Vauxhall Vectra B - Can i get refunded from dealership for fault

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Wed 4 May 2011 23:42
Vauxhall Vectra B - Can i get refunded from dealership for fault - kel1234
I purchased a 1999 Vauxhall Vectra from a dealership in March. I drove the car for 28 days and racked up approximately 1000 miles on the clock when the engine began running on three cylinders.
I went back to the dealership and they have attempted a repair, replacing a couple of components, but it didnt work and the problem still exits. I returned the car again, but due to work i cannot keep messing around and have told them 3 days for the car to run or i want all my money back.
They didn't mention a warranty when they sold me the car and ive changed the cd player to my own.
Am i entitled to do this or if push comes to shove will the length of time and amount of miles i racked up mean this isnt possible?
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Wed 4 May 2011 23:54
Vauxhall Vectra B - Can i get refunded from dealership for fault - unthrottled

The car is 12 years old. If you want a warranty, you have to buy a newer car. The garage is being very fair by attempting any sort of repair.

There is a legality issue about selling a secondhand car in unroadworthy condition. Roadworthy does not necessarily mean reliable. If the car is sold with bald tyres, it is unroadworthy; if the car has a worn engine, it is simply unreliable.

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Thu 5 May 2011 00:03
Vauxhall Vectra B - Can i get refunded from dealership for fault - bonzo dog

Hi Kel,

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

Warranty is irrelavent; Sale Of Goods say the car has to be in reasonable condition & durable.

Whilst it can obviously be argued that a 12 year old car should not be as durable as say a 4 year old one, I would suggest that it should last more than 28 days.

You've done the correct thing in giving the dealer the opportunity to fix it, so I would say YES, 3 more days or you want your money back. if they refuse it's Trading Standards & court.

You won't get any redress for the CD player however.

Good Luck

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Thu 5 May 2011 00:19
Vauxhall Vectra B - Can i get refunded from dealership for fault - unthrottled

Citizens Advice offer the following opinion regarding secondhand cars bought from a dealer:

"A secondhand vehicle should be in reasonable condition and work properly. When deciding whether a secondhand vehicle is in reasonable condition it is important to consider the vehicle’s age and make, the past history of the vehicle and how much you paid for it."

You paid a few hundred pounds for a car that, when new, was probably sold for over £10,000 ie you paid less than 10% of the original price. The car has subsequently developed a fault that cannot be proven to be present at the time of sale. It's unlucky but it isn't negligence on behalf of the dealer. Don't read the riot act to them-you need their goodwill. With a bit of luck, it'll be an ignition coil or something simple that can be repaired. Trading Standards simply won't be interested.

As above poster says, good luck.

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Thu 5 May 2011 06:56
Vauxhall Vectra B - Can i get refunded from dealership for fault - idle_chatterer

Many years ago I had one of these as a company car, I have to say it was the most unreliable car I've ever had by a considerable margin, however one thing it did suffer from was intermittent failure of various sensors which dealers found hard to trace, the crankshaft position sensor springs to mind as one example. I think that these items are relatively cheap to replace once diagnosed but it has to be said that such an old car cannot be expected to give trouble free motoring as many components may have exceeded their design life.

Edited by idle_chatterer on 05/05/2011 at 06:58

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Thu 5 May 2011 21:25
Vauxhall Vectra B - Can i get refunded from dealership for fault - outlier

It has become a thin line between buying a car that age from an auction or from a small dealer. Probably the dealer gets them from auction and does only rudimentary checks gambling it will last for more than a month or so without major fault (which in most cases it will).

Given the cost is likely to be not much more than a months car hire it is not necessarily a bad bet.

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