Used car purchase, v stressful situation

[MiMiChuna]

Super stressed. I need help in the form of advice or experience in best way to takie this forward ... possibly as a formal complaint now rather than trying to resolve informally...?

Bought a used car from a main dealer.

Issue 1. Collection. At 1st viewing on a Sat (garage not local, had to travel) was told car could be ready by following Fri. Paid deposit on the Mon. Was now told car be ready Weds the following wk. OK. However when the week progressed this moved to Thursday (nrly a wk later than I'd originally been told) but fine. After the longer wait i could see the MOT was still not done the afternoon before collection. Rang dealer to query, got told it'd be ready. Morning of collection, it's still showing no MOT. Rang dealer, told in a tone almost making light of it that 'someone' had messed up & it wouldn't be ready until the following day. Note that had I not queried it I'd have travelled to collect for nothing. I'd even alerted them to the issue the previous day but they'd dismissed my query rather than check. I had to rearrange the insurance, & my plans for the Fri completely due to their faults. No apology beyond a flippant comment type has been made.

1. Missing documents. The car has been handed over without a car manual. I noticed before leaving & asked for it but was told they couldn't get one right then. I had also asked for paperwork confirming all the prep work the car had had done, ie full service, dealer multi point check, new brakes, something with the aircon. It wasn't provided.

1. Agreed work not completed. The car had a number of scratches I was concerned about. I was assured they'd be easy to sort & wouldn't be noticeable once I bought. Unfortunately it was pouring when I collected so impossible to check this but the salesman raised this himself saying it'd been done. When it dried, I could see by looking back on photos I'd taken, no change at all. He's since Saif to me it was probably forgotten due to the issues with the MOT not being booked in properly & them having to squeeze in my car to get ready a day late.

1. Misled about features. I was told the car had an alarm. The salesman said this several times & I queried it cos of declaring it for insurance quotes, he said it had a Thatcham alarm & immobiliser. I asked him to demo the alarm operation at pick up. He tried but it didn't go off, he said it was cos it takes 15 mins to set. I thought that was a bit odd but I've never had an alarm before so accepted his expert knowledge in the circumstances. I've since looked into it & found out it has NO alarm & I was blatantly lied to, missold a car without a significant feature.

I've now had the car 4 days. I was going to return to let them sort the scratches & collect a manual, rang to discuss & was told to drop in rather than book in as it'd only take 15-20 min to do. Now on the back of everything else this is indicating to me its not being taken seriously & I'm being fobbed off. Also the petrol & time cost to return to fix something they didn't do falls to me. And the new knowledge gleamed late yest about the alarm has tipped the whole experience into complaint territory I feel. They've been incompetent & I'm paying for it.

Has anyone had experience handling a complaint like this? If it was clothing etc you could return it. I feel stuck with this car, and this has been such a horrible experience I already feel negative about my new car which has cost me most of my savings. I'm so upset.

I paid about 60% on a credit card. Not sure in section 75 can help. The information about the alarm was given multiple times, but verbally.

Please help me handle this to get the best outcome, I could cry at the money spent here to be treated like this & being taken advantage of. What's my best course of action / approach? What do I need to make sure I do?

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/buying-or-repairing-a-car/problems-with-a-used-car/

Goodness that sounds stressful…. I do just want to check… when I make a big decision, once it starts going through I get almost anxiety and panic I made the wrong choice. I think I would get this over a big purchase like a car.

Do you still want the car with no alarm and assuming the scratches barely come out?
If you do, this sucks but consider whether the scratches are bad enough to warrant the petrol costs and travelling. Do you know a man that is into cars personally that will likely have some Tcut or something and will do it for you instead?

If you do not want the car maybe you can call your credit card company and ask what to do when you have been mis-sold something and want to return it for a refund. I’m sure this is a common problem.

Not sure how you will get your actual money you gave them back…. Small claims court if they still refuse once the credit card company is handling it and the car is returned?

Leave a review for the garage once this has all been sorted online to help others try to avoid these issues in the future, be specific about being lied to about the alarm repeatedly, the many issues with collecting and that work promised to be carried out was not only not carried out but again you were lied to about it being done.

