SIMI - A total bloody joke!

meeeboards

Hey Guys,

After over 6 months dealing with the SIMI my brother and myself have declared it a total waste of time!

Don't take notice of any dealer baring the SIMI logo as it appears it not worth the money is printed on!
My brothers case is roughly this, he purchased a Ford Focus late last year from a high profile ford dealer.
After 3 months of having the car and well over 15 different trips to the workshop the engine finally developed a serious fault, un-repairable and was declared the car unsafe to drive.
The fault appears to be assisted by either the previous owner making modifications to the car or thought neglect by the garages workshop.
The car was declared not road worthy by an independent engineer however the dealer still refuses to rectify the problem or refund my brother despite the car holding an 18 month warranty.
The garage do not supply courtesy cars so this leaves my brother borrowings cars from work over 4 months now, obviously forcing him to pay BIK as well as his car loan.

This case was originally reported to the SIMI in early December and STILL as of yet, no decision by the SIMI has been made.
It is a total and utter joke! Firstly no staff at the SIMI will speak on the telephone; everything must either be written and posted or emailed….. This wouldn't be so bad if my brother actually received replies!
The SIMI was due to meet to make a decision on this case in February but we were told the case was deferred to Aprils meeting instead. I contacted the SIMI this morning via telephone only to be told "that information cannot be discussed over the phone", All I had asked was when the board meet this month, not for the kernels secret recipe!! :mad:

My final worry is this, obviously this board would be a combination of well known and experienced people in the motor trade, this isn't all that big a community and every car dealer owner seems to know the next. What's to stop this decision being swung for the dealers side as an 'favour' between old friends or something.

Has anyone ever successfully had dealing with the SIMI or even hard of a case being successfully resolved?

Cheers Guys!
Thanks for letting me rant! :rolleyes:

( . )( . )

that's terrible, your right to be angry. can you bring it to the small claims court?

Rowley Birkin QC

Bring in the solicitors, amazing how quickly people will fold in the face of a threat of this nature.

galwaytt

small claims? Big claims, more like.

Solicitor time.

OldmanMondeo

bigkev49 wrote:

Bring in the solicitors, amazing how quickly people will fold in the face of a threat of this nature.

Yip, the only way to go. The higher profile the case the less the garage will want it to go on.

You say there was modification to the engine, was there much?

crosstownk

I wouldn't be inclined to use the SIMI. I prefer to go down the route of a qualified independent assessor and a good solicitor - more expensive and more effective.

meeeboards

Technically we cant bring it to court, when the purchase order for the car was signed by my brother had agrees that any issues will try be resolved using the SIMI first. If this ended up in court the dealer could battle that he's breaking the contract by not following the proper complaints process set out in the contract. Instead we must wait for a SIMI decision, then if we disagree we can go to court. I know if we did go to court there is a massive chance we would be successful in winning..... its just getting there thats the problem lol

bazz26

Afaik the SIMI is represented by SIMI member dealers, if so I cannot see how they can be objective in an arbortory case between one of their members and a consumer. Whats needed is a totally independant body.

In your brother's case I would seek legal council on the matter.

OldmanMondeo

meeeboards wrote:

Technically we cant bring it to court, when the purchase order for the car was signed by my brother had agrees that any issues will try be resolved using the SIMI first. If this ended up in court the dealer could battle that he's breaking the contract by not following the proper complaints process set out in the contract. Instead we must wait for a SIMI decision, then if we disagree we can go to court. I know if we did go to court there is a massive chance we would be successful in winning..... its just getting there thats the problem lol

Did you speak to a solicitor? I would take advise now. By talking to a solicitor, you are not breaking the contract, however, the contract may have already being broken by SIMI from the delay in getting this resolved and the garage for failing to reslve your geunine problem.

