Hi, last April I had a car accident which wasn't my fault and was left without a vehicle. I found a local garage which seemed reputable and arranged to test drive a vehicle. I decided to purchase the vehicle at the end of April beginning of May 2013 but was told that they were going to put a new MOT on it first and was asked to leave a deposit, which I left and then I could come back in a week or so time to complete the sale and collect the vehicle, however during the first 2/3 weeks of owning the vehicle the engine management light came on and the car went into 'emergency safe driving mode' and would also just cut out. On each occasion the car did this (at least every other day) I informed the garage and took the car straight in. At first they didn't know what was wrong and sent me away as the fault light had been reset after connecting to the onboard computer diagnostic machine thing, but each and every time the same thing happened. On 2 further occasions I took their 'spare' replacement vehicle whilst they were looking into the fault, eventually they decided the car needed a new battery, immediately after driving away from the garage the car seemed improved in its driving capabilities, but the air bag light was then present. I called the garage straight away and was asked to bring it back in, I did so on and they ran the diagnostic onboard computer thingy, they didn't know why the air bag light was on and reset it, this happened on a few more occasions where in the end they said that they weren't sure what was wrong, but that the car was safe to drive and to not worry about it.
HOWEVER......upon the year anniversary of purchasing the vehicle (which has had the air bag fault light on effectively since purchase) I took the vehicle to another garage to do the MOT and was told it was an MOT failure due to the air bag fault light! You can imagine the explicit language that then followed!! I am absolutely furious that the original garage allowed me to continue driving the vehicle knowing it could potentially be unsafe to drive especially knowing that I have children in the vehicle with me! I sought the advice of Trading standards and was advised to write a letter to the garage to explain of my grievance and give them the opportunity to rectify. They ignored my first 3 letters and upon mentioning the Sale of Goods Act I recieved a letter form them to say that I should have bought it back sooner if I was unhappy, I sent another letter again stating that if I had known that the air bag light was an MOT failure then of course I would have, but I trusted them and that considering that they were unwilling to address my concern and offer a solution I had no option but to pursue legal proceedings, to which I received a letter not admitting liability and stating that the vehicle was out of warranty but hey were happy to diagnose the air bag fault, to which I responded again by recorded post a decline as I felt that they had ignored my initial grievance, ignored my rights as a consumer and that I felt that due to the early issues with the car that they were unable to satisfactorily diagnose any faults! I said that I would be pushing forward with legal proceedings and would like a full refund of the amount I had paid for the vehicle and they could have it back.
HOWEVER.......After opening the claim in the small courts I have just learnt that they are disputing the claim!!!
My issue is not only am I furious with their lack of acknowledgment of my grievance, they have offered no valid solution to rectify the problem apart from an offer to diagnose the fault (which I don't want a diagnosis, I wanted a car that was fit for purpose and safe to drive) I don't actually have an evidence to back up my allegations, all the visits back and forth to the garage at the beginning of the ownership of the vehicle weren't receipted, so my question is when I have to enter a counter plea of evidence to the courts where do I stand??? Only the garage will have proof of me bringing the car back several times (that's if they run a proper job logging system).
I am soooooo upset as I am stuck with a car that is unfit to drive and a garage that are refusing to accept responsibility and take the vehicle back :'(
HOWEVER......upon the year anniversary of purchasing the vehicle (which has had the air bag fault light on effectively since purchase) I took the vehicle to another garage to do the MOT and was told it was an MOT failure due to the air bag fault light! You can imagine the explicit language that then followed!! I am absolutely furious that the original garage allowed me to continue driving the vehicle knowing it could potentially be unsafe to drive especially knowing that I have children in the vehicle with me! I sought the advice of Trading standards and was advised to write a letter to the garage to explain of my grievance and give them the opportunity to rectify. They ignored my first 3 letters and upon mentioning the Sale of Goods Act I recieved a letter form them to say that I should have bought it back sooner if I was unhappy, I sent another letter again stating that if I had known that the air bag light was an MOT failure then of course I would have, but I trusted them and that considering that they were unwilling to address my concern and offer a solution I had no option but to pursue legal proceedings, to which I received a letter not admitting liability and stating that the vehicle was out of warranty but hey were happy to diagnose the air bag fault, to which I responded again by recorded post a decline as I felt that they had ignored my initial grievance, ignored my rights as a consumer and that I felt that due to the early issues with the car that they were unable to satisfactorily diagnose any faults! I said that I would be pushing forward with legal proceedings and would like a full refund of the amount I had paid for the vehicle and they could have it back.
HOWEVER.......After opening the claim in the small courts I have just learnt that they are disputing the claim!!!
My issue is not only am I furious with their lack of acknowledgment of my grievance, they have offered no valid solution to rectify the problem apart from an offer to diagnose the fault (which I don't want a diagnosis, I wanted a car that was fit for purpose and safe to drive) I don't actually have an evidence to back up my allegations, all the visits back and forth to the garage at the beginning of the ownership of the vehicle weren't receipted, so my question is when I have to enter a counter plea of evidence to the courts where do I stand??? Only the garage will have proof of me bringing the car back several times (that's if they run a proper job logging system).
I am soooooo upset as I am stuck with a car that is unfit to drive and a garage that are refusing to accept responsibility and take the vehicle back :'(