Advice on new car having broken down!!!

[DiseasalDriver]

We bought a car for the MIL last week, you may recall reading my threads on it, or not...

It was a T reg Lupo 1.4S Auto.

It's broken down this morning, details are sketchy as I've only had a typical MIL call saying it won't start and it won't jump start either.

It's less than a week since purchase. I'm right in that there is a 3 month implied warranty when it's from a dealer and that they are obliged to sort it out?

I just need to know the legalities/facts for when I pop down there later please, if anyone can help.

Thanks.

Edited by DiseasalDriver on Wednesday 6th June 10:29

[300bhp/ton]

DiseasalDriver said:

We bought a car for the MIL last week, you may recall reading my threads on it, or not...

From these guys

It was a T reg Lupo 1.4S Auto.

It's broken down this morning, details are sketchy as I've only had a typical MIL call saying it won't start and it won't jump start either.

It's less than a week since purchase. I'm right in that there is a 3 month implied warranty when it's from a dealer and that they are obliged to sort it out?

I just need to know the legalities/facts for when I pop down there later please, if anyone can help.

Thanks.

FFS is the world full of idiots? Look up your rights FIRST not after

If you fail to do this, then look them up before naming and shaming and asking dumbass questions to which you should easily be able to find the answers too - using the internet.


1. Start here: http://www.oft.gov.uk/business-advice/treating-cus...
2. Be realistic vs amount of money paid
3. Don't be a **** about it when speaking to the seller

[CampDavid]

It's all a little bit iffy at this end of the market. The car is over 10 years old so your less entitled to expect everything to work 100%.

Find out what the issue is first and do from there

[Fleckers]

i would find out why its broken down to start with

could be something simple like its in gear rather then N or P or that she has left the lights on an killed the battery

[DiseasalDriver]

Regardless, you don't expect a car to break down less than a week after being told it's brilliant.

I'll remove reference to dealer, I thought the type of dealer he was would make a difference.

There are some really helpful people on here and some people that just love to belittle anyone that doesn't have the same level of knowledge when it comes to certain things.

I wanted someone who was willing to put it all in plain English.

I had no intention of being an arse with the dealer, it's not his fault, but I presumed it was his responsibility. That is all.

But thanks for the link, I'll have a read.

As for looking up your rights prior to purchase, seriously, do you look up all eventualities before you make any purchase? You must have an awful lot of time on your hands.

[DiseasalDriver]

CampDavid said:

It's all a little bit iffy at this end of the market. The car is over 10 years old so your less entitled to expect everything to work 100%.

Find out what the issue is first and do from there

I appreciate that. But the engine is kind of fundamental.

[CampDavid]

300bhp/ton said:

DiseasalDriver said:

We bought a car for the MIL last week, you may recall reading my threads on it, or not...

From these guys

It was a T reg Lupo 1.4S Auto.

It's broken down this morning, details are sketchy as I've only had a typical MIL call saying it won't start and it won't jump start either.

It's less than a week since purchase. I'm right in that there is a 3 month implied warranty when it's from a dealer and that they are obliged to sort it out?

I just need to know the legalities/facts for when I pop down there later please, if anyone can help.

Thanks.

FFS is the world full of idiots? Look up your rights FIRST not after

If you fail to do this, then look them up before naming and shaming and asking dumbass questions to which you should easily be able to find the answers too - using the internet.


1. Start here: http://www.oft.gov.uk/business-advice/treating-cus...
2. Be realistic vs amount of money paid
3. Don't be a **** about it when speaking to the seller

First thing you do is call the guy and idiot. All he's asking is what right does he have regarding the dealer in getting the problem resolved.

You've been acting like a massive recently

[Dracoro]

What did the breakdown people say?

[DanDC5]

Or to put it another, yes there is 3 months warranty that dealers are supposed to give with all new cars (apparently it's actually a legal requirement to give 6 though)

Give the dealer a call, explain what's happened etc etc etc and go from there.

[DiseasalDriver]

Dracoro said:

What did the breakdown people say?

She's not covered so she's got to wait until I can escape from the office for a short while and tell them it broke down with me in the car. I'm just looking at all eventualities really and what we should expect from the dealer.

[300bhp/ton]

CampDavid said:

First thing you do is call the guy and idiot. All he's asking is what right does he have regarding the dealer in getting the problem resolved.

You've been acting like a massive recently

Maybe it's my continuing discontent with humanity...

However I did provide a useful link with ALL the info the Op needs - if they actually bothered to click it.

And to reinforce my earlier claim, the op has then gone on to say:

DiseasalDriver said:

you don't expect a car to break down less than a week after being told it's brilliant.

An opinion they've formed without actually knowing what is wrong with the vehicle, hell it could have run out of petrol so maybe it was accurate.

[Deva Link]

DanDC5 said:

Or to put it another, yes there is 3 months warranty that dealers are supposed to give with all new cars (apparently it's actually a legal requirement to give 6 though)

Can I ask you, in all seriousness, where do people get this crap from?

The 3 month warranty thing really pisses me off, it's quoted over and over again and has no basis in law or regulations or anything else whatsoever.

ETA: Oh and good luck trying to enforce the 6mth SOGA law on 14 year old car.

Edited by Deva Link on Wednesday 6th June 10:40

[trickywoo]

Fleckers said:

i would find out why its broken down to start with

could be something simple like its in gear rather then N or P or that she has left the lights on an killed the battery

This.

Could also be a dead battery on its own accord. This happened to me.

[300bhp/ton]

DiseasalDriver said:

you don't expect a car to break down less than a week after being told it's brilliant.

