Rejecting a car on finance HP

[andyastrasri]

Brief summary

Purchased a used car on HP finance at start of June 2016, all ran well for 7 weeks, then the car broke down, with numerous gearbox fault codes (automated manual gearbox)

Car was taken by AA to a local specialist, diagnosed faulty clutch actuator motor, warranty company approved up to claim limit (less VAT) and I paid the balance, car off road 7 days

Reported issue to supplying garage (seemed disinterested) and to finance company, who logged all the details

Two weeks later, same thing happened, after an ignition on and off car re-started, no issues, took the car back to the local specialist, car off road 6 days, diagnosed as an implausible gearbox error, no other faults found, fault cleared, car was fine

Reported back to finance company about next issue

Fast forward another 5 weeks

Car breaks down on busy roundabout, wouldnt start, all fault lights on, pushed off road by highways agency, car restarted, no faults, cancelled AA callout

1 day later, break down again, car wouldnt restart, all warning lights on, plus 3 gearbox fault codes

At this point, my purchase warranty had run out (3 months only) I had already purchased an AA warranty, called AA, AA phoned around local garages, as soon as they found out what my car was (Its a 2010 Smart Fortwo 1.0mhd with 30K miles) they all declined the work, it got to the point, that no AA approved garage within 15miles wanted to touch the car

Car was transported back home, call made to finance company

Car has covered 3711 miles since purchase, been off the road 19 days so far and I have burnt 4 days holiday dealing with the car

The finance company have been very reasonable, have had all my AA reports and full details of every incident from me

They appear to accept that I am rejecting the car and wish to return

However, today, the supplying garage have got involved and called me directly, they questioned the integrity of the Smart specialist who repaired the car

Now, it gets interesting, the finance company called me back, saying they are awaiting a "termination" figure from the supplying garage for me to return the car to them for wear and tear and mileage covered

After a long winded back story to my message, my question is, should I be expected to pay a wear and tear type fee ? as it stands I have no clue what the figure will be

When/if the car goes back I will be 4 months payments + deposit, 19 days off the road and counting, plus excess on repair down, this I can chalk up to experience and move on

However, I feel loathed to make any other extra payment

[andyastrasri]

Things have moved on a "little" since Monday.........

It appears that there are arrangements being made to uplift my vehicle and be recovered back to the supplying garage

However, they are still "mumbling" about a fee needing to be made to supplying garage, I have flat refused to make any payment

Also I am unsure if the vehicle is collected from me, does that then terminate my agreement and am I able to cancel insurance/road tax and warranty on it at this point in time ?

[andyastrasri]

Further update

After seeking some legal advice, it would appear that I have to give the finance company an opportunity to inspect/diagnose (or even repair) the car, prior to moving forward

Recovery is due to arrive on Monday to collect the car, very oddly, the car is being recovered to a tiny back street garage right next door to the supplying garage

It strikes me as not an unbiased inspection, repair garage right next door to a car sales garage

I have voiced my concerns to the finance company over this arrangement

I can see this dragging on for a while yet...............

[andyastrasri]

Markbarry1977 said:

Surely you have already given them the chance to fix it. Having already had it repaired or was that the warranty company and not supplying dealer. If you have had it repaired once and they have failed to rectify it once then can't you just tell them your rejecting it. End of.

Car sounds like a Friday afternoon special. I had one of them from Hyundai about 10 years ago. In the five years it was under warranty (purchased brand new) it was in for repair about 20 times.

The first repair was covered by the warranty company

The car was due to be recovered today, day off work booked, I took a phone call at 330pm from an agent of the recovery company, who informed me he was an hour away on the train........................

I said to him "Train?" how are you going to recovery a vehicle with a gearbox fault that cant be driven.........

Now looks like the earliest it can be collected is Thursday 27th and so it drags on..............

[andyastrasri]

Well, my saga was resolved at the start of December

The finance company in the end rolled back the agreement, the supplying dealer wouldnt play ball at all (even though they had had the car back with them for at least 8weeks at this point)

The finance company calculated a usage fee for the miles I had covered, they wouldn't entertain any compensation or extra costs I had incurred or loss of use

At this point I had lost the will to live and agreed to their offer

Amusingly, for the next two months I still got a call from the finance company chasing me for payments on an agreement that no longer existed!

Speak to the finance company is my suggestion, put everything in writing!

[andyastrasri]

andymc said:

What was the charge?

From memory I paid around £650 for the 3711 miles I covered in the car

The supplying garage wanted something like 45p/mile covered, which would have been circa £1650.00 !!!!

This is why the finance company accepted my termination as they knew if I had of escalated to the financial ombudsman a charge of 45p/mile would never have been accepted