To ask for a refund?

[IThinkIveHadEnough]

Yesterday I bought a used Citroen C4 Grand Picasso 2.0 I 16v VTR+ ESG petrol from a trader. It's an auto 07 plate and has just over 68,600 miles on the clock. Test drive was fine and the 70 mile drive home was also ok.

This morning I went out and the car started fine but driving away it sounded a bit like a a motorbike when I pressed down the accelerator, with the noise stopping when I took my foot away. The car felt a bit jolty changing gears too. Rang the place I bought it from and they asked me to try get a mechanic to have a look at it and let them know what was wrong. I had to nip out this afternoon and the noise was happening again but then the car seemed to get stuck in first and the car bleeped with a 'depollution system fault' and engine management light. After that the car seemed to struggle changing up gears, especially 3 to 4. Felt a bit sluggish.

Managed to get it home and called out AA to have a look at it. I explained what was happening, he had a look under the bonnet and revved the engine a bit. White smoke was coming out the back at this point. He plugged in his fault reader and the following codes came up:

P0170 - fuel correction bank 7
P0300 - random cylinder misfire
P0172 - fuel/air mixture rich
P0130 - o2 sensor, bank 7, sensor 2 out of range

The AA guy said it could just be a faulty o2 sensor but then again it might not be. Most likely the exhaust. I told him to leave everything as is for the time being as I'm going to give the trader a call tomorrow. I've been googling a lot (which can sometimes be a curse!) which throws up a possible hole in the exhaust etc etc. I did originally take a recording of the sound and sent it to a mechanic friend (not local) who says it sounds like this could be the case and they (the garage) could have patched it with putty or something hence there being no sound yesterday. I'm in two minds about what to do. Do I let them have a chance at fixing it or give it back an ask for a refund? I've been stung by a French car before (b*** Renault) and I really don't want to go through the aggro again to be honest. The trader also owns a garage and mot'd the car the day before I bought it with no advisories or anything. I know that under the October 2015 consumer act I do have the right to return the car for a refund within the first 30 days or ask for them to fix it. I think I'd prefer to ask for a refund at this stage, it's something I just don't need right now. The car was £4k and I'd expect better than it to be faulty a day after purchase. AIBU? Any advice would be appreciated!

i would let the dealer arrange everything

if you start taking the car to random garages, you may be liable for those costs and garages arent likely to be able to do proper diagnosis without taking stuff to bits and taking a long time to do. better off letting them sort it. you may even get a courtesy car out of it

Do you have legal protection with your home or car insurance or possibly through your workplace? If so call them first thing tomorrow.

This is the exact reason me and dp will never buy from a dealership, I've always bought private and never had any problems, dp has always bought dealership and with each car he's had numerous problems and its ended up costing him £1k+ more in repairs. With the last dealership they also sold him a AA warranty, which when the car went wrong a few months later, we found out it was not worth the money paid for it and had so many exclusions in it that it meant most repairs were not covered under it, all despite paying £200 for the warranty alone!

My advice, buy private, more likely to get a genuine car at a much better price than from a dealer and at the end of the day dealerships offer no more reassurance than a private sale, as you are experiencing they drag their heels if anything goes wrong.

You can then tell the dealer you have taken legal advice on the matter have been advised X.

And when it's all sorted, make sure you leave them honest bad feedback online and anywhere you can find to leave reviews about them!

I bloody guarantee they knew and just got any warning lights overridden and switched off. They then expect the car back and claim under the seperate warranty they've sold with the car.
Profit from a faulty car. Repair costs met by warranty company.
Reject the car if you can. You'll never love it now.

I bloody guarantee they knew and just got any warning lights overridden and switched off.

yet the car managed to drive home perfectly well

you can take the aggressive, confrontational style as some have suggested or you can do it with a smile and say somethings wrong, how are you going to get it quickly and correctly sorted.

i know which way i think will be less stressful and quicker

a dealer will also know their legal rights and responsibilities and will not be fazed by those who scream and ball about their rights, keyboard warrior legal advice and burly men

let them sort it

shit happens but let them sort it so you can enjoy your new car.you might find yourself pleased about how they deal with it

My advice, buy private, more likely to get a genuine car at a much better price than from a dealer and at the end of the day dealerships offer no more reassurance than a private sale, as you are experiencing they drag their heels if anything goes wrong.

i see nothing suggesting they are dragging their heals

if op had bought this car privately, and she rang the seller about this problem, they would point out that they dont care about a problem with someoneelses car. the dealer is trying to get it sorted which a private seller wouldnt

araiba it's really common within the trade. Two very respected mechanics told me about the tricks some dealers play. It is possible to override and the car drives fine for a limited period.

Yep we had similar. Dealer sold us a car with an already blocked dpf filter, tried their damnest to make us take the warranty but we didn't. Problems started a little later on and ended up thousands in repairs.

Never again. It's the reason that any second hand car we buy now is getting its arse in for an mot straight away just to check no issues flag up.

I also agree with the above.. It's amazing the tricks they can do. makes you wonder if you can trust anyone.

The chances of the car developing a fault, which the dealership wasn't aware of, the day after purchase, are likely to be miniscule. Please don't respond to the pressure to get you to accept the car.

Contact the bank tomorrow and see what advice they give you re a chargeback/section 75.

Never again. It's the reason that any second hand car we buy now is getting its arse in for an mot straight away just to check no issues flag up.

an MOT will only tell you that it's passed certain safety criteria - won't tell you anything about the Engine (emissions aside).

Stick to your guns. They probably think they can pull one over on you because you are a woman.

