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Nissan Note – not as described?

Home page 2023 Forums Buying a Car Nissan Note – not as described?

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    • #110042
      Ian Rowley
      Guest

      I went to a car dealer last Friday to view a Nissan Note they had for sale 47 miles away from where i live advertised on the Auto Trader website.

      When i arrived there i wasn’t seen to about the car for 30 mins or so in that time it had started raining i looked over it but of course it was raining and i know you should not look at a car in the rain or when it was wet, so went out on a test drive and it seemed fine.

      When i got back to the dealer i went in to the office and when i said that i wanted to think about it i was asked “why what is wrong why do you need to think about it?” so given no chance to consider it at all i realise now i should have walked away there and then, but like a fool let myself be pressured into paying a deposit for the car, saying they would do the things that the car needed, 2 replacement tyres and an oil leak on the engine.

      I went back outside and had another look at the car and noticed that the repair on the tailgate that they had repaired which was previously a small dent wasn’t very good the area had a unevenness to it i pointed that out and they said they would re paint it.

      After that i left and the following day, Saturday, phoned the dealer saying i wasn’t happy about being pressured into paying a deposit and could i cancel the deal and he said no i had bought the car, even laughed at me!

      So i ended up going back over to the dealer and they got the car in the workshop where it was dry and after looking round it could see some overspay on the O/s rear wheel arch liner and dry over spray on the Rh rear door shut, also overspray on the rear wiper spindle grommet on the tail gate which was no where near the repair they had done before, also the Lh rear door has been painted as when i looked close could see a few fine scratches in the paintwork plus the trim strip was slightly uneven and was stuck on with thicker trim tape than the original would have been so it was slightly more proud than it would have been originally and a small paint run on the end of the sill too

      So the car overall has had a lot of paint for an 07 model but none of this has been mentioned by the dealer is it grounds for me to cancel the deal even if i lose the £200 and put it down to experience or do i have to buy the car after all?

    • #110051
      stuart 2022Stuart Masson
      Participant

      Hi Ian. It’s unlikely you can say the car is not as described if you have been out to see it before signing a contract.

      Since you haven’t taken delivery yet, you can cancel your order and there’s not a huge amount the dealer can do about it. They will almost certainly keep your £200, and if they have spent any money on replacing tyres and fixing an oil leak then they may well come after you for those expenses (although you should be able to argue out of that, as they would need to do it anyway).

      The paintwork is neither here nor there, unless the car was advertised as having immaculate paintwork. A dealer is not obliged to tell you about any repairs (and they may well not know what work has been done prior to them purchasing the vehicle) unless you specifically ask about it – in which case, they cannot lie about it. But you are unlikely to have written evidence of that.

    • #110066
      ian rowley
      Guest

      Hi thanks for your prompt reply, yes I would be prepared to lose the money and put it down to experience, however I think that although you say I cannot claim it wasn’t described properly I did look at it before signing but it was raining and I was pushed into signing as I got the response “why what is wrong what do you need to think about?” when I said it. My intention was go back perhaps and view it when it was dry and if I saw those issues then why didn’t they especially the overspray on the wheel arch liner, if I had seen those areas before then I would’ve walked away yes I know they are a business but is it right being pushed into signing something with out letting the potential customer consider it first, not a good impression of that dealer in my opinion and they don’t have to let you cancel but if they have any thought for there reputation etc then you should be able to,especially if they keep my money they are not going to be out of pocket as it will cover the work that had to be done to the car. other dealers I have visited in recent weeks haven’t pressured me in any way at all, they have let me go away to consider my choice. I think these are a bad choice in the way they operate.

      • #110101
        stuart 2022Stuart Masson
        Participant

        Ultimately the argument that “I was pushed into signing” doesn’t wash. A dealer can and will say whatever it takes to get you to sign a contract, but they can’t force you to. Yes, it may be poor sales behaviour to pressure customers to sign on the spot, but it still doesn’t allow you to back out if you change your mind.

        If you had concerns about looking at the car in the rain, and intentions of going back to view it in the dry, then you should have done that before signing the contract. Similarly, if you had visited other dealers and found them more pleasant to deal with, you had every opportunity to walk away and go back to one of those.

    • #110067
      ian rowley
      Guest

      As an addition ad did say excellent bodywork so to me that means paintwork as well.

      • #110102
        stuart 2022Stuart Masson
        Participant

        It doesn’t mean that in law, regardless of what it means to you. Paintwork is paintwork, bodywork is the physical condition and fit of the panels.

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