Vauxhall Astra - Legal info for small claims court | Legal matters | Back Room Forum

Wed 27 Apr 2016 10:33

Vauxhall Astra - Legal info for small claims court - Tia-celine

Hi I'm just looking on some legal advice as I'm at a loss of who else to contact.

I bought a 2013 Vauxhall Astra off auto trader on the 30/ 3/2016 for £4995, it was advertised as cat d and I was told it was only cosmetic damage to the back right rear of the bumper, they said I could easily fix it but it didn't look that bad and i was fine with it as it was.

Upon taking it home a friend noticed mini chips over the windscreen and when placing things on the back seat I realised the back seat was not attached to the car at the bottom, I had someone click it into place but the right side had a noticeable gap between the seats And the left side seat clip was broken, I got in contact with the person I was dealing with for the car when I found out about the chips and he said he didn't know they was there but wouldn't fix it as it was cosmetic damage and not covered by them, only a mechanical or engine fault they would cover I also said about the back seat and they said it could of been the people who Valeted the car as they removed the back seat to fully clean it, but on the day and upon taking the car home it was very noticeable it was filthy so I'm not sure whether that was correct, 2 days later I rang for a refund and was told I would not receive one, I asked to speak to a manager and he said he would get them to call me back Saturday morning but that they would also refuse me a refund, the same day I wrote a letter to the manager asking for a refund after speaking to trading standards and stated it was under my short term right to reject and consumer rights, they emailed back but said I wanted a refund because of niggly reasons, I test drove it, I looked it over before purchase etc. I was also advised to ask if they were part of an ADR scheme which they said they wasn't. Between them and now I have had a mechanic friend look it over for me and was told it was noticeable right away it was loud driving and could need the wheel bearing fixing, I rang them and had the mechanic speak and tell them again about the windscreen and back seat also, they said they would repair but not give a refund, even though they said mechanical or engine fault would allow me one. Also on one occasion when attempting to unlock the car the buttons would not unlock it and when putting the key in manually it would turn left or right, after myself and 2 other people trying for 20 minutes i had to leave the car overnight until I could get back to it in the morning where it worked fine. I have since sent a lot of emails continually asking and said I would take it to court if I was still not given a full refund. They are still refusing though, I was wondering if these are valid reasons and if I would win at court, getting back a full refund, the court costs and interest for the £5000 loan I took out for this car as I would want to give it back?

Also I have found out since, that they are a trade company but I was asked to put 100 deposit into a private account as the person said a lot of people where looking at the car and it may go before I could get down to view it when I said I would definitely want it, they also wanted the 4895 putting into this account but I couldnt through my online banking so I used their card machine although they said they don't like using it as it charges them, but as my 100 is in a private account am I still entitled to that? Also the receipt they gave me for the car sale has the wrong number plate by one letter, they gave me no papers and said it did not need an mot since becoming cat d as it was minor damage and I am still waiting for the logbook they said they sent off for me and after looking on here I checked the gov.uk mot check site and it says there is no vehicle to match this data, I apologise for the length of this but after speaking to trading standards, citizens advice, the police and auto trader I'm no closer to any legal advice

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Wed 27 Apr 2016 13:33

Vauxhall Astra - Legal info for small claims court - RobJP

If you've bought a car that is Cat D damaged - and bought it cheaply, because of that - and damage turns out to be more severe than you thought then I don't think you'll be able to reject it.

I may be wrong. But if the seller won't play ball then only way you'd be able to find out would be to issue proceedings in a court, and seeing what happened.

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Wed 27 Apr 2016 14:53

Vauxhall Astra - Legal info for small claims court - pd

Personally, I think you might struggle a bit here as:

(a) presumably this was sold below market value due to the Cat D so the court could argue your expectations should be less.

(b) you admit yourself the problems are "niggly" which I'm not sure in themselves warrant rejection of such a car.

It would come down to what a "reasonable" person would consider "satisfactory" for the car, age, nature of sale, price etc.

The V5 is difficult to comment on without further info.

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