Car developed fault now dealer has went silent
Discussion
Hey all,
Wondering if anybody can point me in the right direction?
Bought a car from a used dealer at the start of December.
Car then developed a fault and went into limp mode and noticed a coolant leak.
Rang the dealer and he said no problem - I live far enough away from the dealer that he said to get my mechanic to sort the issue and send him the invoice.
Anyway mechanic has fixed the issue was a swirl flap fault and the coolant leak was a split hose but apart from that says it is a good car and the two faults are very common.
I have passed the invoice onto the dealer and a week has passed. He hasn't paid the mechanic and now won't take calls or respond to messages and the mechanic is badgering me looking paid.
I paid for the car via bank transfer and paid the deposit on my credit card.
What's my best course of action to chase the dealer as they will no longer take calls or respond to messages even though the car is in their stated 3 month warranty period.
Thanks!
Wondering if anybody can point me in the right direction?
Bought a car from a used dealer at the start of December.
Car then developed a fault and went into limp mode and noticed a coolant leak.
Rang the dealer and he said no problem - I live far enough away from the dealer that he said to get my mechanic to sort the issue and send him the invoice.
Anyway mechanic has fixed the issue was a swirl flap fault and the coolant leak was a split hose but apart from that says it is a good car and the two faults are very common.
I have passed the invoice onto the dealer and a week has passed. He hasn't paid the mechanic and now won't take calls or respond to messages and the mechanic is badgering me looking paid.
I paid for the car via bank transfer and paid the deposit on my credit card.
What's my best course of action to chase the dealer as they will no longer take calls or respond to messages even though the car is in their stated 3 month warranty period.
Thanks!
Edited by AlpineF30 on Friday 6th February 12:47
Reading this it sounds like a home goal.
Do you have anything in writing from the supplying dealer that they are happy for another garage/mechanic to perform the inspection and identify the fault(s), then the costs of the inspection, parts and labour to be confirmed to the supplying dealer and authorised to proceed and they will pay accordingly, who will they pay, the dealer directly on the receipt of an invoice or yourself and you have to be out of pocket.
Were these payment terms agreed, is there a number of days that they have to pay i.e. 30 days from invoice etc.
If you have none of this in writing it's going to be hard to prove that they have agreed to anything.
Who is the warranty with, them directly or a 3rd party, if a 3rd party I assume you contacted them first?
Do you have anything in writing from the supplying dealer that they are happy for another garage/mechanic to perform the inspection and identify the fault(s), then the costs of the inspection, parts and labour to be confirmed to the supplying dealer and authorised to proceed and they will pay accordingly, who will they pay, the dealer directly on the receipt of an invoice or yourself and you have to be out of pocket.
Were these payment terms agreed, is there a number of days that they have to pay i.e. 30 days from invoice etc.
If you have none of this in writing it's going to be hard to prove that they have agreed to anything.
Who is the warranty with, them directly or a 3rd party, if a 3rd party I assume you contacted them first?
Freakuk said:
Reading this it sounds like a home goal.
Do you have anything in writing from the supplying dealer that they are happy for another garage/mechanic to perform the inspection and identify the fault(s), then the costs of the inspection, parts and labour to be confirmed to the supplying dealer and authorised to proceed and they will pay accordingly, who will they pay, the dealer directly on the receipt of an invoice or yourself and you have to be out of pocket.
Were these payment terms agreed, is there a number of days that they have to pay i.e. 30 days from invoice etc.
If you have none of this in writing it's going to be hard to prove that they have agreed to anything.
Who is the warranty with, them directly or a 3rd party, if a 3rd party I assume you contacted them first?
Totally agree with what you are saying, unfortunately it's all done over the phone so have no solid evidence so it will be a game of my word against his.Do you have anything in writing from the supplying dealer that they are happy for another garage/mechanic to perform the inspection and identify the fault(s), then the costs of the inspection, parts and labour to be confirmed to the supplying dealer and authorised to proceed and they will pay accordingly, who will they pay, the dealer directly on the receipt of an invoice or yourself and you have to be out of pocket.
Were these payment terms agreed, is there a number of days that they have to pay i.e. 30 days from invoice etc.
If you have none of this in writing it's going to be hard to prove that they have agreed to anything.
Who is the warranty with, them directly or a 3rd party, if a 3rd party I assume you contacted them first?
Warranty was with them so no third party.
In theory its your mechanic's issue, if he did work on credit. In practise I'd just pay him, then keep at the dealer regularly to see if he pays out, and if he does, consider it a bonus.
The issue was always there, you'd bought a car from a long distance away. The dealer could get "funny" and say it needs to come back to him.
The issue was always there, you'd bought a car from a long distance away. The dealer could get "funny" and say it needs to come back to him.
Yeah, I'd sort it with the mechanic as he's not in any way responsible.
Then badger the dealer, I wouldn't be 'chalking it up to experience' that's for sure.
Plenty of ways to make life a bit more difficult for him if he doesn't play ball. Worst case for you is loss of £400. I'm the petty type that would ensure all I could to make sure his financial loss was more than that.
