Advice pls Major Dealer problems

Hi Andrea,

I am also having problems with my car, and I can share advice that I have picked up along the way. You may unfortunately need some patience as in my experience, dealers and finance companies fight you all the way.

First and foremost, it is important how you paid for the car.
If you put anything on your credit card such as a deposit, then the credit card company are liable to help you out under section 75 of some finance act.
If you have a hire purchase/conditional sale agreement, then the finance companies that have these are also jointly liable with the dealer, and in fact your statutory rights are technically with the finance company, rather than the dealer.

If you just paid cash/cheque, you can only pursue the dealer.

Under the sale of goods act, as far as I can make out, if a car develops a fault within six months (even a second hand car) the fault is deemed to have been present when it was sold to you, and presumably you weren't told there was a fault.

So the order of actions you need to take are as follows if you paid cash:

Complain in writing to the dealer, giving them 21 days to arrange a repair. tell them your complaint is under the sale of good act (as ammended) and that the car is not fit for purpose.

If they fail to repair, write them another letter (before action) telling them you will reject the vehicle and recover the costs in the small claims court if they do not repair it, give them 14 days this time.

If they fail again to resolve your issue, you should take them straight to the small claims court. It might be worth getting an independant AA report of the fault in preparation for this.

If you have finance companies innolved because you are hire purchase, or paid deposit on credit card:

Write the same letters, but direct them at the finance company. They will encourage you to approach the dealer - and you should try and do this. If the dealer doesn't play ball escalate through the finance company. Do it all in writing. If you need to phone, try and use a loud speaker phone and record it on your mobile so you can write up a transcript.

After 8 weeks, the finance company should give you a final response to your complaint, and then you take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. As long as you have tried to do everything the right way, and in writing, you should get a result.

If the finance company haven't helped you get a repair within the 8 week period, i would personally send them another letter formally rejecting the vehicle and asking for a refund. This is then what you tell the FOS you want as an outcome.

If your case has to go to the FOS or to court, it will be a few months until it is resolved.

A dealer should be able to repair it for you in a few weeks, so I hope you have the finance companies available to put pressure on the dealer to fix.

Consumer Direct website is a great help, and it is also worth ringing them up.

Remember, your complaint is not under the warranty, but under the sale of goods act - and the car you bought has to be fit for purpose.

If you have enough spare cash, hire a car and reclaim the costs via the FOS or the SCC when you get there.

If not - you have my sympathy. All you can do is be patient.

If this is your only trransport to work, the FOS may have to prioritise your case as this could adversely affect you.

Hope this helps. I know how stressful and lonely it can be trying to get this sorted, and there is a lot of info to take in to understand what to do.

Hope this helps.