Rejecting a used car?
We purchased a Ford Focus Titanium in June 2012 from a dealer.
Some paintwork issues were pointed out to us (via a worksheet in window of car) and we also gave them a list of other issues we wanted rectified. These were agreed.
After these issues were supposedly rectified we drove the car away and immediately detected a vibration problem. This was raised with the dealer who agreed to take the car back and attempt to resolve this problem.
To date our car has now been in 4 different garages for a total of 110 days (42% of time since purchase date) and neither the paintwork or the vibration problem has been rectified.
It is now back with the dealer we purchased it from (who does not specialise in Ford cars) who recently said they were trying two final options to resolve the vibration problem before looking at potentially exchanging the car.
We indicated after the time and inconvenience caused we would pursue a full refund to which the response was "it depends how hard you push". There was also talk of compensation should the car be fixed.
The two options of replacing the lower arms and replacing the driveshafts were unsuccessful so we presumed we would be moving onto negotiating either an exchange or a refund.
Instead we received emails, from the sales manager we have been dealing with, saying we want to try this and that to fix the problem.
We replied saying basically enough is enough, your final options didn't fix the problem, lets move on.
We have met with Citizens Advice who believe our consumer rights have been breached and we are entitled to a full refund without rescission.
We have sent the dealer a letter requesting a refund. The dealer has replied saying they have taken legal advice from the RMI and they want us to return the courtesy car we have as we have put the rejection in writing.
Are we obliged to do this?
What rights do we have in terms of getting a full refund?
When does reasonable time become unreasonable?
We believe we have now been caused significant inconvenience and have given more than reasonable time to rectify the problems.
We have everything documented from 9th June 2012 to date.
Some paintwork issues were pointed out to us (via a worksheet in window of car) and we also gave them a list of other issues we wanted rectified. These were agreed.
After these issues were supposedly rectified we drove the car away and immediately detected a vibration problem. This was raised with the dealer who agreed to take the car back and attempt to resolve this problem.
To date our car has now been in 4 different garages for a total of 110 days (42% of time since purchase date) and neither the paintwork or the vibration problem has been rectified.
It is now back with the dealer we purchased it from (who does not specialise in Ford cars) who recently said they were trying two final options to resolve the vibration problem before looking at potentially exchanging the car.
We indicated after the time and inconvenience caused we would pursue a full refund to which the response was "it depends how hard you push". There was also talk of compensation should the car be fixed.
The two options of replacing the lower arms and replacing the driveshafts were unsuccessful so we presumed we would be moving onto negotiating either an exchange or a refund.
Instead we received emails, from the sales manager we have been dealing with, saying we want to try this and that to fix the problem.
We replied saying basically enough is enough, your final options didn't fix the problem, lets move on.
We have met with Citizens Advice who believe our consumer rights have been breached and we are entitled to a full refund without rescission.
We have sent the dealer a letter requesting a refund. The dealer has replied saying they have taken legal advice from the RMI and they want us to return the courtesy car we have as we have put the rejection in writing.
Are we obliged to do this?
What rights do we have in terms of getting a full refund?
When does reasonable time become unreasonable?
We believe we have now been caused significant inconvenience and have given more than reasonable time to rectify the problems.
We have everything documented from 9th June 2012 to date.
Asked on 2 March 2013 by felgate78
Answered by
Honest John
Yes, you have to return the courtesy car. Your rights are here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights/ If the car cost less than £5,000 you can take the small claims route via www.moneyclaim.gov.uk If you are claiming more than £5,000 then the case would have to go to the full county court and could cost you £10,000 or more with no guarantee of a favourable result. The dealer will know this and will use it to his advantage.
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