Trader ignoring letter of rejection...what next?
Discussion
Afternoon, a female friend took it upon herself to go out & purchase a Renault Megane 2.0 DCI Convertible from a small used vehicle trader on a whim, had she consulted me or anyone we would have put her straight off this, but as we all know females are impulsive so she did & paid cash.
Ten days down the line it's hitting limp mode resulting in her loosing all confidence in it, smaller issues such as cruise & windows not working.
Understandably I told her to reject it in the correct fashion- in writing by recorded delivery stipulating a time scale etc, which she did.
Nine days later, absolutely nothing. The Local Trading standards department are no use, appearing to not want to get involved.
Other than issuing a small claims against them, are there any routes she can pursue?
Car hasn't been used since faults appeared & the fault codes are still there.
Any help gratefully received, thanks.
Ten days down the line it's hitting limp mode resulting in her loosing all confidence in it, smaller issues such as cruise & windows not working.
Understandably I told her to reject it in the correct fashion- in writing by recorded delivery stipulating a time scale etc, which she did.
Nine days later, absolutely nothing. The Local Trading standards department are no use, appearing to not want to get involved.
Other than issuing a small claims against them, are there any routes she can pursue?
Car hasn't been used since faults appeared & the fault codes are still there.
Any help gratefully received, thanks.
daveco said:
Did she give the garage a chance to rectify the issues?
AFAIK she cannot reject the car without giving the trader a chance to do so.
She can within the first 30 days after purchase.AFAIK she cannot reject the car without giving the trader a chance to do so.
The one thing she needs to do which hasn't been mentioned yet is to put the car beyond her use. Return it physically, together with all the keys, paperwork etc. Then she issues a court claim for the purchase price. If it's <£10k, it's a small claim.
Vehicle was £2500, and she is within her initial 30 days of purchase, lucky if she's done 300 miles in it including bringing it back which is about 50 miles away.
Trading Standards have instructed her not to contact the trader but tbh he is ignoring her calls as hers were blanked yet when I called to enquire about another vehicle he answered.
Trading Standards have instructed her not to contact the trader but tbh he is ignoring her calls as hers were blanked yet when I called to enquire about another vehicle he answered.
Edited by GezG on Thursday 4th May 15:59
Edited by GezG on Thursday 4th May 16:00
The consumer rights act (CRA 2015) is the relevant legislation:
Citizen's Advice:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/how-cit...
Which:
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
Which advice on secondhand cars:
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/the-...
roughly speaking...
- right to reject within 30 days
- after that retailer is allowed one attempt to repair and then you can reject
- assumed in first 6 months that failings were present at time of purchase
HOWEVER
for a car...
If the dealer won't discuss then yes, small claims court is your option - unless you bought on a credit card when a charge back might be possible
Citizen's Advice:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/how-cit...
Which:
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
Which advice on secondhand cars:
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/the-...
roughly speaking...
- right to reject within 30 days
- after that retailer is allowed one attempt to repair and then you can reject
- assumed in first 6 months that failings were present at time of purchase
HOWEVER
for a car...
Which website said:
When you buy a second-hand car from a dealer, you have the right under the Consumer Rights Act (which replaced the Sale of Goods Act from 1 October 2015), to expect the car to:
be of satisfactory quality (taking into account its age and mileage)
meet any description given to you when you were buying it (whether in the ad or in discussions prior to sale)
be fit for purpose (in this case for example, to get you from A to B safely)
If the second-hand car does not meet these requirements, you have the right to claim against the dealer for breach of contract.
If something you buy is not 'as described', or the seller is guilty of misrepresentation, you're entitled to:
give the second-hand car back and get your money back
if you want to keep the car, ask for compensation (usually the cost of any repairs it needs).
But if you buy a second-hand car that was not described as being in excellent condition or good working order and it breaks soon after you buy it, you don't have any right to reject it or to claim compensation.
So you may not have a right to reject - like any of these things it should start with discussion with the dealer as to how it will be resolved - not moving straight into rejection which can come across as the purchaser regretting the purchase and trying to find an excuse to bail out...be of satisfactory quality (taking into account its age and mileage)
meet any description given to you when you were buying it (whether in the ad or in discussions prior to sale)
be fit for purpose (in this case for example, to get you from A to B safely)
If the second-hand car does not meet these requirements, you have the right to claim against the dealer for breach of contract.
