Just been on to VW UK and it definitely should have air con. They reckoned that the only reason it wouldn't have it was if it had been mis-built!!

Did they tell you it had it at the time or was it just not mentioned? If so the car would not be "as described" and you have a potential Sale of Goods Act case to reject or for a refund. However if they told you it did *not* have Air Conditioning then you have no claim even if it is standard on the model as you were properly warned about it.

I told the salesman, whatever Polo model we get it must have air con. I was told there was one at another branch that they could get over to look at. If it was okay, we would get it by the weekend. It was arranged to look at the car the next day. Got a call to say it wasn't at the other branch after all but they would get it in next again day.

Next day got a call to say don't come, it's not there yet. I said we could go to the other branch to see it. Was told er.. er.. we don't know where it is exactly. I said to my wife this is all very suspicious but she thinks everyone is as honest as she is. The first we got to see it was the day the deal was to be done, late afternoon Friday and was hustled into believing the stories about them havin to rush it through valeting before 5pm etc if we wanted it for next day, a ploy to get us to avoid a test drive - she had an older polo previous so didn't bother with test drive, desperate to get it next day you see.

So, deal was done and I didn't notice there wasn't air con, I didn't know what it looked like so assumed it must be there. Next day I collected the car and it wasn't until I got home and studied the handbook that I discovered it had none!

When I phoned the salesman he denied that I ever asked for air con. They won't answer my calls and I wrote to General Manager without reply. It was advertised as having air con, a picture of our car, reg plates on and all and underneath it had air con listed. They denied this and had taken it off the website.

How can I prove anything though, I can't.

They are still selling them without air con on their site and listing them as having air con. The picture of the interior clearly shows they don't have air con yet it is listed in the spec on the same page!!

Edited by alba on 13/12/2010 at 13:00

Just has a look on their website and the one Polo Match 60 they have certainly looks like it has aircon to me, as does the 1.2 Match which shows the interior pictures...but further looking it seems all the 5-door ones have it but the 3-door ones possibly do not. Weird.

Edited by pd on 13/12/2010 at 14:06

With modern production lines and computerization,the chance of a misbuild is virtually nil;there are no longer boxes of parts laying about-AC would need a different engine,wiring loom,heater and instrument panel at the very least.

Definitely not a genuine mistake as I have explained a few posts back. I reckon it's the fleet build thing. My wife intends keeping it for the next 10 years an is not bothered by not having air con. On the other hand, I am bothered bothered and annoyed that even though I could smell a rat practically from the start I was still conned but then they do it every day for a living and I only do it every few years.

I never checked with other countries by the way just UK

Edited by alba on 13/12/2010 at 21:01

Mind you, surely you must have been somewhat suspicious of the large switch blank on the heater panel?

As I didn't know what the air con controls on a Polo looked like it simply never entered my head that it wasn't there. On my own car (Peugeot) it is just a small button, the rest of it is just like a normal heating system to look at

Have you, or anyone who knows what they're doing, lifted the bonnet to see if it's got the necessary hardware?

There'll be a second radiator (heat exchanger), a couple of pipes with schrader type valves going to it, and a compressor driven by a belt off the crankshaft.

OP's been quiet for the last few days.

Do you think they found something? ;>)

The car is under about 14 inches of snow at the moment so it will have to wait.

I really doubt whether the hardware fittings will be there though otherwise it would be just as easy to have air con as not surely?

I am inclined to go with the idea that it was fleet car made to specs requested by buyer. What is a common theme with the ones Clarks are selling are; They are all VW Polo Match 60, all 2009 plates, all 3 door, all black, all have (according to the pics on their site) a radio/CD player where the climatic semi auto air con should be and another thing I have since noticed is they all have an i-phone mobile phone holder wired in which isn't a standard spec on the Polo Match

Thats to simple Lucy,if its a genuine "Match" model it has Air con. Some have manual air con and some the more expensive climate control.

Seems a silly question but why don't you ring them up and ask them?

Sorry but it does seem a silly question since I have already explained that I have done this

You cannot have asked the question properly because you have not recieved a proper answer .

