Mis-sold/mis-described Car

Soldato
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This thread is not to discuss the merits of the car I chose, it was a very good price and came with most toys you could ever want (Nav, Bluetooth, Climate, Parking sensors, Cruise) - I was happy with the car (and that's what matters) until I spotted a discrepancy about 25 seconds after I got home with it.

Long story short - Bought an Insignia Exclusiv Nav 130 2.0 CDTI from a dealer following on from an earlier thread I made. All seemed good, the ads on their site and on autotrader stated it was the 2.0 CDTI that had the CO2 rating of 124g/km and combined 60mpg. Turns out that when I got home it was actually the model that output 154g/km and combined figure of 48mpg - a fair old difference.

I know I could have spotted it had I paid attention to the V5 slip when they handed it over, but I had 'ooo shiny car' syndrome and did not notice it. I realised when I got home and flicked through the manual/documents and scoured the internet that something was afoot. Turns out that it was misadvertised (I have the advert saved) and the invoice/contract I signed to confirm the purchase stated that the 6 months VED with the car was £57.75 (commensurate with 124g/km) not the £9x.xx that is in the windscreen (the 154g/km) - therefore it comes under the sales of goods act for being not 'as described'.

I have informed the dealer of their ****-up (he even checked their system to see what they'd listed it as, and admitted it said 124g/km) and he was very apologetic. I mentioned that I might just want my golf back off them and to go back to how I was. He said "that's one option" and we then had a discussion about what I wanted in a car. He had a quick scan through their group stock and drew a blank and said to leave it with him while he tries to find another car - clearly he doesn't want to lose the sale and give me back the golf which they probably want to sell with a big mark up. He told me to carry on using the insignia while he looks into things(currently have 5 days driveaway insurance left after today) and worst comes to worst I take the Golf back.

Anyone got any experience in an 'issue' like this? I do like the car, and the toys are lovely, but I very much doubt they'd find one like it with the more economical engine in this spec for a similar price. That being said they clearly want to hold onto the sale and move me into another car, and that brings the possibility of me trying to exploit the situation for some sort of gain without ending up back in the Golf.

The sale of goods act states that I'm entitled to one of the following:
-a full refund
-compensation (damages)
-repair or replacement
-rescission or reduction in price
Based on the fact that when I bought the car I expected to save well over £500 a year on fuel (20,000 mile estimate) what do you think I could get out of the stealer as compensation?


tl;dr Car advertised and contracted as being more economical and with a different engine to that supplied. What can I gain?
 
This is very tricky because the fuel saving aspect is probably complete rubbish. In the real world there is likely to be very little difference in fuel economy between the version you have and the version you thought you were buying. The CO2 figure is arrived at in a lab under controlled conditions that bear little resemblance to actual driving and are quite easily affected by various tweaks manufacturers can make to cars.

So, in reality, likely the only real financial issue here is the fact the road tax is a bit more expensive. You said you got the car at a very good price, how good compared to the other models of the CO2 output you were expecting?
 
If it was advertised as having the newer engine then you should have no trouble getting a refund.

But if you have been driving around in it then I doubt they will give you a full refund as it is not the car they sold I.e 1 more owner and more miles.

Edit: I agree with Fox about the actual MPG figures being irrelevant, if I were you I would ask for them to pay for a few years tax/free servicing and keep the car.
 
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I told them about the error on the day I drove away with it (yesterday), so the extra owner point is moot, no v5 slips have been sent anywhere. The car was £8500 with 28k miles, and I'm struggling to find any to compare with the spec it has - the ecoflex/newer engines are more expensive too, which is what it was effectively advertised as having.

I was thinking of trying to go down the compensation/reduced price route but waiting to hear back from them...
 
Personally I'd keep the car as the difference between the car you have and the car you thought you were buying is miniscule.

See if you can get a bunch of accessories and/or some servicing thrown in for your troubles.
 
They often send the V5 slip away before you collect the car, no idea whether this is even allowed but this has always happened in my experience.
 
Besides the increase in tax, it doesn't sound like too much of an issue? Why not ask for a free service or extended warranty and accept the car? It seems like you are happy apart from a very minor detail.

It's not like a lot of cars where they fall in to the top band after March 2006, it's a relatively minor increase.
 
To be honest I doubt the real-world MPG will be all that different between them, the EU tests are all lies and it could just be adding auto-start/stop or gearbox trickery that makes the difference.

Is your 154g/km (48mpg) one the 160PS version? If so I'd be grateful for the extra 30 horses, and ask for a few quid to cover the extra road tax.
 
To be honest I doubt the real-world MPG will be all that different between them, the EU tests are all lies and it could just be adding auto-start/stop or gearbox trickery that makes the difference.

Is your 154g/km (48mpg) one the 160PS version? If so I'd be grateful for the extra 30 horses, and ask for a few quid to cover the extra road tax.

Nope, it's the 130ps/96kw version from earlier cars.
 
So if you get a full refund and cannot get anything similar probably not the best course of action, so I would be asking for maybe a free service or something along those lines just to sweeten the deal.

Like people have already said, the real world figures will be similar anyway, just say, 3 years extra price on road tax which a free service should be adequate compensation for.
 
Long phone call with the dealer, who is now concerned that their stock of over 100 Insignia's in the group might be being advertised with the incorrect stats (and rightly so) I think he's quite keen to sweep my mishap under the carpet so that they can work out what is going on behind closed doors.

I got them to offer me their 2 year warranty (which reads about as comprehensive as any other third party warranty and they've got a Vauxhall dealership in their group which is spitting distance from where I live) which also includes 2 years AA cover as well. They would normally charge £499 for it but I'm getting it FOC. I asked if they'd do it and he replied that he'd need to check with the head of the Dealership - to say he sounded a bit dejected an hour later when he called me back would be an understatement, I think he might have had a bit of a grilling...

All in all, I'm happy enough, and he told me I don't need to call to confirm until tomorrow, which means I get to test the car on a full length commute in the morning - result!
 
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[TW]Fox;25741429 said:
What is bafflingly good about the spec then? Seems like fairly standard list of features from your first post bar the nav?
Well, good for the combination of options on an exclusiv with that mileage at that price.
 
[TW]Fox;25739504 said:
They often send the V5 slip away before you collect the car, no idea whether this is even allowed but this has always happened in my experience.

When a car is "in-trade" and then re-taxed/re-registered to a new keeper then the Post Office retains the V5 and send direct to DVLA as per correct procedure. They are not allowed to give the V5 back to the dealer once they have done this.
 
Effectively 500 quid in your pocket, not bad, assuming you would have gotten a warranty afterwards yourself. Great result!
 
Effectively 500 quid in your pocket, not bad, assuming you would have gotten a warranty afterwards yourself. Great result!
Yep, was strongly considering purchasing the warranty given that it was valid in their dealerships and there was a Vauxhall main dealer from their group so nearby. After my commute to work this morning pretty happy, 48.5mpg in the pouring rain with lots of standing water to fight with, so should look to get more on a nicer run.
 
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