Then badger the dealer, I wouldn't be 'chalking it up to experience' that's for sure.
Plenty of ways to make life a bit more difficult for him if he doesn't play ball. Worst case for you is loss of £400. I'm the petty type that would ensure all I could to make sure his financial loss was more than that.
AlpineF30 said:
Huzzah said:
I'd keep the mechanic sweet and pay him.
How much do you need to recover from the dealer?
£400 so not the end of the world just a bit annoyingHow much do you need to recover from the dealer?
send a letter, then small claims.
AlpineF30 said:
Thanks all!
So an update. Totally agree with paying the mechanic so have settled the bill with him as it s not fair he is pulled into this s
t.
Will keep badgering the dealer at this point worst he can do is tell me to fk off but may as well make his life hard for a while.
Again, I assume you now have an invoice from the mechanic who has completed the work, you could ask him to put something in writing to effectively say the work was carried out after discussion with you and the supplying dealer.... blah blah blah, as long as he's not going to incriminate himself I think he'll be OK with that, plus you've just paid him so do it now while he's happy.So an update. Totally agree with paying the mechanic so have settled the bill with him as it s not fair he is pulled into this s
t.Will keep badgering the dealer at this point worst he can do is tell me to f
k off but may as well make his life hard for a while.Then stuff this invoice etc under the supplying dealers nose.
Your contractual relationship sits between your mechanic and yourself. Your mechanic is legally allowed to chase you for the outstanding invoice, as you instructed him, and not the dealer.
You then need to chase the Dealer, and dependent on what was said, and by whom, and what was written down will depend on how successful you are in any claim.
You need to send the Dealer a Letter of Claim, then if reimbursement is not forthcoming, then issue a MCOL claim via the small claims track against the Dealer, and go from there.
You were initiating that by part-paying for the car on a credit card, it may give you some s.75 protection - it may be difficult to argue that point.
This is a straight money claim from one person to the other in my mind.
You then need to chase the Dealer, and dependent on what was said, and by whom, and what was written down will depend on how successful you are in any claim.
You need to send the Dealer a Letter of Claim, then if reimbursement is not forthcoming, then issue a MCOL claim via the small claims track against the Dealer, and go from there.
You were initiating that by part-paying for the car on a credit card, it may give you some s.75 protection - it may be difficult to argue that point.
This is a straight money claim from one person to the other in my mind.
Edited by ADJimbo on Friday 6th February 20:48
If you paid a deposit by credit card for goods costing £100 - £30,000 your credit card company is equally liable for any claim you make against the supplying dealer.
Speak to CC company.
As regards MCOL county Court claim, defendants who know they are in the wrong often don't show in court. That doesn't mean an automatic win as the judge will still consider your evidence, mostly oral here.
Also, faced with a CCJ, some will pay up so as not to risk this ruining their credit. Others with multi CCJs already don't give a stuff.
First call though... your CC company and a claim in to them for your outlay.
Speak to CC company.
As regards MCOL county Court claim, defendants who know they are in the wrong often don't show in court. That doesn't mean an automatic win as the judge will still consider your evidence, mostly oral here.
Also, faced with a CCJ, some will pay up so as not to risk this ruining their credit. Others with multi CCJs already don't give a stuff.
First call though... your CC company and a claim in to them for your outlay.
Edited by DJMC on Friday 6th February 16:36
AlpineF30 said:
Thanks all!
So an update. Totally agree with paying the mechanic so have settled the bill with him as it s not fair he is pulled into this st.
Will keep badgering the dealer at this point worst he can do is tell me to fk off but may as well make his life hard for a while.
I was going to say pay the bill with the mechanic and then chase the dealer, if they wont communicate with you send a letter before action and if necessary then look at legal proceedings.So an update. Totally agree with paying the mechanic so have settled the bill with him as it s not fair he is pulled into this s
t.Will keep badgering the dealer at this point worst he can do is tell me to f
k off but may as well make his life hard for a while.But that will then end pretty much whatever support you would ever get from the dealer.
DJMC said:
If you paid a deposit by credit card for goods costing £100 - £30,000 your credit card company is equally liable for any claim you make against the supplying dealer.
Speak to CC company.
As regards MCOL county Court claim, defendants who know they are in the wrong often don't show in court. That doesn't mean an automatic win as the judge will still consider your evidence, mostly oral here.
Also, faced with a CCJ, some will pay up so as not to risk this ruining their credit. Others with multi CCJs already don't give a stuff.
First call though... your CC company and a claim in to them for your outlay.
I was wondering why that hadn't been suggested by anyone else.Speak to CC company.
As regards MCOL county Court claim, defendants who know they are in the wrong often don't show in court. That doesn't mean an automatic win as the judge will still consider your evidence, mostly oral here.
Also, faced with a CCJ, some will pay up so as not to risk this ruining their credit. Others with multi CCJs already don't give a stuff.
First call though... your CC company and a claim in to them for your outlay.
Edited by DJMC on Friday 6th February 16:36
Seems the obvious next step.
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