Used Car Warranty Woes

[Biker 1]

Story so far:
2 months ago my daughter borrows £2K from family member & buys used Seat from dealer some 25 miles from her place. After about a month, mysterious graunching noises become apparent from somewhere in drivetrain. Noises get worse, so a little over 2 weeks ago she take car back to dealer to get sorted under 3 month warranty scheme. It seems there is something up with gearbox/final drive. Dealer apparently has business partner who owns garage next door & promises to get it fixed. He also promises to call when car is fixed & keep her updated on progress. Surprise surprise, not a single returned call, update, or any other form of communication. Daughter calls dealer after a couple of days & told to call garage direct (rather than dealer). Garage won't answer phone, dealer 'looks into it', but doesn't return calls. Every day for past week, daughter calls dealer & told by him car will be 'fixed tomorrow', but never happens. She's on her way in person as we speak, but I fear car not fixed & garage out of its depth re specialist gearbox work, & so fobbing daughter off.
Ideally, she would like the car fixed ASAP & move on. However, I'm not convinced anything will happen anytime soon. So: is there a point where she can demand a refund & walk away? Is there anything regarding 'fit for purpose' in this situation? What if dealer refuses refund & simply drags his feet??
Sadly I live too far away to deal with the matter in person, but any advise greatly appreciated....

[Biker 1]

catman said:

They're probably reluctant to do any major work on a cheap car, so could be trying to find a cheap way of fixing it. How much was the car, age, mileage?

Your Daughter's contract is with the Dealer, it's not up to her to chase the garage.

She should send a "letter before action," detailing what has happened so far and giving the garage say 10 days to return the car repaired or to send a refund. Send it recorded delivery.

She may have to file a claim online, if they don't reply.

Tim

Edited by catman on Friday 19th August 16:00

Car was £2K, 2008, 60k or 75k miles (not sure).
You refer to an online claim - what does this involve??

[Biker 1]

Great.
Its crap that dealers seem all too often like this. I can only assume its a big ticket repair that's ultimately required, & obviously they don't want to fork out. Rather than bury their heads in the sand, I wish they would at least make a refund offer or even to swap the car for another one.
I fear my daughter's in for a long, unnecessary fight, & there's not a great deal I can do to help. Meantime, she has no transport & commuting is becoming a real problem. Oh joy.....

[Biker 1]

Thanks all for the advice.
She got stuck in traffic so couldn't make it to the dealer today. She called him & he said 'come anytime tomorrow & pick up car'. However, he did not explicitly say whether car is actually fixed or not. I know I'm getting paranoid on this, but assuming car has been temporarily bodged & 3 month warranty will expire shortly, would there be any further comeback, or is she stuck with a lemon & a major repair bill??

[Biker 1]

andymc said:

refurb is 300 for the box, 100 in labour to take out and replace (if that helps)

On a £2K car - ouch!!!
I have some sympathy for the dealer in that he has probably lost any small profit he would've made on this car, although wouldn't the warranty be insured/underwritten by a third party, thus covering his costs(??)
Anyway, daughter FINALLY got car back yesterday. Apparently the boss of the car repair side of the business had been on holiday, & there had been 'miscommunication' over the car etc etc. It seems he was apologetic & reasonable. In my experience, there are companies that are very good with information/communication, & those that are not, & hardly anything in-between....