Bought a lemon - what are my rights?

[redblade]

took delivery of our new black GTI 7 months ago - the car was an import but Im not going to name the dealer YET.

1. radio not working
2. one of the knobs and two buttons on the radio not illuminating red
3. paddle shift not working.
4. rear interior lights not working
5. headlights remain on at all times
6. cruise control not working
7. drivers side rear window worked in reverse

All of the above was fixed at my local VW dealer under warrantee including a new window motor and various electric modules.

Then a month ago I noticed the roof (where the roof meets the gutters) begin to bubble up. So back to the dealers body shop
Very unhelpful, told me the car was not on the system and told me to take the car to where I got it (200 miles away).
Then got the car registered with VW (after much hassle). This morning back to a different dealers (very helpful) -
Measured the paint depth all over the car and it turns out the roof has 3 times as much paint on it than standard, the rear quarters  and doors were also not standard depth, the tailgate was OK. The car had been repaired at some time. Waiting for a VW UK inspection but frankly Im expecting VW to reject the claim.

What are my legal rights?

Ideally I want to reject the car and get my money back - what do you think?

[AlanH]

I would think that you have a very good case under the Sale of Goods Act (see link below). The important thing is to keep a list of all paperwork detailing the defects, relevant photographs, any paperwork from the supplier and dealer and so on. Don't waste any more time - if you're going to reject the car under the Sale of Goods Act as not of merchantable quality and not fit for purpose, then start writing that letter now. I'd also spend some time Googling The Sale of Goods Act to be clear about your rights. Good luck!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/guides_to/law_goods.shtml

[TeddyKGB]

Very much agree.

Where did you buy it from?

[caddy vantastic]

If the car has been resprayed VW will reject the claim unfortunately. Imported vehicles are a nightmare to sort out. A certain large firm in slough mentioning no names were the worst culprits for bad imports.

[Cass]

Think you have left it too long to reject this after 7 months. Best you can hope for is getting things put right. You may well get some compensation if the car has been damaged/repaired but you will need to prove this - only way you can do that is to have it independently inspected. You need to be talking to your importer NOW.

Useful link here:

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/faq.htm?id=43

Best of luck.

Cass

[redblade]

Thanks for your input guys - I have already accepted that this is going to be a world of pain, but I wont name the dealer just yet.

You never know - Yes sir, you car has had an extensive bodywork repair, no problem, here is a full refund or if sir would prefer, a brand new car!     CARLSBERG DON’T SELL CARS BUT IF THE DID..............
 

[Rhyso]

it wouldn't be a Golf GTI 

[08micsta]

Wow. All I can say is that I wish you the best of luck

[Horney]

Just an interesting point to add to this. Just because the car has been repainted in places doesn't mean it's been in bang after leaving the factory. Especially as you state the roof has had work.

I have a mate who works for a large car building firm and his job is to re touch cars that come off the line with defects. They quite often have to repaint entire panels due to mismatched colours or slight orange peel etc etc. I'm pretty sure they don't bare metal it first either.

Now he is doing this day in, day out so imagine how many cars leave the factory with more paint layers in places than they should in a perfect world. Now if you took one of these cars for a refund they would have to give it to you as the paintwork was done in the factory on the date of manufacture. I'm sure they'll be a secret record somewhere of which cars have had to be done to avoid these sorts of problems.

Nick

[redblade]

Nick

according to the warranty guy at the dealers, if additional work has to be done on the production line, the whole car goes through the process again, so the paint will be thicker but consistent over the whole car.