Can you return a car for a refund after 1 month?
Discussion
Morning All. I'm after some opinions please. Having an issue with my dad's car which he bought around 2 months ago.
It's a 2 year old 20k Vauxhaul in black. Bought form a Vauxhaul garage about 100 miles from here unseen, and delivered (driven) to us in the rain.
The next day, after washing, we noticed the car was very stone chipped and had too many scrapes on the front end, so contacted the garage and they collected the car, resprayed the bonnet and bumper and delivered it back to us a week later..
At that point dad should have refused it as the respray is appalling with overspray on the wings and doors, and the bonnet looks swirled like the apprentice used a polishing machine and dug into the paint, and it feels rough like sand paper. I told him to phone the garage and report that the car is even worse than before the respray.
The garage said they would collect the car again, but dad refused as the same people would be repairing it and he had no faith in their quality of work - it could come back worse again and each time adding 200 miles to the car. He suggested they send him £300 to cover a local detailer cutting back the overspray and polishing the scouring marks from the bumper and bonnet. They said no, they would only collect the car and do it themselves.
Dad asked for a refund but they said no as the 2 week approval/return period had now just passed.
That was about 6 weeks ago, and ever since the car has sat in our yard unused as dad has lost faith and just curses it. He is 75 and doesn't really want any legal worries.
My question is, could he actually claim a refund after 2 months? I think the garage is allowed one attempt at repair which they had. If so, would it be relatively straight forward or complicated?
Thanks.
It's a 2 year old 20k Vauxhaul in black. Bought form a Vauxhaul garage about 100 miles from here unseen, and delivered (driven) to us in the rain.
The next day, after washing, we noticed the car was very stone chipped and had too many scrapes on the front end, so contacted the garage and they collected the car, resprayed the bonnet and bumper and delivered it back to us a week later..
At that point dad should have refused it as the respray is appalling with overspray on the wings and doors, and the bonnet looks swirled like the apprentice used a polishing machine and dug into the paint, and it feels rough like sand paper. I told him to phone the garage and report that the car is even worse than before the respray.
The garage said they would collect the car again, but dad refused as the same people would be repairing it and he had no faith in their quality of work - it could come back worse again and each time adding 200 miles to the car. He suggested they send him £300 to cover a local detailer cutting back the overspray and polishing the scouring marks from the bumper and bonnet. They said no, they would only collect the car and do it themselves.
Dad asked for a refund but they said no as the 2 week approval/return period had now just passed.
That was about 6 weeks ago, and ever since the car has sat in our yard unused as dad has lost faith and just curses it. He is 75 and doesn't really want any legal worries.
My question is, could he actually claim a refund after 2 months? I think the garage is allowed one attempt at repair which they had. If so, would it be relatively straight forward or complicated?
Thanks.
deeps said:
Dad asked for a refund but they said no as the 2 week approval/return period had now just passed.
I thought you had 30 days? I'm sure they'll push back as it's not in their contract and/or a further 4 weeks have passed but that's probably the route to go down.However, if the car is otherwise good and only needs £300 spending to bring the paint up to scratch I'm not sure it's worth the hassle.
deeps said:
My question is, could he actually claim a refund after 2 months? I think the garage is allowed one attempt at repair which they had. If so, would it be relatively straight forward or complicated?
I think that the 'one attempt at repair' thing applies to mechanical faults not bodywork blemishes. I'd let them have another go at sorting the paintwork out - there is nothing to lose other than a couple of hundred miles which neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things. If that fails, pay someone local a few hundred quid to get it right, forget about the hassle and enjoy the car.Trevor555 said:
You asked for a refund just after the 14 days.
But the car was back at the garage for a week of that 14 days?
Call citizens advice, its a free service.
I'm wondering if your 14 day distance sale time scale is extended by the week that the car was back at the garage.
Please let us know.
Irrelevant really as he's had the car 2 months now. But the car was back at the garage for a week of that 14 days?
Call citizens advice, its a free service.
I'm wondering if your 14 day distance sale time scale is extended by the week that the car was back at the garage.
Please let us know.
I find it odd that the owner has "lost faith" in the car when it's not let him down, it's just got a bit of shoddy paint on it.
Get the paintwork looked at and sorted your end, it probably needs just a good mop and polish.
HTP99 said:
Trevor555 said:
You asked for a refund just after the 14 days.
But the car was back at the garage for a week of that 14 days?
Call citizens advice, its a free service.
I'm wondering if your 14 day distance sale time scale is extended by the week that the car was back at the garage.
Please let us know.
Irrelevant really as he's had the car 2 months now. But the car was back at the garage for a week of that 14 days?
Call citizens advice, its a free service.
I'm wondering if your 14 day distance sale time scale is extended by the week that the car was back at the garage.
Please let us know.
Trevor555 said:
HTP99 said:
Trevor555 said:
You asked for a refund just after the 14 days.
But the car was back at the garage for a week of that 14 days?
Call citizens advice, its a free service.
I'm wondering if your 14 day distance sale time scale is extended by the week that the car was back at the garage.
Please let us know.
Irrelevant really as he's had the car 2 months now. But the car was back at the garage for a week of that 14 days?
Call citizens advice, its a free service.
I'm wondering if your 14 day distance sale time scale is extended by the week that the car was back at the garage.
Please let us know.
However if the request isn't documented anywhere then I'm not sure there is anywhere to go with it.
HTP99 said:
Trevor555 said:
HTP99 said:
Trevor555 said:
You asked for a refund just after the 14 days.
