Advice: lease car broken for 6-months, options?
Discussion
Hi everyone.
Looking for a bit of advice. My other half leased a Hyundai Kona electric through her business about a 15 months ago. It was a lovely thing, but after 9-months developed a minor fault on one of the batteries.
No worries, we dropped it off at the local dealer - they had to send it back to the U.K. hub who diagnosed the fault but said that it would take some time to fix as it was in a queue awaiting a particular piece of tooling (a battery balancer) of which Hyundai U.K. only had one.
They put us in a Thrifty-supplied hire car a massive (but underpowered) Peugeot estate that we both hate driving. That was 6 months ago and we’re still paying the monthly lease on the Hyundai.
I don’t know what to do - obviously there’s a breach of contract, but I don’t know what a positive outlook would like. Do we try for a big goodwill gesture, if we could terminate then we’d likely have to pay a hire lease for the replacement - do we try and force them to put us in a bigger and better car?
For context it was leased (contract hire) directly from our local Hyundai dealer through a limited company.
Any advice would be really welcome.
Looking for a bit of advice. My other half leased a Hyundai Kona electric through her business about a 15 months ago. It was a lovely thing, but after 9-months developed a minor fault on one of the batteries.
No worries, we dropped it off at the local dealer - they had to send it back to the U.K. hub who diagnosed the fault but said that it would take some time to fix as it was in a queue awaiting a particular piece of tooling (a battery balancer) of which Hyundai U.K. only had one.
They put us in a Thrifty-supplied hire car a massive (but underpowered) Peugeot estate that we both hate driving. That was 6 months ago and we’re still paying the monthly lease on the Hyundai.
I don’t know what to do - obviously there’s a breach of contract, but I don’t know what a positive outlook would like. Do we try for a big goodwill gesture, if we could terminate then we’d likely have to pay a hire lease for the replacement - do we try and force them to put us in a bigger and better car?
For context it was leased (contract hire) directly from our local Hyundai dealer through a limited company.
Any advice would be really welcome.
Edited by Gasket999 on Saturday 31st December 11:22
The responsibility lies with the contract hire company, although this sounds like one and the same as the dealer?
Is there a provision / clause within the contract for this, i.e. temporary car cover?
Personally you need to make your feelings known to the dealer that you are happy to wait for the part, provided you are in a comparable vehicle. They probably think you are ok with the bus they have given you unless you say otherwise.
Is there a provision / clause within the contract for this, i.e. temporary car cover?
Personally you need to make your feelings known to the dealer that you are happy to wait for the part, provided you are in a comparable vehicle. They probably think you are ok with the bus they have given you unless you say otherwise.
Not sure what the op is moaning about, they have a car to use so they are mobile.Ask for a different loan car if the Peugeot isn't suitable, I'm sure your car will be fixed soon.It is unfortunate that the parts to repair the car are unavaliable but as so much automotive componentry comes from Ukraine or China, both contries in a little bother right now, supply chains are knackered and stuff is delayed.We just waited 18 months for our car to arrive, painfull but its how it is right now.
I've had a similar situation...
Car was off the road for 6 months awaiting a part. Didn't want to cancel as would then end up paying more for anything similar. It's a bit "rock and hard place" really.
I had a hire care the whole time and ended up getting them to pay most of my fuel bill (my car is PHEV so my fuel bill is virtually nothing), plus some extra "compo". This was the manufacturer rather than the lease company.
My car then had the exact same issue 3 weeks after I got it back, so is back at the dealer again!
Car was off the road for 6 months awaiting a part. Didn't want to cancel as would then end up paying more for anything similar. It's a bit "rock and hard place" really.
I had a hire care the whole time and ended up getting them to pay most of my fuel bill (my car is PHEV so my fuel bill is virtually nothing), plus some extra "compo". This was the manufacturer rather than the lease company.
My car then had the exact same issue 3 weeks after I got it back, so is back at the dealer again!
