My daughter and her husband bought a 53 plate Citroen Picasso from a very large car supermarket, which has a dodgy reputation. By the completion of the deal she wanted to punch the finance man who took over from the salesman. Unfortunately, while I was in another part of the place looking after the kids for them, they agreed to buy the car, a 1.6 petrol Citroen Picasso on a 53 plate, with 30k miles. Theydeal was not to be cancelled, especially after s-i-l handed over a building soc cheque. I pressed them to get it checked by someone of good reputation, which they did on Thursday. This mechanic, a very well thought of local man, (soon to leave Raunds to live in Spain) discovered that the front brakes were worn down so that there was hardly any pad material left and the disks had been damaged. He says that the brakes should not be worn in 30,000 miles, and they are checking the mileage with the previous owner. They bought the car 3 weeks ago and haven't done many miles.
My question is this : how much recourse do they have against the supplying dealer ? He tried very hard to sell them an expensive warranty, the usual hard sell, which I persuaded them to resist. It would not cover brakes I would imagine. I pointed out to the seller, the finance man referred to by daughter as the slimy pink fluffy dice, that he could not deny buyers their rights under Sale Of Goods Acts, and he became rather evasive. That was when they bought it., though without extra hundreds of pounds worth of warranty, finance, finance protection, MOT insurance etc.
I complained about this hard selling, and pretending to young buyers that they had no protection according to law, to the local Trading Standards, but as yet they have not replied. Maybe they only deal in large numbers of complaints. We shall see.
The firm are not easy to deal with, and I suggested if they get nowhere by being polite and asking for some contribution towards the new disks and pads, they might try the very helpful consumer programme on Radio Northampton.
I would be glad of any thought BRers might offer.
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Brakes and pads could easily be worn out in 30,000m. even with a good driver;with one who uses the brakes heavily,they could well be on their second set.
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An aftermarket warranty would not cover brakes - this is 'wear and tear'.
A Picasso would easily wear out its original pads in 30k miles. Its really no big deal - discs are about £20 each and pads about £20 a set - so £60 of parts and say another £60 to fit at an independent (don't use main dealer or one of the fast fit places - you'll pay through the nose). £120 all in. GSF sell these parts (branch in Daventry) or try www.buypartsby.co.uk
Its a bit naughty of the car supermarket to sell a car if the pads are very low, but I guess they are still servicable, good for a few more miles and the vehicle roadworthy?? If the front brakes are pulling or inefficient than that's another matter and you may have recourse for rectification from the supermarket.
Unfortunately there is no law against slimey salesmen and verbal comments are hard to prove - hence TS lack of interest, although they may do something if there are a lot of complaints, so always worth reporting. Selling warranties, gap insurance, add ons, 'stoopidglaze' paint protection etc etc are where the supermarket makes a lot of its profit, hence the high pressure techniques.
With cars, wherever you buy, its buyer beware. If the rest of the car is OK then I woulld just have the brakes renewed and not lose sleep over it.
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Brakes and pads could easily be worn out in 30 000m. even with a good driver;with one who uses the brakes heavily they could well be on their second set.
Agreed, on a less than heavy duty car of this type if the car has done a mixture of driving 30K is not unreasonable, with a lot of peoples driving habits, to wear out front pads. I got 46K out of my Audi a4 pads but thios is with some very significant long distance motorway driving in the mix.
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is that the only fault then ? just get them done would be my choice.
contacting previous owner sounds like theyve done a deal they now regret, sorry but stable door springs to my mind,
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I'm diagonally across Northampton from OP but i think I know the firm mentioned - by the A45 just after riverside?
Went there a couple of years ago looking for a Picasso, or maybe a Berlingo. Very quickly decided that by the time their documentation fees and add on warranties were taken into account cars at the franchised dealer were better value.
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I just don't understand why you'd buy a car off someone who you think is slimy; surely if you feel like punching them you just shouldn't buy off them.
With regards to the brakes don't think there's anything that can be done they should have been checked before the car was bought and of course, like other backroomers have being saying, it is perfectly possible for brakes to wear out in 30,000 miles of driving.
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Many thanks for those comments. I had originally suggested that it would be difficult to get far with it, but when the local man suggested it might have done a higher mileage I thought I'd ask.
