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Consumer rights
I bought a 2 year old Corsa from a franchised Vauxhall garage last month and I have received what I would call "shocking" service levels from them. There have been a number of failings by the dealer. These are:
1) When I initially went to see the car before buying it, I noticed that the paint on one of the rear wings was blemished. I mentioned this to them and said that I would not be interested in the car if there was a problem with its paint. They said that this was probably the wax they put on the car and it was not fully rubbed off - and if I was to buy the car it would be properly valeted. When I collected the car, it looked shiney and the blemish was unnoticable, however after having it a few weeks and washing it a few times, the blemish reappeared.
2) On the day of collecting the car, they didnt organise themselves well enough to valet the inside of the car, only the outside.
3) The car was sold with only 1 key. They said they could provide me with a second key at cost price.
4) Each time I call them to discuss any of the above points, they NEVER return my calls.
5) When collecting my car, the dealer tried to charge me an additional £89 for a check to ensure the car has no outstanding finance on it or against the car being previusly stolen. This is an HPI check which I could easily do myself for a lot less money. In addition, customers who buy cars from a franchised dealer use them because they want peace of mind, i.e. they want the car to be fully checked over and without problems such as this. It seems they are demanding an additional and extortionate cost for this peace of mind. I can see a number of customers falling for this which I feel is dishonest as these checks should be done automatically by the garage.
6) The car I initially wanted to buy was a different Corsa from them (the one I wanted was petrol, the one I ended up with was diesel). I was unable to view this other Corsa as one of their staff was using it to go on a course for a week. I said to them that assuming that it had no marks I would favour buying the petrol one. I was told they would call me back on a Tuesday to inform me of the condition of the car so I could decide which of the two I would purchase and therefore collect on the weekend. No one bothered to call me on that Tuesday, in fact no one called me all week until I called them on the Friday. To which they said the petrol Corsa has been sold. I said fine, I will go for the other one and would like to pick it up on the weekend, to which they said they would not have enough time to prepare the car. The reason they didnt have enough time is because they didnt bother to call me all week. This led to them not having enough time to valet the car inside (as mentioned in point 2 above). After collecting my car, I looked on the dealer's website the following week only to find that the petrol Corsa was re-advertised at £500 more (so it was still for sale).
So my question is based on the poor before and aftersales service, would I have grounds to complain against the dealer especially in relation to the missing second key, the bleamish on my wing and also how they are taking advantage of unknowings customers by charging them £89 for an HPI check?
1) When I initially went to see the car before buying it, I noticed that the paint on one of the rear wings was blemished. I mentioned this to them and said that I would not be interested in the car if there was a problem with its paint. They said that this was probably the wax they put on the car and it was not fully rubbed off - and if I was to buy the car it would be properly valeted. When I collected the car, it looked shiney and the blemish was unnoticable, however after having it a few weeks and washing it a few times, the blemish reappeared.
2) On the day of collecting the car, they didnt organise themselves well enough to valet the inside of the car, only the outside.
3) The car was sold with only 1 key. They said they could provide me with a second key at cost price.
4) Each time I call them to discuss any of the above points, they NEVER return my calls.
5) When collecting my car, the dealer tried to charge me an additional £89 for a check to ensure the car has no outstanding finance on it or against the car being previusly stolen. This is an HPI check which I could easily do myself for a lot less money. In addition, customers who buy cars from a franchised dealer use them because they want peace of mind, i.e. they want the car to be fully checked over and without problems such as this. It seems they are demanding an additional and extortionate cost for this peace of mind. I can see a number of customers falling for this which I feel is dishonest as these checks should be done automatically by the garage.
6) The car I initially wanted to buy was a different Corsa from them (the one I wanted was petrol, the one I ended up with was diesel). I was unable to view this other Corsa as one of their staff was using it to go on a course for a week. I said to them that assuming that it had no marks I would favour buying the petrol one. I was told they would call me back on a Tuesday to inform me of the condition of the car so I could decide which of the two I would purchase and therefore collect on the weekend. No one bothered to call me on that Tuesday, in fact no one called me all week until I called them on the Friday. To which they said the petrol Corsa has been sold. I said fine, I will go for the other one and would like to pick it up on the weekend, to which they said they would not have enough time to prepare the car. The reason they didnt have enough time is because they didnt bother to call me all week. This led to them not having enough time to valet the car inside (as mentioned in point 2 above). After collecting my car, I looked on the dealer's website the following week only to find that the petrol Corsa was re-advertised at £500 more (so it was still for sale).
So my question is based on the poor before and aftersales service, would I have grounds to complain against the dealer especially in relation to the missing second key, the bleamish on my wing and also how they are taking advantage of unknowings customers by charging them £89 for an HPI check?
Asked on 9 April 2012 by Kelika
Answered by
Honest John
The attempted £89 rip off for an HPI check was outrageous. This is useless to a purchaser because no guarantee is offered. You only get as guarantee if you pay for the HPI check yourself and conform to all the conditions and suggestions.
If you think you have any sort of case against the dealer you could take it to the small claims track of the County court.
But I don't think you do have a case. You weren't physically forced to buy the car. You could have refused it.
If you think you have any sort of case against the dealer you could take it to the small claims track of the County court.
But I don't think you do have a case. You weren't physically forced to buy the car. You could have refused it.
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