Dealership sold us car that broke after a few months.

[Ohthatsabitshit]

My son bought a car from a local dealership. It came with a three month warranty and a warning light appeared after 14 weeks. The RAC say the a gasket has broken and needs replacing (£700-£1500 according to local garage) the car cost £6000. Should the dealer fix it as surely we could have expected it to be ok for longer than a few short months? Ds is dependent on the car for his uni place as he commutes from home and for work so this is a disaster.

Although the three-month warranty has ended I would go back to the dealer. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, a car bought from a dealer should be of satisfactory quality and reasonably durable. A major gasket failure on a £6,000 car after just 14 weeks could still be the dealer’s responsibility. Personally I’d go to them with the report from the RAC and ask them to inspect the car and see if they can resolve the issue or pay towards getting it resolved. If they refuse I’d go to
I’d suggest contacting the dealer Citizens Advice and see what they say.

If any part of the £6,000 was paid by credit card (even just the deposit), it’s also worth contacting the card provider. Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, they may be jointly liable if the car wasn’t of satisfactory quality, so they could help if the dealer won’t

Good luck - it’s not nice when expensive purchases go wrong.

Did it come with a warranty?

You are covered under the consumer rights act, although the garage will argue its wear and tear a gasket actually isnt.

Contact them, they should be given a chance to repair (free of charge) in the first instance.

Yes the warranty was for three months and we are just over. Dealer says he can’t guarantee cars for life but if we send report and mileage may consider a good will contribution to costs. I’d much rather they just had it back and fixed it.

As your son has had the car for less than 6 months any fault is assumed to have been present when he bought it. If the dealer wants to argue otherwise (e.g. suggesting that the gasket has failed due to misuse), it is up to them to prove it. The dealer should repair the car at no cost to your son. If the repair fails, he has the right to reject the car and receive a refund, although they will be able to deduct something from the price he paid to reflect his use of the car.

It doesn't matter about the warranty. As others have said, it's less than 6 months since you bought it so you are protected under the consumer rights act.
Tell the dealer that, and that the burden is on them to prove the car was not faulty at point of sale. The assumption under consumer rights act is that the car was faulty at point of sale as it broke within 6 months.

They may try to deny the above to get you to go away, but they are legally incorrect.

You may need to issue a letter before action (Which has a template).

Your legal cover from your car insurance can advise you

A warranty can make it easier, but as has been said, this fault is not general wear & tear and is covered by law. The garage will no doubt continue to push back, there is a fair bit online specifically around gaskets that may help. Good luck, hope they stick to their legal obligation without too much fuss.

Thank you all so much. I think I will get ds to contact the insurance company. I’m so disappointed in the dealer.