Not within 30 days you don't you can toss it straight back for a refund.
Advice on consumer rights and email to garage...
- Thread starter craig_t
- Start date
Not within 30 days you don't you can toss it straight back for a refund.
I'll have to check with my partner if she would be happy to go without the car and search for another, if I go down that route. There are not many of them for sale, hence the travel for the car. If they said they would fix it, then taking it there could possibly be arranged, but I would rather it be local. Maybe I could use something like you have said but say if they don't offer to cover costs of it being fixed then I will reject it, this:
It's a Fiat Punto Grande 1.9 Sporting
I had this issue with ford. I gave them the opportunity to fix the issue on two occasions, on the third, the car was returned for a full refund.
The first step here would be giving them the opportunity to fix the problem, I'd also advise not using the vehicle whilst this is going on or there's a chance they'd put this on you for contributing/worsening the issue. Expect grief if you go in asking for a refund.
The first step here would be giving them the opportunity to fix the problem, I'd also advise not using the vehicle whilst this is going on or there's a chance they'd put this on you for contributing/worsening the issue. Expect grief if you go in asking for a refund.
You are going to have to be without the car while you return it to them and let them repair it.
You can't legally force them to pick up the bill at a garage of your choosing locally. They are legally well within their rights to demand you bring the vehicle to them, and leave it with them while they investigate and repair.
I know you don't want the hassle of taking it all the way their etc.. but its going to happen. There's simply no way this sort of trader is going to let you take it to a local garage and just pick up the bill for you.
With a reasonable garage, this would seem a sensible policy. Using the conversations above, this is not a reasonable garage. This is one of those places that thinks they can absolve themselves of any legal responsibility by offering a cheap pointless 3rd party warranty and hoping clients don't know their legal rights. They've made it blatently obvious that if the warranty doesn't cover it, then its tough luck.
That opportunity has gone. Time to go for the refund while its still under 30 days and like a band aid, just rip it off and get the pain over and done with. Good advice on stop using the car however. Maybe consider renting a hire car for a week while you get all this sorted out ?
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I understand and like I say, if they were repairing the car then taking it back to them may not be an issue but at the moment they won't do it so driving there is pointless.
I'll send what I quoted before which basically says fix it/pay for it or this is my rejection and see what they say from there.
A hire car isn't really an option, because my partner is 22 so has a massive fee on top for young driver costs.
I'll send what I quoted before which basically says fix it/pay for it or this is my rejection and see what they say from there.
A hire car isn't really an option, because my partner is 22 so has a massive fee on top for young driver costs.
perhaps, but this'll be prior to when the issue manifested, the garage have been notified of the issue in the first instance.
Soldato
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I don't know what it is with dealerships thinking a worthless 3rd party warranty absolves them of all responsibility, they all try it! Last car I bought, the warranty wasn't even thrown in, they wanted me to pay 100 quid for it!
A guy my missus works with is going through a similar situation to you op, it took a letter notifying the dealer of intent to start court proceedings to get him to even reply to any emails / letters.
As if by Magic they are now covering the cost of the engine rebuild his 6 series bmw required all along.
The used car business is so stupidly shady! Not many people know their rights and the dealers know this.
A guy my missus works with is going through a similar situation to you op, it took a letter notifying the dealer of intent to start court proceedings to get him to even reply to any emails / letters.
As if by Magic they are now covering the cost of the engine rebuild his 6 series bmw required all along.
The used car business is so stupidly shady! Not many people know their rights and the dealers know this.
agreed
I find pragmatism and realism backed up with a clear statement on what happens next is best. I thought I would share the letter I wrote to a DP of a major dealer network as an example to show how softly but clearly worked for me.
Dear Mr Audi Man
I bought a 2013 R8 V10 Plus from your team at xxxxxx Audi in April this year for circa £xxxxxx and I have had several Audis including RS models (as well as Porsche’s, TVR’s, BMW M’s) over the years. Since that purchase, I have had a knocking noise from the car, which I raised on the day of collection with the sales person I bought the car from by email.
The car is currently with xxxxx Audi for the 3rd time as they continue to diagnose the problem. The team at xxxxx Audi have acknowledged the issue (as did xxxxxx Audi when I asked for their input) and are doing their best to diagnose where the knocking issue is coming from. I understand their frustration at the problem and I understand that these sorts of things are frustrating for everyone and I have spent time with your R8 tech understanding what processes he is trying.
However, the car has been off the road now (adding up the 3 different visits) for circa 12 days and as I type this I am no clearer if the cause of the knocking has been identified and in turn resolved. xxxxxxxxx in the xxxxxxxx service team is doing her best to work with me on the issue and a gesture on some service work at my last visit was appreciated, but right now I am still sitting without my car and a knocking noise that is frustrating me significantly.
I have told them I don’t want the car back until the issue is resolved, but right now no one has any idea how long this could take as we do not have a view on what is the root cause. I am trying to be patient and as said above, I know how frustrating ‘one of those things’ problems can be, but that doesn’t help the matter. I am happy to leave the car with xxxxxxx Audi for the rest of this week, but if we get to the end of the week and the problem is still not resolved or at worse identified, then I will need to consider what my next steps are.
I love the car, I don’t want to hand it back to you or get involved in a rejection process and would welcome your input on the matter and oversight. I am not criticising the team at xxxxxxx, we all have a common sense of frustration at this issue, but I need to close off this issue in one way or another.
Regards,
Housey
It was in an email from which I have just cut and pasted it, so the line spacing doesn't look correct but you get the idea. He called me on my mobile within 20 minutes, 3 days later I had the car back, fixed with a bottle of bubbly. Mate of mine is the Chairman of a large group and his view is rational and reasonable people always make you go the extra mile.
