Faulty Car Independent Dealer Court Action

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Thu 8 Aug 2013 17:27
Faulty Car Independent Dealer Court Action - cruz313

Hi All,

I bought a car from an independent dealership back in May this year, and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to where to go from here? Please bare with me, as its quite a long post.

The car appeared to be fine at the time of purchase, however the engine warning light came on an hour after after leaving the garage.
I contacted the dealership immediately and they assured me not to worry, and bring the car back to them.

I took the car back a couple of days later, the dealer took the car off me, and claimed he would take the car to the their Garage around the corner from the dealership.
He returned with the car around 15mins later, and said that the car had 2 faults:
1. overboost sensor
2. glow plug

He told me not to worry, his mechanic had cleared the fault codes and the car would be fine. I wasn't really happy with this and explained to him, that I would like him to get the car fixed considering I had only had it for an hour before the warning light came on.
The dealer said that I wasn't within my rights to get the car fixed for free, however if the problem still persisted, he would be happy to issue me with a warranty for an additional fee (He said he would have given it me for free, but I didn't pay the asking price for the car)
I decided not to take out the warranty, and see how I got in with the car.

Low and behold the engine warning light came back on the same day. I contacted the garage again the following day, and the dealer said he would issue me with a free warranty, which would enable me to get the car fixed. I agreed to this, and he promised I would have the warranty in the post within a week or so.

However, a month later, and still no sign of the warranty, even though I contacted the garage numerous times throughout this period, to ask for what the delay was. Each time I called, the dealer just said "their warranty guy hadn't come to collect the warranty forms as of yet, but assured me their was nothing to worry about etc"

I got to the point where the dealer stopped answering my calls. In the meantime I paid £35 to have a full diagnostic check on the car by a reputable garage. They found 2 faults:

Glow plugs: £99.45 fitted inc.vat
inlet manifold flap £222.30 fitted inc. vat.

I also got in touch with Citizens Advice and the advised me to send a letter to the dealership, in which I outlined the faults, along with their breach of sale of goods act etc.
As expected, the Garage did not reply, so CA advised me to send another final letter which I did, however I got no response.

I then contacted CA again this morning, and they said as my local CA don't give civil advice, I would have to pursue the matter further through court.
They told me to have a look online at moneyclaims.gov.uk and hmcourt-service.gov.uk

I have had a look on both sites etc, however I just wondered if anyone could advise me on a couple of things e.g. Do you think I am within my rights to make a claim against this garage? Also could anyone explain the fees to me. I did have a look on the x50 form, but didn't fully understand?

Many thanks for any info/advice on this. Its well appreciated.

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Thu 8 Aug 2013 17:49
Faulty Car Independent Dealer Court Action - FP

I'm not a legal expert. However, some points seem clear.

1. The problem arose quickly after you bought the car and was reported to the dealer promptly.

2. You gave the dealer ample opportunity to rectify the faults. They failed to do so. The stuff about a warranty was a smokescreen designed to put you off.

3. The dealer stopped responding to you; however, it may be worth writing, recorded delivery, to the effect that you will commence legal proceedings if they do not re-imburse you for the work you have had done.

4. You have had the car fixed (I assume it's AOK?), so you now know exactly what should have been done by the dealer and you should expect them to cover the cost.

So my feeling is you have a good case and should consider proceeding with small claims action.

As regards the fees, IIRC they are on a sliding scale depending on the amount claimed, and it will cost more if the case is defended and comes to court. You will have to study the relevant pages again. If the case goes in your favour and the dealer does not pay up, you will have to consider going to the next level and involving bailiffs/sherrifs, which will again cost more.

All your costs can be claimed against the dealer as part of your case, but you may want to check that the dealer has the assets (equipment, unsold stock etc.) to cover your total claim.

The one area of uncertainty is the age/mileage of the car (which you do not state). However, the issue seems so clear-cut I don't see this as particularly relevant.

Note: "The dealer said that I wasn't within my rights to get the car fixed for free" is simply untrue.

Edited by FP on 08/08/2013 at 17:54

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Thu 8 Aug 2013 18:54
Faulty Car Independent Dealer Court Action - cruz313

Hi,

thanks for the response.

I havent had the car fixed as of yet, as I am not in a financial position to do so at the moment.

However I did have a diognostic test done, which confirmed the exact faults the car. This cost me £35, and the garage printed me off a quote with the cost of the parts required to fix the car. I hope that makes sense.

My total claim works out at £356.75 inc. the £35 which I had to pay to have the diognostic check done.

So according to the website below, I will have to pay an initial fee of £35 to start the claim:(my claim falls into the £300-500 bracket)

http://hmctscourtfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex050-eng.pdf

Then addtional court fees if the case is defended or I have to get bailiffs/sherrifs involved?

ps - The car is a 2005 Audi A3 with 140k on the clock.

Thanks again

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Fri 9 Aug 2013 18:02
Faulty Car Independent Dealer Court Action - Palcouk

You pay the fee initially quoted (£35)

The court sends the claim to the dealer, if he settles, and pays, thats it, if not there is another fee to proceede to the next level, where the case is heard and a judgment issued. If the dealer doesnt appear a judgement is issued, or he then fails to pay a further fee becomes due for bailiffs to become involved

Niether party can claim for legal representation

Its not a quick process, the only time I had to go this route it took abaout 12 months.

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