Any come back on car delear?
I bought a classic car in April 2012 from a classic car dealer and paid just shy of five grand for it.
This price was fine and I had good reason to spend that money. I also know that dealers have to make a profit.
However the car had a fault whereby the engine cut out on occasion. I did not take it back/get in touch with the dealer as there was no warranty and no proof that he knew about the fault (which of course may have only developed during my ownership).
I have spoken however to the previous owner who sold it to the dealer for two grand! and sold it with the fault!
So the dealer knew of the fault and yet did not say anything about it or mention it in the advert.
I know it's a long shot but is there any way I can come back against him after so much time has elapsed, or am I better just chalking it up as experience?
This price was fine and I had good reason to spend that money. I also know that dealers have to make a profit.
However the car had a fault whereby the engine cut out on occasion. I did not take it back/get in touch with the dealer as there was no warranty and no proof that he knew about the fault (which of course may have only developed during my ownership).
I have spoken however to the previous owner who sold it to the dealer for two grand! and sold it with the fault!
So the dealer knew of the fault and yet did not say anything about it or mention it in the advert.
I know it's a long shot but is there any way I can come back against him after so much time has elapsed, or am I better just chalking it up as experience?
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I have had it in for repair which did not succeed. I have re investigated the issues and am pretty sure I know which components need replacing and am going to take it to a specialist as soon as possible.
I know its not what you want to hear
Did you use a credit card for any part of the purchase? If so, was it at least £100? If you did you should talk to your credit card issuer as there's a reasonable chance they will make representation for you as they're partly liable under the Consumer Credit Act. If not, and it was a cash purchase, I would try and visit the dealer owner and advise them you want x amount refund to cover repairing the problem. If they say no, perhaps shell out a few quid from a solicitor to get a letter worded sending across to them telling them pay up or you'll take legal action. Perhaps consider court but I'd listen to a solicitor first - I probably wouldn't take this to court.
Thanks, I sure I could get a written letter from the previous owner and I did use my credit card for the deposit which was £500.00.
Indeed. However the previous owner was not known to me at that time and I bought the car in good faith from what I thought was a reputable classic car dealer.
That changes quite a bit then. In that case I would get a definite diagnosis of the problem then obtain three quotes for its repair. Put this in a letter to the dealer, send recorded delivery and ask them to meet the repair of the cost in full.
Advise - but do not send them a copy - that you have a signed statement of truth from the original seller that the garage was made aware of the fault but they withheld this information from you. Give them 14 days to reply, and advise if they do not meet your request in full it is with reluctance you will involve your credit card issuer to assist their legal assistance in line with section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.
The very fact you paid over £100 on your credit card gives you loads of protection on your ENTIRE purchase, not just the £500 you spent. That's good news for you, bad news for the dealer/credit card company.
I suspect the former owner is saying this to you now because he was given such a low value the garage attached to it. 10p says the previous owner never disclosed this problem in writing when he was trying to sell it to garage for best price.
On a technical front you do not have to pay over £100 to get S75 protection so long as the item has a price of over £100 and upto 30k, any amount paid on credit card triggers the provision.
Okay, so this was nearly 18 months ago, and a classic car is typically over 20 years old.
Relevant word: Dealer.
So you gave the dealer no opportunity to address the issue and have continued to use the car for 18 months since then.
That was your decision based upon a fairly flawed argument that he'd reject any claim.
Okay, at the point that the car was sold to the dealer, the car had the fault. Did the original owner disclose this to the dealer?
See above - was the fault disclosed to the dealer?
The following is from The AA....
also
You need to ask yourself whether you can, based on the information above, expect the dealer to be at fault here.
There is no time limit to making a claim.
Personally, trying to pursue the dealer after 18 months... I think you have something less than a snowballs chance in hell. But I'd be interested to hear if you have success
I believe your car is getting on for thirty years old. You also say you bought it with no warranty. I think you're simply experiencing one of the hazards of buying an old car, and if you're not one of those enthusiasts who has some mechanical knowledge and is prepared to get his hands dirty (or else to pay someone to do the job for you, and maybe pay them quite frequently), then you've probably made a bad choice of car. You've also known about the fault for at least nine months now and despite that didn't tell the dealer about it.
I don't think you have any chance of getting a refund at this stage. If you need a reliable, trouble-free car you'd be better to get rid of the Firebird and buy something like a Skoda Fabia!
You've put up with it for 18 months.
You need to get it fixed and chalk it up to experience.
Pity you didn't spend more time researching the car when you bought it instead of after when you have found out it was faulty.
It's only an old Banger (classic) which have inherent faults at the end of the day, what do you expect?
What's to say he didn't buy the car for £2,000 with a fault then spend X amount fixing it, only for the problem to arise 1, 2, 3 or 18 months later.
Your going to have a problem getting the courts to believe the previous owner actually told the garage about the fault, who in their right mind would go to a garage, try to get best price, then tell the garage "oh by the way, the cars a crock of crap". And why didn't the garage pick this fault up themselves when they bought it, or does it only happen after so many miles?
The problem does not occur on a short drive.
I think I'll leave the situation as it is, get the car fixed, get some enjoyment out of it and maybe sell it in the future.
See the OP ?