Option advertised online but not physically on used car
Discussion
Hi folks, looking for some advice
Last week I bought a 6mth old BMW from a BMW main dealer. The car is great, but is advertised with Adaptive LED headlights. I viewed the car in the day, so could not try the features effectively, but the next evening realised this £600 option is not fitted. I do have the standard LEDs however
I checked the VIN online which confirmed it doesnt have them fitted, and the BMW accepted the error.
I presented them with three options, retrofit, compensate or I'll consider rejecting the vehicle.
Today the dealer responded with the attached get out of jail message, so looks like there is nothing more I can do. Is this the case, or do I still have grounds to pursue?
Last week I bought a 6mth old BMW from a BMW main dealer. The car is great, but is advertised with Adaptive LED headlights. I viewed the car in the day, so could not try the features effectively, but the next evening realised this £600 option is not fitted. I do have the standard LEDs however
I checked the VIN online which confirmed it doesnt have them fitted, and the BMW accepted the error.
I presented them with three options, retrofit, compensate or I'll consider rejecting the vehicle.
Today the dealer responded with the attached get out of jail message, so looks like there is nothing more I can do. Is this the case, or do I still have grounds to pursue?
The Spruce goose said:
they can write what the want on thew website, but the car should be 'As described The goods supplied must match any description given to you, or any models or samples shown to you at the time of purchase.; under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
This. Whoever sent that is clearly not fit to sell anything.matt21 said:
Hi folks, looking for some advice
Last week I bought a 6mth old BMW from a BMW main dealer. The car is great, but is advertised with Adaptive LED headlights. I viewed the car in the day, so could not try the features effectively, but the next evening realised this £600 option is not fitted. I do have the standard LEDs however
I checked the VIN online which confirmed it doesnt have them fitted, and the BMW accepted the error.
I presented them with three options, retrofit, compensate or I'll consider rejecting the vehicle.
Today the dealer responded with the attached get out of jail message, so looks like there is nothing more I can do. Is this the case, or do I still have grounds to pursue?
Retrofit - quite likely not possible.Last week I bought a 6mth old BMW from a BMW main dealer. The car is great, but is advertised with Adaptive LED headlights. I viewed the car in the day, so could not try the features effectively, but the next evening realised this £600 option is not fitted. I do have the standard LEDs however
I checked the VIN online which confirmed it doesnt have them fitted, and the BMW accepted the error.
I presented them with three options, retrofit, compensate or I'll consider rejecting the vehicle.
Today the dealer responded with the attached get out of jail message, so looks like there is nothing more I can do. Is this the case, or do I still have grounds to pursue?
Compensate - how much is the difference in value between the vehicle with and the vehicle without?
Reject - you have that legal right.
Is the difference between standard and adaptive LED really THAT big for you that you'd consider rejecting a car you're otherwise happy with? If so, why didn't you check online before agreeing the purchase?
Where was it advertised? On that site?
Did you specifically ask if it had this option?
Had this recently at another dealer I know of and the customer took the dealer to court and lost! I was shocked tbh but the decision was that if that particular option was he make or break for buying the car, the buyer should have confirmed the car had it.
It's up to the dealer if they want to play hard ball, they can stand by those terms and see what happens or they could just refund you (which is most likely as a retrofit would be obscenely expensive), when you say 'compensate' how much are you talking? More than the £600 they would have been new I'd wager?
Did you specifically ask if it had this option?
Had this recently at another dealer I know of and the customer took the dealer to court and lost! I was shocked tbh but the decision was that if that particular option was he make or break for buying the car, the buyer should have confirmed the car had it.
It's up to the dealer if they want to play hard ball, they can stand by those terms and see what happens or they could just refund you (which is most likely as a retrofit would be obscenely expensive), when you say 'compensate' how much are you talking? More than the £600 they would have been new I'd wager?
Quite honestly I would have probably bought the car anyway, but it is a feature I wanted. In hindsight I probably should have checked everything in detail, but i trusted the site was accurate.
Regarding compensation I feel £600 would be fair.
The dealer looks to have a wiggled out of the obligation. I am happy to push a little if it is my legal right to do so, but unlikely to take it to court. Just looking to know where I stand.
Regarding compensation I feel £600 would be fair.
The dealer looks to have a wiggled out of the obligation. I am happy to push a little if it is my legal right to do so, but unlikely to take it to court. Just looking to know where I stand.
matt21 said:
Quite honestly I would have probably bought the car anyway, but it is a feature I wanted.
So I guess you won't be rejecting it.matt21 said:
Regarding compensation I feel £600 would be fair.
Where are you getting that from? Because that was the new price of the option? It doesn't work like that.What would be the difference in value between your car with and without? THAT is what you may be entitled to as compensation.
Mojooo said:
They cannot use generic disclaimers to get out of providing accurate descriptions.
