Bought used car - broke down after one week

Soldato
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2 Dec 2004
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Under The Desk, Wales
I would be wanting the money back. How can they say something sheared in the gearbox and then next min no, it was something else? Rubbish. Get your money back.

Ring them and say that you have agreed to a refund and have accepted that and are pursuing the purchase of another car now.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
21 Feb 2006
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29,300
This has been far more complex than it needs to be and it seems to me you are being taken for a ride and are unwilling or incapable of dealing with that. It has taken them 3 weeks to get to this point, they have shown they are totally incapable of providing you with a quality service, have agreed to give you your money back, which you have accepted, now to me it's move on time. You seem to be waiting on them all the time, sitting there pondering what they are going to do next and all the time you are without your broken car. I don't mean to sound harsh but you really need to grow a pair, make yourself clear and get your money back.
 
Soldato
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Under The Desk, Wales
This has been far more complex than it needs to be and it seems to me you are being taken for a ride and are unwilling or incapable of dealing with that. It has taken them 3 weeks to get to this point, they have shown they are totally incapable of providing you with a quality service, have agreed to give you your money back, which you have accepted, now to me it's move on time. You seem to be waiting on them all the time, sitting there pondering what they are going to do next and all the time you are without your broken car. I don't mean to sound harsh but you really need to grow a pair, make yourself clear and get your money back.

Bit harsh. Guy is unsure.

He has our views now. Lets hope he acts accordingly.
 
Man of Honour
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29,300
Bit harsh. Guy is unsure.

He has our views now. Lets hope he acts accordingly.

He had agreed a refund and was happy to accept that. Now the dealer is messing him about AGAIN. Why does this need constantly pointing out? The fact it's fixed now (according to the dealer) should only be relevant to the dealer, not to the person they have agreed to pay back. It means they can now happily resell their car and the OP can go buy one he is happier with, probably from a dealer who provide a better service and they probably made a good profit on his PX. Why wait to Monday to have another discussion with the dealer as well?

I am trying to wake him up, not abuse him, I want him to get what he is happy with. It's for the best. :D
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Sep 2004
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Glasgow
Got to agree with Housey, I've been taken for a ride when I played nice guy before, it doesn't get you anywhere, especially with bullish car salesmen. Get your money back, get the car you want and deserve, end of.

Oh and make it clear you're in communication with your solicitor about it.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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11,054
Location
Disley, Cheshire
He had agreed a refund and was happy to accept that. Now the dealer is messing him about AGAIN. Why does this need constantly pointing out? The fact it's fixed now (according to the dealer) should only be relevant to the dealer, not to the person they have agreed to pay back. It means they can now happily resell their car and the OP can go buy one he is happier with, probably from a dealer who provide a better service and they probably made a good profit on his PX. Why wait to Monday to have another discussion with the dealer as well?

I am trying to wake him up, not abuse him, I want him to get what he is happy with. It's for the best. :D

I don't feel abused, don't worry :p

I'm perhaps not putting things across well. I have maintained that I would like a refund throughout but am not convinced of my position legally hence me not being too bold and ending up with a raw deal.

In respect of waiting until Monday, I did try to speak to the guy shortly after my post to confirm I didn't care that he thinks it is now fine and that I don't, pointing out the stress I've been caused by them suggesting it might have been my fault last week. I had assumed he wouldn't be back in until Monday but he is in tomorrow so I will be calling in the morning.

I have given it more thought tonight and even if I was offered a longer warranty, it is clearly not worth the paper it is written on as as soon as a problem was encountered with the car, they tried to put it on me.

Housey is probably right though, in so far as I need to assert my position more rather than worrying about whether my position is correct/incorrect. I don't want the car, they agreed to refund me and that should be that.
 
Man of Honour
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[ASSE]Hinchy;30226443 said:
Housey is probably right though, in so far as I need to assert my position more rather than worrying about whether my position is correct/incorrect. I don't want the car, they agreed to refund me and that should be that.

100%

Hope you get it sorted to YOUR satisfaction and the legal side is in your favour so ensure they complete on what you agreed and feel strong in doing so!
 
Soldato
OP
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Disley, Cheshire
This is getting rather frustrating. I sent an email Saturday morning and followed it up with a phone call 30 minutes later to ensure he had received it. I stated my absolute position which is that I want a refund. He said he would have to "think about it as there is nothing wrong with the car now" at which point I interrupted and said there is nothing to think about. I am within my rights to receive a refund as it was requested when the car was not fit for purpose and that is all there is to it. The fact that the car is now fixed is of no relevance to me and is more of a bonus for them in selling it on again.

I followed the telephone conversation up with the following email:

Dear XXXX

As discussed this morning, my position is as below and as first stated on the 3rd November over two weeks ago.

You have everything you require in order to perform the refund which you confirmed was agreed by XXXX on Monday 14th November.

I am entitled to the refund and feel I have been reasonable throughout this whole situation, particularly considering last week you advised it was a possibility that I had caused the problem and that I wasn't even going to be covered by the warranty let alone entitled to a refund.

