Problem Car

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kmm249
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Re: Problem Car

Post by kmm249 »

Hi everyone,

I am on finance with VWFS, rang them again on Thursday, said they were going to email my case handler and a manager and something should be done i.e. a phone call with an update. No phone call so I will be emailing many CEOs once I pinpoint who is still current (CEO email website seems to be slightly out of date.)

I'm going to speak to my bank but not sure what they can do as I paid via debt card not credit card.

I'm waiting for solicitors to call me back, not had much joy on any of them wanting to talk to me. One Business Advisor of one law firm told me it would £150 to talk to solicitor that before they could say whether they could take my case or not!
wizzywig27
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Re: Problem Car

Post by wizzywig27 »

Hello, Mike Todd is the CEO of VWFS and Alison Jones is CEO of VWUK (although the latter is useless) :roll:
kmm249
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Re: Problem Car

Post by kmm249 »

Totally stuck and lost for words....

Finally got to speak to my case handler at VWFS, after requesting a manager to call me, she calls me. She says she can only go off what the dealership says and that I can’t reject the vehicle with them as the dealership say there no fault, I can’t reject on wipers not working properly as this is not enough. The car braking unexpectedly is not serious enough like an engine failure. I asked how is this not serious and the evidence I have speaks for itself....

She said we need to take to another dealership for investigation if we want.

I’m struggling to find a solicitor to talk to....

Just lost for words....
TElwoody
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Re: Problem Car

Post by TElwoody »

kmm249 wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 7:11 pm Totally stuck and lost for words....

Finally got to speak to my case handler at VWFS, after requesting a manager to call me, she calls me. She says she can only go off what the dealership says and that I can’t reject the vehicle with them as the dealership say there no fault, I can’t reject on wipers not working properly as this is not enough. The car braking unexpectedly is not serious enough like an engine failure. I asked how is this not serious and the evidence I have speaks for itself....

She said we need to take to another dealership for investigation if we want.

I’m struggling to find a solicitor to talk to....

Just lost for words....
Keep going for it though, hope you get a good result and stay objective. They can f**k off as far as we can tell, keep talking and communicating with them.

See if there are any legal protections and/or consumer rights/ regulators.
kmm249
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Re: Problem Car

Post by kmm249 »

Thanks for the advice, I’m going to try it. Still trying to get some legal advice on it all but solicitors that deal with this are hard to come by.

I’m going to try my emails to CEOs and see if they bring anything back. I can’t believe they don’t think this is serious.

I think there is Finanical regulator and maybe a motor one so will try them.

I can’t believe that even the sales manager says we within our right to reject that we can’t reject! It’s crazy!
RUM4MO
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Re: Problem Car

Post by RUM4MO »

I would not put too much trust in any industry regulators or ombudsman, a friend tried that approach with the energy ombudsman over a small energy supplier not billing him correctly, ie by using the smart meters, after about a year without any resolution he got back to the energy ombudsman and asked what was going on - their answer was that they had done all of what they intended to do, so basically even although they did not resolve anything for my friend, they now considered this case closed and would not re-visit it again. In the back ground, this small energy supplier was pushed out of business, so my friend went from an England based supplier with customer support in India, to a Himalayan based supplier with customer support in England!
kmm249
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Re: Problem Car

Post by kmm249 »

After seeking some legal advice, it’s seems my case is abit of a grey area and it all depends how the dealership and finance company is interpreting the Consumer rights act apparently they could be going off I didn’t go to reject the vehicle in the first 30 days so it moves it the second tier, six months where a repair is nessarcy first. It’s pretty annoying that it is such grey area when it comes to this as I wouldn’t have wait until the repair appointment and rejected as soon as possible. A solicitor on just answer (brilliant service for just £5, you are connecting to qualified solicitor and get personal advice!) told me that it would be very expensive trying to peruse them. I could still try for a refund but wouldn’t get one anytime soon.

