Used Car Warranty

[Barry Newman]

Hello

My partner purchased a 2005 Honda Civic from a used car in Nottingham in October 2018.

We live in Wales, and getting a car around here that hasn’t done over 150k is hard, so we looked further afield. We found what was written to be a nice car in the trade advert on eBay, ideal for what we wanted, but it was in Nottingham. A very long way to go, but we have friends in that general area, so we made an appointment to go and look it at via eBay messages.

At no point in the conversation were any faults mentioned regarding this car, and as we told him we were coming from Aberystwyth we assumed everything was OK.

We travelled to the garage knowing it was an older car, and it would not be in mint condition. We understood that, and are not naive enough to assume it would be like new. However, mechanical issues were not mentioned at all to us or in the advert.

When we got there we were disappointed to hear that the car had a noise when it was running. Put your foot on the clutch and the noise stopped. It sounded like the gearbox thrust bearing…..I mentioned the noise to the salesman, but didn’t say what I thought it was, and he said ‘has it’ in a very surprised voice. He then got his mechanic over and they both gave the impression that the noise had only just started.

So, as we had come such a long way, he would drop £95 of the price and give us a warranty, he made sure he mentioned it was a Bronze package and showed us, including circling the Bronze package on the paperwork. He said they would fix it.

It turns out the gearbox needs rebuilding.

The warranty company won’t pay for it as it was a pre-existing condition.

What are my rights as regards to taking the car back to the garage and getting a refund?

[Stuart Masson]

Hi Barry. Have a read of our article about rejecting a faulty car.

[Michelle]

The car must be fit for purpose as per the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which also negates the selling price.

Need to act in first 30 days really for a result but you do have rights.

[Robert Penman]

Hi I bought a used landrover discovery from Calder motors in July 2018 for towing my caravan as my BMW X1 sport wasn’t good as a towing car I seen a 4×4 advertised at a garage near to where I keep my caravan so I had a look around I saw a landrover discovery 3 di v6 that looked like what I needed it was a 2005 dlv6s with 127465 miles on the clock but it was said to have had quite a bit of work done to it and was advertised as a really good buy and a nice car fit for the job I said that I would check my bank and get back to them which I did and agreed to purchase it put down a deposit and had to wait about 3 weeks for the car to be ready I paid £6000.450 for the car first day the brakes seized on the both front wheels then I had problems with the electrics n/s rear indicators stop light and reverse lights wouldn’t work next the handbrake warning light wouldn’t go out which they fixed and complained about the cost now the clutch has gone without any warning after it has only covered 1665 miles can you possibly give me some advice on this matter yours sincerely Robert Penman

[Stuart Masson]

Hi Robert. You are approaching the end of the six-month ownership period of the Consumer Rights Act where the law is in your favour, so you should act fairly promptly to get matters sorted.

Have a read of our article about rejecting a faulty car.

[Carolyn Brown]

Hello I hope you can help me please

My partner and I brought a 17 plate car from Motorpoint on 28th June 2018. The car was brought using HP finance. It came with manufacturers warranty which expires September 2020 and we also took out Motorpoint warranty valid from 12 September 2020 to 11 September 2021.

Over the last few months, it has had the following issues:-
The engine makes a clicking sound every 30 seconds or so, then it sounds like a fan, then clicks again and goes back to being quiet. As said, this repeats every 30 seconds. We noticed this happening before we brought the car and it was fixed before we collected the car but it is happening again.
There appears to be a lot of white smoke coming from my exhaust
The heating control knobs sometimes illuminate, sometimes don’t and when it’s dark it’s difficult to see where the heating control position is.
All of the above problems are intermittent and I have video and picture evidence.

I emailed Motorpoint customer care stating I would like to return my car back to Motorpoint to resolve these issues. They emailed saying it is best to take the car to a Vauxhall dealer as it is under Warranty and if Motorpoint did the repair, it may void the warranty. I then emailed are the above issues covered by warranty and Motorpoint emailed saying, if any issues while at a Vauxhall dealer and they require payment, please call him directly.

If any work is not covered by warranty, who is liable to pay for any work done?

[Carolyn Brown]

Sorry my car is a 67 plate, not 17 plate. Any help would be appreciated as Vauxhall are saying I may have to pay for repairs, even though I’ve had the car under 6 months old just and the car is only 15 months old with only 13000 miles on the clock. I don’t know if Vauxhall should pay for repairs or Motorpoint where the car was brought from. Thank you for any advice

[Stuart Masson]

Hi Carolyn. The manufacturer’s new car warranty is always the first point of call, so it should go back to a Vauxhall dealer to be looked at.

If the problems are not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty (for example, they say that a fault was caused by something you have done rather than the vehicle being faulty), then you would be responsible for any repair costs and it’s unlikely that Motorpoint would pick up the bill. That’s perfectly normal.

[Carolyn]

Hi Stuart

Thank you for replying to me about Vauxhall and Motorpoint. Vauxhall are now saying they cannot find any faults with my 67 plate Mokka X although they are doing further checks at no cost to me. A piston compression check. If no faults are found and yet they’ve had my car since 27 December 2018 who ends up with the bill please? Thank you in advance with this matter. Carolyn

[Stuart Masson]

If they can’t find any faults, it’s likely to be you who ends up footing the bill. If Vauxhall don’t think that the car has a fault, Motorpoint are likely to use this as grounds not to pay for any repairs either.

[Carolyn Brown]

Vauxhall have sent away the cylinder head and the valves have failed part of the test. They say this is good as explains the smoking issue and the abnormal engine noise they have heard. This will be rectified and they will start to rebuild my car now. Then they will investigate the other noise and heater control lights. I thank you Stuart for all your help and hope my car can be fixed now within the next few weeks at no cost to myself. Thanks again

[Stuart Masson]

Hopefully it will eventually be properly resolved by Vauxhall and you can get on with your life!

[Author]

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