Can I reject a car bought through a salary sacrifice scheme?
I'm writing to request clarification of my rights regarding the rejection of a vehicle obtained through my employer’s salary sacrifice scheme.
I took delivery of a new VW ID.Buzz GTX on 4 November. The vehicle is for both business and personal use by myself and my wife. After driving approximately 200 miles over four days, the vehicle displayed around ten error messages on the fifth day and became un‑driveable. It was recovered from my driveway to the local VW dealer on 10 November and has remained there since. The dealer has the parts (a new motor) but VW HQ told them to stop when they had to start doing major disassembly and that's the last I heard. That was 3 weeks ago.
On 4 December (day 30 from delivery), I notified both the dealer and the lease company in writing to reject the vehicle. The lease company has responded that consumer law does not apply because this is considered a business‑to‑business transaction and therefore the 30‑day short‑term right to reject is not available. They have also stated that I must continue making payments while the situation is unresolved (and those payments are not refundable even when it is resolved). My employer’s payroll is scheduled to take the first payment on 25 December, backdated to 4 November.
I would appreciate clarification on the following:
Do my rights fall under consumer law or business contract law in the case of a salary sacrifice car used personally?
Can you update your guidance on “rejecting a new car” to explicitly cover salary sacrifice arrangements if consumer law doesn't apply?
Am I able to escalate this to an ombudsman, or pursue action against any party involved (my employer, the lease company, the supplying dealer, or VW) to recover any payments I make while I do not have the vehicle?
Is it reasonable to be required to pay over £1000 gross per month for a vehicle that I only had for five days and remains unfixed at the time of writing (18th Dec)?
I took delivery of a new VW ID.Buzz GTX on 4 November. The vehicle is for both business and personal use by myself and my wife. After driving approximately 200 miles over four days, the vehicle displayed around ten error messages on the fifth day and became un‑driveable. It was recovered from my driveway to the local VW dealer on 10 November and has remained there since. The dealer has the parts (a new motor) but VW HQ told them to stop when they had to start doing major disassembly and that's the last I heard. That was 3 weeks ago.
On 4 December (day 30 from delivery), I notified both the dealer and the lease company in writing to reject the vehicle. The lease company has responded that consumer law does not apply because this is considered a business‑to‑business transaction and therefore the 30‑day short‑term right to reject is not available. They have also stated that I must continue making payments while the situation is unresolved (and those payments are not refundable even when it is resolved). My employer’s payroll is scheduled to take the first payment on 25 December, backdated to 4 November.
I would appreciate clarification on the following:
Do my rights fall under consumer law or business contract law in the case of a salary sacrifice car used personally?
Can you update your guidance on “rejecting a new car” to explicitly cover salary sacrifice arrangements if consumer law doesn't apply?
Am I able to escalate this to an ombudsman, or pursue action against any party involved (my employer, the lease company, the supplying dealer, or VW) to recover any payments I make while I do not have the vehicle?
Is it reasonable to be required to pay over £1000 gross per month for a vehicle that I only had for five days and remains unfixed at the time of writing (18th Dec)?
Asked on 19 December 2025 by dombat
Answered by
David Ross
This sounds an incredibly frustrating situation for you and not what you expect when you take delivery of a new car. A company vehicle supplied through a salary sacrifice scheme is in essence a business to business agreement and so the Sale of Goods Act 1979 applies rather than the Consumer Rights Act 2015. However, an agreement can exclude some elements of the SoGA and it is up to the parties involved in the creation of the agreement to decide what is or is not included. As a starting point we would suggest looking closely at the terms of your agreement in respective of a good being of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose as well as what is possible in the event that a good does not meet this criteria.
Depending on the contents of your agreement it may be that the best approach is to raise a dispute on legal grounds for breach of contract, but it may be that there agreement will defer to the CRA terms of a rejection not being possible until an attempt to repair the vehicle has been made. We'd also suggest contacting the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association who might be able to offer more advice.
Depending on the contents of your agreement it may be that the best approach is to raise a dispute on legal grounds for breach of contract, but it may be that there agreement will defer to the CRA terms of a rejection not being possible until an attempt to repair the vehicle has been made. We'd also suggest contacting the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association who might be able to offer more advice.
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