snotty car dealer - what to do?

Sunny_Dublin

Hello all,

not 100% sure if this has to go to Motors (or if i will put it there as well?!), feel free to move if appropriate.

so here's the story:
my boyfriend's car failed two weeks ago, engine dead, he needs a new car. goes to car dealer out where we live (north county dublin), finds car which looks ok and short test drive makes him think the car is fine.
they agree on a price and the dealer says "will get the car serviced, lever for bonnet is faulty, will fix that too" and also there is some catalyst light thingy on which he supposedly wanted to fix (with his mechanic, not the one we would normally use). we have this in writing (the car is a 96 reg btw).

so one week later he's on the m1 and at tempo 100 km/h the car starts rattling big time. as if some metal part in the bottom of the car starts shaking the whole car...
turns out the prop shaft (sp?) is goe and car can't be driven at all anymore.
so my boyfriend calls the guy, says that there is a massive problem with the car and would he kindly fix it, given that there is still a service outstanding and such.
car dealer gets snotty, says it's a good car and problems are to be expected with a 10 year old car.
well, fair enough it is an older car, but essential car parts shouldn't fail withing a week after buying the thing, no?
so we left the car with the dealer today and he said he'll bring it to the mechanic to have a look at it.
what i want to know now is: what can i do if the dealer doesn't want to pay for the repair, doesn't get the car repaired in a timely manner or expects us to pay for parts??

thanks for your help,
sunny

KTRIC

Was the car sold with a warrenty ?? If it was then he has a case, if not then you might be in trouble.

Sunny_Dublin

well, no warranty as such but the written confirmation that a) the car will be serviced and b) the catalyst converter light (and problems resulting from this) will be checked.
Plus i believe there is a sale of goods act which states that "that goods (including cars bought from dealers) must be in a fit state for the purpose they were sold/intended for". which with this car is not the case anymore after a week.
question also is if there is a possibility of simply returning the car as there seems to be a european law that allows a customer to return a product without any reason within 8 days of the purchase. could this help us (if this even exists?).

gerrycollins

basically according to the law you are right, it is not fit for the purpose it was sold for but for a 10yr old car its a bit of a tricky situation as in the dealer might claim the car was driven outside its parameters for a car of its age(just saying its a posibility he might say it not thats its an excuse)

Best bet is to seek legal advice but my money would be on a nicely wordered letter from your solicitor might fix it and i'd say look for your money back and shop elsewhere

cabla

No warranty no claim. You could try a small claims court or something like that. with a small fee you might have a case but to be honest i dont think you do, cavetor emptor a.k.a let the buyer beware. you should have checked everything even brough a mechanic to over the car with you.

gerrycollins

cabla wrote:

No warranty no claim. You could try a small claims court or something like that. with a small fee you might have a case but to be honest i dont think you do, cavetor emptor a.k.a let the buyer beware. you should have checked everything even brough a mechanic to over the car with you.

the buyer beware only really applies to cars sold privately between two people not those sold through a dealer,

you would think cars sold through a dealership would go through some sort of checking system otherwise we can all turn up at this guys door and flog dodgy cars to him for a few quid even though they are worthless like the OP's car

I think the small claims court would be a final step in a process which should cover 4 weeks,the small claims court will want to see what offers were made by either side before it goes before a judge

cabla

gerrycollins wrote:

the buyer beware only really applies to cars sold privately between two people not those sold through a dealer,

you would think cars sold through a dealership would go through some sort of checking system otherwise we can all turn up at this guys door and flog dodgy cars to him for a few quid even though they are worthless like the OP's car

I think the small claims court would be a final step in a process which should cover 4 weeks,the small claims court will want to see what offers were made by either side before it goes before a judge

Well you could be right but you still need to check no matter what.

muffler

Sunny_Dublin wrote:

what i want to know now is: what can i do if the dealer doesn't want to pay for the repair, doesn't get the car repaired in a timely manner or expects us to pay for parts??

I dont want to be a party pooper here but you should really have checked all this out prior to purchasing. You either have a warranty or not. With a warranty things are more black and white but without one you are down to nit picking points out of the Sale of Goods Act.

In any event wait to see what happens with the dealer and good luck with it

gerrycollins

cabla wrote:

Well you could be right but you still need to check no matter what.

need to check? that the car is roadworthy?
i guess but the idea of a dealer IMO is to take out that questioning of the cars roadworthness

at this stage i dont think to dealer will commit to a warrenty unless its on paper so check your paper work and good luck

babaduck

Time to contact the people all motor dealers fear - www.simi.ie