To try and fight for a refund for my car? Or am I as unreasonable as the dealer says I am?

[OHforDUCKScake]

Got a skoda with 6 months 'warranty'. I say 'warranty' because he wrote in his hand writing '6 months warranty' and I wonder if its worth nothing.

As soon as I get it, there are faults. Major problems with the central locking and lights coming up on the dash.

They (the car dealer and his tosser mechanic) tell me non stop that the locking system is 'just VW and normal' and the light coming on is nothing to worry about ans switch it off.

Ive also had problems with the seat belt and hand break.

I finally persuaded them to look for a fault in the door with the central locking, and by jove they found the fault. Like I kept saying, it WAS a fault and not normal.

Today it went in again with the light on, I begged them to not just switch it off. My 'warranty' runs out in 6 weeks. The light takes about 6 weeks until it comes on again.

So now Ive been given a choice, the dealer says he will swap the car for another. But in the same breath says all his cars have lights coming up on them, and they are all fine. And he'll have no problem selling my car with the light coming on.

I could take it to a Skoda dealer, but cant do so untilthe light comes on again by which time my warranty has gone.

I want a refund. He told me in a threatening tone that I 'dont want to do that. You will be fighting me for 18 months.'

Will I? Is the warranty bs?

Have I just bought 2.1k of faulty crap?

What do I do?

I found this scroll to the bottom for the bit about warranty

Nonsense I'm afraid. The EML is not a testable item and a car will not fail with the EML illuminated. The change to the rules in 2012 related to most other warning lights ABS, ESP etc.

Well it broke down yesterday on the way home from hospital.

Turns out, the water coming out my exhaust from the day I bought it, isnt 'normal' like he told me, but the head gasket fucked.

So I see him today, I said give me £1700 back for the car, or I'll go through the small claims court and go for the full amount.

He said "Ok, just drop the car, all its documents and both keys and I will get the money to you at a later date."

Well obviously don't do that OP, or you may find you have no money AND no car.

I was in a similar situation to you last year. I rang Trading Standards who told me my exact rights. Once I had the confidence to talk to the garage knowing what I could expect they caved. They weren't very nice about it but they did swap the original car for a better one which has been fine.

The bottom line is you have the right to be sold a car which shouldn't 'develop' any major faults within a year of sale. That's the benefit of buying from a garage vs a private sale.

Used Motor Vehicles Consumer Rights

The Car You Bought Is Faulty

Now that does changes things. If it actually got to the point where it stopped running then fixing it is not just as easy a changing the headgasket. It will have done other damage to the engine. Your case is now much stronger for a full refund as there's no a serious mechanical failure should occur in such a short time of ownership unless maybe you'd paid less than 1k for it. I think tbe dealer would be getting a good deal in giving you only 1.7k back for it.

What a cowboy! Can you name and shame?

I will happily name and shame once the money is in my hands.

I figured I could probably get the full amount now this has happened. But I want this done and dusted quickly. Whilst Im making out to him that Im more than happy to go through a small claims court, Im not. I want it sorted so I have money to buy more transport.
Im pretty sure he just wants shot of me, have a feeling he hasnt paid tax on e sale in the first place so if he knows whats good for him he will come round mine with 1.7k and take the car etc with him when he leaves.

He is now on holiday for 5 days, I properlu pissed him off before he weny where as Im . The last few months hes been grinning and telling me to be on my way and patting me on the head, whilst Im silently fuming at blatantly being screwed over.

I may have to take it through the small claims court but so be it.

Im very pleased the true problems came to light.

Duck I've been watching this thread with interest. Do you have an update for us?

I wonder if tax man would be interested in your story Possibly ask the dealer if he thinks the tax man would be interested to know about your car fiasco

I do a bit. The car dealer said on Tuesday that I would get my refund on or before the 21st of October. Provided the body work was in good order .

First of all, I drove it for 3 months and its 10 years old of course it has scratches and blemishes but if he thinks he can blame them on me I will be keeping the keys and going through the court for the full amount.
Im also worried that in that time he will get someone to do it over.

After all, he can then say "not my problem Im not taking the car back in the state" and Id have to claim on my insurance. Because of my slight paranoia about this Im having to pay another months insurance on my car just to make sure im covered for the few days between then and him giving me a refund.
I wouldnt put it past him though, he is that dodgy.

Despite the head gasket being fucked and me driving it that way the whole time Ive owned it (therefore hugely damaging the engine) he fully intends on selling it still, as it is.

I highly doubt he will be honest about the problems, the AA man said its clear someones being trying to hide something he can tell by the residue around the coolant holder. Thankfully this is all written on the AA report.

If he screws me over at all between now and then I will be informing the tax man.

Good that you have an AA report!
I bought a car from a dealer a few weeks ago and have had some problems with it (eg. two windows falling out within days). The dealer did a really botch repair and said if I wanted a 'proper' repair I'd have to pay 'garage rates', hence my interest in this thread!
Good luck, Duck!

So you still have the car? Do you have a warranty?

Yes, I still have the car. No warranty, but I understood they're not worth the paper they're written on and that the Sale of Goods Act protects the consumer.

I'm about to phone them again. Part of the problem is that it's difficult for me to get to the dealership because they're basically only open during office hours when I'm at work.

I've rung the parts department of the manufacturers as I considered buying the part and asking the dealer to fit it, rather than them doing yet another botch job that doesn't last, but the parts people said you can't just buy the clip, but have to replace the whole window, so about £200 for parts... I don't think I should have to pay this as the fault wasn't pointed out to me at the time.

I do wonder whether there are ANY honest second hand car dealers around.