Litigation advice - rejecting my Coupe

[tad]

Hi, after 4 months owning a Maserati Coupe I find myself in the terrible position of having to reject it and, quite possibly, go to court to get compensation.
I won't go into too many details at the moment - obviously, but I'm looking for advice on engaging solicitors...how long will it take, how much will it cost, what sort of compensation (above the purchase price) can I expect?

Anyone out there who's been through the process and can help me out?

I'll post all of the gory details once it's over!

[maserati3200gt]

Morning Tad.

Sorry to hear of your Situation.

Did you buy from a Main Dealer ?

If so Give the Maserati Head Office a Call on : 01753-878-700 and ask to speak with one of their Field Engineers.

Hope this helps mate ?
Pete

[5to1]

Compensation may be a problem.

I had a dealer lie to me abt the delivery time on my car. I ordered one at a premium based on a short lead time. While at the same time having an opportunity to order at a far better price with a longer lead time (typically the way the market works with these cars).

Anyway the dealers lead time turned from weeks in to almost 6 months. With lots of BS in between. Had I ordered the other car I would have had it by the time I finally had enough of all his lies. And now I was stuck with a similar choice, pay more or wait and pay less.

You would think since the dealer had himself put the premium on the shorter lead time. He had set the value of that time he waisted. But the courts don't really value your time. And everything that goes with it (embarrasment, distress, etc).

Instead the most I could get was interest on my deposit.

I think you will be hard pressed to get any significatn compensation. Atleast enough to warrant risking litigation. Unless you have some tangible losses.

Its better to threaten litigation and that you'll shout your displeasure all over the net. Backed up by a stern letter from your solicitor, it'll probably work better for you.

[maserati3200.com]

Hi Tad,

So sorry to hear of your experiences. What happened and/or what went wrong? Have you tried talking with the dealer you purchased the car from?

Petes right, give the head office a call and hopefully they will look into this, of-course this will depend on what the issues are.

However threatening the dealer with litigation may make things worst.

But when we have an idea of your unfortunate experiences us lads here on the forum may be able to help out with some suggestions.

Cheers
Gavin

[Murph7355]

I'd avoid solicitors. You'll spend a fortune and as has been noted above, your chances of getting anything more than a low interest return on your money are extremely minimal.

Also as mentioned, talk to the importer, be calm, don't threaten, but make it very clear you're pissed, that you are seeking advice from owners on the web and that if you are pushed, you will take them to court (even though you don;t want to).

Also have a word with trading standards (think they run the lemon laws?) and citizen's advice (I think small claims limits are up in the 50s now).

[sleepezy]

Tad

The general rule is that if the supplying dealer fails to rectify a [fairly major] fault having been given 3 or more tries you are allowed to reject the vehicle under sale and supply of goods legislation.

All you practically have to do is return the car to the dealer with all paperwork and write a follow up letter confirming your action (send by recorded delivery).

You are then left to recover the debt via Court.

If you reject the vehicle within 6 months then you should be able to recover the original purchase price (i.e. no adjustment for mileage).

You've not provided any details of the fault (& i have assumed you're UK based!!) so can't comment on specifics but my understanding is the garage would virtually have to prove you were being negligent/had an accident to avoid liability.

Note though - I am not a solicitor, although I do know quite a few. All the above was found on the web when I went through a similar experience - and confirmed by those 'in the know'.

If you need any links let me know - i probably have a load of information on my other computer that I could send to you.

[kevinday]

I second sleepezy's advice. AFAIK Murph is not correct about small claims, the limit is still £5,000. It is very unlikely you would get anything back above the purchase price, plus, perhaps a small notional interest rate.

[murph7355]

kevinday said:

AFAIK Murph is not correct about small claims, the limit is still £5,000.

Just searched the web and you're right. Apologies.

[kevinday]

Hey Murph, no need for apologies, we all get it wrong sometimes.

[tad]

Sorry I can't give too many details but basically I bought a car 4 months ago from a large UK dealership - the car was supplied with many faults and has spent about 7 weeks with the dealer - including the last 4 weeks - and is still not ready. I've had courtesy vehicles (of which both a Coupe and QP have had problems) and now I've realised that I may have bought a lemon and that the Service Dept of the Dealership can not fix the on-going problems.

It's been constant hassle from Day 1 - when the car was delivered it was in such a state that I threatened to reject it then.

Thanks for all of your advice - I've sent a registered letter to them and should hear this week how they will redress the situation.

If it's not resolved next week I'm going to be very NOISY - web, car magazines, etc.

14 faults in 4 months - including 2 clutch plates!!!

[Murph7355]

You should probably have binned it on day 1.

It's no help, but if the car needs bits from Italy, forget it during August and early September.

Good luck with it.