I should point out that it was my son-in-law who bought the car. Like a lot of young people they have ideas like "cooling off period" and " cancel the deal and get deposit back", and are not as knowing as experienced salesmen. The shop, of course, refused the return of the deposit, as that would mean losing a sale.
A couple of weeks before, I had just bought a nine month old Vectra from a highly respectable Vauxhall dealer in Northampton. The contrast in treatment, and "customer experience" could not be greater. I would not have any worry about going there again, but the kids say they will slag off the firm they went to as often as possible, and never return.
As Aprilia added, buyer beware is the rule. They have paid the Raunds independent for the brakes and thorough service and it seems to run well. I'm glad I put them buying aftermarket warranty at least. (Did get something right). Perhaps it confused them when I got mine, with a network Q brakes, battery, clutch cover.
Good to get a few extra opinions.
BTW, when I was 19 I bought a Ford Anglia 105E from a garage in Northampton, from the man who was my late grandfather's partner, and the car turned out to be a heap of rubbish. Caveat emptor.
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BTW when I was 19 I bought a Ford Anglia 105E from a garage in Northampton from the man who was my late grandfather's partner and the car turned out to be a heap of rubbish. Caveat emptor.
Well it was a 105E Anglia... :-)
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>> >> BTW when I was 19 I bought a Ford Anglia 105E >> from a garage in Northampton from the man who was my >> late grandfather's partner and the car turned out to be a >> heap of rubbish. Caveat emptor. >> Well it was a 105E Anglia... :-)
The one time in my life I have fallen asleep and crashed a car, it was so boring and slow. I didn't have another Ford for over thirty years.
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It is quite likely that the staff of the car supermarket were unaware that the pads and discs needed replacing. These guys would have no reason to inspect the brakes especially as a wheel would have to be removed. In addition they often know very little about the workings of cars.
Glad all the additional add-ons were not purchased, a used car can often cost as much as a new one on finance if you do buy these.
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It is quite likely that the staff of the car supermarket were unaware that the pads and discs needed replacing. These guys would have no reason to inspect the brakes especially as a wheel would have to be removed. In addition they often know very little about the workings of cars. Glad all the additional add-ons were not purchased a used car can often cost as much as a new one on finance if you do buy these.
Most supermarkets claim a '100 point check' or something similar. But if the pads are above the minimum they would be unlikely to change them (same applies to most dealers actually).
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If the person that states the brakes are duff is well qualified and prepared to be counted then have a look at:
http//www.tyinyurl.com/bu37
scroll to Sec tion 75 and note in partcular:
Sub sect 3(a)(i)
and also the defence that is available to the seller.
This is an area that I always thought Trading Standards were interested in.
dvd
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Whoops lets try that reference again:
www.tinyurl.com/bu37
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DVD - thought you might be interested to note that the version of the RTA is as it was originally passed in 1988.
I don't think it makes any difference at all to this case but there is a more up-to-date version, taking note of amending legislation, here:-
tinyurl.com/3a8869
www.statutelaw.gov.uk is the overall project to list all Acts of Parliament currently in force in their up-to-date form and whilst it isn't perfect it's very good, very useful and free.
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Merci mon ami David.
Yup I have that reference and as it is a lazy Sunday so am I.
I merely wanted to drawn attention to a possibble offence the offence.....
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Thanks, DVD
I have passed on that reference
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Teach your daughter to learn to walk away from deals, lots of Picassos out there. By walking or threatening to walk you have some control over the sales process, the exact opposite occured in this instance.
How was the car advertised?
If the rest of the car is good then the objective should be to keep the car and attempt to obtain some sort of contribution from the dealer. Set out the problem to the dealer in writing clearly and concisely. Ask the dealer what they intend to do to rectify the situation. Send by fax and recorded delivery, ask for a meaningful response within 7 working days. If no response or a negative response, write again. If the dealer doesn't want to contribute then get the brakes down, send the dealer the bill with copies of the previous letters. I'd leave it at that, but you could always try trading standards or small claims; pads and discs are service items, they'll probably need changing at some time during ownership.
If the mileage is wrong then advise the dealer that you have raised the problem with Trading Standards.
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An Aygo with 23,000 on the clock we looked at had totally shot brakes and three from 4 tyres. It was my first thing to look at, but even a main dealer were reluctant to change them saying they were good for three months so wouldn't be changed. We walked.
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Brakes down? Who wrote that? A touch of the sun I fear.
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