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I'd give the dealership a letter, stating that you're rejecting the car, requesting a refund and give the reason. Then leave the car with them.
If they refuse to give you a refund then don't take the car back, if you're rejecting a car you shouldn't drive it any more. Send them an additional letter saying you'll take them to court over it. I'd also give trading standards a ring and get some advice.
Though successfully getting a refund will depend on how old the car is, how many miles it's done and its service history, especially if it goes to court. Before 6 months after purchase it's up to the dealer to prove the fault wasn't there when he sold it, after 6 months it's you that has to prove it was.
Use google to search for 'rejecting a used car' and you'll get some good advice from places like Which and What Car
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The dealer is entitled to 3 attempts to fix the car. You can't reject a car without first permitting the dealer to have a reasonable chance of fixing it.
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Thank you both, I've only had the car a week and in that time it has already gone back in once to be fixed, so trading standards say I am allowed to reject without giving him 3 attempts to fix as I can say that I have 'lost faith in the car'? It is a 2005 car, 1 previous owner, with service history and done 61000. I've probably only driven it 30 miles as my daughter has been in hospital. I've only had it for 8 days.
If I leave it there as you suggested, what do I do about insurance, because if I go over 14 days of ownership, I will have to pay a percentage of the entire years amount?
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I think you have a pretty good case to get a refund, I have no idea on the insurance, you'll need to phone your insurance company.
Go to adviceguide.org.uk and have a look at the car section.
If this link works, click it: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_cars_and_other_vehicles_e/consumer_problems_with_the_car_you_bought_e/the_car_you_bought_is_faulty.htm
If you send them a letter, take a copy and send it recorded post.
You could also go here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights/
HJ
Edited by Honestjohn on 08/07/2012 at 07:56
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Rejecting a faulty car is technically straight forward, but in practice, quite difficult. The dealer can drag this out for months. Why don't you see if they can sort the problem first? This sounds like buyers' remorse....
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Thank you Gavo, this is only the second car I have ever bought, I wish I had listened to my 3 year old daughter, she said not to buy it! I'm hoping as he deals out of a village, he will not want me to go and publicise this locally, so will refund me asap. There was another guy in there complaining his jag he had bought there had a fault!
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unthrottled, the dealer has already had the chance to fix it once and I trusted that when I picked it up after it had been 'fixed' that it would be. I now feel scared of the car, it's not buyers remorse as it's a stunning car, which I would love to drive
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Hello hallington, the statement from Trading Standars is pretty strong stuff. If this dealer has a good reputation and is honourable he will accommadate you. It may mean that you effectively trade your Citroen in for another car he has or can get, then he can fix the Citroen or move it on. In a small village environment his reputation should be very important to him so if you keep the situation on good terms and do not descent into argument then I think you have a good chance of achieving a suitable outcome. If you can do this quickly then you may just be able transfer the insurance to your 'new' vehicle. Good luck and let us know the outcome. Concrete
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Hiya, I have had limited but practical experience of this. If you paid more than £2500 (say) for the car, in other words it's not an old banger, and he's already had a chance to fix it, don't get anyone else to look at it, just send him a recorded delivery letter saying you reject the car and you want a full refund. Don't get into a conversation with him even.
Ignore any bluster he comes out with because he will know perfectly well that if it went to court he would lose 100%.
Spencer.
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Well, I agree with Concrete really, but don't let him twist you into doing something you're not happy with. The dealer I mean, not Concrete.
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Once the buyer has deemed to have 'accepted' the car, straight rejection is not necessarily a statutory right. Once the car has breen accepted repair/exchange are considered fair forms of redress should a fault arise.
There's a notion that SoGA gives you a 6 month warranty and you can return a faulty car at any point. It isn't so.
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thanks guys. unthrottled are you a dealer? Tranding standards have told me they are ready to back me in rejecting this car. I do think this dealer genuinely did not realise there was this fault with this car, as he had only driven it once on the motorway and the problem lies with the first gear, which is getting worse. so I want to sort this as amicably as possible.
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No, I 'm not a dealer and I'm not unsympathetic to your cause. But, I think you should be aware that rejecting a car is not as easy as you appear to think. Trading standards will be very helpful in helping you fill in a form, but this does not mean that they will bear down on the dealer to yield to your demands; they won't.
If you throw the keys and the logbook back at the dealer, you can be stuck with no car and no money for quite some time-with no guarentee of a satisfactory outcome. This really is a last resort.
I wish you the best of luck in resolving the issue.
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Thanks unthrottled, I've driven approx 10 cars over the years and it takes a lot to scare me, but this car does. It just loses power without any warning, there's no sound to identify to warn you, it just cuts out. I have a small child and he told me that the car was fixed, I can't keep putting her life at risk, so I feel rejecting it is my only option.The V5 is somewhere between DVLA and myself, and I have got alll the service history/manuals etc. The dealer does seem a genuine guy and I don't think he wants the headache, so I'm hoping to resolved this fairly.
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There's a notion that SoGA gives you a 6 month warranty and you can return a faulty car at any point. It isn't so.
6 months is the timescale where the onus of proof changes - under 6 months from purchase the dealer has to prove the fault didn't exist at time of purchase - over 6 months, it's the buyer that has to prove the fault did exist at time of purchase.
Rejecting a car as "unmerchantable" can only be done in a very short timescale after purchase, even for a brand-new car
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RT I have only had the car 8 days and it's already been fixed once, surely that is a short timescale?
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RT I have only had the car 8 days and it's already been fixed once, surely that is a short timescale?
i would have thought so - it does sound as if the dealers' working with you, so good luck.
I was really trying to warn people that you can't reject a car after, say, a years ownership however much of a lemon it turns out to be.
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The problem with SoGA is that virtually everything is couched in such wooley terms that, depending on your interpretation, it either offers the consumer a lot of protection or very little.
If a car has (for the sake of argument) a faulty air intake temperature, the engine will run very badly. The car does not function as advertised. But does this render the entire car as "unfit for purpose" or does it simply entitle the buyer to a replacement sensor at the dealer's expense? I think the spirit of the law is for the latter. The issue is further complicated by the fact that it can (and often does) take a dealer several attempts to determine the problem-which is clearly an unreasonable burden on the buyer.
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SoGAs problem is because it covers all types of goods and services but what's sensible for a new car costing £20,000 isn't the same as a car costing £500, let alone totally different products/services.
At the end of the day, it's for the courts to interpret how SoGA in a specific set of circumstance.
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Trading Standards will usually do nothing. That's not what they do - they'll offer some advice and give out forms but it will be vague because they don't want you sueing them if they give out firm "you have a case" advice and you lose with a legal bill of £30,000.
The matter is a civil one between you and the dealer - there is nothing TS can or will do.
The dealer seems to be being reasonable and my advice would be to be as reasonable as you can and try and strike a deal. Only get legal if you really have to and the dealer is being a totally obstructive. It sounds as if you are some way from that.
RT's comments on the SoGA are spot on - those who say "any fault within 6 months" are talking complete tosh when it comes to used cars - they only have to be "satisfactory" and that can mean a car for the price of a 1st class train ticket being able to do a 200 mile journey to a £50k 6 month old car which should really be pretty much as good as new.
The problem is everything in between.......there are no defined rules.
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