Reject second hand car?

[badgerade]

I'm after some thoughts/advice...

At the end of may, I bought a VX220 from an independent dealer. Since then, the car has been off the road on 3 separate occasions with throttle related issues. 2 parts have been replaced both of which appear to have fixed the issue only for it to reoccur. It's now back in the repairing garage (a vx220/lotus specialist with no connection to the dealer) after breaking down again yesterday.

I've only had the car for a month and a half in which time it's been off the road more than on it. Where do I stand in terms of rejecting the car back to the supplying dealer?

[300bhp/ton]

badgerade said:

I'm after some thoughts/advice...

At the end of may, I bought a VX220 from an independent dealer. Since then, the car has been off the road on 3 separate occasions with throttle related issues. 2 parts have been replaced both of which appear to have fixed the issue only for it to reoccur. It's now back in the repairing garage (a vx220/lotus specialist with no connection to the dealer) after breaking down again yesterday.

I've only had the car for a month and a half in which time it's been off the road more than on it. Where do I stand in terms of rejecting the car back to the supplying dealer?

Sadly you have no claim. Best bet would be to try and negotiate with them to have it back, minus 'x' for the additional mileage you've covered in it.

I presume as you haven't said so, that the indi was willing to work on the car previously and thought they'd fixed it? And that it was done under warranty or you didn't pay out full price for the repairs?


As long as its kept civil and both you and the dealer aren't *&£$%£ then I see no reason why a sensible solution can't be found. But you won't likely get 100% of your money back, because the car is older (albeit not by much) and will have covered more miles and there will have been additional administration costs involved.

[rsv gone!]

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/con...

Edited by rsv gone! on Monday 12th July 12:41

[300bhp/ton]

rsv gone! said:

300bhp/ton said:

Sadly you have no claim.

What about the lemon law?

What about it? It only applies in certain US states and varies within most of them, then only applying to new cars as a rule. The OP is in Berks UK.

[badgerade]

300bhp/ton said:

I presume as you haven't said so, that the indi was willing to work on the car previously and thought they'd fixed it? And that it was done under warranty or you didn't pay out full price for the repairs?

Cheers for the reply. So far I haven't paid full price for any repairs, although the dealer is now saying that they're not happy to pay for further work as the specialist garage is incorrectly diagnosing the problem. He went so far as to say that he felt he was being ripped off. (From my perspective, the service manager at the lotus specialist has gone out his way to be helpful. It's a widely respected specialist on both lotus and vx forums).

300bhp/ton said:

As long as its kept civil and both you and the dealer aren't *&£$%£ then I see no reason why a sensible solution can't be found.

Dealer has been helpful until now although 'Civil' may be a better word now! They're not ignoring me, but have made it clear that they have no further interest in paying for anything.

[300bhp/ton]

badgerade said:

300bhp/ton said:

I presume as you haven't said so, that the indi was willing to work on the car previously and thought they'd fixed it? And that it was done under warranty or you didn't pay out full price for the repairs?

Cheers for the reply. So far I haven't paid full price for any repairs, although the dealer is now saying that they're not happy to pay for further work as the specialist garage is incorrectly diagnosing the problem. He went so far as to say that he felt he was being ripped off. (From my perspective, the service manager at the lotus specialist has gone out his way to be helpful. It's a widely respected specialist on both lotus and vx forums).

300bhp/ton said:

As long as its kept civil and both you and the dealer aren't *&£$%£ then I see no reason why a sensible solution can't be found.

Dealer has been helpful until now although 'Civil' may be a better word now! They're not ignoring me, but have made it clear that they have no further interest in paying for anything.

Your biggest issue if proving anything.

As a trader they have certain legal obligation to fulfill, one being fit for purpose. As a rule this would mean if you bought a car as a road legal runner in good condition, you wouldn't expect the gearbox to go bang the next day.

But were it gets difficult is on proving the fault existed before you bought the car and if the dealer knew about it or not.

For example, if you bought a car and a hose split, then yep the dealer should really sort it out. If it split, you failed to notice the low coolant warning and high temp warning lights and cooked the motor writing it off, then no, it's not really the dealers fault.


Not saying this is what is happening with you, just the problems with sorting it out. I kid you not when I tell you we sold a motor, a cheap one (~£500) and some 12-14 months later the lady owner came storming over to our house telling us we needed to buy her a new tyre as she had just got a puncture the day before - it was our fault and we must pay attitude. She wasn't even polite about it.


My advice would be to try and come to a compromise somehow, give a little and chances are you'll get a little given in exchange.

Do you know what the fault is yet? And how much it is likely to be to fix it? And on the work already done, what was it and how much had it cost so far?

You said after the work previous the fault seemed to have been fixed. If the dealer honestly believed this then you can see why they would have given the car back thinking it to be ok.

[badgerade]

300bhp/ton said:

Do you know what the fault is yet? And how much it is likely to be to fix it? And on the work already done, what was it and how much had it cost so far?

You said after the work previous the fault seemed to have been fixed. If the dealer honestly believed this then you can see why they would have given the car back thinking it to be ok.

Still not 100% sure what's causing it.. although it does appear to be throttle related. Trouble is, as it's not a cable throttle the issue could be anywhere from the pedal through to the throttle body including all the connections in between!

I can completely see where the dealer is coming from. To be honest, I love the car and have no wish to give it back.. I'm more interested in shutting up certain members of my family who keep telling me to get rid. Your post more or less backs up what I was thinking - so thanks!

[Henry-F]

If the dealer is concerned that the garage are not diagnosing the fault properly then why not return the car to the dealer and ask them to fix the problem. That way any mis-diagnosis will be their problem not yours or your specialists.

It is always hard as a dealer when a third party garage gets involved, charges money but fails to solve the problem. We all know how hard it can be to identify problems sometimes but at least with your own people doing the work you're in control.

Good luck resolving things.

Henry

[badgerade]

Henry-F said:

If the dealer is concerned that the garage are not diagnosing the fault properly then why not return the car to the dealer and ask them to fix the problem. That way any mis-diagnosis will be their problem not yours or your specialists.

It is always hard as a dealer when a third party garage gets involved, charges money but fails to solve the problem. We all know how hard it can be to identify problems sometimes but at least with your own people doing the work you're in control.

Good luck resolving things.

Henry

Thanks Henry.

I did suggest this to them in the first instance, but they have no maintenance or repair facilities. We both thought it would make sense to take it to a garage with more knowledge of the car. Looking at the VX220 forums this problem has occurred before with a variety of different fixes... I'm sure we'll get there in the end!

[Doniger]

Might be too late now, but have you asked the dealer where he would suggest you take the car for repairs (and therefore be happier to pay) if he thinks the place you're using is ripping him off?