We have bought 2 cars from dealers. The first was an automatic (French!) that clearly had a faulty gearbox. They obviously patched it up enough to work for a bit. I had a nightmare with that car, 2 years ago we bought a small car for DH, only 7 years old, 55k on the clock. Looked immaculate and drove well (although I did point out the cracked numberplate and dent inside the boot, nothing on the checks I made for it being in an accident though). Full MOT, nothing and no advisories. Our first MOT, over £600 worth of work and our garage couldn't work out how the brake pads and discs hadn't been advisories the previous year. Ridiculous amount of welding as well. Dealers knew what they were doing.

My car was a 2k Honda bought privately from a couple who had 3 cars and didn't need one. She was very reluctant to sell her Honda but their other 2 cars were better. Last year, my 14 year old 2k car failed on 2 light bulbs!

Get your money back and don't buy French. I won't touch a French car with a bargepole. Every person I know who has had a French car has had nothing but problems and every mechanic I have known hates fixing them because they are so awkward.

It'll give me more peace of mind than just trusting the MOT it has sanity.

Dealers cannot randomly over ride fault lights so it drives fine for certain periods of time - that is absolutely horseshit. I'm telling you that as someone who works in the trade.

DPF issues are common and well known, there is a fix for these issues however the fix doesn't always work, which again is common knowledge...

Buying privately is an absolutely minefield, you have little comeback and are more likely to run into issues. Yes cars can be cheaper but they are more likely to be bodged.

The dealer you bought from seems to be trying to do the right thing. Although you are trying to say the fault was there before and they hid it I guess the same applies to the hole in the light fitting - I'm surprised your not accusing them of hiding that from you too. Or is it really a case of things happen for no apparent reason but your more paranoid because of some of the posters on here?

P.s. Don't take the car to halfords - the only thing they are well known for is selling air fresheners and polish. They aren't well known for being a proper garage as such. If it's a Citroen take it to your local Citroen dealership or someone local who specialises in them.

Thank you all for replies.

I don't necessarily want to go in aggressively and all guns blazing, I just want an amicable agreement. I've told him I'm refusing the car, he's told me he's fixing it. I've asked him not to, he's told me he will do it anyway. I do have legal cover through my insurance, thank you for pointing that out. That reminds me that I may have an advice line through work as well. I think they may be open 24/7 so I will dig out their number and see if they can advise.

I'm assuming I will need to put something in writing, via email first maybe so they have it in the morning, to tell them that I'm not accepting their offer of a repair? I don't want someone turning up on the doorstep tomorrow expecting me to hand the car over to be repaired...they'd have a job anyway as id be at work!

I will speak to the bank and ask the situation. I've read it's an avenue if the dealer is being difficult, I just don't want to be then in breach of my side of the contract and get in trouble for it. I haven't used the car since yesterday.

Yes the car drove home and felt fine..it was weird as it was a different car. I had to stop off at nursery to pick one DC up on the way home and between there and home I did think I heard the motorbike noise pressing on the accelerator for a few seconds but had the radio on and by the time I'd turned it down it had seemingly disappeared. Not knowing what is 'normal' for this car I didn't think too much more of it until yesterday when the noise came on within a few minutes of driving.

I really appreciate all of the advice. I can understand the view point of letting them try and repair but at the same time it is a faulty car and I have been told there are faults there by the AA guy and have the fault codes in writing. Surely I can refuse the vehicle on these grounds? I have read the onus is slightly on the consumer within the first 30 days but I would have thought that getting the AA man out, per the dealers suggestion, and there being a fault on the dash of the car would be sufficient? A few months after purchase maybe it would have been just one of those things and I'd have to deal with it, but a day?

Sorry Peggy I cross posted. Halfords was suggested by the dealer as a place he would send the car to so it could be repaired, which is the only reason I mentioned it earlier.

I've not said I'm accusing them of hiding the hole in the light or that that's their fault! The most likely explaination for that is driving on the motorway home and a stone chip has possible flown up and hit the light, though I did not notice this when I got home and I was at the back of the car looking at it on Friday as I was showing the car (as a whole) to BIL.

Fault codes can be wiped/reset, which may make them go away and not come back on straight away. The AA man did discuss this with me as he suggested he could reset the faults and I could have a drive around to see if they come back on. He said if they didn't it wouldn't mean there wasn't a problem and it would still need to be seen to.

I have read the onus is slightly on the consumer within the first 30 days

According to the Consumer Rights Act, during the first 6 months, the retailer has to prove the fault wasn't there at the outset. Thereafter, the burden of proof lies with the consumer.

I would let halfords change the windscreen wipers on my car never mind do anything else to it. Tell him you want it taken to a reputable garage and not someone who's main business is selling car accessories.

Yes you can reset a light and it may not come on straight away but this wouldn't explain the noise you experienced nor would it stop the car being sluggish or refusing to change gear.

Ok thank you fascicle. I've been reading a few bit of info from the dealer side of things aswell, just trying to get my head round it all.

My main concern is, even if I did put something in writing via email and letter to reject the car, they can just refuse to come and collect it surely? Which would drag out the 30 days? Just so stressy!

Sorry cross posting again!

I did think I heard the noise on the day of purchase but it happened right near home and it was gone within 30 seconds so it was just one of those maybe it's a normal car noise? I wasn't in the car long enough after that to see if it came again. The sluggish/change gear thing seemed to happen straight after the engine management light came on. I'm less inclined to let them repair due to their attitude to me with their veiled threat of stringing it out for as long as possible.

Sorry but you were BU by buying a French car! Check out what is reliable: Japanese.