MINI Convertible - car not as described

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Tue 16 Nov 2010 21:04
MINI Convertible - car not as described - boobooangus

Mini convertible advertised as having air con, checked all details inc. this with salesperson also. Took delivery, read handbook, car doesnt have air con. Mini dealer said they had informed me (they hadnt) and offered £75 mini merchandise. Wrote letter asking for air con to be installed, find car the same with air con for exchange or refund commensurate with missing option. Telephoned today offered either £200 or return car to them by the end of the week. This would leave with no car. Said air con cant be fitted now and wont offer to find a car to exchange. What do you think to this offer?

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Tue 16 Nov 2010 21:56
MINI Convertible - car not as described - conara
Hi, if you are the first reg keeper I would call their bluff as they would have to discount the car moor than 200 if you returned it and they re sell it .

But if you do that remember you could end up carless, did you px on the car ?
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Tue 16 Nov 2010 22:30
MINI Convertible - car not as described - Vitesse6

Find out from the price guides what the price difference between the car with and without aircon would be, and then ask them for that.

Put it in writing and then follow it up with a visit on a Saturday morning when the showroom is nice and busy...

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Wed 17 Nov 2010 08:16
MINI Convertible - car not as described - boobooangus

Hi thanks for that, looked at the difference on parkers website, it came up as £250, I quoted this to them and asked for £300 for inconvenience also as i wanted air con, they said there wasn't enough mark up in the car price for them to offer me £300 or £250, so offered £200. I got the car for £40 under the parkers price for the car without air con so thought i was getting a good deal for a car with air con, they said they would be adding £700 to the price before they put it on their forecourt to sell when i first went to see it (it had only just come in to them via the BMW side of their business as a part ex).

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Wed 17 Nov 2010 08:13
MINI Convertible - car not as described - boobooangus

Thanks, I am the second owner, it's an 06. Didn't part ex, sold my old car privately.

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Wed 17 Nov 2010 08:16
MINI Convertible - car not as described - bonzo dog

Hi BBA, yes it is very annoying when this happens. A similar thing happened to me recently (not a car, completely different purchase) but in my case it was over the telephone & when I demanded a copy of the tapes to send them to the national media they instantly offered me a satisfactory cost adjustment.

Your case is obviously different. I guess the advert was over t'internet? And the salesman said he told you this was an error & the car did not have air con?

You are clearly going to struggle to prove they didn't tell you & my understanding of the legality is that they CAN rely on a disclaimer on the web-site (but I'm no expert).

To be blunt I'm struggling to understand from your lack of personal pronouns (I, me, them etc) exactly who is asking for & who is offereing what.

If the dealer is saying return the car & they will give you your money back, that is the obvious solution. It sounds like air-con is a priority for you (it certainly is for me) so get onto Autotrader & MINI dealers & find one.

Good luck

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Wed 17 Nov 2010 13:00
MINI Convertible - car not as described - boobooangus

Hi Bonzo Dog, thank you for that. Sorry the message was hard to understand - I typed it very quickly this morning. I have asked Stratstone Mini to install air con, to find a Mini Convertible of the same spec with air con within their group and exchange with the car I currently have or for a refund commensurate with the missing oprion. I checked on Parkers Guide and the difference between such a Mini with and without air con is £250. Stratstone initially said that they had informed me the car didn't have air con and offered me £75 in Mini merchandise. They did not inform me the car didn't have air con, it was advertised as having it and I also checked with the salespoerson that it had. I wrote a letter to the manager at Stratstone detailing this and quoting consumer rights. I then received a telephone call from the original salesperson at Stratstone who said that it is not possible to install air con, or to exchange for a car of the same quality with air con as convertibles with air con are very rare (I don't think they are that rare) he asked what i wanted, I said in that case £300 to compensate for lack of air con, Stratstone telephoned back and offered £200 or asked me to return the car to them by Friday for a refund. I don't really want to take the car back for a refund as I am at work, and will be without a car. I am wondering whether to accept £200 or ask for £250 in line with Parkers Guide valuation of the car with and without air con or to insist they exchange for a car with air con if indeed I can do this. Thanks.

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Wed 17 Nov 2010 14:15
MINI Convertible - car not as described - leaseman

Mistakes are made at dealerships, just like anywhere else in life. I have supplied, on lease, a number of Mini Convertibles over the years and cannot ever remember one with Air Con. so I think that the dealer is probably telling you the truth when they say that they are rare.

They have offered to take the car back and refund the purchase price, which is what consumer legislation demands. An honest mistake was made and you have been offered a reasonable solution, so stop being a Born Again Claimant and either take the £200 or return the car. No further comment is required.

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Wed 17 Nov 2010 14:50
MINI Convertible - car not as described - boobooangus

I fully understand mistakes are made and have acknowledged this to the dealer, I don't believe it was their intention to mislead, I have also acknowledged this. From looking on Autotrader I can see that quite a few Mini convertibles have air con. The salesperson wasn't telling the truth when he stated he has told me the car didn't have air con, he later said it didn't come up in conversation. I was just asking on here if other people thought the £200 was a fair offer. I am not a born again claimant, you know nothing about me. You perhaps have a different view being a car saleman. Thanks. No further comment required to quote you.

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Wed 17 Nov 2010 15:24
MINI Convertible - car not as described - Vitesse6

You have already said you got the car £40 cheaper than book price for a non air con model, so with the £200 offered you are £240 under book price. Seems like a fair offer to me.

Other question is, why did you not check the air con was there and working before you bought the car?

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Wed 17 Nov 2010 15:55
MINI Convertible - car not as described - boobooangus

Thanks Vitesse6. I should have checked and will know to do so in the future. I didn't check all features were working, as a Mini dealer with full 12 month warranty I was confident that if anything wasn't working it would be resolved without problem. I checked with the saleperson all details on the advert inc. that air con was an option but didn't check all features/buttons in the car.

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Wed 17 Nov 2010 18:29
MINI Convertible - car not as described - bonzo dog

Hi again BBA. Thanks for the clarification. Like I said, I think dealers can rely on a disclaimer re web mistakes; so I guess it's down to how important Air Con is to you whether you hand the car back or take their £200 offer.

Like I also said, if it were me Air Con is important so I would be handing it back & looking for an alternative. I've just looked on Halliwell Jones web-site & the first one had Air Con; how wide spread they are I know not. Give Rob a ring at their N Wales site, if he hasn't got a suitable one he may be able to find one.

Good luck

Rob (No! ..... Only Joking!)

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Wed 17 Nov 2010 20:20
MINI Convertible - car not as described - boobooangus

Hi Bonzo Dog, thanks for the advice.

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