Help!!! Car we bought today is damaged! Will the dealership cover the cost??

[HappyToSeeYou1]

Today, DH picked up our new car. It's 2nd hand and we had been to view it and test driven it. There were a few small scratches which were all repaired for us collecting today.

When we viewed the cars, there were stickers on the headlights (which DH told me were for driving the car abroad). They hadn't been removed yet as the car was yet to be serviced/cleaned.

Anyway, DH has collected the car today and we have just noticed the headlights are cracked beneath where the stickers were. It looks so obvious in the pictures but we didn't notice to begin with as it's harder to see with the sun light shining on them.

Will the dealership sort this for us do you think or will it be our responsibility now that we have paid for it?

I'm gutted and just hoping we won't need to foot the repair bill.

It's a Peugeot garage, if that makes any odds.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a second-hand car from a dealer has to of satisfactory quality, meet any description given to you when you were buying it, and be fit for purpose.

I'd be arguing that damage (potentially intentionally?) hidden by stickers almost certainly falls foul of either the first or second one. See how quickly they jump when you start talking about refunds.

Oh, and any warranty offered by Peugeot is in addition to the CRA, not instead of it.

I've had a lot of mileage (ho ho!) over the years from the phrase, "just so we're clear, can you confirm that you are refusing to honour my statutory rights please?" when dealing with arsey sales / customer service types.

I've had a lot of mileage (ho ho!) over the years from the phrase, "just so we're clear, can you confirm that you are refusing to honour my statutory rights please?" when dealing with arsey sales / customer service types.

Love it.

That sort of damage is normally caused by chemicals. Namely certain chemicals that were probably used to clean the sticky residue off the headlights after the stickers were removed.
That's why the dealer asked if you took the stickers off as he probably assumes you used something corrosive to get the residue off.
It's their fault so they need to sort it.

Thank you all so much for the help and advice. I've tried giving the guy the benefit of the doubt but yet again, no response today. I'm going to call them tomorrow, armed with all of this info and hopefully we can come to an agreement. At the end of the day, I'm not willing to pay anything towards this repair. This is their mistake and they should be sorting it. I'm just really disappointed because I really trusted the salesman. Lesson learned.

Unless things have changed recently they don't have to remove the stickers for the mot. My car passed its mot with an advisory due to the stickers.

Oh no, really Nico? Well that throws that argument out. Thanks though. The more informed I am when I call them the better.

Yes, was a couple,of years ago but stickers were definitely not removed.

1. If they fob you off, tell them you're making a formal complaint and if they don't resolve it to you satisfaction, request their "final response" letter so you can escalate it to the ombudsman.

2.Point out that faults within 6 months are deemed to have been there at the point of sale. I can find you out the statute if you need it.

so did this happen when you tried to remove them?

What does he think you removed the stickers with, a hammer? To me it sounds like the stickers were there to cover the damage.

Check your mot certificate before you call. That should prove what the lights were like at the point of exchange. If it lists an advisory for cracking you have proof.

If the stickers would be an advisory then if they were on there should be an advisory on the MOT. Might be worth checking with another garage that that's still true.

I've just called DH to get him to check the mot certificate. He says it mentions nothing about the headlights. Nothing about stickers or cracks.

mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/the-mot-headlamp-aim-test-is-changing/

Rules changed in 2016 so might not get picked up now?

You can check MOT history here, if it came up as part of any test it should be on this:

www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

Left hand beam patterns are a failure still. LHD cars need a mask or reflector to convert the lights to RHD to pass MOT.

Last year we had a vehicle fail MOT due to have a LHD headlight fitted to a vehicle from factory. Don't let them fob you off.

I have had a reply finally from the salesman. He has said that he has spoken to the valeter who will attempt to polish the headlights to the best of his ability. He has also said that it's not an urgent issue as it will in no way impede the use of the car. He said he is going off on annual leave and would like to pick up with me about this when he returns to work mid June.

I don't see how polishing the headlights will improve cracks?? I feel as though I am being fobbed off here. What would be the best next step to take?

By polish the headlights he means put G3 or whatever equivalent they have laying around on a buffer and try buffer the cracks out. Which isn't going to work. That only works on dull and faded headlight lens, not cracks and even if it did fill the cracks in, it'd wash out when you washes the car/it was exposed to the elements still leaving you with cracked headlights.

It's not ideal on modern headlight lens anyways due to a protective coating that would be buffed off. That's really only suitable for older vehicles or vehicles where the lens are already dull, faded and not emitting light correctly. So down the line you'd have dull and faded headlights you'd have to clean up or replace.

Eitherway it's unacceptable. Speak to his sales manager/customer services team if its a big garage chain such as evans halshaw.

It baffles me he thinks its acceptable to not pass you onto someone else whilst he's on holiday.

Is the car a pegout approved used car? If so, contact peugeot customer services to complain about it.

What type of peugeot is it? What year is it?

www.theaa.com/car-buying/legal-rights

I would simply tell them that they need to repair or replace the lights as you're within the first 30 days after purchasing the vehicle. I wouldn't accept a polish.

Thanks for that info Apathy. It's a 65 plate 5008. I'm not sure how I check if it's a "Peugeot approved used car"? But I would assume it is.

It sounds as though polishing the headlights could do more harm than good.

I'm really disappointed by the aftersales service I've received. They couldn't do enough to help me before we bought the car. This is the first time we've bought second hand and I feel very let down.

Here is an email I've drafted. Does it sound okay?

Polishing the headlights is not going to remove the cracks. Also, I believe headlights have a protective coating which would be removed were the headlights to be buffed.

I am extremely disappointed by the fact that you haven’t offered to replace the headlight lens or headlight. If this cannot be done, we would like to return the vehicle please. It is not what was sold to us. You talked us through all damages and showed us that these had been repaired and the damage to the headlights was either covered when we viewed the car or the damage happened when your colleagues removed the stickers.

I am unsure whether you are in work this weekend or if your annual leave has started. If I don’t hear from you, I will call on Monday to speak to the Sales Manager or Dealership Manager.

Thanks,

It sounds to me like he's trying to get past the 30 days by saying he's on leave. I would call the dealership this morning if it was me, and speak to whoever is in charge.

Escalate it to the manager of the garage. I may be cynical, but it feels like he’s either trying to play for more time so you’re out of the warranty (however you have proof you brought it to his attention during that time - I don’t know enough law to say whether that’s enough or not)
OR
He’s trying to put you off in the hopes you’ll just forget about it.

I would forward the email trail to the manager and say it’s not acceptable.

Agree with above. Escalate to the manager and don't be fobbed off. And go in in person.

DH had a problem with Mini who foolishly had desks in the showroom so potential buyers could hear the discussion. It was solved quite quickly in the end.

Side tracking but are you sure about stickers and MOT? The stickers have been on my lights for about 6 years since we first started driving to Spain (just realised) and has passed its MOT every year.