I hope you can appreciate hearing such a suggestion caused me a great deal of stress considering I paid a not insignificant amount of money for the car and owned it for just a week. Following the conversation I sought legal advice to confirm my position and am therefore fully aware of my rights. The car was not fit for purpose, I rejected it verbally and in writing on more than one occasion and am therefore entitled to a refund.

I am keen to close out the issue as soon as possible so that your car can be returned to you. It is a rather uncomfortable situation driving around in a car I do not own and wish to return. I am sure you would be keen to sell it on too. I would therefore be grateful to hear from you that the refund is agreed and will be paid as per my letter as soon as possible.

Kind regards

I've tried calling again just now and apparently the chap is in meetings "all day". I get the impression they are avoiding me whilst they fix a small issue with the DAB and heated seats, following which they will try and force me to accept the return of the car. I have followed up my telephone message with a further email now too advising I want things sorted in the next couple of days as it would be unacceptable that we head into December and me paying a third month of car tax for a car I have had in my possession for one week.

Also left a message with a solicitor to update them with the situation and see if they think their involvement might force the issue.

Will keep you updated.
 
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Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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9,160
Pretty shocking service really. Did you confirm how you paid for the car? Hopefully you have some recourse via this route. It sounds like you have been very thorough and everything in writing so it should be straight forward if you need to take the legal route.

I'm guessing the worst thing you can do is to accept the car back at this stage, you'll just have to call every few hours until they are sick of dealing with you. Is there anyone else you can deal with?
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Sep 2004
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Glasgow
I'm getting frustrated reading your updates... Did you tell the moron you were going to speak to your solicitor? Is the car financed? I'm not sure what the next action would be here. I'd report the ****** asap and get your cash back by any means.
 
Soldato
OP
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18 Oct 2002
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Disley, Cheshire
Only £4,000 was financed so my broker told me it is unlikely that the lender will be too concerned about getting involved. Solicitor didn't get back to me today so I will try them again tomorrow.

I guess I'll have to see what, if any, response comes back tomorrow. If nothing, I'll be making another follow up call and email. Sent this email today too.

Dear XXXXXX

I have left a message for you just now having been advised that you are in meetings for the entire day.

I would like this matter closing out in the next couple of days. I will be extremely dissatisfied if this runs on into December at which point I will have had to pay a third month of tax on a vehicle I have not seen since the 25th October having collected it from you on the 15th October - 9 days of possession (the 10th was when you collected it).

I am not interested in any alternative approach to the matter. I would simply like to receive the refund that I am legally entitled to having returned the faulty car on the 25th October and asked for a refund one week after that. XXXXX have all of the information and specifics you require (V5, spare key, finance settlement letter) in order to carry out the refund and there is no reason for any further delay. The request for the refund advising rejection of the vehicle was made November 3rd - 18 days ago and I believe I have been extremely patient throughout. You confirmed on the 14th November that you were going to arrange the refund and I therefore request that you honour that.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards
 
Soldato
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Wales
Email them again tomorrow morning at 9am, high importance, delivery and read receipts turned on, to say that if you don't hear from them by close of business to say the refund is being processed you will instruct your solicitor to issue proceedings against them to obtain the refund along with any associated costs caused by their delays (tax, insurance and other expenses).
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Location
Stoke-on-Trent
Absolutely agree with the above. Email after email will get you nowhere. Make it your last email.

Why don't you just go down and get them to sort it face to face? There's no need to be a pain, but get there at 9am and they'll soon refund you if you have a day to burn and won't leave the place :)
 
Caporegime
Joined
17 Jul 2010
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25,659
Absolutely agree with the above. Email after email will get you nowhere. Make it your last email.

Why don't you just go down and get them to sort it face to face? There's no need to be a pain, but get there at 9am and they'll soon refund you if you have a day to burn and won't leave the place :)

Make sure to get a custom printed t-shirt with 'my car broke down a week after buying it and they won't refund me' and be first to speak to anyone that comes into the showroom. :D
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Nov 2004
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15,686
Location
East of England
Email them again tomorrow morning at 9am, high importance, delivery and read receipts turned on, to say that if you don't hear from them by close of business to say the refund is being processed you will instruct your solicitor to issue proceedings against them to obtain the refund along with any associated costs caused by their delays (tax, insurance and other expenses).

Definitely.

The time has come for ultimatums and you must stick to them. Also let them know that you have kept a detailed record of every contact you have tried to make with them and every time they have failed to call or email back despite making promises to. Tell them that you have made a very reasonable demand in the circumstance and made every attempt to resolve this outside of a court but due to their lack of drive to get this resolved or moved forward, you will be referring this to the county court.

Trust me, they will start moving when you give them an ultimatum. If they don't, they definitely will when a solicitors letter or a letter from the county court hits their door mat.

P.s. don't send them that email you've posted above. It's pretty poor and reinforces to them your nature of being a walk over.
 
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