Advice please - Dealer evading responsibility

[8Ace]

Following on from the current thread about the tricks dealers pull, I'd be grateful for any advice that the PH minds can offer in this case.

Last month I viewed and made an offer on a VW Sharan at a small dealers c. 100 miles away. (03 plate, £5k).It was advertised as having "Dual Zone climate control". However, the day after picking it up, it was clear that the air conditioning wasn't functioning. No cold air was available and a quick feel of the aluminium AC pipes under the bonnet showed thay they were warm, suggesting no refridgerant. An attempted regas indicated a leak. I wasn't sure what size of job rectifying this would entail so called the dealer. He was fairly reasonable and offered to have the car back for repairs so I took half a day off and returned the car back.

Once the car was back with him, I regularly had to check for updates. It took over 2 weeks for a replacement compressor to arrive (Eurocar Parts offer next day delivery) and in total he had the car for just shy of 4 weeks. When I picked the car up, the air con was switched off but turning it on showed cold air to flow, and the AC pipes cold to the touch.

The next day however, the system was again inoperable and a warm AC pipe indicates no refridgerant. Given that it took 4 weeks,and the car still wasnt fixed properly, I was pretty pissed off. The dealer is now refusing to spend any more money on it, and in our conversation mentioned the following:

"The advert said air conditioning, but it didn't say fully functional air conditioning".

"I spoke to my friend who's a solicitor and Trading standards. They say that Air conditioning is a wear and tear item"

"I've spent £1000 on this as goodwill". (please note that he has also refused to provide evidence of receipts etc for the work.)

"Well you bought it"

"If you wanted a car with everything you should have spent more money"

My view is that there are 2 issues here. Advertising a car with AC when it clearly hasn't got it is against SOGA. Secondly, in accepting the offer for such a car and failing to provide one, he is in breach of contract. Given that he has has the car for 4 weeks and failed to fix it, I do not trust him to set it right if I return it. I am also concerned that the quality of the repair will be sub standard, designed to get me 100 miles away before failing.

I'd be grateful for any advice those with legal knowledge can give please. Mechanically the car appears sound and it took a while to find it. We also need a 7 seater now so ideally I would keep the car, get it fixed to my satisfaction and then claim against him for the repairs, as well as the expenses in terms of time off work, train fares to and from the dealer, etc etc). Is this an acceptable option? As far as I see it I gave him the opportunity to fix the issue and he has failed to do so.

Many thanks!

[davepoth]

SOGA applies - hand the keys back if you want. That said, a competent garage will locate what sounds an awful lot like a coolant leak and replace the damaged part in a couple of hours, it may be less hassle to do it that way given the way the dealer is acting.

[Davel]

How easily could you get it repaired and at what likely cost?

[Deluded]

He probably regassed it the morning you collected, hence working on collection but failing hours later once the gasses had leaked.

Chances are he did nothing to the car in the 4 weeks except maybe enquire about costs of replacement parts.

[Jasandjules]

I would say that with respect to the poster above, you may not just hand him back the keys.

IF he is refusing now to undertake any attempt to repair it futher, then you can write to him (send it recorded) giving him seven days to confirm that he will be fixing the air conditioning or else you will have no alternative but to have the air con repaired elsewhere and recover the costs from him.

If you wish, invite him to simply send you a cheque for the cost of any repair (and you would send him a written quote). You can then sue him on the basis of the cheque if it does not clear....

[goldblum]

8Ace said:

"The advert said air conditioning, but it didn't say fully functional air conditioning".

Love it don't they?

Legal action/repair.Figure out which is less hassle and remember legal action can take a considerable amount of time to get to court and even longer to get your money back.

[lgw]

Did he/his company do the regas to the car himself as he may have fell foul of EC and DEFRA Regulations on the handling of air con refrigerant as you are not allowed to refill a system if it has shown abnormal leakage until the cause of leakage is identified and the necessary repair has been completed.

[aw51 121565]

lgw said:

Did he/his company do the regas to the car himself as he may have fell foul of EC and DEFRA Regulations on the handling of air con refrigerant as you are not allowed to refill a system if it has shown abnormal leakage until the cause of leakage is identified and the necessary repair has been completed.

to what lgw says.

The way it should be done is by draining the system (with vacuum) then filling the system with Nitrogen (which is inert - the atmosphere is approximately 78% of the stuff ) and injecting a thin oil which includes a fluorescent dye, then operating the AC while monitoring the pressure and using an ultraviolet light to spot the leak(s). Then repair the leaks and test again. Finally, when all leaks are fixed, drain the system again using vacuum and refill with proper refrigerant.

Doesn't reflect too well on the OP's garage if they've not done this properly. There are mobile specialists who do this every day as a profession, after all .

[8Ace]

Deluded said:

He probably regassed it the morning you collected, hence working on collection but failing hours later once the gasses had leaked.

Chances are he did nothing to the car in the 4 weeks except maybe enquire about costs of replacement parts.

This is my suspicion too. A quick look confirms that the compressor is definitely not new (perhaps an ebay breaker's yard special?) but it may also have remained untouched. Not sure what the cost to repair will be but have a local specialist I'll speak to.

lgw said:

Did he/his company do the regas to the car himself as he may have fell foul of EC and DEFRA Regulations on the handling of air con refrigerant as you are not allowed to refill a system if it has shown abnormal leakage until the cause of leakage is identified and the necessary repair has been completed.

I like you. This is an excellent point and I'd suggest that a system that leaks all the gas out within 24h would in no way be suffering from normal leakage. Ammunition to put forward in my argument as to why I do not want him to repair the thing again (being 100 miles away is also an issue).

My view is that,after 4 weeks, he has had ample chance of resolution
and failed. Under SOGA I am entitled to ask him for a LFL replacement (tricky to define) or, as he's refusing a refund, offer him the option of paying for me to fix locally.

My next step will be a letter that asks him to pay for the repairs, otherwise I'll do it myself and initiate a SCC claim for the repairs plus expenses.

I am really anoyed about this but want to ensure I stay reasonable to give the greatest chance of success. Does my approach seem sound or should I take any other precautions?

[lgw]

Hope my input helps toward you getting the result your after

Edited by lgw on Monday 25th June 22:18