This. They know it as well. You've given them the options that would satisfy you. It is up to them to make an offer.
If you are not that bothered and would have bought the car without them fitted, but at a reduced price I would assume, then you might as well keep the car and take options other than cash. What service agreement do you have? What is the warranty? These can be made more attractive.
There's lots and lots of cases that show they are in the wrong. The UK has had consumer protection law for at least 30 years and being told one thing and getting another was the basis of consumer rights from the beginning.
If you want my advice - feel free to ignore it of course - I'd bear in mind that this was probably a clerical error and not an intent to deceive during negotiations.
Derek Smith said:
.....You've given them the options that would satisfy you. It is up to them to make an offer.......
So what happens if the dealership choose the "reject the car"option, refuse to even consider the refit/refund options, and the OP decides he doesn't actually want to reject the car?In a twist on the more usual situation, could the dealership push for the car to be rejected by the OP on the basis that it was sold not as described?
As a car dealer Autotrader have made some recent changes with the way spec is listed.
You have to tick some options boxes and it autopopulates other boxes occasionally with items the car doesn't actually have.
It can happen and I don't think you have been deliberately deceived. It's a mistake.
I spotted it where it listed one of our cars with a sunroof and it certainly did not have one.
Seeing as it's a large main dealer chain I would politely suggest that you are unhappy but accept it was a mistake rather than intentional deception and would be happy if they could offer you the next service free (or extended warranty etc)
Failing that just get over it and move on it's a minor mishap. They will be able to take the car back and sell it again no problem as it isn't an essential option.
You have to tick some options boxes and it autopopulates other boxes occasionally with items the car doesn't actually have.
It can happen and I don't think you have been deliberately deceived. It's a mistake.
I spotted it where it listed one of our cars with a sunroof and it certainly did not have one.
Seeing as it's a large main dealer chain I would politely suggest that you are unhappy but accept it was a mistake rather than intentional deception and would be happy if they could offer you the next service free (or extended warranty etc)
Failing that just get over it and move on it's a minor mishap. They will be able to take the car back and sell it again no problem as it isn't an essential option.
I'd not accept the situation OP. Go up through the management structure until you reach someone reasonable or follow their complaints procedure. It wouldn't cross my mind to double check every option on the physical vehicle, I too would pirchase based on the advertised description.
4rephill said:
So what happens if the dealership choose the "reject the car"option, refuse to even consider the refit/refund options, and the OP decides he doesn't actually want to reject the car?
In a twist on the more usual situation, could the dealership push for the car to be rejected by the OP on the basis that it was sold not as described?
I bought a bike sold as a 2013 model. It wasn't, it was a 2012 model on a 2013 reg. The dealer weren't interested in refunding some money to cover the difference in value and just said to send the bike back for a refund, which I did.In a twist on the more usual situation, could the dealership push for the car to be rejected by the OP on the basis that it was sold not as described?
Butter Face said:
Where was it advertised? On that site?
Did you specifically ask if it had this option?
Fair enough, but a customer shouldn't need to go through all options and the listed features one at a time to check this. If they did then dealers would have even less patience with buyers. "Right, working down the list, does it have a CD player? Does it have sat-nav? Does it have <insert option>? etc etc".Did you specifically ask if it had this option?
matt21 said:
Quite honestly I would have probably bought the car anyway, but it is a feature I wanted. In hindsight I probably should have checked everything in detail, but i trusted the site was accurate.
Regarding compensation I feel £600 would be fair.
The dealer looks to have a wiggled out of the obligation. I am happy to push a little if it is my legal right to do so, but unlikely to take it to court. Just looking to know where I stand.
Work out what you paid as a percentage of the brand new price and then apply that percentage to £600. Pushing a little probably won't work out, as they will sense that if they provide enough resistance you will give up- be assertive and clear that you will be pushing this all the way through the complaints process and to the courts if needs be. Regarding compensation I feel £600 would be fair.
The dealer looks to have a wiggled out of the obligation. I am happy to push a little if it is my legal right to do so, but unlikely to take it to court. Just looking to know where I stand.
In the dealer's shoes I would recognise that this will swallow up too much of my time, along with the staff of the dealership, so would settle for a reasonable amount. It is not unreasonable to expect them to know what options are fitted to their cars, especially if you were able to check this using the VIN.
JimmyConwayNW said:
As a car dealer Autotrader have made some recent changes with the way spec is listed.
You have to tick some options boxes and it autopopulates other boxes occasionally with items the car doesn't actually have.
It can happen and I don't think you have been deliberately deceived. It's a mistake.
I spotted it where it listed one of our cars with a sunroof and it certainly did not have one.