Your choices are
Suck it up
Suck it up but push for a more suitable loan car
As above but with some extra compensation
Push for a rejection of the car under relevant legislation and wait ages for something else new to be built
As said the supply of new cars and parts means the above is pretty much your choices
Suck it up
Suck it up but push for a more suitable loan car
As above but with some extra compensation
Push for a rejection of the car under relevant legislation and wait ages for something else new to be built
As said the supply of new cars and parts means the above is pretty much your choices
Be clear what outcome you want and be noisy / persistent about it, use social media ie Twitter if you’re being ignored or fobbed off.
It’s a sad fact of life, but politeness and tolerance puts you at the bottom of the list so you need to play by the new rules to get results. The old adage ‘the squeaky wheel gets oiled first’.
It’s a sad fact of life, but politeness and tolerance puts you at the bottom of the list so you need to play by the new rules to get results. The old adage ‘the squeaky wheel gets oiled first’.
Thanks folks.
I have no issue in raising it with them and will do as soon as they come back.
I was asking on this forum just before speaking with them as there is bound to be people who have similar experiences and could advise as to whether it is reasonable to push for a some form of reduction in lease charge, goodwill gesture refund (like they credit the account by a few hundred pounds) or something like that. Knowing the likely possible outcomes helps with the approach to the lease company.
We had picked a specific car, are paying a considerable amount each month for it and instead have a completely different car in return. That seems like a reasonable reason to be unhappy to me.
I have no issue in raising it with them and will do as soon as they come back.
I was asking on this forum just before speaking with them as there is bound to be people who have similar experiences and could advise as to whether it is reasonable to push for a some form of reduction in lease charge, goodwill gesture refund (like they credit the account by a few hundred pounds) or something like that. Knowing the likely possible outcomes helps with the approach to the lease company.
We had picked a specific car, are paying a considerable amount each month for it and instead have a completely different car in return. That seems like a reasonable reason to be unhappy to me.
I think it's very dealer-specific. As others have said, cost-wise it's nuts to do what they have done, but that's how finances and budgets sometimes work.
If it were me, I'd probably put it in writing to the dealer principal rather than phone it through.
I'd just very curtly lay out that this was a very negative experience with the brand, and the ongoing delay and inability to be supplied with the size and drivetrain of car you selected was very disappointing and also financially punitive (since you're paying ICE, and you may have made costly provisions to both allow for home/business charging with a night rate).
Then round out by asking them to layout any options they can provide to resolve the situation, and the approximate timeframe of each.
Let us all know how you got on, as you say it might help the next person down the line.
If it were me, I'd probably put it in writing to the dealer principal rather than phone it through.
I'd just very curtly lay out that this was a very negative experience with the brand, and the ongoing delay and inability to be supplied with the size and drivetrain of car you selected was very disappointing and also financially punitive (since you're paying ICE, and you may have made costly provisions to both allow for home/business charging with a night rate).
Then round out by asking them to layout any options they can provide to resolve the situation, and the approximate timeframe of each.
Let us all know how you got on, as you say it might help the next person down the line.
MaxFromage said:
A work colleague has the same issue. He's been paying for an 8 series for the last 6 months and is driving round in a Corsa... BMW and his insurer couldn't be more useless/uninterested and just constantly pass the buck.
I think I would be extremely narked. If your colleauge had wanted a Corsa, he could have purchased one and saved himself a lot of money. I'd be sitting in the dealers moaning like hell.I appreciate a lot of it is out of the dealers control, but it's notthe customer who should end up with the mucky end of the stick.
Thank you - some good advice there. I’ll have a chat with them at a dealership level first and will explore the options with them.
It’s crept up on us a bit, it was only this week that we realised how long it had been.
Will report back to see if it’s of any help to others in the same position.
It’s crept up on us a bit, it was only this week that we realised how long it had been.
Will report back to see if it’s of any help to others in the same position.
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