I have recently purchased a 55plate Ford Focus through Ford Direct. My main stipulation to the dealer was it had to be the 115ps version of the 1.6 engine. Fortunately the dealer had one on the forecourt, which he assured me was 115ps. I took the vehicle for a test drive, and put a deposit down. I paid the balance and collected it a week later, and again asked if it was definitely a 115ps, and was assured it was.
However, upon getting it home and looking in the owners handbook, I noticed my engine corresponded with the diagram of the 100ps version. I took the car to another Ford garage, where they confirmed I had been sold a 100ps model.
I have complained to the original garage, as i feel i have been missold and lied to. They are insisting that if I want a 115ps model i will have to pay £500 extra, or i keep the 100ps version and they will throw in free servicing, or I have my part exchange back.
What rights do I have?
Rgds
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Difficult one that. I would say they're being reasonable, they're offering to let you swap to the one you want, but charging you the difference. I'm not sure there's any legal reason why they should let you have it for less than it's worth (which is presumably what they'd be doing if they let you have a straight swap)
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Have you got anything in writing saying that its the 115? If you have stipulated that the 115 is what you want, and they said this car was then surely they are guilty of mis-selling of some sort? The experts will be along shortly!
This is where a decent self-respecting dealer would swap the car for you for free AND throw in a free service for the inconvenience.
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Complain to Trading Standards - the goods wern't as described and you are entitled to a full refund.
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Complain to Trading Standards - the goods wern't as described and you are entitled to a full refund.
But it sounds like that is one of the options they've already offered him.
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More to the point, what proof do you have, Do you have it in writing, or a witness, to say they were selling you the 115 hp at that price. If so you can nail their hides and insist thats what you get without any extra cost.
If you dont have that proof, its a case of "I said, He said", - and that will get you nothing.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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If the garage is offering you your part-exchange back, are they in fact offering you your money back? If they are, I'd take it and go elsewhere. You could try to get something extra out of them for the hassle and the fact that they've lied to you (can you prove this?), but I doubt you'd be successful.
On the other hand, if you've got a piece of paper which in effect says the garage is contracted to supply you with a 115ps Ford Focus for £X, then you've got them over a barrel and can insist they fulfil the contract.
I'm not a lawyer, but that's my understanding of the situation - maybe someone will be along in a minute who knows more than me. Best of luck in dealing with it, anyway.
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IF there is anything in writing - the advert, the invoice, a letter , - specifying 115ps, you can DEMAND - and be given an equivalent 115ps model at no extra charge.
If nothing in writing, ask for your money back in full and never deal with them again.
I'd try to reason - politely - with their Manager/Owner first...
madf
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IF there is anything in writing - the advert, the invoice, a letter , - specifying 115ps, you can DEMAND - and be given an equivalent 115ps model at no extra charge.
errr....no.
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Er... yes. Well, nearly.
Basically if the car is not as described then he is entitled either to fulfilment of the contract (a 115ps car) or damages (money back plus an amount for loss of bargain, i.e., the difference between what the car cost and what it would cost to get a car that would fulfil the bargain). That's without the whole heap of trouble that a misdescribed car could cause through Trading Standards.
Whether you'd actually want to fight to get the difference as opposed to taking your money elsewhere and probably getting the same, or better, for less, is another question.
Incidentally there is chuff all difference between a 115 ps and a 100 ps Focus 1.6 (1s on the 0-60, 0.4s on 30-60 and 0.6mpg all in favour of the 115) and only £300 price difference when new so the idea of paying an extra £500 strikes me as totally hatstand.
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I think its appalling that they seem to have lied to you and it disgraceful they want you to pay extra for something you were told you were getting. One thing though - surely you must have been happy with the performance of the car otherwise you wouldn't have bought it? As the others have said though, I think you'd have to prove in writing you were being sold the 115ps version.
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Get your name on the log book and then take it back. The extra owner will cost them more than £500, particularly if a prospective purchaser calls you. Complain to the dealer principal and suggest compensation for your lost time and travelling expenses. he'll probably laugh.
If you really want to make the effort (but I doubt you will), you can sue them for the lost opportunity (I forget the legal terminology) but it would take time and effort. Have a little chip at Ford, then walk away.
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Sorry I'm a bit late to this one. Ford Direct have a 30 day money/1000 mile return policy. If you do 't like the car you can swap it for another. www.ford.co.uk/ie/forddirect/-/forddirect_exchange.../- I know, I bought a Ford Direct 2 weeks ago.
What I didn't know was that there were two versions of the 1.6 engine, which was the car I purchased. Still, Mrs S is happy with the colour, and that's all that counts for her...... :-)
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I'd be very interested to hear if the O/P has got any further with this one. I must admit, if the dealer had assured me that the car I was buying was a X ps model as opposed to the Y ps model, I'd probably take his word for it. I doubt that I'd ask him to put it in writing.
It becomes very difficult when there is no easy/immediate way of checking. I saw a similar situation in a well known electrical store last week when SWMBO was looking for a new laptop. A nearby prospective buyer was showing great interest in a particular model and asked for the code to be taken off so that he could test it for himself. On opening up the 'control panel' and checking out the hardware, he found that the spec wasn't as described in the literature (128 as opposed to 256MB graphics card). Remonstrations followed, but I suspect that a lot of punters would have taken the store at their word.
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