Gearbox failure

[Schuey]

Hand it back and get a full refund with compensation! I wouldn't want it bud!

What's the deal on that - I assumed you couldn't just hand a car back and expect a refund... Anyone have any thoughts?

Under the sale of goods act, it should be as described (A NEW GTI) which it clearly isn't so you can reject it and request a replacement or have a refund. Assuming you did not accept the £500 should be straight forward.

If you have accepted the £500 then the gearbox is the next issue. Under the sale of goods act it should be fit for purpose. So give them a chance to replace or repair. If repair fails then replace or a refund.

The bumper damage is really outside of the original issue, someone has been careless or negligent so it should be repaired and a goodwill gesture offered. The detail option would also be nice to agree on as well.

Personal opinion, I would have rejected it as soon as I'd known it had already been registered and asked for what I had ordered, a new car and got some further goodwill discount. (BTW Nothing wrong with a pre reg car, it's just not what you paid for)

[monkeyhanger]

Re the early registration - was it registered early in your name or are you the second owner on the V5 (registered in the garage's name first)?

[valvebounce]

Very sorry to hear about your troubles.

Was the car advertised as 'brand new, unregistered'? If so, it's hard to believe that they would have mistakenly pre-registered it, this is common practice in order to boost sales figures before the plate change in order for the dealer to meet their target. It sounds like you're saying that it was registered prior to your interest in purchasing it? If you contacted them for the first time after 1st March, and it was advertised as 'unregistered', this means they misrepresented/misadvertised the car and you would have a good claim for compensation.

There's some good advice on the Which http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/sale-of-goods-act site regarding consumer rights, rejecting items etc. and pre registered cars http://www.which.co.uk/cars/choosing-a-car/buying-a-car/buying-a-new-car/should-i-buy-a-pre-registered-car/

[mrzen]

Re the early registration - was it registered early in your name or are you the second owner on the V5 (registered in the garage's name first)?

It was registered early (21st Feb) by 'mistake', I'm the first owner on the doc and picked it up on around the 14th March... It was a brand new unregistered car, but it was ordered by the garage, not me, so I didn't have the wait.

I did take the £500 off and tried my luck with the DVLA (lots of photos of it in it's covers with a paper showing it was after 01 March..) DVLA wrote back saying there was nothing they could do, so I've just dropped it since I was loving the car so much and it doesn't show anyway... I think this one needs to be put to bed as I accepted the car at the time.

@Schuey - I think you are right, sale of goods act would protect me within 3 weeks, after that it's warranty work and they have the right to fix it.

We don't have lemon laws in this country like they do in the states unfortunately, so it needs to be a quarrel over whether the car is 'fit for purpose'... Now currently it is (apparently) as it has been fixed, if it continues to break down then I think I would have more of a case.

Re the paintwork, they need to get it back to the standard that I gave it to them in, and I will need to scrutinise it very carefully before accepting it back.

Alternatively, they could swap it for the 14 plate demonstrator 'R' they have out front and I would shut up...

[monkeyhanger]

Alternatively, they could swap it for the 14 plate demonstrator 'R' they have out front and I would shut up...

Shy bairns get nowt....

Doubt they'll do anything more for you now once the paintwork is up to standard, unless the gearbox goes again.

[mrzen]

Shy bairns get nowt....

I'll keep you posted...

[Simeon]

Sorry to hear of your troubles mate, but please tell me you edited you letter for the forum to say 'cock up' and didn't send to them

[mrzen]

Sorry to hear of your troubles mate, but please tell me you edited you letter for the forum to say 'cock up' and didn't send to them

Ha, yes of course, to save your blushes it said something much much worse than that... 

[mrzen]

Not too happy with response from them... No apology...

"Given all your comments regarding the damage found on your rear bumper, I can only assume it was caused by a 3rd party.  We are confident that it was not a member of our staff, you assure us it was not you or the Emergency Assist recovery driver, so it must have been a Customer on our premises.  Regardless, we are going to complete the repair for you.  I can give you my assurance that the work will be carried out to a very high quality standard.  I will not have a repair carried out by anyone other than the Bodyshop where your car is being repaired.  The quality of their workmanship is second to none and I have every confidence in them."

[JakeF]

Clearly a lot of ego floating around there, and their reluctance to apologise (and I'm sure in their mind, admit fault) is first on the list of how not to handle complaints well... It's a shame they are taking such an arrogant stance, as regardless of who damaged the body work, it was damaged while in their care so it should be put right as a matter of course and at the highest priority possible.

Saying all this, it's worth giving them this opportunity to get it right - and if they don't, it just increases the distance they'll fall when they get knocked off their high horse by you lodging formal complaints with VW UK and you local Trading Standards...