Bought a used car with issues - Where do I stand?
Discussion
I'm looking to gauge PH opinion before talking to a solicitor next week on this issue.
Bought a car from a franchised dealer recently, the car was delivered early March. I noted a few problems, the biggest of which was what looked like the vehicle lift system being stuck in the raised position. I noticed on one side of the car there was significantly more clearance under one wheel arch than the others. Upon checking the front splitter height I found one side to be an inch higher than the other.
I called the dealer who arranged for the car to be collected and taken to the local franchised dealer. The car was collected within a couple of weeks of delivery, and I had only actually driven about 30 miles in the car.
The dealer who took the car in found a few more faults and tried to diagnose the problem with the raised ride height on one corner. They couldn't find an issue, but continued to try to diagnose a fault. They spoke to the manufacturer who suggested some tests which didn't sort the problem.
Finally, having had the car for four weeks, the dealer doing the investigation told me the manufacturer now reckons there's no mechanical fault and it's badly fitted body panels. They don't want to start adjusting panels because it will impact the fit on the other body panels, doors, bonnet, etc.
If this was an old banger, I wouldn't bother that much, but it's a 150k car which has done 7k miles and is supposed to be dealer "Qualified" with a 165-point pre-sale check.
I reckon I have some rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and intend talking to my solicitor about it early next week, but what do others think?
Thanks in advance.
Bought a car from a franchised dealer recently, the car was delivered early March. I noted a few problems, the biggest of which was what looked like the vehicle lift system being stuck in the raised position. I noticed on one side of the car there was significantly more clearance under one wheel arch than the others. Upon checking the front splitter height I found one side to be an inch higher than the other.
I called the dealer who arranged for the car to be collected and taken to the local franchised dealer. The car was collected within a couple of weeks of delivery, and I had only actually driven about 30 miles in the car.
The dealer who took the car in found a few more faults and tried to diagnose the problem with the raised ride height on one corner. They couldn't find an issue, but continued to try to diagnose a fault. They spoke to the manufacturer who suggested some tests which didn't sort the problem.
Finally, having had the car for four weeks, the dealer doing the investigation told me the manufacturer now reckons there's no mechanical fault and it's badly fitted body panels. They don't want to start adjusting panels because it will impact the fit on the other body panels, doors, bonnet, etc.
If this was an old banger, I wouldn't bother that much, but it's a 150k car which has done 7k miles and is supposed to be dealer "Qualified" with a 165-point pre-sale check.
I reckon I have some rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and intend talking to my solicitor about it early next week, but what do others think?
Thanks in advance.
OTL said:
Finally, having had the car for four weeks, the dealer doing the investigation told me the manufacturer now reckons there's no mechanical fault and it's badly fitted body panels. They don't want to start adjusting panels because it will impact the fit on the other body panels, doors, bonnet, etc.
Sounds like b
ks to me, I had an issue with a main dealer trying to fob me off, until I told them that I was a mechanic and they better get it fixed or I was going to take it somewhere else, and have an engineers report done, next day car was fixed.Don't let them fob you off, either the ride height is correct or it isn't, they should also be sorting the body panels.
You perhaps should be starting to reject the car. If the body panels aren't right then its been in a smash.
Anyone who takes these 1xx point checks to mean something is seriously deluded. Nothing more than a marketing gimmick.
Very poor from the dealer and manufacturer. At that price bracket they should be rectifying whatever issue the car has regardless of cost. If they are unable to fix the car, they should offer a refund.
Any decent company would do that.
Very poor from the dealer and manufacturer. At that price bracket they should be rectifying whatever issue the car has regardless of cost. If they are unable to fix the car, they should offer a refund.
Any decent company would do that.
OTL said:
I'm looking to gauge PH opinion before talking to a solicitor next week on this issue.
Bought a car from a franchised dealer recently, the car was delivered early March. I noted a few problems, the biggest of which was what looked like the vehicle lift system being stuck in the raised position. I noticed on one side of the car there was significantly more clearance under one wheel arch than the others. Upon checking the front splitter height I found one side to be an inch higher than the other.
I called the dealer who arranged for the car to be collected and taken to the local franchised dealer. The car was collected within a couple of weeks of delivery, and I had only actually driven about 30 miles in the car.
The dealer who took the car in found a few more faults and tried to diagnose the problem with the raised ride height on one corner. They couldn't find an issue, but continued to try to diagnose a fault. They spoke to the manufacturer who suggested some tests which didn't sort the problem.
Finally, having had the car for four weeks, the dealer doing the investigation told me the manufacturer now reckons there's no mechanical fault and it's badly fitted body panels. They don't want to start adjusting panels because it will impact the fit on the other body panels, doors, bonnet, etc.
If this was an old banger, I wouldn't bother that much, but it's a 150k car which has done 7k miles and is supposed to be dealer "Qualified" with a 165-point pre-sale check.
