Is the car dealer in the wrong here?

[StripyZebraa]

I was looking to finance a car, and found a perfect one and agreed on this on Saturday. I had a bit of a panic that I may have went in too fast, but it was absolutely perfect and it had everything I wanted. So I paid the deposit on Sunday.

I’m young and I don’t have the most flashy job in the world, so my budget was fairly small £150/160 a month. This one was £170 but newer and less miles than i thought, plus it had everything I wanted so I went for it.

I went to an official car dealer this time as I’ve had issues with other garages in the past, and thought these would be more ‘expert’.

On Sunday I made absolutely sure that it had all the features I wanted. I asked the man specifically if it has cruise control, he said yes. He then said he’d go and check, and came back and said ‘yes definitely’. This was part of the reason I went ahead.

Picked up the car yesterday. Find out very quickly that it doesn’t have cruise control - it has something that looks like it, but is in fact a speed limiter.
Something maybe I would mistake for cruise control - but you’d think the expert who works in the official dealership would know this.

I can’t help but feel like I’m paying above my budget for this car, and yet it doesn’t have all the features I want AND asked specifically for.

My dad has told me to go in and complain. Part of me thinks I should - I based my decision on this and I specifically asked for it. I cannot afford to be paying this much money a month on something that didn’t even meet my requirements.

What could I do here? What are my rights?

Are you sure it hasn’t? My cruise control and speed limiter are in the same stalk - turn it one way for cruise control the other for the speed limiter.

Under Consumer Law, you have a ‘Right to Reject’ goods which are not as described or fit for purpose. This applies to cars as with anything else. In fact, I had to use this to reject a brand new car a few months ago, which had a faulty battery. Firstly, speed is of the essence - you MUST act quickly as you have the most rights within the first 30 days after purchase.

Your rights are clearly explained in the link below. You need to put your complaint in writing to the manager of the dealership (email is fine) and say that you are invoking your Right to Reject under the Consumer Rights Act. Explain it is because you were misled as to the cruise control feature, which you specifically asked the salesman about, and were assured the car had.

Ask them to respond to you IN WRITING. This is important so that you have a paper trail. They will have to reply and can either refuse your rejection (but they’ll have to say why), or they might offer compensation of some sort - eg a price reduction.

You can then decide how to proceed. Would you be happy to keep the car if they offered you some money back?

If they refuse your complaint, your only recourse then would be legal proceedings but that is expensive and can take months so I wouldn’t recommend that.

Car dealers are absolute cowboys imo, and that includes main dealerships. I have had 2 bad experiences this year with official dealerships, including the car I had to reject.

May I ask why didn’t you take your Dad with you when you initially went to look at cars? Unfortunately, salesmen often assume that a lone female, especially a young one, will know nothing about cars, and will try to pull the wool over their eyes. In future, I would strongly suggest taking your Dad or another older person who knows a bit about cars. Good luck getting it sorted!

https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/rejecting-a-car/

In theory, if they told you it had a feature and it hasn't, they have miss described it and you have a right to your money back if you return it within 30 days. This would be under the Consumer Rights Act (2015).

In practice, if it's not in writing, they may deny and make things difficult. But you have nothing to lose in making your case and seeing if they are honest.

You can’t be expected to try out every feature on a 20 min test drive. And cruise control is only meant to be used on motorways, so the OP wouldn’t have had opportunity to use it on a test drive anyway. If I asked about a specific feature in the showroom, I would want the salesman to show me where that control is, but tbh I’d be taking their word. People on this thread saying ‘get everything in writing’ are talking nonsense. No salesman is going to write out a whole summary of what a car has or doesn’t have. I feel sorry for the OP because she asked and she was given wrong information.

I think it is deception and a criminal offence, but cannot see you could get the liar arrested.

@Fountofwisdom has good advice I think.

I'd go back and say that you specifically asked for CC and that you were told it had it, but it doesn't. Next time check it yourself as you can't trust anyone, especially a salesperson

FFS. It doesn’t matter why OP is insistent that she wants cruise control. I insist on heated seats, but they’re not exactly a life essential. If a dealer told me a car had heated seats, twice, then I came to find it did not I’d be pissed off.
Sorry OP, I can’t offer any useful advice but I would encourage speaking to the dealer and see if someone like your dad can come with you if you’re feeling a little lacking in confidence. You’ve got nothing to lose by trying.

@Fountofwisdom she wouldn't have to use it to check it was there during a test drive, though?

There are a few important features to me in a car and I always, always check they exist for myself before signing any paperwork.

Cars are such big purchases that, imo, you can't rely on "well, the salesman said so" - always check it for yourself before signing.

Was just thinking this. I'm surprised a new plated car doesn't have this.
Op can you put a pic up of your steering wheel

For what it's worth, I love my cruise control on motorways.

