Used Bike Bought 2 Weeks Ago Fails - Dealer Liability?

[RegMolehusband]

My son purchased a Suzuki Burgman 400 for his commute into London two weeks ago from a commercial bike dealer i.e. not a private sale. He failed to ask about any warranty. It has a FSH and 20,000 miles on the clock.

However last night it lost drive on the M40 and he had to be rescued. It was dark, potentially dangerous, costly to upgrade his rescue package, and wrecked his weekend plans. It may be the drive belt (which is encased) or the torque converter/clutch. It's an automatic.

The dealer seemed a nice reasonable chap but just in case he turns unreasonable today does anybody know what his legal liability might be with regards to getting it fixed?

Cheers

"Reg"

Edited by RegMolehusband on Saturday 29th September 11:08

[ajb85]

Hmmm, interesting one. It could be argued that drive belts, and clutch/torque converter are wearable items that degrade commensurate with the age and mileage of the bike.

[redgriff500]

RegMolehusband said:

it lost drive on the M40 and he had to be rescued. It was dark, potentially dangerous, costly to upgrade his rescue package, and wrecked his weekend plans.

^^^This is irrelevant.

It also depends on the price paid.

Firstly approach to dealer and see what he says.

[andy-xr]

redgriff500 said:

^^^This is irrelevant.

Agreed, I think if you start waving that around you lose credibility fairly quickly. Let the dealer sort it, be reasonable

[ajb85]

redgriff500 said:

Firstly approach to dealer and see what he says.

I really don't fancy his chances, there's b*gger all profit in used bikes so there will be nothing left in his pot to repair it. The fairest thing would be for the dealer to give him a refund, thus leaving him seriously out of pocket!

[RegMolehusband]

redgriff500 said:

^^^This is irrelevant.

It also depends on the price paid.

Firstly approach to dealer and see what he says.

Yes, sorry, I know it's irrelevant but I was just illustrating how disappointing and upsetting it was.

[y2blade]

RegMolehusband said:

My son purchased a Suzuki Burgman 400 for his commute into London two weeks ago from a commercial bike dealer i.e. not a private sale. He failed to ask about any warranty. It has a FSH and 20,000 miles on the clock.

However last night it lost drive on the M40 and he had to be rescued. It was dark, potentially dangerous, costly to upgrade his rescue package, and wrecked his weekend plans. It may be the drive belt (which is encased) or the torque converter/clutch. It's an automatic.

The dealer seemed a nice reasonable chap but just in case he turns unreasonable today does anybody know what his legal liability might be with regards to getting it fixed?

Cheers

"Reg"

Edited by RegMolehusband on Saturday 29th September 11:08

Have you spoken with the dealer yet?
What did they say?

[RegMolehusband]

ajb85 said:

I really don't fancy his chances, there's b*gger all profit in used bikes so there will be nothing left in his pot to repair it. The fairest thing would be for the dealer to give him a refund, thus leaving him seriously out of pocket!

I was under the impression that all used vehicle dealers take out an insurance policy to provide a warranty of a few months. Anyway, hopefully he's covered in some way.

[redgriff500]

RegMolehusband said:

I was under the impression that all used vehicle dealers take out an insurance policy to provide a warranty of a few months. Anyway, hopefully he's covered in some way.

No.

Most try to sell you a warranty and avoid their liabilities under the SOGA.

If he paid a high price for the bike (relative to others available) I'd expect the dealer to sort it for free. If he got it cheap I'd expect the dealer to supply free labour and him to pay for the parts.

[frosted]

redgriff500 said:

No.

Most try to sell you a warranty and avoid their liabilities under the SOGA.

If he paid a high price for the bike (relative to others available) I'd expect the dealer to sort it for free. If he got it cheap I'd expect the dealer to supply free labour and him to pay for the parts.

Don't listen to this guy, whoever sold it has to fix it or give your son a refund.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

ajb85 said:

there's b*gger all profit in used bikes

B*gger off! are all those traders doing it from the goodness of their hearts to help out lucky consumers?

[redgriff500]

frosted said:

redgriff500 said:

No.

Most try to sell you a warranty and avoid their liabilities under the SOGA.

If he paid a high price for the bike (relative to others available) I'd expect the dealer to sort it for free. If he got it cheap I'd expect the dealer to supply free labour and him to pay for the parts.

Don't listen to this guy, whoever sold it has to fix it or give your son a refund.

Please show me the law that backs up your statement.

What if he paid £5 for it when the market value is £2k ?

[frosted]

redgriff500 said:

Please show me the law that backs up your statement.

What if he paid £5 for it when the market value is £2k ?

Yeah ok, that's happens often then?

[RegMolehusband]

I'm pleased to say the dealer is going to sort it out. They think it is probably the drive belt.

Though son will have to pay for them to come and get it from his house.

[em177]

frosted said:

redgriff500 said:

No.

Most try to sell you a warranty and avoid their liabilities under the SOGA.

If he paid a high price for the bike (relative to others available) I'd expect the dealer to sort it for free. If he got it cheap I'd expect the dealer to supply free labour and him to pay for the parts.

Don't listen to this guy, whoever sold it has to fix it or give your son a refund.

Have you ever bought any used item before?

[ajb85]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

ajb85 said:

there's b*gger all profit in used bikes

B*gger off! are all those traders doing it from the goodness of their hearts to help out lucky consumers?

On a run-of-the-mill, nothing-too-flashy bike you're looking at maybe £200 profit. Used bikes just aren't worth a great deal. They hit an age where their worth is often little more than scrap value. Speak to a bike dealer.

[frosted]

em177 said:

Have you ever bought any used item before?

Presumably when you go to a dealer to buy a car you go there because of the crappy coffee and the spotty receptionist?

Exactly, you go there mainly because of peace of mind and easy transactions

[redgriff500]

frosted said:

redgriff500 said:

Please show me the law that backs up your statement.

What if he paid £5 for it when the market value is £2k ?

Yeah ok, that's happens often then?

That's PRECISELY why I asked the price.

If it's sold for significantly less than market value you'd have far less chance in court.

Equally it depends what the ad said and the receipt.

Then again 10 yrs in the trade, Dad who's been a car trader for 40+ yrs and a sister who's a solicitor...

What do I know.

[frosted]

Two weeks is not 4-8 months regardless, I sincerely doubt any dealer would sell a 3k bike for 1k unless is good for the scraper and even then he would polish it and sell it privately. I think what your trying to imply that there's such thing as honesty on either side. For example if I go to cargiant and buy a 12k car or bike at 10-15% discount somehow my rights as customer vanish?

[SR06]

I returned an Audi RS4 under the Sale of Goods Act. Received a full refund.