2nd hand car - reject or repair

[Fordo]

Hi all, im looking for a little bit of advice from an automotive / legal standpoint.

Hope this is the right end of Pistonheads to post. Any help and thoughts are much appreciated

The short version - Bought a 2nd hand van from a dealer which has been faulty, and I believe was sold with the faults. Im not sure on my standpoint and options from here

The longer version

I bought a campervan last month from a car dealer. On day of purchase, DPF light came on, and i noticed it wouldn't rev to 4000 rpm.

I took it to a specialist for repair, and informed the dealer.

Specialist found a few issues, replaced fuel pressure regulator, and the fan wiring was damaged so the engine fan was not operating. They did a static DPF regen.

Dealer agreed on quote. I picked up van and on way home, van now would rev over 4000rpm, but the DPF light came back on. Revisited the garage, and told to take it on the motorway for a proper regen.

I did so, and next time i started van, DPF light was off, and stayed off for an hours driving. Believing the van to be fixed, i went to Le Mans as planned.

On way, DPF, glow plug and EML lights all came on, limp home mode initiated.

In Le Mans, went to a VW commercial garage - very helpful mechanic there. They found a faulty DPF pressure sensor, replaced that, did multiple regens but think there is a further fault as they can't get soot content down to an acceptable level.

Dealer was kept in loop at every step.

Now im back in the UK. It has just now gone beyond 30 days since purchasing the vehicle. Dealer, so far, has been really on side to deal with. They have offered to repair the vehicle, and want me to return it to them.

Do I have any grounds to reject the vehicle and ask for a refund? Ive now had this van 30 days and its still not right, and personally id prefer to get a refund and buy a different one.

What I don't want to do is pursue a refund, and then their legal team find a way to worm out of it, and then not get the repair as first offered, if that makes sense.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

[p4cks]

Fordo said:

. Dealer, so far, has been really on side to deal with. They have offered to repair the vehicle, and want me to return it to them.

Just do this first before you do anything more.

[anonymous-user]

You seem to have taken it to everyone and his dog, but not given the dealer chance to fix it.

I'd give him chance, otherwise he could argue that there's no evidence all those others mucking about haven't caused the problems.

Next time take it back.

[Fordo]

keirik said:

You seem to have taken it to everyone and his dog, but not given the dealer chance to fix it.

I'd give him chance, otherwise he could argue that there's no evidence all those others mucking about haven't caused the problems.

Next time take it back.

That'll be because I live quite far from the dealer, so dealer agreed it was easier to take to a local VW specialist.

And the 2nd time I was in the middle of France, so again getting to dealer from there would have be marginally problematic....

Very keen to learn more about this dog mechanic though, sounds like there's a documentary series in that!

(really appreciate the input though chaps, very good to get a fresh perspective. Hard to think clearly when you've sunk money into something and you're all frustrated about it)

[coldel]

You have 30 days to outright reject the car without a need to repair which you have gone past.

You have 6 months within which to return the vehicle and attempt to have it repaired, it sounds like you have done this also. The CRA 2015 I believe (without looking it up) allows the dealer one chance to repair the fault, if they fail to repair it then you can reject the car.

Bear in mind:

- Dealer can make it very difficult, refuse to accept return and then its up to you to take them to small claims
- Have you bought it on credit card? You can get the CC company involved and return it via them

Its worth persevering with the dealer to get it repaired, if the car look completely shafted then start the process of getting your money back.

[coldel]

...and to add - make sure you have everything lined up if you are going to reject it. Record all dates/times of phone calls, all written evidence of dealer comms about repairs etc. all receipts of work done.

[Fordo]

All great thoughts - many thanks.

Sounds like the fairest thing to do is accept their offer to take it back and repair it, and go from there.

[mcpoot]

Don't forget the 30 day clock stops whenever the vehicle is off the road for repair so those days don't count.