SPEAK TO A SOLICITOR TODAY....

meeeboards

Also we've laread had TWO qualified engineers and independent assessors inspect the car. Both reports are fairly in dept and directly contradict the report carried out by the garages corrupt engineer. The details of the engine modifications are a little tricky but everything from a re-mapped ECU to Doggy clocks have been discovered on the car.

crosstownk

If you are obliged to use the SIMI as some sort of 'decision maker' then they should be seen to be attempting to sort it out in a reasonable time frame - this doesn't appear to be the case. Who's going to compensate your brother for all the inconvenience and costs involved in arranging alternative transport? This will be a large enough cost given the time the whole process is taking.

unkel

Did you contact Ford Ireland?

meeeboards

meeeboards wrote:

Also we've laread had TWO qualified engineers and independent assessors inspect the car. Both reports are fairly in dept and directly contradict the report carried out by the garages corrupt engineer. The details of the engine modifications are a little tricky but everything from a re-mapped ECU to Doggy clocks have been discovered on the car.

Not that its too important, what model/spec/year is the Focus?

Also Lawyer the sh1t out of that garage as soon as possible

meeeboards

Yep, I've already been in contact with FORD Ireland, they said they will have no hand in the matter as the car is not under a ford warrenty but instead a dealer warrenty. I argued the dealer using the FORD name and using the ford franchise but no joy.

I've already been in contact with MANY solicitors and i was AMAZED how many refuse to take on or even discuss leagal matters regarding car dealerships. Everysingle one has said flighing a car dealership is a long and time consuming matter and that the end costs could far out do the cost of the car.

Henry Ford III

Get a good solicitor to write to SIMI. Give them 1 week.

What did you know about the car when it was purchased. Mods? Were you made aware of these?

Jack Bauer999

meeeboards wrote:

Yep, I've already been in contact with FORD Ireland, they said they will have no hand in the matter as the car is not under a ford warrenty but instead a dealer warrenty. I argued the dealer using the FORD name and using the ford franchise but no joy.

I've already been in contact with MANY solicitors and i was AMAZED how many refuse to take on or even discuss leagal matters regarding car dealerships. Everysingle one has said flighing a car dealership is a long and time consuming matter and that the end costs could far out do the cost of the car.

pity theres not a name and shame thread so the rest of us are aware of
scrupulous dealers to avoid! yes i realise deformation/law suits etc.

meeboards dont suppose you could private message me the ford dealer in question so i can avoid,
im looking to buy a focus at the moment and you've got me feeling paranoid now!

Sizzler

What about Joe Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuufyyyyyyyy

Sure...sure..*Joe nods*

Henry Ford III

Jack Bauer999 wrote:

pity theres not a name and shame thread so the rest of us are aware of
scrupulous dealers to avoid! yes i realise deformation/law suits etc.

meeboards dont suppose you could private message me the ford dealer in question so i can avoid,
im looking to buy a focus at the moment and you've got me feeling paranoid now!

If the car you are looking at has a good warranty, full service history, is unmodified, and drives well, you'll be fine.

The Focus is a reliable car. See www.honestjohn.co.uk

louie

Take legal advice. The contract you have signed it could have been broken in the eyes of law, due to unresolved issue from SIMI. They probably just have a bunch of folders to look at every year, but the coffee breaks are more important.

smash

Threaten to go public about this... and deffo go to a solicitor, and look for compo for the BIK and servicing etc too.


The dealer is suppose to run a lot of checks on cars before they sell them, it's SIMI policy...

I'd also phone consumer affairs today!

Henry Ford III

Henry Ford III wrote:

If the car you are looking at has a good warranty, full service history, is unmodified, and drives well, you'll be fine.

The Focus is a reliable car. See www.honestjohn.co.uk

Agreed buying a modified car is asking for trouble.

JHMEG

Your brother has Statutory Rights, including the right to sue for misrepresentation of the goods being sold. SIMI has no legal powers, and its judgements are meaningless.

Peronsally rather than waiting for SIMI to foot drag I would have exercised my rights a lot sooner, and let the dealer know.

smash

yep, goods must be fit for their purpose and a car that's deemed unroad worthy is not fit for it's purpose

meeeboards

Hey Guys,
Sorry it took so long for me to get back.

