Out of order

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Out of order

I have a friend who has ordered a new Prius for delivery at the beginning of March. They are concerned over the braking issue and are considering cancelling their order. Do you consider the braking issue to be justifiable cause to cancel their order and recover the £1,000 deposit?

Asked on 1 May 2010 by S.W., St Albans

Answered by Honest John

Emphatically, no. There has been a colossal fuss over this, yet I have only ever received 3 complaints of sticky Toyota accelerator switches and none at all of Prius braking. Yet over the past 6 months I have received more than 100 complaints of ABS/ESP module failures on VAG cars over which there has been no widespread publicity of and over which VOSA refuses to act. They cannot legally recover the £1,000 deposit anyway and may even have to pay the dealer compensation for breach of contract. (Johnson v HWM, Kingston County Court April 1997.)

Tags: buying recalls new cars economical vosa

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