Do I have a chance of claiming?
Sorry to keep asking you about this question - don't know if you remember but I am trying to take a small dealer to small claims court after buying a 12 year old car from them that subsequently broke down with auto transmission problems 2 months later and needs new gear box.
You said I had an 80% chance of success at small claims BUT I am having real trouble getting anyone to agree. The transmission guy who stripped the gear box says he thinks we won't be successful and (like the dealer) thinks the fact that we drove round for 2 months without complaint means we don't have a case and have just been unlucky.
A lawyer I spoke to (though she admits she doesn't have much experience in this) says that she thinks 2 months is a reasonable time period for an old car to last for and I would only really have a case if the car was newer or had broken down within say a week.
The Citizens advice bureau said I would need evidence to prove that this fault shouldn't have happened to a car at this age and mileage - which I can't get as a car this old having done that mileage could reasonably be expected to have auto transmission problems.
So I am not really able to gather any evidence to support my case. But no one seems to be actually able to quote any like cases in the small claims court!
So I am now contemplating having to sell the car for scrap £200!
I just wanted to contact you one last time to get final clarification - are there cases like mine where the claimant won? Is 2 months long enough for a 12 year old car costing £3000 at 130,000 miles a reasonable time to run for. And finally do you still think it is worth me pursuing in the small claims court?
Is there a specialist lawyer I could ask who might actually be able to give me real advice?
You said I had an 80% chance of success at small claims BUT I am having real trouble getting anyone to agree. The transmission guy who stripped the gear box says he thinks we won't be successful and (like the dealer) thinks the fact that we drove round for 2 months without complaint means we don't have a case and have just been unlucky.
A lawyer I spoke to (though she admits she doesn't have much experience in this) says that she thinks 2 months is a reasonable time period for an old car to last for and I would only really have a case if the car was newer or had broken down within say a week.
The Citizens advice bureau said I would need evidence to prove that this fault shouldn't have happened to a car at this age and mileage - which I can't get as a car this old having done that mileage could reasonably be expected to have auto transmission problems.
So I am not really able to gather any evidence to support my case. But no one seems to be actually able to quote any like cases in the small claims court!
So I am now contemplating having to sell the car for scrap £200!
I just wanted to contact you one last time to get final clarification - are there cases like mine where the claimant won? Is 2 months long enough for a 12 year old car costing £3000 at 130,000 miles a reasonable time to run for. And finally do you still think it is worth me pursuing in the small claims court?
Is there a specialist lawyer I could ask who might actually be able to give me real advice?
Asked on 10 March 2013 by JBrown
Answered by
Honest John
It isn't going to cost you very much to make a claim using www.moneyclaim.gov.uk So just state the facts on the forms and see what happens. The judge might be sympathetic, particularly given the statement that you paid £3,000 but the car is now only worth £200 scrap.
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