I'll remove reference to dealer, I thought the type of dealer he was would make a difference.

There are some really helpful people on here and some people that just love to belittle anyone that doesn't have the same level of knowledge when it comes to certain things.

I wanted someone who was willing to put it all in plain English.

I had no intention of being an arse with the dealer, it's not his fault, but I presumed it was his responsibility. That is all.

But thanks for the link, I'll have a read.

As for looking up your rights prior to purchase, seriously, do you look up all eventualities before you make any purchase? You must have an awful lot of time on your hands.

ok, it was offensive. But honestly if you can't be bothered to:

a) look up this info before hand
b) look it up on your own afterwards

Then I think a little offensive nature is somewhat appropriate.


What you need to do:

-READ SOGA and understand your rights, if you have questions on any part or specifics, then these are good things to ask about

-Establish what you think is wrong with the car

-Speak to the seller and explain what has happened and gauge their opinion

-If they are unhelpful or unwilling, see if SOGA offers you any rights in this situation, if so it might be worth stating them to the seller, but in a non antagonistic way

-If they are willing, then see what happens


Key things are:

-price paid
-satisfactory quality vs the price paid. Basically £1k for a car is not a lot or money and T reg is OLD, such a car is expected to break down and not always in a foreseeable way
-timescale and inspection. If you could have spotted the fault or failed to inspect the car, then a lot of liability lies with the buyer, not the seller

And even if a warranty was given, it is unlikely to cover 100% of the car, even brand new cars are not covered to this extent let alone 12 year old examples.

Edited by 300bhp/ton on Wednesday 6th June 10:44

[300bhp/ton]

Deva Link said:

DanDC5 said:

Or to put it another, yes there is 3 months warranty that dealers are supposed to give with all new cars (apparently it's actually a legal requirement to give 6 though)

Can I ask you, in all seriousness, where do people get this crap from?

The 3 month warranty thing really pisses me off, it's quoted over and over again and has no basis in law or regulations or anything else whatsoever.

ETA: Oh and good luck trying to enforce the 6mth SOGA law on 14 year old car.

Edited by Deva Link on Wednesday 6th June 10:40

+1 and again reinforces my original comment in this thread.

[DanDC5]

Deva Link said:

Can I ask you, in all seriousness, where do people get this crap from?

The 3 month warranty thing really pisses me off, it's quoted over and over again and has no basis in law or regulations or anything else whatsoever.

ETA: Oh and good luck trying to enforce the 6mth SOGA law on 14 year old car.

Edited by Deva Link on Wednesday 6th June 10:40

Answer to your question where the 'crap' comes from.

A friend/ex colleague who now works in used car sales.

[funkyrobot]

I would do this:

1. Look at car yourself and see if there is anything obvious you can spot that could have caused this problem. For example, my brother's girlfriend told everyone that their car had broken down. She'd actually run out of diesel
2. If there is nothing obvious (this is the point where my mechanical skills fail) then call the dealer who sold you the car. Explain the situation and tell them what has happened. Ask them to look at it and see if they can fix it.
3. Give the dealer chance to rectify what has happened. If the dealer doesn't care, politely ask again. If you find yourself getting nowhere, call consumer direct and ask their advice. Whatever conversations you have with the dealer, be polite but firm.
4. This step could go either way. If dealer hasn't been helpful, take whatever steps you have been advised by constumer direct. If dealer helpful, hopefully car will be fixed or it will be returned (if it's that bad).

You must give the person you bought the car off a chance to fix the problem. Do not go somewhere else, get them to fix it and then try to bill the original dealer. How you progress this will be a result of your interactions with the dealer. Give them time before you throw legal stuff in their face.

Also, please do not get confused about the warranty thing. As far as I'm aware (I'm no legal bod) everything relating to a warranty is based on the purchase price, and original condition of the vehicle. The vehicle has to be fit for purpose though, so if it has indeed died you should be able to sort something out with the dealer. Give them a chance though

Failing this. Take the dealer's wife out for a meal and smash her back doors in. Even if she is fugly!

[300bhp/ton]

DanDC5 said:

Answer to your question where the 'crap' comes from.

A friend/ex colleague who now works in used car sales.

Think you need to point them to:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/business-advice/treating-cus...
http://oft.gov.uk/business-advice/treating-custome...

[DiseasalDriver]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I fully intend(ed) to. I'll be heading out to it after work and checking the obvious before calling out the RAC who hopefully can give me an idea of what is wrong. It is at this point that I can approach the dealer with the full facts and ask him what his thoughts are.

I had no intention of going in there all guns blazing, or embarrassing myself. But at the same time I thought there might be someone on here who had suffered a similar problem.

Car was £1,300 if that makes any difference to the situation.

[300bhp/ton]

DiseasalDriver said:

I fully intend(ed) to. I'll be heading out to it after work and checking the obvious before calling out the RAC who hopefully can give me an idea of what is wrong. It is at this point that I can approach the dealer with the full facts and ask him what his thoughts are.

I had no intention of going in there all guns blazing, or embarrassing myself. But at the same time I thought there might be someone on here who had suffered a similar problem.

Car was £1,300 if that makes any difference to the situation.

The big thing is with cases like this. That you have to weigh the expectations of a 13 year old car bought for £1300 and it's fitness for purpose.

The expectation that it'll be perfect is unrealistic. This is the thin line between what is reasonable and what isn't. You also have to give the seller sufficient time to resolve the issue. Remember they are there to make money, so anything they pay for is coming out of their own pocket. Some will be unwilling, but most half decent traders should be fine about such things.