So after the dealership ignoring our phone calls for the last 3 days, they have finally answered and agreed to a replacement. I am going to choose my replacement car this afternoon. It’s not the outcome I wanted and I’m still going to have some connection with this dealership for at least 2 years before I trade it in and trying not to have finance through VWFS but at least I will have a car again.
Aube
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Re: Problem Car

Post by Aube »

Hi,

I’m really pleased and well done for continuing when things looked like they weren’t going in the right direction.

Hopefully this time everything will be good and remember you don’t need to take the car back to them for any warranty or servicing work. It’s a pain going to another dealer, but that’s what I would do if you feel uncomfortable with the supplying dealer.

Finally, and it’s not easy, try and leave the dealer on good terms as in your head there will be a few words buzzing around that you want to say, so best to avoid those coming out.

Well done again.
stevereeves
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Re: Problem Car

Post by stevereeves »

Good outcome and prob the best the OP was gonna get TBH, least gettin' a new car, fresh start and all that. Reckon get the car serviced, etc at another VW dealer provided the next nearest isn't a million mles way to avoid the less favoured VW shop. Positive result either way, good stuff....
kmm249
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Re: Problem Car

Post by kmm249 »

Been to the dealership, not brilliant news! having to pay more a month for replacement, I’m basically footing the bill for the negative equity on the car even though it’s not my fault I need a replacement car!

So I’m stuck with what to do.

I might have to take it back and then try to swap next year at somewhere else! Find somewhere of keeping the front assist off and not driving in the rain! Oh the joys! It would be going to another dealership for a full check over before I drive it anywhere!
david.stark
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Re: Problem Car

Post by david.stark »

Hello again. I’ve been trying to catch up on the various developments.

Firstly, the grey area about 30 days rejection isn’t so grey to me. Remember what I said ages ago about the clock stopped ticking re 30 days? They never fixed it so to me your rejection request fell within 30 days.

Cost wise, your rejection claim in terms of value would surely be under £10,000 which makes it suitable for small claims court which doesn’t leave you wide open to high costs.

With regard to replacement, the Act states that the seller must bear any costs incurred when agreeing to replace so to me, they should be wearing the negative equity. I accept things are always complicated with financial agreements though.

For the sake of the cost of initial advice, I would approach these guys but before you do, have everything noted down so you can make clear and concise points and don’t forget the bit about the clock stopping. If they think that you have a strong case, they could make mincemeat of VW.

There’s a bit on a linked page that mentions SOGA 1979. Their page hasn’t been updated that’s all, to reflect CRA 2015 so don’t worry about that.

https://www.slatergordon.co.uk/consumer-law/
stevereeves
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Re: Problem Car

Post by stevereeves »

I'm no expert, though I did study law few years ago, and the above is pretty much what I thought (from what I can remember). Hope it works out in the end....
kmm249
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Re: Problem Car

Post by kmm249 »

Hi everyone,

So speaking to this solicitor, he said no I can't go for rejection under the clock stop ticking as I only asked for repair or diagnositics (something I thought you are suppose to do as rejection is extreme in the first step), I did not make the dealership aware that I was planning to reject the vehicle within the first 30 days.

They would be going under replacement in the first 6 months so they would take into account, the current value of the car will be used and taking into account any depreciation in value for usage by the buyer since purchase.

I can still try for a refund if they have not fixed the faults after 30 days. So the best option for me according the the solicitor is to pick the car up, see if they have fixed the faults and gather video evidence to support this. I can then get a refund via rejection if the faults are still present.

Or I just unplug the sensor wait until June next year and take the car and try part exchange it somewhere when the negative value won't be as much! :x

But some useful infomation below when I made my intial enquiry to him which could be helpful or thoughts on this?

Ok thanks. Based on the timings, you do not have the right to reject the vehicle outright and have to opt for one of the so called second tier rights. I will explain the full legal position below.

