Guidance on standing with a faulty GolfGTE bought from Cinch

[sagt550]

To give some background :

- Car (Golf GTE) purchased (on credit card) from Cinch on April 12th 2025

- Potential fault logged with Cinch on April 16th concerning High Voltage battery (only charging to 60% of capacity)... for context I am fully aware a 5 year old car may not hold 100% charge, but 17 miles on a stated range of 30 is way below that threshold.

(appreciate that this is the point I could have probably rejected the car)

- Various investigations carried out by Cinch in May/June - they confirm battery isn't charging properly and is faulty

- Car sent to VW to further investigate that claim. VW also confirm there is a problem with the High Voltage battery but would not be covered under their warrantee. Which I sort of expected and my purchase was also not with them either. Cost to replace £13k + labour (more than the value of the car!)

- This is now back with Cinch who I am also expecting to say it's not covered under their warrantee. specifically they have the clause "Hybrid/electric car batteries that are holding charge/voltage but have range degradation or a reduction in drive capacity are excluded"

My contention here is that the fault has been diagnosed / recognised by VW. It was flagged 4 days after purchase and I suggest I have been sold a faulty vehicle but (maybe rather stupidly) have given them time to investigate.

Can anyone what my rights are here (if any ?). In terms of outcomes I'd like it either to be repaired or have the ability to reject the car after 5 months ownership but am expecting a "computer said no"

Thanks in advance!

[Racing Newt]

sagt550 said:

To give some background :

- Car (Golf GTE) purchased (on credit card) from Cinch on April 12th 2025

- Potential fault logged with Cinch on April 16th concerning High Voltage battery (only charging to 60% of capacity)... for context I am fully aware a 5 year old car may not hold 100% charge, but 17 miles on a stated range of 30 is way below that threshold.

(appreciate that this is the point I could have probably rejected the car)

- Various investigations carried out by Cinch in May/June - they confirm battery isn't charging properly and is faulty

- Car sent to VW to further investigate that claim. VW also confirm there is a problem with the High Voltage battery but would not be covered under their warrantee. Which I sort of expected and my purchase was also not with them either. Cost to replace £13k + labour (more than the value of the car!)

- This is now back with Cinch who I am also expecting to say it's not covered under their warrantee. specifically they have the clause "Hybrid/electric car batteries that are holding charge/voltage but have range degradation or a reduction in drive capacity are excluded"

My contention here is that the fault has been diagnosed / recognised by VW. It was flagged 4 days after purchase and I suggest I have been sold a faulty vehicle but (maybe rather stupidly) have given them time to investigate.

Can anyone what my rights are here (if any ?). In terms of outcomes I'd like it either to be repaired or have the ability to reject the car after 5 months ownership but am expecting a "computer said no"

Thanks in advance!

Oh dear, well nothing of any use from me, but interested in what the eventual resolution will be, ( a good reason not to buy an electric vehicle), what mileage does it have on it? what sort of potential should a car of that age have? an ice car will have some degradation also, do you think that a new engine would be reasonable in a similar situation?.

[Shooter McGavin]

Sorry I can't help technically but it is "warranty" not "warrantee" ... this may help you in any written comms you have with VAG.

[paul_c123]

Forget about warranty or their clauses - you're covered by CRA2015.

In theory, because you've given them 1 chance to repair it (and they haven't), you could force a rejection (minus a pence-per-mile deduction). However is it actually "faulty" or "degraded"? You can get 17 miles of electric-only range out of it so its still working, so its not faulty, just degraded.

A secondhand car with a degraded part is fair game and no refund due.

You could also accept replacement (ie they give you another similar car) or part-refund.

[mmm-five]

Start the rejection process then.

You informed them almost immediately, so the rejection deadline clock should have been paused then. You've given them opportunity to fix it and they've failed, so reject it or get your CC company involved.

[Dave Hedgehog]

dont forget you have section 75 protection as well

Section 75 protects credit card car purchases in the UK, making the credit card provider equally liable as the dealer for faulty goods or misrepresentation, provided the total car price was between £100 and £30,000. You can claim even if you paid a deposit on the card and the rest in cash, or if the dealer has gone bust.

[dundarach]

How many miles has it done?

[GasEngineer]

Shooter McGavin said:

Sorry I can't help technically but it is "warranty" not "warrantee" ... this may help you in any written comms you have with VAG.

Warrantee is used as a noun referring to the person to whom a warranty is made.

[Muzzer79]

sagt550 said:

- Car sent to VW to further investigate that claim. VW also confirm there is a problem with the High Voltage battery but would not be covered under their warrantee. Which I sort of expected and my purchase was also not with them either. Cost to replace £13k + labour (more than the value of the car!)

- This is now back with Cinch who I am also expecting to say it's not covered under their warrantee. specifically they have the clause "Hybrid/electric car batteries that are holding charge/voltage but have range degradation or a reduction in drive capacity are excluded"

If the car charged to 100% but just had lower than promised range, their exclusion would apply.

However, you said your battery will only charge to 60%.....this is therefore a charging fault, which I would contend should be covered....

[sagt550]

Thanks all - very helpful, and I did specifically buy on credit as well just in case a situation did occur.

In terms of mileage it's done 60,000ish.

[ZX10R NIN]

This is actually quite simple, you registered the fault within 4 days of purchase & VW have now confirmed it's actually faulty.

The good thing with this is that it confirms you were sold a car with an underlying fault this means you will get a refund minus deductions for mileage.

Speak to them & they'll get you sorted.

Did you have a hire car while they were doing the investigations?
If not then you could use this as a way of negating the mileage you've added & push for a full refund.

[sunnyb13]

Cinch are actually very good to deal with as long as you have the right person on the phone usually a senior customer support manager or something.

[Dog Biscuit]

GasEngineer said:

Shooter McGavin said:

Sorry I can't help technically but it is "warranty" not "warrantee" ... this may help you in any written comms you have with VAG.

Warrantee is used as a noun referring to the person to whom a warranty is made.

That's as maybe, but in this context it's warrany

[Sebring440]

Dog Biscuit said:

That's as maybe, but in this context it's warrany

Ah, adding a third alternative: warrany

In what context is that correct?

[325iMSport]

VW give a 8 year warranty on the high voltage battery. As they have diagnosed it as faulty, why are they not covering it?

[dmsims]

325iMSport said:

VW give a 8 year warranty on the high voltage battery. As they have diagnosed it as faulty, why are they not covering it?

Maybe because it's more than 8 years old?

[Sebring440]

dmsims said:

325iMSport said:

VW give a 8 year warranty on the high voltage battery. As they have diagnosed it as faulty, why are they not covering it?

Maybe because it's more than 8 years old?

sagt550 said:

... for context I am fully aware a 5 year old car may not hold 100% charge.

[dmsims]

Sebring440 said:

dmsims said:

325iMSport said:

VW give a 8 year warranty on the high voltage battery. As they have diagnosed it as faulty, why are they not covering it?

Maybe because it's more than 8 years old?

sagt550 said:

... for context I am fully aware a 5 year old car may not hold 100% charge.

Fair enough but I looked on AT and I couldn't see one that cheap

[dmsims]

325iMSport said:

VW give a 8 year warranty on the high voltage battery. As they have diagnosed it as faulty, why are they not covering it?

"For PHEVs, the battery energy content degradation warranty lasts for 5 years or up to 100,000 miles, whichever comes first, for the first customer vehicle owner only."

[Dog Biscuit]

Sebring440 said:

Dog Biscuit said:

That's as maybe, but in this context it's warrany

Ah, adding a third alternative: warrany

In what context is that correct?

hahaha I can't wriggle out of that one. Im embarrased