I reckon I have some rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and intend talking to my solicitor about it early next week, but what do others think?
Thanks in advance.
If this is a £150k car that's done 7k miles and it has a lift system, I'm assuming it's a Ferrari/Lamborghini/Mclaren or similarBought a car from a franchised dealer recently, the car was delivered early March. I noted a few problems, the biggest of which was what looked like the vehicle lift system being stuck in the raised position. I noticed on one side of the car there was significantly more clearance under one wheel arch than the others. Upon checking the front splitter height I found one side to be an inch higher than the other.
I called the dealer who arranged for the car to be collected and taken to the local franchised dealer. The car was collected within a couple of weeks of delivery, and I had only actually driven about 30 miles in the car.
The dealer who took the car in found a few more faults and tried to diagnose the problem with the raised ride height on one corner. They couldn't find an issue, but continued to try to diagnose a fault. They spoke to the manufacturer who suggested some tests which didn't sort the problem.
Finally, having had the car for four weeks, the dealer doing the investigation told me the manufacturer now reckons there's no mechanical fault and it's badly fitted body panels. They don't want to start adjusting panels because it will impact the fit on the other body panels, doors, bonnet, etc.
If this was an old banger, I wouldn't bother that much, but it's a 150k car which has done 7k miles and is supposed to be dealer "Qualified" with a 165-point pre-sale check.
I reckon I have some rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and intend talking to my solicitor about it early next week, but what do others think?
Thanks in advance.
In which case, I would be getting straight on to your franchised dealer, telling them that their response isn't good enough and that you want it sorting by the weekend.
Have you escalated with the dealer? If your story is complete, it's quite unusual for a franchised dealer to behave in this way at this price point.
Muzzer79 said:
I'm assuming it's a Ferrari/Lamborghini/Mclaren or similar
In which case, I would be getting straight on to your franchised dealer, telling them that their response isn't good enough and that you want it sorting by the weekend.
Have you escalated with the dealer? If your story is complete, it's quite unusual for a franchised dealer to behave in this way at this price point.
Yes, you're correct in your assumption. I have taken it up with the dealer, and told them exactly that - I wanted a solution before the weekend. I also spoke to the manufacturer. To be fair, neither have said they won't fix it yet, but neither of them have said they will....In which case, I would be getting straight on to your franchised dealer, telling them that their response isn't good enough and that you want it sorting by the weekend.
Have you escalated with the dealer? If your story is complete, it's quite unusual for a franchised dealer to behave in this way at this price point.
Muzzer79 said:
If this is a £150k car that's done 7k miles and it has a lift system, I'm assuming it's a Ferrari/Lamborghini/Mclaren or similar
I would hazard I guess he means retail 150k new(yes the RR goes up that high), and car is a Range Rover, who even though JLR build amazing cars, quality is not always the best, there are thousands of pissed off customers.Thesprucegoose said:
I would hazard I guess he means retail 150k new(yes the RR goes up that high), and car is a Range Rover, who even though JLR build amazing cars, quality is not always the best, there are thousands of pissed off customers.
No, the retail of this was over 200k new. I do have a RR Sport too, and the quality of that is spot on!
Mexman said:
I don't think there is need for a solicitor at this point.
Something is clearly not right and needs addressing by the dealer to bring the story to a satisfactory conclusion.
This may take a little time and investigation though, but certainly something needs to be done.
I agree that I should be looking to have the problem fixed, and that talking to the dealer and the manufacturer is the way to get to that point. Something is clearly not right and needs addressing by the dealer to bring the story to a satisfactory conclusion.
This may take a little time and investigation though, but certainly something needs to be done.
I'm just concerned that if discussions don't reach that point, I want to know where I stand legally.
OTL said:
the dealer doing the investigation told me the manufacturer now reckons there's no mechanical fault and it's badly fitted body panels. They don't want to start adjusting panels because it will impact the fit on the other body panels, doors, bonnet, etc.
"So has it been bent and badly repaired, then? Or are you trying to tell me the manufacturer seriously give that little toss...?"TooMany2cvs said:
"So has it been bent and badly repaired, then? Or are you trying to tell me the manufacturer seriously give that little toss...?"
With regards to it having been bent and badly repaired, the manufacturer doesn't sell parts outside of the dealer network, so my argument to them was that the body work was either badly fitted at the factory or at a manufacturer approved bodyshop. The manufacturer has said they will look in it to it and talk to the dealers involved. I am hopeful that it will get resolved, but also worried that it won't.
OTL said:
TooMany2cvs said:
"So has it been bent and badly repaired, then? Or are you trying to tell me the manufacturer seriously give that little toss...?"
With regards to it having been bent and badly repaired, the manufacturer doesn't sell parts outside of the dealer network, so my argument to them was that the body work was either badly fitted at the factory or at a manufacturer approved bodyshop. The manufacturer has said they will look in it to it and talk to the dealers involved. I am hopeful that it will get resolved, but also worried that it won't.
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