What’s considered a reasonable time frame to repair a car

[Mdotlife]

Hi all,

I made a thread a couple weeks back about a car I bought. A 10 year old Vauxhall Astra auto with a gearbox that conked out.

It’s been over 30 days since sale so legally I have to give the dealer the chance to fix it.

The car is with the garage of his choice but it’s been with them 2 weeks. It needs a full gearbox replacement.

I’ve called the garage this Monday gone and the mechanic said it would be ready end of the week. Called today and they said it’s not ready, regular mechanic wasn’t there and whoever answered the phone couldn’t tell me anymore.

I’m having to take taxis to work which is costing me money since this happened.

What I’m really asking is, what is a reasonable amount of time to give a dealer that sells you broken car to repair it. What’s defined as ‘reasonable time’? 4 weeks?

I’ve paid for the car on credit card so I could go through the card company to initiate a refund as I’ve asked the dealer for a refund and he’s outright refused. But what’s considered ‘reasonable length of time?

[123DWA]

I don't think 2-3 weeks to replace an auto box is unreasonable. They could have had incorrect parts which needed exchanging or needed more parts that weren't available immediately etc (although it is poor form not to give you a call and tell you that).

I would say fire the dealer an email saying if the car is not fixed and returned by 01/12/2022 then you will speak to the card company to initiate a refund. At least then if it does go legal you can demonstrate that you have tried to be reasonable.

[hepy]

Be careful, they might use the 'war in Ukraine' defence.

It took Kia 6 months to replace 2 cells/modules in the battery and they blamed Putin. N.B. their staff didn't look at it until after 5 months went past so may be they were on the front line over there.

[Canon_Fodder]

OP I would say 4 weeks (at most) sounds reasonable for a major repair like this one

[Mdotlife]

123DWA said:

I don't think 2-3 weeks to replace an auto box is unreasonable. They could have had incorrect parts which needed exchanging or needed more parts that weren't available immediately etc (although it is poor form not to give you a call and tell you that).

I would say fire the dealer an email saying if the car is not fixed and returned by 01/12/2022 then you will speak to the card company to initiate a refund. At least then if it does go legal you can demonstrate that you have tried to be reasonable.

Can I legally do this? The consumer rights act says I have to give the dealer a chance to fix but doesn’t mention the time frame. I think 4 weeks is more than enough

[Mdotlife]

Canon_Fodder said:

OP I would say 4 weeks (at most) sounds reasonable for a major repair like this one

The dealer has given me the mechanic’s number so I’ve been liaising with them directly.

2nd week, he said he needs a week. Called end of the week and they said mechanic wasn’t there.

3rd week (this week), spoke to him and he said needs a couple of days so hopefully Thursday.

If I call him end of the week and he makes extra excuses when can I go through the refund process. He doesn’t seem to be telling me why there’s a delay, just that he has the parts and just needs time.

[VeeReihenmotor6]

Speak to the dealer and explain the situation. The dealer may have a pool car to let you use whilst repairs are ongoing if you explain you are using Taxis. It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect a courtesy car and from the dealer's point of view it would be good customer service having sold a faulty car, that by this point he has probaby lost his profit on but there is no need for his actions to hurt his reputation as well.

If nothing is forthcoming then explore the credit card refund route (i've no idea about that) but once you take that path then decent relations with the dealer will probably fall to the side as well.

[Mdotlife]

VeeReihenmotor6 said:

Speak to the dealer and explain the situation. The dealer may have a pool car to let you use whilst repairs are ongoing if you explain you are using Taxis. It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect a courtesy car and from the dealer's point of view it would be good customer service having sold a faulty car, that by this point he has probaby lost his profit on but there is no need for his actions to hurt his reputation as well.

If nothing is forthcoming then explore the credit card refund route (i've no idea about that) but once you take that path then decent relations with the dealer will probably fall to the side as well.

I asked him about a courtesy car. He said it wouldn’t be worth my while because, I would have to pay myself to tax and insure one of his other cars to drive it and it would cost me more money.

The credit card route is essentially that I paid for the car by credit card. Card companies have a fraud/dispute system that can get involved and help get your money back from a company that hasn’t come through with a refund. But obviously, in order for that to work in my favour, I need to have shown the credit card company I’ve give them enough time to fix the car

[Trevor555]

Mdotlife said:

The credit card route is essentially that I paid for the car by credit card. Card companies have a fraud/dispute system that can get involved and help get your money back from a company that hasn’t come through with a refund. But obviously, in order for that to work in my favour, I need to have shown the credit card company I’ve give them enough time to fix the car

And you'll also have to ask the dealer for the refund before the credit card co steps in?

If you have to do that don't forget to give them a timeframe/deadline.

Usual is 14 days to respond.

[Dave Hedgehog]

took merc 5 months to fix my gearbox about 5 years ago

[Mdotlife]

Trevor555 said:

Mdotlife said:

The credit card route is essentially that I paid for the car by credit card. Card companies have a fraud/dispute system that can get involved and help get your money back from a company that hasn’t come through with a refund. But obviously, in order for that to work in my favour, I need to have shown the credit card company I’ve give them enough time to fix the car

And you'll also have to ask the dealer for the refund before the credit card co steps in?

If you have to do that don't forget to give them a timeframe/deadline.

Usual is 14 days to respond.

I already did ask for a refund and he said no, claiming it will cost him more money and he wants to try and make it right. But he only says this over the phone, he hasn’t put that in writing. I asked for his email and he wouldn’t give it to me, he just told me to text him instead

[Mdotlife]

Dave Hedgehog said:

took merc 5 months to fix my gearbox about 5 years ago

Dang. This car broke 5 weeks after I bought it