Defo complain

@StripyZebraa to be honest I much prefer the speed limiter in my car to the cruise control in dh's car. especially on today's roads with speeds constantly changing. I found cruise control a bit scary!

I would contact the dealer and ask him to show how to operate the 'cruise control' and see if he said 'it doesn't have one' or if he tries and then finds out there isn't one.

If it is the former you're a bit stuck as he will deny saying it had cruise control.

If it it the latter, then it suggests that he thought it did have that option and he misled you. You can then ask him how he is going to resolve the problem.

I think it may be costly to retrofit cruise control (which I like and use a lot on motorways as it can be easy to creep over the limit, especially with the 'average speed check' cameras that are appearing more and more these days).

I agree with the PP who talked about the 14 day cooling off period. See if that applies.

Ignore everyone arguing with you, MN loves missing the point of a post for the sake of an argument with an OP.

What car is it OP?
As others have said, there may be cc available and you just need to find it.
If it's a 71 plate, is there a user manual?
FWIW, I have acc on my automatic car and I find it much better than cc in a manual.
I use it constantly and it's excellent for motorways.

Go back to the dealership and ask them to show you how to use cruise control. Remind them that you were told the car has it but you can't figure it out on this car. If it doesn't have it explain you where misinformed about the cars features and use the cooling off period under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 to return the car.

@CantHoldMeDown for many people it's impossible to test drive on a motorway - our nearest one is over an hour away

How will you prove that you asked and they confirmed about cruise control?

I use cruise control all the time, and it would be a major consideration when buying a car now. The road from my home to the nearest town. Just 7 miles. goes from 20, to 30, to 40. Then 50, then 40, then 30 then 20 then 30. The dual carriageway has a 50mph limit. Average speed cameras all the way. If I elect to go on the narrow country road, which is twisty, deep dykes on either side, the limit is 60. So, I set the cruise control at the limit, and then adjust it as I go. If I go on the nearest motorway, ther is 20 odd miles with 50mph limit and cameras. Using cruise control takes the anxiety away of my speed creeping up slightly over the limit. So if I was the OP I would be very annoyed. I would go back and complain. It may be possible to retro fit cruise control. Might not get anywhere, but car salesmen, are not known for sticking to the truth. They usually get paid a low basic topped up with commission so, for some, it is almost anything goes to get a sale. We will be buying probably our last car, in the next few months, and what should be an exciting experience we are dreading, we have just started putting our shortlist together and will check every detail, by test drive, but we know that once in a new car, with a salesman next to us, we will miss some items, and be distracted from any negatives. Good luck.

I'd go back, get the save guy, say 'remember you said the car had cruise control, I can't seem to get it to work could you show me please'. Sit back and wait to either have him show you or admit it's not got it.

I think you'll have it. I don't see why they'd put one in and not the other. It's the same stalk.

But if it doesn't happen be sure prior what you want to do. Return the car? If it's good in all other ways it could be better to keep it?

How often would you use cruise? (I almost never use it, maybe one a year but others could use daily in a long commute).

The CC may be operated in a counterintuitive (to you) way, and you just haven't worked it out yet. New cars can take some adjusting to.

I bought one a couple of months ago, and checked with the salesman that it had a heated steering wheel, but didn't test it for myself. When I got it home, I couldn't find the control for it anywhere and was on the verge of taking it up with the dealership... until I found it hidden away in a menu somewhere, in a place that feels totally illogical to me (but clearly the engineer thought was sensible).

The salesman also told me it had contactless phone charging, which was a feature of no consequence to me. This one I can't find anywhere (I can see where the phone would go, but it definitely doesn't charge when I put it there). I couldn't be bothered to quibble that one.

I had a 'right to return' for 30 days. Didn't need to give any reason. Did you buy from a main dealership, as I'm sure they all have something similar.

(And to all those who haven't tried CC - it's really handy! I use it more for areas where the speed limit is lower than you'd like , 50 or 60 MPH dual carriageways for example. I can see why OP wanted it if she was used to it).

I suspect this sort of thing happens all the time. I've just bought a car. The salesman was young and inexperienced. A couple of times I just wasn't happy with what he was telling me
and asked to speak to his manager, who sorted it out straight away.
When I went to pick it up one major agreed job hadn't been done and he didn't even tell me until I asked why it wasn't in the log book. Again, his manager sorted it out.
None of this was in writing but although I got the impression that they hoped I'd forget about it, there was no attempt to deny what had been said or to wriggle out of it because it wasn't written down. You haven't got anything to lose by speaking to the head of sales, explaining what's happened and asking him how he plans to fix it out. You can always raise a formal complaint if you don't get a satisfactory response.