car issue

looking4advice

A friend of mine bought a new car in the summer from a dealership. It is a new hybrid fuel version and it has been giving him a lot of trouble since he bought it and has been in the garage for various reasons on numerous occasions.

He would like to get rid of it and get a different car. The car is still under warranty.

I am aware of the Sales of Goods Act giving refund, repair, replacement but is a refund possible at this stage?

What are his options?

seamus

Repair/Refund/Replace is at the discretion of the seller, it's not up to the buyer to decide what they want.

I'm also not 100% sure it if applies to cars, but I don't see why it wouldn't.

His only option really is to continue to bring it to the garage. If the same problem is continually re-occuring, he could argue that this is due to a design flaw in the product and he could try to insist on a refund on that basis.

looking4advice

Are sure about the remedy being at the discretion of the vendor? I always thought that the consumer had this choice?

There has been various things wrong with the car so I'm not sure if he could justify the refund on that?

Would a Solicitor be needed? If the dealership is SIMI would their arbitration remedy be worthwhile?

notnem

It is my understanding that the garage has one chance to fix a particular problem. If the car has the same problem again and the garage cannot resolve the issue, they are obliged to refund you. (Once you have given the garage the opportunity to resolve the issue and they have failed).

looking4advice

So on the flip side if there has been various things wrong then he cannot get a refund?

notnem

My understanding is that the garage has an opportunity to fix each issue under guarantee but cannot repair the same issue more than once under the sale of goods act.

seamus

looking4advice wrote: »

Are sure about the remedy being at the discretion of the vendor? I always thought that the consumer had this choice?

100% sure. It's a common misconception that the consumer gets to choose.

There has been various things wrong with the car so I'm not sure if he could justify the refund on that?

Not really, but maybe . I'm not sure if notnem is 100% right, but it's the same as what I mentioned - if the seller is unable to repair the fault with the product, it's considered to be a fundamental flaw in the product and logically the only recourse is a refund (as a repair or replace will exhibit the same problem).

Would a Solicitor be needed? If the dealership is SIMI would their arbitration remedy be worthwhile?

If the dealer is refusing a reasonable request then SIMI's arbitration process would probably be the best first step. A solicitor can advise him, but can't really do anything unless rights or laws have been broken.

looking4advice

ok. I am a little confused.

Just to clarify the car is about 6 months old and was new when bought. It is still under guarantee.

page1

First what your friend needs to do is contact the service manager in the garage and ask for copies of the job cards to see what work has been carried out.
A refund is possible but difficult to get, it will really depend on the type of problems and they need to be fairly substantial, he isnt going to get it because there is a rattle in the dash.

Another factor to be considered is the length of time the car is off the road. You say he bought it in the summer, how long has the car been in the garage relative to the length of time he owns it ? has the garage provided him with a replacement car?

In circumstances like this the usual course is for the garage to offer him a similar car but he could argue for a better spec one for the inconvenience.
Also say its a Prius he could ask for an Avensis, or if its a Civic ask for an Accord but he will probaly have to put some money to it.

Secondly i would contact the importer and ask for details of the warranty claims that have gone through for his car, explain the issue to them and see what they suggest.

He needs to tell the garage he has lost confidence in the car and will not accept it.
There isnt really a point in contacting a solicitor as he is bound to arbitration with SIMI anyway.

I must reiterate though if the problem is only minor he will be facing a struggle it must be something substantial.
Hope that helps.

looking4advice

page1 wrote: »

First what your friend needs to do is contact the service manager in the garage and ask for copies of the job cards to see what work has been carried out.
A refund is possible but difficult to get, it will really depend on the type of problems and they need to be fairly substantial, he isnt going to get it because there is a rattle in the dash.

Another factor to be considered is the length of time the car is off the road. You say he bought it in the summer, how long has the car been in the garage relative to the length of time he owns it ? has the garage provided him with a replacement car?

In circumstances like this the usual course is for the garage to offer him a similar car but he could argue for a better spec one for the inconvenience.
Also say its a Prius he could ask for an Avensis, or if its a Civic ask for an Accord but he will probaly have to put some money to it.

Secondly i would contact the importer and ask for details of the warranty claims that have gone through for his car, explain the issue to them and see what they suggest.

He needs to tell the garage he has lost confidence in the car and will not accept it.
There isnt really a point in contacting a solicitor as he is bound to arbitration with SIMI anyway.

I must reiterate though if the problem is only minor he will be facing a struggle it must be something substantial.
Hope that helps.

Thanks. That is good, practical advice. The problems have been fairly substantial ie cutting out and he was told to stop using the bio fuel (which was the whole point of the car!).

ncmc

I would advise your friend to get in touch with the supplier (ie Toyota/Ford/whatever) you have more of a chance of getting a fefund from the supplier rather than the garage. As a previous poster said, get copies of all the job cards for the various work done from the dealer. If you say that you have lost faith in the car and that it has had several serious problems, then your chances of getting some comeback are quite good. In my experiance, they may not offer you a refund, but may offer you a different model, or money towards buying a new car.