Advice on claiming costs from a Main Dealer for serious problem with a used car

On 13 July purchased 2006 Hyundai Santa fe from local Hyundai main dealer for £12500 described as 1 owner 43241 miles with 12 month warranty. 0n 28 August car broke down in Belgium at 44435 miles taken to Hyundai garage in Mons and had engine replaced cost approx £7000 (and took 4 weeks)due to clogged oil pump strainer. Phoned main dealer before repairs were done were told to contact warranty company who stated if we had car repaired outside U/K we must pay the cost and claim on return. On return to U/K we discovered that the warranty is limited to £2000 per claim (this was not mentioned at point of sale). Wrote to dealer claiming for the all of the costs we had incurred including a lost holiday at £2500. He responded by phone stating that we were only entitled to the warranty monies and the car was fault free at the time of sale. I have since discovered that the cars service history was not as described and the 1 owner was a car leasing company who sold the car back to Hyundai after 6 months where it remained in 'THE TRADE'. Could you please advise me how I may proceed with my claim and what are my legal rights.

Asked on 6 October 2012 by ringspanner

Answered by Honest John
Legal rights against the dealer here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights/ But your claims is greater than the £5,000 Small Clams Track limit of £5,000 total and a full county court hearing for a claim of £7,000 could cost you £10,000 in legal and court costs. The "not as described" route might be better, but recovering your money under the Supreme Court ruling in Clegg v Olle Anderson (trading as Nordic Marine) 2003 will depend on the court accepting that the clogged oil strainer was a fault present on the date of sale due to the car's inadequate previous service history.
Tags: buying
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