@fishingfor thanks

@SullysBabyMama I feel sick with worry. I was under pressure to sort a car and they knew that. I feel like they've taken advantage of my situation. Even the day I picked up the car, a day later than agreed, I then had one DC off school sick, who I had to take with me. I couldn't leave them home but we needed the car for the weekend. Its been horrible. I loved my old car so much. But it was really old & became unsafe. This car, I have just negative feelings for as all I feel are the outstanding issues & lies I was told to part with my money. This single biggest purchase I've ever made & I feel like a failure for it with no chance to save that kind of money again due to other factors.

I just need to rectify this as much as I can.

I'm not bothered about the alarm as such, I wouldn't be bothered having kne fitted by them tbh I would rather deal with them on a must-do basis so would perhaps rather have some money refunded, not sure about returning it, I'd return it if there was a suitable alternative in my budget range but my worry would be waiting to find one without a car in the meantime. I feel screwed over.

I get it OP, I am a single parent so a purchase like this would be huge for me.
My Dad is also a mechanic, and so I have heard a lot of stories about the horrors of buying a car.

Super so if you would still like to keep the car, maybe you could use the internet to see if there is a price difference between your car secondhand with and without an alarm? This would be a reasonable discount to ask for.
Another option would be the amount extra the first years insurance will cost you that you were not expecting to pay due to being misled?

Unfortunately from their actions so far I suspect they will accept neither of these offers and probably deny even telling you it had an alarm or suggest you “got muddled up”.

@SullysBabyMama I think I expected way better from a dealer, one reason I went there rather than potentially cheaper car supermarket type places.

Can't easily search for similar cars full stop. The cars combo of edition, colour & mileage isn't common. Luckily the insurance ppl said they weren't going to apply an amendment / price change when I told them. I think what's really niggling me now is how I don't have faith in all the other stuff they've told me which I can't chk. 2 things I could chk, they lied over.

Just wondering of anyone on here tonight can help? Ppl who might've been at work when I posted earlier.

🤞

...anyone had a similar situation to deal with...?

Can I ask how old the car is? It’s been pretty standard to have an alarm for a long time. What buttons have you got on the key fob?

@MsAdoraBelleDearheartVonLipwig 6 years. I rang the manufacturer to confirm, based on the reg plate, it wasn't issued with an alarm only immobiliser. Ket has 2 buttons, one locked padlock, 1 unlocked padlock.

I had a similar situation with Peter Vardy. Promised alsorts that want done including scratches. We had to formally reject the car in writing. But it was a long process. I THINK you have to them the opportunity to repair the car. Although we didn’t as I’d lost faith in the garage by this point. We ended up having to go the ombudsman to get a refund and the credit removed from our file. Was very stressful. Could you get them to repair then just sell on?

Return it and get a full refund. You're still in the returns window supported by the sale of goods act. With all the faff, I wouldn't trust the car or dealer.

I bought a second hand car in February from an independent dealer, drove halfway across country to buy it. Test drive seemed fine. Very low mileage, full service history etc.

Driving it home I noticed some funny smells and the car shaking at 70mph.

I took it to my mechanic, he said it had a massive engine oil leak, big gearbox oil leak and the whole chassis was coming away inside. He said to forget asking for repairs from dealer as it was a death trap.

I took the car back a week later and demanded a full refund. Which I got.

Call and make an appointment to see the sales manager on a day both they and the sales person are in. Follow up with an email confirming the date and time so it's in writing. List all complaints which you want to discuss at the meeting.

They may or may not have tried to t-cut out the scratches. Internal departments within dealerships are not always as smooth running as they could/should be. An alarm can be retro fitted (at dealers cost). Go to the appointment and don't leave until you have agreement for everything to be sorted out in writing with dates and times plus costs for petrol. Sit in the main showroom rather than an office, they will hate to have a potentially vocal disgruntled customer in the showroom around people coming in looking to buy a car.

I had similar problems with my current car - however the lazy misogynistic salesman was so busy chatting to his mates when I finally got to collect it that he miscalculated the balance to pay and I was undercharged by £2k.