When a person buys a second-hand vehicle from a dealer they will have certain rights under consumer law, specifically the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which requires goods sold by a business seller to be:

of satisfactory quality – they must not be faulty or damaged when received
as described – they must match any description given at the time of purchase
fit for purpose – they should be fit for the purpose they are supplied for
If the vehicle does not meet the above requirements, the buyer will have certain legal remedies against the seller (which will actually be the finance company, not the dealer). Also note that there is no protection against fair wear and tear, misuse or accidental damage, faults that were pointed out at the time of sale or if you change your mind and no longer want the goods. The age and value of the vehicle will also be relevant and the expectations of older vehicles will certainly be lower.

The rights against the seller are:

1. Reject the vehicle and request a refund - this must be done within 30 days of purchase or delivery.

2. Repair or replacement – this can be done within the initial 30 days or after, if that deadline has passed and a rejection is no longer possible. If a repair is not possible or has failed, the vehicle can still be rejected for a refund, or if the consumer wants to keep it, they can ask for a price reduction. If asking for a refund or a replacement, the current value of the vehicle will be used, taking into account any depreciation in value for usage by the buyer since purchase.

So because you only tried to reject the vehicle after the initial 30 days, you have to choose a repair or replacement at this stage.

Based on which option you are wishing to exercise, you must contact the seller and advise them. If they refuse to discharge their legal obligations under consumer laws, you should remind them of these as per the details above. If they still appear reluctant to assist, write to them one final time, warn them that they have 7 days to comply and inform them that if they fail to honour your legal rights, you will have no choice but to report them to Trading Standards and start legal proceedings to seek compensation.

I did correct him and say it was a brand new car but the position is still the same.....
david.stark
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Re: Problem Car

Post by david.stark »

Was it Slater and Gordon that you used? Quite a prompt reply if so and that's a bonus.

It is true that you have to contact the seller to tell them what action you want taking of course but my interpretation of the clock stopping issue was that yes you do have to tell them within 30 days that you want to reject but that 30 day clock stops as soon as you request a repair and does not resume ticking until the repair has been carried out and car returned.

I was of the understanding that they have never repaired the fault and returned the car to you so that your rejection request would be deemed to have fallen within the 30 days.

The depreciation bit about the car which takes into account the usage by you applies to a rejection and refund outside of the 30 days but I did not think it applied to replacement. I cannot see anything about that deduction noted in the section of the Act that refers to replacement.
kmm249
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Re: Problem Car

Post by kmm249 »

Hi Everyone

Just thought I would give an update on the situation. So I was just going to live with the problem until a front assist issue nearly caused me to get in a serious accident around 2 days ago. My other half phone the garage the next day as it was closed at the time. They advise to ring VW assistance, within half an hour of phone call an AA man turn up and did say there were much he could do but would tow it to the garage. But due to issue with the front assist, the car was deemed too dangerous to tow so an order was place for a truck to pick it up instead. Truck arrived with hour to take my problem car away.

Also a courtesy car from Enterpise was also being arranged by VW which we did have to chase but within five mins we had a call saying the car would be ready for collection with a follow call at 8am on Saturday saying it all ready or did we want car delivered to us?

Apart from the basic courtesy car (end of day I just need a car to get me from a to b) and mess up with a damage deposit. VW assistance is very good!

So we went to speak to garage as we hadn’t heard anything. Sales manager can right over and after discussions have deemed the vehicle as unsafe and agreed to an exchange but we might had to pay more depending on what we had and had to be brand new again. So I turn around and said no I would rather walk away as it’s took months to get to this point for you to deem it unsafe and the fact of you leaving me in an unsafe vehicle since I bought it why would I want another vehicle from you?

So it back in VW hands and the garage aren’t looking at vehicle until Wednesday according to the booking email I have. So it’s a wait and see what VW say but after three visits we are finally getting somewhere! So if you are having issues keep trying!!!
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