

[des8]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

Have you sent that, and if so did you mark it "without prejudice"?

[explorer121]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

yes it was marked 'without prejudice'.

[explorer121]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

Everything I send is mark "without prejudice".

[des8]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

I wouldn't bother trying to communicate with him further, but just let the court case proceed unless he comes up with an acceptable offer.

[explorer121]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

Thank you, I tend to agree with you.

[explorer121]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

Good evening,
a quick update on things.
Notice of Transfer issued 15.3.16 to my local CC.
Notice of Allocation to the small claims track (hearing) issued 24.3.16.
Hearing set for 8.7.16.
Court fee of £335 sent (ouch!)
23.5.16 last date for written statements, copies of all documents I intend to rely on at the hearing and copies to defendant as well.

In the meantime I have contacted the mediation service to arrange an appointment and will keep my progress updated here.

[Ripped-Off]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

Personally, I would have accepted his offer of a refund and split the cost of transport. You might get your money back, you might not. Who knows?

It seems a lot of hassle (court case, etc ) for the sake of a small contribution (I'd say about £250) towards the cost of transport.

Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war.

[des8]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

The offer was for £250 less than the purchase price and conditional on OP paying cost of return.
Also it did not include other costs already agreed to by dealer.
So it was not just a bit towards transport! and anyway the dealer has had the opportunity to revise his offer.

[explorer121]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

Thank you for your comments.
Unfortunately you seem to have missed the point of all this. It's not so much the money as the principle. Delivering a car with such a major fault as an airbag failure and not accepting it as such is a poor reflection on the trade as a whole.
There are laws in place to protect consumers so that we don't have to nor accept a loss in such a situation.
Bear in mind if we all compromised on similar matters then the trader/consumer laws would be of no use at all !

[explorer121]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

Just a thought, but I have the opportunity to return the car by way of third party transport for the sum of £250. As I don't own the car I 'm wondering if this would also be a good opportunity to have it returned and add the cost to the claim.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.

[des8]

Re: Used car faulty after six days from purchase.

If you return them to the place from where you took delivery you may find yourself bearing the cost if the dealer reads the Consumer Rights Act.
See Sec 8 below:

(7)

From the time when the right is exercised—

(a)

the trader has a duty to give the consumer a refund, subject to subsection (18), and

(b)

the consumer has a duty to make the goods available for collection by the trader or (if there is an agreement for the consumer to return rejected goods) to return them as agreed.

(8)

Whether or not the consumer has a duty to return the rejected goods, the trader must bear any reasonable costs of returning them, other than any costs incurred by the consumer in returning the goods in person to the place where the consumer took physical possession of them.