If something you buy is not 'as described', or the seller is guilty of misrepresentation, you're entitled to:
give the second-hand car back and get your money back
if you want to keep the car, ask for compensation (usually the cost of any repairs it needs).
But if you buy a second-hand car that was not described as being in excellent condition or good working order and it breaks soon after you buy it, you don't have any right to reject it or to claim compensation.
If the dealer won't discuss then yes, small claims court is your option - unless you bought on a credit card when a charge back might be possible
TooMany2cvs said:
daveco said:
Did she give the garage a chance to rectify the issues?
AFAIK she cannot reject the car without giving the trader a chance to do so.
She can within the first 30 days after purchase.AFAIK she cannot reject the car without giving the trader a chance to do so.
The one thing she needs to do which hasn't been mentioned yet is to put the car beyond her use. Return it physically, together with all the keys, paperwork etc. Then she issues a court claim for the purchase price. If it's <£10k, it's a small claim.
If she is buying a cheap second hand car from a small trader who presumably priced it to sell asap and doesn't have the cash to keep it on the forecourt for months...chances are she might have trouble getting her money back.
TooMany2cvs said:
daveco said:
Did she give the garage a chance to rectify the issues?
AFAIK she cannot reject the car without giving the trader a chance to do so.
She can within the first 30 days after purchase.AFAIK she cannot reject the car without giving the trader a chance to do so.
The one thing she needs to do which hasn't been mentioned yet is to put the car beyond her use. Return it physically, together with all the keys, paperwork etc. Then she issues a court claim for the purchase price. If it's <£10k, it's a small claim.
there is not an automatic right to reject for a secondhand motorcar...
GezG said:
Vehicle was £2500
"Here be dragons" territory.The legislation says that everything has to be fit for purpose, with reasonable expectations for the price/age/apparent condition.
It drove around for the first ten days without a problem. I presume the cruise/windows etc were all working OK when she collected it?
So the problems clearly weren't present at the time of purchase. £2,500 for a convertible in spring... It's fairly entry-level money. How old is it? For that money, a decade old at least... Things like windows having a sulk is hardly unexpected in a decade-old convertible.
As for limp mode... Diesel, y'say? Place bets on DPF/EGR cloggage... So he could claim that, since it was fine, her usage since purchase has caused the problem...
The question is - when it reaches court, will the judge believe him? Probably not, but there's a chance. In the meanwhile, she's out the money AND the car.
That end of the market is "Forget your statutory rights, and LOOK PROPERLY BEFORE BUYING" territory, unless you're happy to gamble good money after bad.
akirk said:
ability to reject depends on the wording of the sale...
there is not an automatic right to reject for a secondhand motorcar...
There is no specific legislation for a used car. It comes under Consumer Rights Act, 2015.there is not an automatic right to reject for a secondhand motorcar...
"Sold as seen", "trade sale", all the usual b
ks cannot possibly affect statutory rights. EVER. If a trader's going to rely on that, he's going to get himself clobbered if she does take it to court, unless he can prove that he it really was a genuine business-to-business transaction.TooMany2cvs said:
akirk said:
ability to reject depends on the wording of the sale...
there is not an automatic right to reject for a secondhand motorcar...
There is no specific legislation for a used car. It comes under Consumer Rights Act, 2015.there is not an automatic right to reject for a secondhand motorcar...
"Sold as seen", "trade sale", all the usual b
ks cannot possibly affect statutory rights. EVER. If a trader's going to rely on that, he's going to get himself clobbered if she does take it to court, unless he can prove that he it really was a genuine business-to-business transaction.
are you arguing against yourself?!the point is simple - CRA advice / interpretation / etc. online or off is primarily starting with new goods which makes life simple...
The CRA also applies to secondhand goods and there it is not as simple - so, while the CRA allows a right to reject, in the case of secondhand (and here we are talking about a car, so any other secondhand is irrelevant) there needs to be an understanding in the context of how the item is sold - is it mis-sold / sold accurately / what age / what condition / etc. - selling a car 3 weeks old but still secondhand is very different to one 10+ years old - the 3 week old car would have a right to reject, the 10+ year old one probably not...
akirk said:
and yet, you yourself in the post above demonstrate why there is no automatic right to reject are you arguing against yourself?!
No. are you arguing against yourself?!What I'm saying is that there IS undoubtedly a legal right to reject, which cannot be simply waved away by any wording on the paperwork. However, enforcing it may not be worth the time/effort/blood pressure.
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