Took Delivery of a Lemon

Took Delivery of a Lemon

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Discussion

WhiskyDisco

Original Poster:

913 posts

81 months

Friday 9th February
quotequote all
Hi folks, I'm writing this on behalf of a friend. She bought a used motor from a dealer in a different region, cash. The car was delivered to her but soon after delivery she found the dashboard lit up like a preverbial Christmas tree. This was just before the festive period and she couldn't get it looked at for a couple of weeks.

Roll-on January. She gets the car assessed and finds that it's the EGR valves need replacing, plus a few other errors. The advice is to not drive the car, which is in limp mode.

The dealer agreed to take the car back but found no faults - she has reports from the local garage though.

Now the dealer has offered a financial settlement, but on the condition that she pays a cost per mile. This includes delivery, miles covered, and collection miles. This is going to add up to over £1,000.

My question to the forum is: in the case of buying a lemon, and rejecting it - can the dealer charge a mileage fee?

If so, is this limited to delivery, or can it extend to collection too?

Whataguy

1,028 posts

87 months

Friday 9th February
quotequote all
Yes, it’s common for usage.

Someone I know rejected a brand new Honda recently and Honda UK advised that they recommend a 35p/mile deduction for any mileage from delivery until rejection.

Edited by Whataguy on Friday 9th February 21:25

VSKeith

1,033 posts

54 months

Friday 9th February
quotequote all
What's the car, age, mileage and purchase cost?

What additional mileage is the dealer saying is worth £1000?

Trevor555

4,504 posts

91 months

Saturday 10th February
quotequote all
Contact citizens advice on Monday.

Give them exact dates of when purchased, when the fault was reported to the dealer, how long it was at the dealer being looked at, and details of what reductions they are suggesting.


FMOB

1,994 posts

19 months

Saturday 10th February
quotequote all
On the basis your friend has used the car, paying for that use is not unreasonable. Whether 35p a mile is reasonable is a different question and seems expensive considering they probably didn't provide the fuel. I think excess mileage charges from a PCP agreement would be more appropriate.

As to the rejection, assume it is being rejected as faulty. As they have said they cannot find any faults this is the difficult bit. Worth discussing with Citizen Advice. It is worth considering an alternative approach to just get rid of it and by offering a lower rate for the per mile use, PCP's seem to charge 4-10p per mile for excess use.

Before everyone jumps up and down at the thought, disputes like this take up a lot of time and cause a lot of grief so £2-300 or so to avoid all that is worth considering.


VSKeith

1,033 posts

54 months

Saturday 10th February
quotequote all
FMOB said:
On the basis your friend has used the car, paying for that use is not unreasonable. Whether 35p a mile is reasonable is a different question and seems expensive considering they probably didn't provide the fuel. I think excess mileage charges from a PCP agreement would be more appropriate.

As to the rejection, assume it is being rejected as faulty. As they have said they cannot find any faults this is the difficult bit. Worth discussing with Citizen Advice. It is worth considering an alternative approach to just get rid of it and by offering a lower rate for the per mile use, PCP's seem to charge 4-10p per mile for excess use.

Before everyone jumps up and down at the thought, disputes like this take up a lot of time and cause a lot of grief so £2-300 or so to avoid all that is worth considering.
All sensible advice, but we don't know what the dealer is asking for per mile

KTMsm

27,649 posts

270 months

Saturday 10th February
quotequote all
If it was a distance sale (sounds like it was) unless she agreed to other terms she should get a FULL refund if the car is rejected due to faults found in the first 30 days


anonymous-user

61 months

Saturday 10th February
quotequote all
  • crap attempt at humour removed*
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 11th February 20:02

FMOB

1,994 posts

19 months

Sunday 11th February
quotequote all
lord trumpton said:
Is she fit?
The 1970's called, they want their sexist comments back.

FeelingLucky

1,116 posts

171 months

Sunday 11th February
quotequote all
FMOB said:
lord trumpton said:
Is she fit?
The 1970's called, they want their sexist comments back.
Which begs the question, why did you have to give him EXACTLY what he was after?