Seeing as it's a large main dealer chain I would politely suggest that you are unhappy but accept it was a mistake rather than intentional deception and would be happy if they could offer you the next service free (or extended warranty etc)
Failing that just get over it and move on it's a minor mishap. They will be able to take the car back and sell it again no problem as it isn't an essential option.
This is a BMW dealer selling a BMW. I assume the OP found the car on the BMW website too. As above, they should know which options are fitted to each car and can check this easily using the VIN, as the OP did.You have to tick some options boxes and it autopopulates other boxes occasionally with items the car doesn't actually have.
It can happen and I don't think you have been deliberately deceived. It's a mistake.
I spotted it where it listed one of our cars with a sunroof and it certainly did not have one.
Seeing as it's a large main dealer chain I would politely suggest that you are unhappy but accept it was a mistake rather than intentional deception and would be happy if they could offer you the next service free (or extended warranty etc)
Failing that just get over it and move on it's a minor mishap. They will be able to take the car back and sell it again no problem as it isn't an essential option.
Private seller on Autotrader is another matter, unless they actually type it into the advert with the intent to deceive.
StuTheGrouch said:
Butter Face said:
Where was it advertised? On that site?
Did you specifically ask if it had this option?
Fair enough, but a customer shouldn't need to go through all options and the listed features one at a time to check this. If they did then dealers would have even less patience with buyers. "Right, working down the list, does it have a CD player? Does it have sat-nav? Does it have <insert option>? etc etc".Did you specifically ask if it had this option?
StuTheGrouch said:
Work out what you paid as a percentage of the brand new price and then apply that percentage to £600.
Do all options depreciate at the exact same rate as the car itself?StuTheGrouch said:
It is not unreasonable to expect them to know what options are fitted to their cars, especially if you were able to check this using the VIN.
Equally, we know that it was simple for the OP to check for himself after purchase, so...If you're after "something" from the dealer - ask them for stuff rather than money. Things that are cheaper to them than to you - a free service (or two?), something where they make a margin out of enormous labour charges that they can move on. £200 costs a dealer ~£200, a £200 service does not.
matt21 said:
Today the dealer responded with the attached get out of jail message, so looks like there is nothing more I can do. Is this the case, or do I still have grounds to pursue?
Has that been sent as their final response, or is this just a negotiating tactic by pointing out that in their view they don't have to do anything?Either way, flinging T's&C's at a customer is not a great way to deal with them. I imagine adaptive lighting isn't easy to check for unless you're very familiar with it.
StuTheGrouch said:
Fair enough, but a customer shouldn't need to go through all options and the listed features one at a time to check this. If they did then dealers would have even less patience with buyers. "Right, working down the list, does it have a CD player? Does it have sat-nav? Does it have <insert option>? etc etc".
TooMany2cvs said:
Some options are immediately apparent. Some are not.
Thanks for pointing that out (clap clap). My point is based on the fact that this particular option isn't immediately apparent (even less so if you don't know what to look for), so your comment actually backs this up.StuTheGrouch said:
Work out what you paid as a percentage of the brand new price and then apply that percentage to £600.
TooMany2cvs said:
Do all options depreciate at the exact same rate as the car itself?
Hard to make an argument to the contrary really. That approach would pass the test of being 'reasonable' though.StuTheGrouch said:
It is not unreasonable to expect them to know what options are fitted to their cars, especially if you were able to check this using the VIN.
TooMany2cvs said:
Equally, we know that it was simple for the OP to check for himself after purchase, so...
The dealer listed it on their website, which was information provided to the seller. As above, not all options are obvious, so if the seller said it had sat-nav you would spot that straight away, but in this case the seller has provided incorrect information AND the option isn't that obvious. The dealer's job is selling cars, so knowing about their cars is an inherent part of their job. The seller is not an expert so places more emphasis on the information provided. So on the balance of providing the correct information vs doing a thorough check, I'd say the dealer should hold their hands up in this case.
It appears that you argue for the sake of it and could most likely start an argument in an empty room.
Edited by StuTheGrouch on Wednesday 4th January 10:55
A friend of mine ordered a brand new car, lost of options ticked but it got delivered with the wrong engine (165bhp instead of 130bhp IIRC)
The dealer admitted their mistake and offered 2 free services in form of compensation. Said friend worked out the difference in fuel it would cost him over the next 3 years based on official MPG figures to around the £2000 mark.
I believe there was some sort of cash settlement but I couldn't tell you what, but he still has the car 7 years later. Best thing was he wanted the larger engine but didn't want to push the price up further
The dealer admitted their mistake and offered 2 free services in form of compensation. Said friend worked out the difference in fuel it would cost him over the next 3 years based on official MPG figures to around the £2000 mark.
I believe there was some sort of cash settlement but I couldn't tell you what, but he still has the car 7 years later. Best thing was he wanted the larger engine but didn't want to push the price up further
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