Sorry but I have no idea who or what you are talking about. Asked who a question about what and what is the proper way to ask whaterever question it is?

You cannot have asked the question properly because you have not recieved a proper answer .

Sorry but I have no idea who or what you are talking about. Asked who a question about what and what is the proper way to ask whaterever question it is?

You are obviously not bothered that you have been sold an oddball car that will suffer massive depreciation if sold within the next couple of years.I think most people would demanding their money back or a massive reduction in price.If it genuinely has no air con then the seller has told lies about the car and if you are prepared to let him get away with it then that is your perogative.

Look I have no idea what you are talking about, all I can think is you are somehow commenting on things without having read all the previous posts in the thread. Perhaps if you'd explained what you meant by your last post I would get an idea what you are on about. As for being "not bothered" then I have explained the situation further up the thread if you'd care to read it. It is not an oddball car, it is one of a fleet it would seem. (Why am I explaining this yet again, it's in the thread) What I'm trying to establish here is exactly why this car and all the others they are selling have no aircon, at this moment it looks very much like as was suggested, a fleet of cars made to order.

When I can establish that then I can take the next step. What that will be I don't know. What would you suggest given that Clark will simply deny they advertised it as having air con? It is not illegal for them to sell a car with no air con even if other models have it, provided they say it has none. How do I prove they advertised it as having aircon?

Again repeating myself but as you should have read further up, they are having nothing to do with me, won't take calls or answer letters. I could get a Solicitor but what would he be able to do, do you know? Write a letter to which they may reply and deny any wrongdoing?

Again, as I've said before the car is my wife's car. She is battling cancer and does not want the stress of all this, she is happy with the car as it is. So, she is not even aware that I'm still trying to do something about it

alba.

Please keep us informed of the outcome.

Sorry to hear of your woes Alba. If you're contacting trading statndards, be sure to send a letter (rather than email) to the TS office local to the dealer - they may have 'knowledge' already of them & will be quicker (or maybe willing) to act if they're on their patch.

You must try to get a copy, somehow, of the original ad - is it too late for the Google 'cache' option on their site? Cached web-pages often have older versions of current pages.

Did the dealer advertise these cars in a local paper? Check what local papers are nearby - you may well find an ad or other lead. Check autotrader - do they advertise on there? Their original ad may still be extant.

Failing that, you might want to collate (as accuratley as possible) all the conversations/documentation you had with them that led you to believe the car was a 'standard' Match model that had aircon. I'm sure you're doing that anyway, but proving the original contract is the vital part.

Good luck.

Edited by woodbines on 21/12/2010 at 17:50

So drop it then - in any event it is of no interest to Trading Standards

I wouldn't be so sure that it's not of -'interest' to the Trading Standards service. Look on any local authority website at their trading standard service & you'll see similar to:

Dispute negotiation between consumers and retailers.

Identification unfair or illegal trading practices & enforcement/investigation thereof.

Information & advice on consumer rights.

About covers the Op's situation wouldn't you say?

Having no A.C. in a car is not trivial Lucy.Alba is upset about this and wrote up for advice and support.

Alba seems to have been boring us with the case for some time now. It goes on and on (and on).

That's easily solved isn't it . This is a public forum & he has every right to post here. It's what the 'general discussion' forum is for.

I wish him all the best in resolving it. It may be trivial or piffling to some, but I'm sure Alba doesn't think so. The presence or not of A/C on a car can have a great bearing on its general utility & resale value.

As far as Trading Standards service being not interested, well your experience is alot different from mine. I've had similar level issues & found my local TS extremely helpful - not only in specific advice, but recommendations on other avenues to explore if one approach doesn't work. They're not just there to investigate, pursue & prosecute you know, their brief is much wider - check it out for your own local council TS service.

Edited by woodbines on 22/12/2010 at 18:45

Sorry but I didn't spot some of the above posts. I'd like to point out that it would cost up to £1800 to have air con fitted, much easier when being built they said than retro. Hardly a trivial amount. Also, we didn't buy the car from the website ad remember, we were sold it by the salesman. Finally, how do you sort it out with the dealer in 20 minutes when they refuse to talk to you, I will get someone to call you back..unavailable, busy...

The End