Advice about rejecting car using consumer protection law

[DoIHaveToBeAnAdult]

I bought a second hand Nissan car from a different dealer 50 miles away from home.

I checked out the dealer (a main dealer but not Nissan) and test drive the car. Did all the checks. All seemed fine.

I picked it up and all was fine until I got close to home when the car seemed to struggle going uphill.

After a few days, I noticed juddering so I took it to a Nissan Dealer who diagnosed gearbox failure.

The other dealer who I bought it from offered me a refund or a gearbox repair (not replacement). I didn't want to go through the stress of trying to sort a new car again so went for a repair.

It was done at a gearbox specialist. They had the car for 6 weeks.

Got the car back. Within a few days I thought it was juddering again a bit. At first I thought I was imagining it but, after a few weeks, I told the dealer on email. They gave me the details of the gearbox people and said I should claim on their warranty.

I was thinking that I don't trust the gearbox place so booked it into a Nissan Dealer to get it confirmed if it was a gearbox problem. It took a while to get an appointment. Then my first one was cancelled so took another few weeks to get another one. They looked at it this week and confirmed that it needs a new gearbox.

It's now 5 and a 1/2 months since I bought the car. I don't trust the car any more and want to reject it. I know that I have to do this within 6 months of buying.

I'd be really grateful for any advice on how to word the email to the dealer I bought it from including legal terminology.

Thanks.

It's an automatic, 2017 and I paid £15,000 for it. It had 38,000 miles on the clock and I've done 6,000 miles on it it since then.

My sister has just gone through a car rejection and it was quite difficult because she had taken the car to 'her' rather than one the dealership tiold her to take it to so they tried to say she couldn't do it. Rejected it I mean. This was within thirty days. It actually broke down on the first day.

The people that repaired the gearbox are 300 miles away from me.

Consumer protection law has some exemptions. In our jurisdiction second hand cars are sold as seen unless a known threat of safety fault. You need to check the relevant countries law as it differs a lot

I’m going through the same. It’s a total headache and the dealer will kick the can down the road until the 6 months is up. I’m in the process of suing the dealer at the moment. My advice would be to check your home insurance. If you have family legal cover you may be able to get a solicitor covered under your insurance. If not then speak to citizens advice. They can send you a template of a letter to send. Have a look on companies house as to when the company you got the car from was incorporated - sadly a lot of these car dealers do this sort of thing and fold the companies when they get claims and then start new ones. Good luck. Its very stressful and time consuming

Not a lawyer or consumer specialist but you still managed to do 6k miles on that time. That seems a lot on a doddery car. The garage might claim wear and tear or that you've had 6 months good use from it so might push back.
Just state the facts clearly and in order and the consumer law you want to rely on.

Because it’s been more than 30 days, but less than 6 months, you won’t get a full refund, so you need to be prepared for a battle over how much of a refund you will get.

As far as I can tell from researching that I was entitled to reject the car within 30 days. Instead, I chose to have it repaired.

However, the car has developed a fault in the same place so I now want a refund. The dealer needs to show that the fault wasn't there at the beginning. Also, if they've tried to repair it once but now the same problem has occured, I think I'm entitled to reject.

I just don't know how it all works. How long it will take etc. I need to get my kids to school. It's an hour's drive away from home and the dealer knows that's what I was buying the car for.

“Exercising your consumer rightsIf you are now outside of the first 30 days, the seller has one opportunity only to repair or replace the faulty car. You will not be able to ask for rejection at this stage. This does not apply to cars purchased before 1 October 2015. The Sale of Goods Act allows the seller to either repair or replace the car within a reasonable period of time without causing significant inconvenience.
If you are complaining about a fault within the first six months of purchase, it is presumed this fault was there at the time of purchase. The seller will need to prove that this fault was not there at point of sale. If you are complaining about a fault outside of the first six months, you will need to prove that fault was there at point of sale.
If the seller is unable to repair the fault because the same fault persists or a new inherent fault has developed, or the replacement car has an inherent fault, then you can ask for your money back or a price reduction (partial refund) if you wish to keep the car.
Remember, for rejection outside of the first 30 days, the seller is entitled to deduct the mileage you have added onto the car.”

Just found this. It implies the dealer is responsible for getting the car repaired, and you shouldn’t have to use the gearbox specialist warranty. However, it does also imply they can advise another repair on it.

The reason for buying the car is irrelevant.

Also note that if you start the rejection process you will need to stop using the car and be prepared for it to take some time, especially if they push back and you’re forced to take them to court.

Which.Co.Uk has template letters for rejecting cars within six months. You’ll need to tweak to mention that they have attempted one repair that failed. Ignore their protestations about any third party warranty.

Oh and yes, stop using the car and expect a deduction for the 6000 miles added to the clock.

Out of curiosity, I just looked to see what the average mileage is, and it’s around 6000-7000 miles, depending on the report, which you’ve done in under half this time. I don’t know, but could they argue wear and tear?

They can negotiate a reduction in the refund based on the mileage. But if they tried to claim the gearbox was damaged by wear and tear they’d have to prove it - which would be difficult considering the problem has been documented, and a repair attempted, right from early on in OPs ownership.