Advice on potentially rejecting a 5 week old car

Soldato
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Personally I'd give them the time to sort it out, but insist on an equivalent or better courtesy car in the mean time if there are potentially significant timescales involved.
Definitely do this. I had similar arguments with VW when my wife's Golf had clutch issues. They originally gave her a poverty spec Polo, but given that they expected the repair to take over a week, we complained about it. They ended up renting a Golf GTi for her as a long term loaner. As it turned out it took over 4 weeks for them to figure out the problem with her car and repair it.

The whole thing has pretty much put me off VW in the future. I realise not all garages are the same, but the attitude of service managers and staff was that they really didn't give a toss, and having something break on a sub 1 month old car really takes the shine off. Sounds like you've found the same, OP.
 
Associate
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Yes my missus is fed up and the shine has most definitely worn off. She heard from VW HQ today. She sent them a long email detailing what has occurred.

Her registration was in both the subject line and the first line of her email and VW's first question was please can you confirm the registration number of the car.......

She's not too happy and the garage are no further forward, we'll see what HQ come back with. But rejection is on the cards if they don't offer a reasonable timescale on putting it right soon.
 
Don
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1) you don't own the car you're renting it

What an utterly ridiculous thing to say. Not everyone can afford to drop the entire price of the car when we buy. How the car is financed has absolutely no bearing on one's case to reject. If anything it actually makes a stronger case than if one was a cash buyer.
If you bought a new house and it sprung a leak, would you complain to the building company or not bother because the house is technically owned by HSBC?
 
Soldato
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If my understanding of the consumer rights act in the motor trade is correct (and I've certainly attended enough training sessions about it!) you are just outside the 30 day period where you can hand it back, no questions asked, but well within the period where they have a one and only chance to fix the fault permanently. If they can't fix it first time you can just hand it back for a refund (or replacement if you prefer), which is probably why they are hanging on to it until they are absolutely sure it's fixed. If they give it you back and the same or connected fault reappears they're screwed.

Hope you get this resolved to your satisfaction.
 
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Yes, we're still paying for it whilst in their possession and currently the loan car is more basic than ours and 2 years old. But is due to be changed over the coming days to something more in keeping both in terms of spec level and age, allegedly......
 
Associate
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If they can't fix it first time you can just hand it back for a refund (or replacement if you prefer), which is probably why they are hanging on to it until they are absolutely sure it's fixed. If they give it you back and the same or connected fault reappears they're screwed.

Hope you get this resolved to your satisfaction.

The mechanic who has been dealing with my better half admitted today its not been looked at since they verified the fault as they don't have a fix currently.
 
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Nope reject it.

Yep, this is the current thinking. She has had some legal advice and even though we are just out of time officially on the 30 days he reckons it shouldn't be an issue given the facts. If the garage didn't drag their heels and were just honest things maybe different but they are proving to be quite hopeless.
 
Soldato
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Yep, this is the current thinking. She has had some legal advice and even though we are just out of time officially on the 30 days he reckons it shouldn't be an issue given the facts. If the garage didn't drag their heels and were just honest things maybe different but they are proving to be quite hopeless.

Reject, reject, reject... go via the finance company and let them deal with it. As soneone else said, be firm and be sure to do your research on the law becuase most people don't understand it - if you know it better than they do it puts you in a better position to not get fobbed off.
 
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The law aspect is covered, we have a great solicitor who we trust, my wife isn't a solicitor but is fully qualified as one and she can run rings around most people when needed (including me!), she runs her own business doing something unrelated as she fell out of love with the law and wanted a change when we had our son.
 
Man of Honour
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At the moment your frustration is you have no clear plan. Speak to the dealer principal tomorrow and give him time to get to the bottom of it, but tell him/her if you do not have a clear plan by close Monday then you will seek to reject the car. It sounds like you are dealing with the monkeys at this point. Elevate it but be reasonable and unshouty. If nothing from VW customer service by tomorrow then sociaise it via Twitter but focus on your disappointment with a great brand, how let down you feel etc.
 