Okay as far as i know alto in the eyes of the law a SIMI Ruling is meaningless however the garage are obligated to follow the boards decision on the case otherwise they lose their SIMI membership.

Secondly, I wasn't aware the car had been modified at time of purchase. From what i can gather either had the dealer until a clutch/gearbox problem developed and the entire engine was taken out, it was only then it became apparent to the dealer who then informed us. We were in the process of looking into the possibility of returning the car because of these issues but before we had a chance the engine failure occurred. Other major parts of the car had failed within the first few weeks of purchase included the Head Gasket and the Cylinder head was skimmed, fuel injection, timing belt - to name just a few.

Altho the garage refuses to provide him with a courtesy car at the moment we have had several branded ones in the past. Altho because this is an ongoing dispute they refuse to give us another one. This resulted in him having to hire a car at one stage, we have kept written proof off all expenses incurred during this matter and will be pushing for a refund from the garage including for the days off work taken.

Like i said earlier solicitors are very doggy about taking on a legal cases with dealerships.... If anyone knows of one who might take this on by all means please message me lol

Other than that i don't think I'm really in a position where i can push the SIMI, Last thing i want to do is annoy them as this could only damage me with the decision making i guess.

Ya's can only imagine how frustrating this is, i had planned on changing cars a long time ago however this is now pretty much impossible when i don't have the car to trade in.

Cheers for everything so far guys!
Anyone ever had problems this big with a dealer?

colly10

Sounds like a nightmare to be honest, if I was you I would pick up the phone and try solicitor after solicitor until one agress to take the case

bazz26

At this stage I would contact the Office of Consumer Affairs regarding this matter and see what they have to say.

Also I'm no expert on law but surely you would have the right to legal representation if you do have a case? If no solicitor will take on the case are you entitled to have assigned to you? Maybe someone in the know can verify this position? Citizens Advice Bureau or Citizens Information Board perhaps?

MercMad

I've said this before, and this wont be the last time, the SIMI are exactly that..............a society for the Irish Motor Industry !!

They only have their own interests at heart ! Its a waste of time contacting them to complain about a member. The SIMI cannot force a garage to do ANYTHING !

Forget them !

You should have gone legal in the first place, and I find it hard to believe that nobody will take you on ! I could believe that costs could be the main reason you have chosen not to go this route and that is understandable.

When was this car purchased and have you spoken with the Consumer Affairs ? Was the car purchased using a finance package ?

The only way for anyone to get anywhere with anyone in the Motor Tarde is to weigh in with all guns from the get go ! I dealt with this sort of thing for many years during my 10/11 years in the trade !

Forget the SIMI and the gentle approach, behave like a bull in a china shop and you'll get things done !

PoleStar

I have had similar trouble, not with a car, but a service provider.

What you must do is write a letter to the dealer you bought the car from, as contrary to what they say or your agreement says about SIMI, your contract according to the consumer goods and services act is with the dealer and no one else.

Outline in this letter

1. Your problem.

2. How you would like this resolved.


Give them a deadline of 10 working days, after which you will take legal action.


This is what I did and got a grovelling phone call about 2 days after I posted my letter and the issue was resolved within a week.

Do not wait for SIMI, they may not resolve your issue.

It may also be useful to contact the ombudsman who will lay out your rights and enclose this.

smash

you could get the car towed to their garage and leave it in the middle of their lot and tell everyone who walks by how they're sh1thead rip off merchants.... haha

Shiva

JHMEG wrote:

Your brother has Statutory Rights, including the right to sue for misrepresentation of the goods being sold.

Exactly. And as far as I can remember, you can't sign away your statutory rights - the agreement to go exclusively through SIMI in the event of a dispute is probably meaningless and unenforceable.

ninty9er

I'm surprised that solicitors won't talk to you!! What kind are they. Have you looked for references as there are an awful lot of useless solicitors out there.

I know of at least 2 that would probably take on such a case with 99.99999% certainty of winning based on the information you've given us.

What part of the country are you in. Solicitors may be willing to travel if the smell a decent fee!!