That, a formal complaint about the salesman and a crap review (they offered me money to remove the review, which I turned down) made me feel a whole lot better about the situation.

Hope you get it sorted.

@kitchenhelprequired good idea except they started a massive refurb 2 days after I viewed the car (I didn't know about when viewing) and when I collected the car the site was completely different, all business being conducted in pokey shipping container type of cabins, we weren't even offered a drink So likely any mtg would be mainly out of sight.

@ThinWomansBrain 2k WOW, of all the mistakes i experienced that's the kind of miess up i wish had happened. Not often they go in the customers favour! I wanna see your review now that they wanted taken down so bad they'd have given you more ££! Good on you for not letting them turn you with more money.

@VioletPickles I think from what I've read, upto 30 days you can get a repair, exchange or refund. After that, just repair or exchange. For cars not fit for purpose / unsatisfactory quality / something not as described (mis-sold).
So I guess my situation is unsatisfactory quality (paintwork) & mis-sold (paid for security feature not present).
Both things are fixable, but my faith in everything this dealer / salesman has told me has left me feeling that I have zero faith in all his other assurances about work done & what would be covered under the warranty. I'm feeling bothered I wasn't given paperwork for anything. I don't know if that's normal or not though, I literally left with just the card payment slips. And a log book slip.

@IchWill That's terrible. I hope you found something better to replace it with. How do these ppl sleep at night knowing how they swizz hardworking customers for money. Its theft.

Yes, section 75 is valid. You don't need to have paid for all of the car as even a deposit is fine, as long as it's over £100.

Section 75 is an important UK consumer protection law, which comes under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA).

It applies to items costing over £100 and less than £30,000 paid for on credit card and can typically be used when an item you've purchased hasn't arrived or it's broken or faulty. The protection applies to the whole cost of an item or service, even if you only pay for part of it on credit card.

Under the protections, your credit provider must take the same responsibility as the retailer or service provider if things go wrong. In this scenario, your credit card provider can issue you with a full refund even if you've not first asked the retailer or service provider for one.

^www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/07/consumer-credit-act-fca-reform/^
^^

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/07/consumer-credit-act-fca-reform/

Gather evidence that you have tried to resolve with the dealer.
Then go to your credit card company.
I got a full refund for mine which ended up being a dangerous pile of crap and not fit for the road. Wasn't cheap either. However had full MOT and gleamed like new. Garage has since been shut down most likely by trading standards.
I was told by citizens advise you have up to 6 months to exercise your right to reject the vehicle.
There's a reason you are encoursged to make large purchases on your credit card. You are protected.
You were blatantly missold it without basic feature such as an alarm.
As others have said, get the process started now as it can take some time. Good luck.

@SamanthaCaine I paid a big chunk on my Credit Card. Phew. Will read this later. Mind is racing how to proceed & what I want going forward. Money back so we have a car & hope its ok, or refund but be without a car which will also hamper me looking for a replacement car as got no one to drive us around if needed and timing is crap kids finish school this week for summer & want to go places. Its stopping me sleeping 😔

A large dealership tried this bollocks with me. They didn’t make a repair between deposit and collection and tried to palm me off again and again. I found the name of the regional manager and wrote to them explaining the whole situation an saying I was quite happy to take them to court. It was all sorted. I didn’t even pay on credit card 😬

@Stickstickstickstickstickwhat way did you get sorted? What did they offer you?

I'm concerned that my misselling hinges on a verbal point, albeit said multiple time but if the salesman denies saying it things aren't as clear cut as a physical fault they can't deny. I hope it just might mean it takes longer, worst case, as I've seen it specified that verbal is included in misselling. Plus i guess the scratches are something physical. They're low level all over rather than like from an accident but it gives the car a proper used feel ranger than its new to me feel. They're not my day to day scratches. And I keep finding new ones from new angles.

@Changemynamechangemyname23 that's terrible. I'm glad you got sorted & that awful garage who conned you got shut.

@Changemynamechangemyname23 what happened in the end for you, did you get your money back? Had you paid on a CC?