Sale of Goods and Second-hand Car problem.

[LetterHelpPlease]

Hi, thanks for reading. I'd appreciate some help to draft a letter, and any advice you have otherwise.

I bought a second-hand car from a dealer. It's three years old and cost 5.5k plus the value of my old car (a few hundred). I understand that, under the Sale of Goods Act, you'd expect a car to be roadworthy, but what exactly that means is obviously different for a brand new car and a second hand one.

The dealer gave me the hard sell about buying an extended warranty. I said I understood that if there was an immediate fault, it would be covered by the Sale of Goods Act. He agreed, but said I would need garage equipment to prove it.

Nine days later the car wouldn't start. I had to phone the dealer as I was due to take the car in for a minor and pre-agreed repair he'd said he'd do as part of the sale deal. He immediately reminded me I didn't have a warranty so he would not be able to do anything.

I had the car towed to the main dealer to do a diagnostic. They found the battery was flat as a result of being in a very poor state. The mechanic said in his opinion the car had not been fit for sale and I should be able to get the money back for the new battery, and he gave me paperwork to show the tests he'd done and the results.

I rang the original dealer to get a time to come in, and he's booked me in for next week. I'm worried if I leave it that long he will say I've 'accepted' the fault, so I want to write an email explaining where I stand.

Can you help? And does this sound reasonable from a legal point of view?

Thanks again.

did you purchase on a credit card or at least £100.00 worth? If so, you may be covered under section 75, sale of goods act where the credit card company is jointly liable and a third party, so it may be easier to recoup the loss from them.

No, I put it all on a debit card because they had a charge for credit cards. Also we only have a small limit.

This happened to us. Bought a second hand car and within 4 days we'd had the AA out twice because it kept cutting out.
It took a stand off, tears (from me) and a bit of shouting from everyone, but we got a full refund.
There's lots of good advice on the Citizens Advice website.
Good luck, I hope you get it resolved.

Either this dealer doesn't know the law or he is trying to pull the wool over your eyes.

As you bought the car from a dealer it must:

• match the description
• be of satisfactory quality given its age and mileage
• be fit for purpose

You may still have the right to reject the car. You certainly have the right to claim for a repair or replacement. If the dealer refuses you can get the car repaired elsewhere and claim the cost from the dealer.

If you want to reject the car you should do so immediately and stop using it. There is no set time limit for rejection but you must reject the car in a reasonable time - that probably only gives you 3 or 4 weeks from the date of purchase.

There is no time limit on claiming for repairs. The dealer cannot claim you have "accepted" the fault.

If you want to send something to the dealer I would state that Section 14 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 requires dealers to provide goods of satisfactory quality, that the car supplied is not of satisfactory quality, describing the problem, and set out what you want the dealer to do in order to resolve the situation. If you choose to reject the car you should give the dealer a time limit to reimburse you (14 days, say) and state that you will make a claim in the county court if they fail to comply.

Thanks very much.

I don't want to reject it - the main dealer (who obviously don't have any vested interest in lying here) said it was in good shape apart from that, and I know from the service history they've done the MOTs on it to date. So I will take your advice.

Will it matter that I didn't ask them to repair it after I knew the problem? The dealer who sold it to me told me he couldn't do anything before I knew what the problem was, but I didn't ring him back to say it was the battery. I just had the other garage replace it.

I am off to google Section 14!

Hi I have a similar problem and am currently taking dealership to a small claims court under the sale of goods act the car must last a reasonable amount of time in my case 6 weeks. Also if a fault appears befre 6 months it is legally assumed it was present at the time of purchase. My car had been previously written off as well which they never told me. Do not be fobbed off by them but give them a chence to fix it and take note of all conversations you have with them.

Sorry for typos on a tablet

You asked the dealer to fix the car. They refused because you didn't know the cause of the problem, only the symptoms. That is not reasonable grounds to refuse to repair the car.

Thank you!