Before anyone asks, as this is OCUK, the reason I mention previous cars is not to big it up, purely because everyone in the network says "if your normally used to big saloons or family cars you need to understand these cars are noisy and make noises you won't get on your normal cars"....
Posted this as this isn't the first time I have used to light, fair but firm approach and rational people will be on your side. If they are not rational then I tend to go the legal route, but life has shown most of the time people will go the extra mile with fairness.
Dear Mr Audi Man
I bought a 2013 R8 V10 Plus from your team at xxxxxx Audi in April this year for circa £xxxxxx and I have had several Audis including RS models (as well as Porsche’s, TVR’s, BMW M’s) over the years. Since that purchase, I have had a knocking noise from the car, which I raised on the day of collection with the sales person I bought the car from by email.
The car is currently with xxxxx Audi for the 3rd time as they continue to diagnose the problem. The team at xxxxx Audi have acknowledged the issue (as did xxxxxx Audi when I asked for their input) and are doing their best to diagnose where the knocking issue is coming from. I understand their frustration at the problem and I understand that these sorts of things are frustrating for everyone and I have spent time with your R8 tech understanding what processes he is trying.
However, the car has been off the road now (adding up the 3 different visits) for circa 12 days and as I type this I am no clearer if the cause of the knocking has been identified and in turn resolved. xxxxxxxxx in the xxxxxxxx service team is doing her best to work with me on the issue and a gesture on some service work at my last visit was appreciated, but right now I am still sitting without my car and a knocking noise that is frustrating me significantly.
I have told them I don’t want the car back until the issue is resolved, but right now no one has any idea how long this could take as we do not have a view on what is the root cause. I am trying to be patient and as said above, I know how frustrating ‘one of those things’ problems can be, but that doesn’t help the matter. I am happy to leave the car with xxxxxxx Audi for the rest of this week, but if we get to the end of the week and the problem is still not resolved or at worse identified, then I will need to consider what my next steps are.
I love the car, I don’t want to hand it back to you or get involved in a rejection process and would welcome your input on the matter and oversight. I am not criticising the team at xxxxxxx, we all have a common sense of frustration at this issue, but I need to close off this issue in one way or another.
Regards,
Housey
It was in an email from which I have just cut and pasted it, so the line spacing doesn't look correct but you get the idea. He called me on my mobile within 20 minutes, 3 days later I had the car back, fixed with a bottle of bubbly. Mate of mine is the Chairman of a large group and his view is rational and reasonable people always make you go the extra mile.
Before anyone asks, as this is OCUK, the reason I mention previous cars is not to big it up, purely because everyone in the network says "if your normally used to big saloons or family cars you need to understand these cars are noisy and make noises you won't get on your normal cars"....
Posted this as this isn't the first time I have used to light, fair but firm approach and rational people will be on your side. If they are not rational then I tend to go the legal route, but life has shown most of the time people will go the extra mile with fairness.
I guess it also helps that you spent £70,000 odd on an Audi R8 from them whilst having also been a customer of theirs on other high end Audi's in the past...
Unfortunately, used car dealers are masters of shunning their responsibilities. These days, the tactic they seem to use is that they sell the car with some utterly useless warranty - then when the customer complains days/weeks later, the dealer says "Oh no, that sounds awful - be sure to contact the warranty company about that" knowing full well that the warranty company will reject the claim and allowing the dealer to wash their hands of it, blaming the horrible warranty company.
They can cram all of that up their backsides. They sold you the car. The responsibility lies with them to rectify the fault or give your money back. Do not pay money towards getting it diagnosed, or go 50/50 on things, or any other concoction of deals they want to work out with you - this is their responsibility to fix, end of.
There are 5 of them with less than 100k miles within 100 miles of my house. There are 14 within 200 miles (On autotrader). The further I buy, the bigger the risk is if something goes wrong with them again and I have to travel back...
I've sent them:
They have replied with:
It looks like they've got a little worried that I know the legislation, so have gone to seek legal advice. I'll continue to use the car in the meantime and see what they come back with.
Thanks for the help so far, it has been much appreciated.
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Do you really think a small garage has a legal advisor on call? He's just stalling so you lapse past the 30 days. The dealer's legal obligations are simple, he will know them well given he works in the industry and it just trying to play the system.
Just respond you are not prepared to wait and are therefore formally rejecting the car, send a copybook recorded delivery and be done with it.
Any other route will end badly
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I guess it also helps that you spent £70,000 odd on an Audi R8 from them whilst having also been a customer of theirs on other high end Audi's in the past...
Unfortunately, used car dealers are masters of shunning their responsibilities. These days, the tactic they seem to use is that they sell the car with some utterly useless warranty - then when the customer complains days/weeks later, the dealer says "Oh no, that sounds awful - be sure to contact the warranty company about that" knowing full well that the warranty company will reject the claim and allowing the dealer to wash their hands of it, blaming the horrible warranty company.
They can cram all of that up their backsides. They sold you the car. The responsibility lies with them to rectify the fault or give your money back. Do not pay money towards getting it diagnosed, or go 50/50 on things, or any other concoction of deals they want to work out with you - this is their responsibility to fix, end of.
It was in the late £80's, but yes, but it shouldn't. Reality is it does so when people who spend more than your average punter start to get 'slightly' perturbed people know they need to act as you become use to service excellent and are perhaps more expecting. However if I had gone in like a nut job shouting and balling I would have probably got there, but lost any goodwill I may seek to use later on.
Karma and all that which was my point really. Firm but fair, give em chance, assume fairness and if you then don't get it then launch the drones.
Him waiting won't matter as the point was raised inside the 30 days. His delays mean nothing in legal terms.
Soldato
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just say: excellent, as he will inform you that I am indeed correct and within my legal right. I also kindly expect a reply within a reasonable time frame. I look forward to both of your responses.