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?

That's adaptive cruise control and I use it all the time - I wouldn't have a car without it.

Probably because most people use limiters now.

Go into the garage and complain. Maybe take your Dad with you for moral support. In my experience car dealers will tell you anything to get you to buy a car so always double check the facts that are important to you yourself. Think about what you want before you go in there. Check if you realistically going to be able to find a car that has everything you want within budget or is this the closest you're going to get? There is a 14-day cooling off for new car purchases including the finance agreements so you could write this all off as experience, return the car and walk away.

You have a minimum of 14 days (some contracts offer longer) to cancel the contract without charge - so if you feel like you've been mis sold you can go back in and say you want to cancel the contract.

I would go back to them. They have a reputation to uphold and will want to deal with this.

@StripyZebraa
Did you actually look at the car? Even just photos as dealers tend to put photos of everything, including the control sticks? Didn't you test drive it? I'm trying to understand how you bought a car from a dealer without looking at it and seeing whether it had what you needed since you clearly know what cruise control controls look like. And how you asked the dealer if they had it and he went and looked, why didn't you go and look? I know if you buy from Cinch or whatever you wouldn't have seen it, but they have a returns policy, so different from what you are saying.

I would contact them and explain and go from there.

Go back and speak to a manager. Cc can be retrofitted.

I drove to Wembley and back on Saturday and I absolutely HATE cruise control, having used it a couple of times, it’s never in operation long enough before I have to put my foot on the brake and regain control of the clutch. It’s properly grim!

I don't use cruise control as I don't like it but does it mention it in the handbook? sometimes things are not apparent unless you look them up. I'm sure you have done that though. Go back to the dealer and ask for the cost to be reduced. Depends on if you like the car or not x

FGS why can't people read and actually put the posters request first rather than their need to bang on about they don't need something?!

@StripyZebraa go back today and complain otherwise it will bug you forever. Take your dad to hang around if you want back up. He can step in when they start to treat you like you're stupid. Or fussy.

what on earth 😳 who wanted that feature how odd!!

I hope you had it in writing somewhere and you got it sorted somehow, OP.

I love my cruise control, makes a massive difference when driving a lot.

Surely you googled the spec of the car and any known recall / faults?

Do you really need to be committing to a long term debt just to drive a car that's a bit newer than the car you already have with cruise control?

"approx 150k miles a year on average" surely this is a typo? 410 mikes a day, every day?

Write an email to the Manager. A lot of 'older' cars have features that new cars don't have, partly due to the global shortage of components which held up manufacturing during/after covid.

I can’t see the harm in going back as soon as possible and saying to the dealership I specifically asked for cruise control and it doesn’t have this feature. It doesn’t need to be a shouting match or complaint, just explain what happened and see what they come back with.

Not sure if it's been asked as only read ops posts.

Are you absolutely sure it doesn't have cruise control? My car has the limiter on the same arm, but there's a button to press to swap between the two, so it may be a case that it does, you just haven't switched from the limiter.

I agree! Why shouldn't OP enjoy cruise control if she wants to? I bloody love cruise control and use it all the time. It's like a holiday for my knees after twenty years of manual cars. I get why others might not want to use cruise control but I'm never giving it up.

I think you’re right to question this. I don’t understand people saying the onus is on you. If you bought a TV or washing machine and the seller double checked and confirmed a feature you would expect to be able to trust them. If this is a main dealership they should help sort it. If they don’t, ask for their complaints procedure.

I would start by expecting them to sort this out for you. Start and speak/write with the expectation they will sort it out. And be clear what you actually want in your own mind.
Do you want a refund so you can get a car with CC?
Do you want them to retrofit it?
Do you want them to reduce the price?

So be clear in your own mind which of these options you want and if there are any others you would accept.

Before you make contact, ensure you know the name of the person you spoke to - check your paperwork if you’re not sure or call up and find out.

Look at any paperwork or advertising of the car (paperwork or screen shots) to see what features were mentioned.

Approach this with confidence and not by apologising. Start with an email. State that this feature was important to you and why you chose this particular car. Name the person you spoke to and the date the conversation was had and exactly what happened. Tell them that the car you have received does not have the features you were told it has. Ask them about what resolution they can offer you. Make clear that if the resolution is not satisfactory you will have to reject the car and have a full refund as the car is not as described.

Ask them to email you to confirm receipt of your message and to call you within 24 hours to discuss next steps forward.

Absolutely expect a solution. Do not start sounding meek and as if you are asking a favour. You have paid for a feature. You must receive it or an alternative arrangement reached.

Lots of people seem to miss the point. Op isn’t asking whether she should take out a new contract or if CC is worth having or not. This is purely a consumer rights issue.

Yes, I'd be going back in and speaking to the sales guy first, reminding him that he 'double checked' and assured you that it had cruise control. Take someone with you as back up. Be prepared to speak to the manager too. Be clear on what you want and how you expect the matter to be resolved. You wanted cruise control, it was a deal breaker and the guy told you what you wanted to hear to get the sale. Even big, reputable garages do this (from experience). Good luck. Let us know how you get on.

And agree that this doesn’t have to be a battle.

Write politely and assertively with factual information.

Speak in the same way showing you expect a resolution that is acceptable from them. Show you understand that goods must be as described and that this isn’t the case.

Don’t be aggressive or rude . Mistakes happen. Firms know mistakes happen and they have to rectify them. Polite and assertive is the tone you want. Don’t be fobbed off or side tracked by side issues. If necessary, keep repeating ‘not as described. Does not have the features I specifically checked were included’

Go back to dealer, find person who sold car to you and ask them to show you where the cruise control that you were assured was part of the car is.