Associate
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The expectation with a brand new car is high - it should work, and not go into limp mode.
Your case for rejecting the car and trying again with a different car is strong, given that the dealer has had multiple attempts to fix the problem over an extended period of time from delivery.
 
Soldato
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What an utterly ridiculous thing to say. Not everyone can afford to drop the entire price of the car when we buy. How the car is financed has absolutely no bearing on one's case to reject. If anything it actually makes a stronger case than if one was a cash buyer.
If you bought a new house and it sprung a leak, would you complain to the building company or not bother because the house is technically owned by HSBC?

If it's on a PCP it doesn't really matter which car he has surely.
 
Man of Honour
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If it's on a PCP it doesn't really matter which car he has surely.
Personal contract purchase is different to personal contract hire. One you can buy should you wish, one you rarely can. I know the point you are trying to make, but not sure why you feel you need to make it...
 
Soldato
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At the moment your frustration is you have no clear plan. Speak to the dealer principal tomorrow and give him time to get to the bottom of it, but tell him/her if you do not have a clear plan by close Monday then you will seek to reject the car. It sounds like you are dealing with the monkeys at this point. Elevate it but be reasonable and unshouty. If nothing from VW customer service by tomorrow then sociaise it via Twitter but focus on your disappointment with a great brand, how let down you feel etc.

This - set out your terms for rejection in writing to the dealer. Be clear what you want and get a single point of contact rather than dealer/saleperson/mechanic etc etc

Something like
  • You expect it to be fixed with in 7 working days (reasonable timescale)
  • You expect to have a suitable and equal replacement car whilst the issue is being dealt with
  • You expect no further related faults to the same problem
If they fail to agree to any of the above - you will reject the car.

AS @Housey say - be firm, be polite and use social media etc to help with your points.
 
Soldato
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Personal contract purchase is different to personal contract hire. One you can buy should you wish, one you rarely can. I know the point you are trying to make, but not sure why you feel you need to make it...
My point was (if it was a hire)
he has hired a polo with 10k a year limit
his breaks
they give him another polo with no limits for him to enjoy.
If it was a hire then if the car has a recurring fault that the dealer has no time limit to fix then it's not at all his problem as the next owner will be the person living with the fault.

From what I can see he has won in this situation, he has an identical car with no mileage limit to enjoy.
If he is purchasing it then he is putting 0 miles on his car, tyres, brakes.

Fair enough if it was from a passat to a polo but it isn't, he's up on the deal.
 
Associate
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Personal contract purchase is different to personal contract hire. One you can buy should you wish, one you rarely can.

Well said. A PCP is a purchase agreement.

Anyway regarding the matter at hand. Right to reject:

Any car that faults within the first 30 days of purchase gives you the right to reject.
Any car that faults between 30 days and 6 months, you have the right to reject only after the supplying dealer has had the chance to fix the fault. If it faults again then you have the right to reject (can be different fault).
Any car that faults between 6 months and typically 5 years, you have the right to reject as with 30 days to 6 months but gets tricky - have to prove the fault was developing / there at the point of purchase.

Generally faults can be proven by court approved "independent" entities such as ACE http://www.ace-uk.org/

Fault must mean that the vehicle is not fit for use. i.e. the engines is broken or as your example above. Cannot reject for a faulty radio or something that does not affect the expecting running of a car.

Best advice on here is inform your finance company, explain the situation and raise a complaint. They own the car and will not be happy that you're not driving it.

The dealer must also get things sorted "in reasonable time".

Source: I have been in this god forsaken industry since 2005 :p

More useful info here : https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/rejecting-a-car/
 
Soldato
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Soldato
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If you aren't getting a like for like courtesy car, whilst still paying the same in rental payments, I would be furious.

I'd give them a month to fix (or replace) it before rejecting it. This is a 1 month old car. You are paying a lot to drive a brand new car which you aren't getting use of.
 
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