So the wife has had a little mk 4 golf 1.4 for a year and loved it , it was in good nick 70 k on it jobs a good en , only problem was it just didnt have enough guts when on the motorway or when loaded with all the kids in the hollidays whils im at work . she wont drive my 06 passat says its too big. We decided to get her a gti so sold the old one on e bay to a real nice lad whos got it for his first car . Now here comes the fun . I saw on autotrader a garage not far from us with a 3 door mk 4 2ltr gti . ad said it would have a full years mot and 6 months waranty , i thought ok if thats the case no brainer as it had 90 k on clock and all others i had seen were 120 to 140 k , the wife only did 4 k in a year with last car. I called the guy and he said yes its a nice tidy one not messed about with , ill give it an mot do any advisorys make sure all works and give you 6 months waranty if you pay the screen price . I knew it was more than i could get same for off e bay but the years ticket and said all would work and a waranty i thought easy hassle free sod it . (Now the tragic truth is this car does not need to last long my dear mother is in the final stages of fighting terminal cancer , we lost dad to a shock heart attack 2 years ago so at some point money will not be an issue so this did look to fit the bill . i feel odd typing that but its how it is .) I paid a deposit of £100.00 in cash and then we were to pick up in three days time .Again i was told the car would be all sorted and ready to go . When we got their it was all ready and started and ran ok now i will admit we were in a rush as we had to get back to pick up the kids from school , we dont have any baby sitting help as her parents are 40 miles away and work full time and my mum is too ill and a hundred miles away . i asked if she liked it she did and as we had a waranty i stupidly thought lets get back for the big two and ill give it a good once over once home. When we got back the wife said straight away it goes well but i can not get it into 3 and 5 easily as the last golf. And she said she could not get fan to work . she went up to get the kids and i took car round the block. She was right it is a right pig to select 3 and 5th. also arm rest trimm broken and holding back seat belt buckle and yes the fan didnt work . once back home i went all over the car . silly things like front drinks holder missing and its cover blu tacked in place . inside was all a bit rough but i thought ill get some trims from work and sort that . as i work for vw in parts so no worries their it was an old car so i expect a bit of wear. I called the garage and said fan didnt work and about the gears they said they would sort out so i was happy , anoyed but happy. went in for a brew . Wife got back with big kids and they wanted to look in new car so out we went . I then saw the trail of oil leaking down the road , we live on a hill. i poped the bonnet and had a look back of the enging covered in oil , rear crak seal i think then i noticed that the os f headlight had one bracket missing and the other was cracked so it just moved around , the boot lock wont open on central locking and is a pig on the key ,the drivers door is the same and it takes ages to lock and un lock the car . The remote does not work and the whole key falls apart again its blu tacked together the tyres are a nats above being illegal the os f wing is piss poor paint wise and fit is off (it was parked against a wall when we got their and looked ok in pics ) the drivers door is out of line and catches roof when you shut the door . i looked at the new mot and not a single advisory ,this worried me . too much was wron with it to just magicaly work when tested . It took me all weekend to get hold of the garage again , i had their land line e mail and a mobile . i left plenty of messages and nothing . On monday i finaly got hold of the guy . I listed all the faults and my concern about its ticket i said i was not happy as i didnt think the car was fit for purpose and i wanted it collecting and my money back . I was told to bring it back in a few days and they would look at it , this would of taken me over having it a week so i said again no and anyway i could not drive it as it was losing so much oil , Garage over twenty miles away and down a motorway. I told him it was not safe to use and i wanted to return it . he put the phone down . hours later i got hold of him again and he said he could not give me my money back as the boss was away and not back for a week or so . I said that he needed to fix that as i was sure he could sort money out , thier pitch has over 80 cars on site . In the end i said get your boss to ring me and sort it out or ill go to trading standards . another hour or so wait and i get a call to work . the guy used such foul language he threatend me questioned my intelligence (fair enough) and told me to go forth and multply . he said he knew where i worked and would get me into trouble with my boss for calling them on work time . he said i had no chance of him giving me my money back i had only spent £1200 what did i expect he will tie it up in court for years he has the money he can do it i am nothing i can go forth ect ect .i kept my cool and just asked him to refund and collect and to stop swearing at me and their was no need for his agression. He went on and on calling me names and threatining i asked his name and he just carried on then put phone down saying you have no chance you wan*%$ im laughing at you never call us again me and my staff will never help you now go f your self. I had permision to use work phone in fact it was my bosses idea i have it all on call record . I have told trading standards and all i can do is send a letter recorded saying i want to return car wait 14 days if nothing send another and wait 14 days and if nothing still contact trading standards again. vosa will re mot the car and issue a fail ticket and talk to garage . Due to the wonderful internet i have found out his name and his address so thats good but im out of poicket the wife has no transport and it looks like im done cause i wont get legal aid and can not afford a solicitor . i should of just e bayed with my eyes open instead of trusting someone . Feel a right dick head .
Check to see the advert is still up and print it before removed, this will help your case also Good luck
Do what this lass did,had her day in court and won All the negative publicity killed em. Darwen car buyer in peaceful protest over faulty car (From Lancashire Telegraph) https://twitter.com/SarahMcFar1ane We won!!! M65cars just lost in court and now have to pay us £4200! If they screwed u too and u can get £500 pls pls take them to court from Sarahs twitter account
small claims court .. it only costs you £60 as far as i am aware (i have been watching "the sherriffs are coming " on daytime tv too much .)
i gave up on daytime tv after a very odd dream involving the cast of loose women and a pack of lurpack.