FMOB

1,994 posts

19 months

Sunday 11th February
quotequote all
FeelingLucky said:
FMOB said:
lord trumpton said:
Is she fit?
The 1970's called, they want their sexist comments back.
Which begs the question, why did you have to give him EXACTLY what he was after?
Because ignoring it is tacit acceptance that making the comment is okay, which isn't.

cayman-black

12,921 posts

223 months

Sunday 11th February
quotequote all
FMOB said:
FeelingLucky said:
FMOB said:
lord trumpton said:
Is she fit?
The 1970's called, they want their sexist comments back.
Which begs the question, why did you have to give him EXACTLY what he was after?
Because ignoring it is tacit acceptance that making the comment is okay, which isn't.



[/quote

FFS, really?

OutInTheShed

9,308 posts

33 months

Sunday 11th February
quotequote all
I was hoping this was the Moto Guzzi thread!

Or maybe about " lemon 'undreds'.

It seems that a deduction for miles of use is normal, in some circumstances.
But delivery miles and miles to drive it back to them seems like a mick-take.

A grand is a lot of miles.
35p is a high rate, maybe OK for a new, up market car, maybe not appropriate for anything older?

The consumer rights act is a thing, but ordering used cars from one end of the country to the other is always going to be risky.
But then a retailer in Cumbria is always free to tell me they don't deliver to Devon?

You'd need proper advice on the rights and wrongs of it, but to my mind, the important thing is to get rid if it's a true lemon, if you're a few hundred out of pocket you are well out of it. That's not saying let them take the piss.

Used car prices are high, because retailers should only be selling cars of adequate quality in a road worthy condition.
They should be servicing and checking what they sell, and not selling anything they don't stand behind.

OutInTheShed

9,308 posts

33 months

Sunday 11th February
quotequote all
KTMsm said:
If it was a distance sale (sounds like it was) unless she agreed to other terms she should get a FULL refund if the car is rejected due to faults found in the first 30 days
And if agreed to other terms, those terms are unlawful?

Masiv

314 posts

90 months

Sunday 11th February
quotequote all
FMOB said:
Because ignoring it is tacit acceptance that making the comment is okay, which isn't.
Agree. If we don't face up to bigotry it will carry on.

KTMsm

27,649 posts

270 months

Sunday 11th February
quotequote all
OutInTheShed said:
And if agreed to other terms, those terms are unlawful?
They can't make you sign away your statutory rights but they can:

Not refund delivery IF you paid another co. to do it (even if arranged by them)

Charge for collection - IF it was specified in their terms

Charge for mileage / re stocking - IF the car wasn't rejected / returned in the first 30 days (due to a fault)

Veloce144

379 posts

146 months

Sunday 11th February
quotequote all
I rejected a car about a month ago now. I sought legal advice straight away and essentially the dealer can make an offer for usage, but the onus is on them to prove why that figure is fair.

anonymous-user

61 months

Sunday 11th February
quotequote all
Masiv said:
FMOB said:
Because ignoring it is tacit acceptance that making the comment is okay, which isn't.
Agree. If we don't face up to bigotry it will carry on.
Ooops my intention of being funny with my outdated humour has backfired

Apologies to anyone who's offended and I apologise for my crass attempt at a joke as it clearly wasn't

I'll get me coat and crawl out of this thread frown

WhiskyDisco

Original Poster:

913 posts

81 months

Monday 12th February
quotequote all
VSKeith said:
What's the car, age, mileage and purchase cost?

What additional mileage is the dealer saying is worth £1000?
The car is a Q3. I think it's a 2017 and the mileage was 60k

The charge is £1 a mile and it's 1000 miles.

macron

10,748 posts

173 months

Monday 12th February
quotequote all
£1/ mile is hardly fair as a thousand miles.wont have devalued it by that much.

Citizens advice. Now!

They want the grand to spend on fixing it, and will bang it back out at whatever it was up for when she paid. 1000 miles.qont be relevant.