But the car was back at the garage for a week of that 14 days?
Call citizens advice, its a free service.
I'm wondering if your 14 day distance sale time scale is extended by the week that the car was back at the garage.
Please let us know.
Irrelevant really as he's had the car 2 months now. But the car was back at the garage for a week of that 14 days?
Call citizens advice, its a free service.
I'm wondering if your 14 day distance sale time scale is extended by the week that the car was back at the garage.
Please let us know.
However if the request isn't documented anywhere then I'm not sure there is anywhere to go with it.
I only mentioned it as I recently won a battle with the mighty BMW.
I rejected after the 30 days because if a fault they'd attempted to fix.
Citizens advice told me the 30 days extended as my bike had been at the garage for 9 days.
After 7 months of total silence from BMW i got my refund on that basis.
Might be worth OP finding out if same applies to the 14 days.
I know what it's like to lose faith when things go wrong, or one feels like they've had poor service.
But I agree paying the £300 is the best way to go if the cars all good apart from the paint.
steveo3002 said:
lost faith in it because the bonnet needs a better polish and overspray cleaned up ?
id suggest your dad is too old for the hassle ...pay a local detailer a few quid to tidy it up and forget it
This^.id suggest your dad is too old for the hassle ...pay a local detailer a few quid to tidy it up and forget it
PH User said:
200 extra miles on a car is nothing, he should have just let them try and sort it.
And also this^.I don't think a bit of shoddy paintwork is strong enough grounds to reject a car but I could be wrong.
Clearly your old man has enough buyer's remorse to wash his hands of it but sounds like the garage don't want to pay out so personally I'd get the paint sorted locally with an itemised report and then present that to the dealer.
Next course of action would be to issue a MCOL as they're obviously not going to pay that.
fox2319 said:
Would it be best to pay to spray it locally and then pursue the cost in the local small claims court?
I like this suggestion OPGet your local repairer to write on the quote something about correcting a poor repair attempt.
And take some nice pictures of the poor repair before you get it done.
I'm going to go against the general opinions here and say you should let them have another go.
It's only paintwork - nothing mechanical to fret over. They've already tried a quick flash over which has been found out. Now they know they'll have to do a proper job (which they should have done originally) in case it goes pear shaped for them.
If the second attempt is still not satisfactory then you'll have more ammunition for a refund as you've given them two opportunities to put things right.
Apart from mileage and slight inconvenience it would seem easier than extra costs and legal action at this stage.
It's only paintwork - nothing mechanical to fret over. They've already tried a quick flash over which has been found out. Now they know they'll have to do a proper job (which they should have done originally) in case it goes pear shaped for them.
If the second attempt is still not satisfactory then you'll have more ammunition for a refund as you've given them two opportunities to put things right.
Apart from mileage and slight inconvenience it would seem easier than extra costs and legal action at this stage.
andburg said:
distance sales apply so the garage has 6 months to attempt a repair.
They are offering to repair, let them do it. Good news is are now open so you can go an inspect the vehicle at their location and if its no good, leave it there to begin formal rejection.
IANAL but the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (I'll call it the CRA) is what matters these days and it's nothing to do with distance selling, there are provisions for buying used cars bought from a dealer. Up to 30 days from buying a used car you can reject it for a refund, I've no idea why the garage are claiming 14 days.They are offering to repair, let them do it. Good news is are now open so you can go an inspect the vehicle at their location and if its no good, leave it there to begin formal rejection.
After 30 days and up to 6 months, there is an assumption that the car is defective at the point of sale unless the garage can prove otherwise, and in this case the issue was apparently noticed the next day. The garage has to be given one attempt to repair the car - which it seems they've had. The car could now be rejected, but OP might face a deduction for the use they've had of the car up to now.
The overall limitation under the CRA is 6 years (5 in Scotland), although after 6 months you have to prove the fault was present at the point of sale.
Whether it's worth enacting all of that is another matter, but there's been a lot of rubbish on this thread so far and it seems worthwhile presenting something more like facts.
spikyone said:
IANAL but the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (I'll call it the CRA) is what matters these days and it's nothing to do with distance selling, there are provisions for buying used cars bought from a dealer. Up to 30 days from buying a used car you can reject it for a refund, I've no idea why the garage are claiming 14 days.
After 30 days and up to 6 months, there is an assumption that the car is defective at the point of sale unless the garage can prove otherwise, and in this case the issue was apparently noticed the next day. The garage has to be given one attempt to repair the car - which it seems they've had. The car could now be rejected, but OP might face a deduction for the use they've had of the car up to now.
The overall limitation under the CRA is 6 years (5 in Scotland), although after 6 months you have to prove the fault was present at the point of sale.
Whether it's worth enacting all of that is another matter, but there's been a lot of rubbish on this thread so far and it seems worthwhile presenting something more like facts.
There's a big assumption there that there is a defect.After 30 days and up to 6 months, there is an assumption that the car is defective at the point of sale unless the garage can prove otherwise, and in this case the issue was apparently noticed the next day. The garage has to be given one attempt to repair the car - which it seems they've had. The car could now be rejected, but OP might face a deduction for the use they've had of the car up to now.
The overall limitation under the CRA is 6 years (5 in Scotland), although after 6 months you have to prove the fault was present at the point of sale.
Whether it's worth enacting all of that is another matter, but there's been a lot of rubbish on this thread so far and it seems worthwhile presenting something more like facts.
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