What a stupid car sales businessman.All for peanut money. That car should be roadworthy with reliability when sold to you. Drop the car off early Monday morning,Photograph it there not damaged outside his gate where cars go in and out. Drop the key in the letterbox with a letter and demand it be repaired or returned for a full refund not fit for purpose.It's your property but he has to be careful with your car it is now in his possession to deal with it. He will have two choices fix it and get it out of his way or give you your cash back for you to get off his case. Give copies of letter/photos to TSO once you dropped the car off.So they are aware of it. Drop another letter in the next 2 weeks if no contact,then you you can pursue it with Trading standards unless they have already started dealing with him. My other way would be simple but I cannot tell you what I'd do.
margarine is much better for you. but seriously , look into small claims court , as trading standards will take forever to build a case.
Wife has just called they are sending a recovery truck to get it this afternoon. she has written a letter listing all faults and copyed it and thats on the passanger seat . We shall see . She has fould out the owners name and a list of his past companys and his current address . if this goes tits up ill be handing out flyers of the transcribed phone call out side his house so all his neighbours know he is a git , i have a small record for falling out with folk when i was in my late teens and early twentys ,we lost my elder brother and i lost my way for a bit so as much as i want too now a family man i can not twat him. fingers crossed he behaves and sorts this . Thanks for advice gents .
Mate, this s*it happens all too often and most people just fold and give up. You have legal rights, that can be enforced quite cheaply. The onus is on him, the seller to prove the car was as described. There is potential here to take action against the issueing station for the MOT. An MOT does not give any guarantee that the car is a good car when you buy it, just that it met the standards required at the time it was MOT'd, but the reality you know is that it was a bent MOT. Get VOSA involved ASAP on that front. Don't just let the car go with the letter on the seat without listing your demands. Send another copy registered delivery (as proof it was received), detailing all the faults you have seen, and giving them 7 days to either repair to your satisfaction or refund. Suggest you want the car re MOT'd at a station of your choosing. If they do not comply within 7 days, starting proceedings via the small claims court, you can do it on line and its cheap. Your home insurance policy may have legal advice attached to it, if it does, phone them and get advice. Good luck. If all else fails, its amazing how nasty some people can be for 50 quid.
As mentioned, your legal rights are quite clear. The vehicle must be roadworthy and fit for purpose. As with all things mechanical, sometimes faults develop and go wrong, on this basis, this is where the law is quite clear. In the first instance, the dealer must be given the opportunity to rectify the faults and make it roadworthy at his expense. If the dealer refuses or fails to meet this obligation, then he must offer a replacement or suitable alternative vehicle. If this fails, then you are entitled to ask for a full refund. So the process is - Repair Replace Refund You have to demonstrate to the court that you followed this procedure which is where documentation and letters are so helpful in proving your case, and even though the dealer may contest the case, with documentation showing that you followed that procedure, it is unlikely that the Judge will do anything than find in your favour. But this is where the fun can start. Many dealers will ignore the Court judgement, and so this is where you can move it upstairs to a High Court writ and the High Court enforcement officers can go in and attempt to recover the money. What you have to make sure is that if the dealership is a partnership or sole trader, that the judgement and writ are in the name of Joe Bloggs trading as Dodgy Motors (Just an example ) If the writ or judgement is just in the name of the dealership, then it takes a hell of a long time to get the court order amended as it has to go back to the County Court for amendment and then back to the High Court. If it is a Limited company, then life is a little easier as any property belonging to the company can be seized, whereas in a sole trader or partner business, the trader becomes personally liable and his personal assets can be seized. I have and am currently going through this with my Son in Law at the moment, and it is now in the hands of the Sheriffs in London, but because the original writ was in the name of the trading company, the original order had to be changed by the county court and this has taken about 9 months to sort out. So making sure that the court order and the writ are in the right name at the time of issuing proceedings saves a hell of a lot of time and trouble. Hope this helps
Thankyou one and all you have been a great help . Its shocking how long it could take and how much this goes on . Oh and the wife says thank you too , think she is a bit giddy about men in leather coming to her rescue.
no need to feel bad of yourself mate you sound like your up against it and was doing what you thought best for your family. see what happens after he has the car back and would deffo get vosa involved too. for the value of the car it would be so much easier if he refunded you as bad publicity gets around and he would lose that amount in lost business. also been watching the sheriffs and they don,t mess around but can be a long process. good luck with it!!
Well car was collected last week and we have picked it up this morning ,Boss and salesman were not their , said they would be from half eight , we got thier at nine . Lad was their doing some bodywork on a BMW. He knew we were coming and gave us the car . I dint give him any crap as its not his fault . The car looks to have all the faults done New headlight rear crank oil seal new gear linkages nes seat belt stalk new heater fan and other things . So it looks like my recorded letter listing all faults and what trading standards had told me to do went down well . Might of helped that i put in the letter that i had the call he made to my work recorded and it was avalible for anyone to listen to highlights being when he threatened to lose me my job hurt me never give me my money back never fix the car and to haunt me forever . The wife found his address through companys house . I let him know i knew all this info and wouldnt it be a shame if a transcript of this call ended up going through the door of all his nieghbours . I feel a lot better now . I will be selling the car though as its tainted with bad news now and ill get her something else . Vosa are looking into the place that provided the mot also. Thanks for all your advice guys .
Glad you have got things sorted! It's a shame traders think they can get away with stuff like this in this day and age
