Hi. First time posting so sorry if in the wrong area. I need a bit of advice on whether to go down the rejection route on a vehicle I bought 2 weeks ago from an approved Skoda dealer. Its a used 2020 Octavia SEL SE 1.5  with lots of extras. Its a demonstrator vehicle with 11k on the clock. I was in a rush collecting the vehicle as had to be back from work so didn't test drive the car. (silly I know but I had driven a different vehicle a couple of days before with same engine). So I part-x and bought with redundancy money so no finance.  When I got the car home I noticed a completely different body panel colour. It was raining when I got the car and quite dull but in good light it's quite obvious. Anyway dealer has agreed to respray three panels so that they blend. I did say I wouldn't have bought the vehicle had I noticed  I though they check these things? Anyway the next day I picked the kids up from school and it was hot. Tried to put Aircon on and the screen froze. Couldn't do anything. Not even Laura was responding. The system rebooted itself whilst driving about 10 mins later. Seems ok apart from none of my settings ever save which is v annoying.  But the worst is the hesitation on startup and sometimes the engine appears to run fast. Mpg is terrible at early 30s despite long motorway drive in eco mode. Then last Friday the car stalled (not first time) whilst turning into a road, in the middle of a junction with oncoming traffic and with the kids in the back. Was very scary and immediately got in touch with dealer. Car has been in 7 days now and they are saying waiting for a software fix from Skoda. After reading about the issues of this 1.5 engine and bearing in mind only had the car 2 weeks (1 sat at the dealership) would I be wise to reject and do I have good case for it? I've lost all confidence in the car and not sure I can accept / learn to live with all these problems. Yet I really like the car.

That car will have already been rejected once for sure and just punted on to the next victim.

 

Somebody should start a register with the registration/vin numbers of rejected vehicles and the faults they had.

 

I'm not sure if you have the same rights of rejection for a used car than a new one, however being in posession of information about it having been rejected for the self same faults would give you a really strong case.

Edited 10 July, 20214 yr by J.R.

On Skoda used/approved you have a 30 day/1000 mile no quibble exchange policy.

 

worth looking into it and make sure you are still within the 30 days 

Edited 10 July, 20214 yr by Defenderben

29 minutes ago, J.R. said:

That car will have already been rejected once for sure and just punted on to the next victim.

 

Somebody should start a register with the registration/vin numbers of rejected vehicles and the faults they had.

 

I'm not sure if you have the same rights of rejection for a used car than a new one, however being in posession of information about it having been rejected for the self same faults would give you a really strong case.

To be honest I reckon it’s had a crash and not fixed properly, the mismatched panels are a big hint there. The smaller software glitches might be what other people are experiencing but if it’s been pranged that could explain the engine problems and body damage quite easily - it’s clearly not been fixed properly and the sort of person who wouldn’t care if it had been fixed properly is the sort of person who wouldn’t get the software updates needed to get rid of the glitches. 
Probably a fleet owner who in my experience treat their cars like crap. 
There’s no way I’d keep a car that’s had body damage and not sorted properly - mismatched panels on the outside - what’s been bodged underneath where you can’t see it?

Mismatched panels , and all those S/W glitches. Bin it and move on. If your dead set on one and i know they look good, practical etc. Go to another dealer , check the head unit code and S/W version.

If its a D unit ( You will see pics on other threads) and the S/W is at least 1803 version , you might just get a goodun.

I have a D unit and had your problems but since 1803 mostly all is fixed. Sat nav and clima niggles still there but NO FREEZING.

Running 1803 for over 6 weeks now

Is rejection even an option on a second hand vehicle?

Yes it's an option looking at various sites plus Skoda does have the 30 day no quibble guarantee but probably not worth the paper it's written on. I guess is depends on how good Lookers are. 

So just had an update from the garage. They couldn't do the update (after almost 2 week wait) as it's had a recall for the head unit. No idea how long I will have to wait. I asked whether the engine issue been sorted and they said they could find no fault. They said am I used to stop/start technology?  I told them I used to drive a Seat Leon and no issues with stop/start. In fact it wasn't working at all when I had the car along with numerous other things. Feels like I'm wasting my time with this. They've said I can collect car and fix head unit at later date. 

Reject! Without a second thought!  

2 hours ago, Ajdude said:

Reject! Without a second thought!  

Yes I think I will. Just typing up the letter to drop off tomorrow but I'm keeping the courtesy car until I get my money back. I think it's reasonable?

18 minutes ago, Wgms said:

Yes I think I will. Just typing up the letter to drop off tomorrow but I'm keeping the courtesy car until I get my money back. I think it's reasonable?

Hi Wgms, welcome to the forum. A great pity re your problems. I agree it's not unreasonable you keep their loan vehicle until they have refunded yours - but make sure you don't have your dealer (stealer?) try to do the same thing I had happen when my Octavia had a warranty issue! The manager at a certain Skoda dealership in Ewell, Surrey, threatened to report my loan vehicle as stolen when I refused to return it unless I had written confirmation that the faults had been fixed!

Needless to say, I immediately moved to a different dealership for the remainder of the warranty period.

Good luck.    

40 minutes ago, Wgms said:

Yes I think I will. Just typing up the letter to drop off tomorrow but I'm keeping the courtesy car until I get my money back. I think it's reasonable?

Every dealership has debit card machines, as well as take your money, they can refund it.  (Someone may need to enter an authorisation code to prevent accidental refunds) but using the machine should only take few seconds longer than they took any payment or deposit off you.

 

If there are faults, and a 30 day no quibble guarantee, I can see no reason why you would need to wait for a refund.   If they suggest a delay simply remind them you (part) paid with a card, and same card machine can do refunds.

 

 

I rejected a used car I bought through Lookers, similar thing, it spent 2 weeks out of the first 4 sitting in the garage. It pays to strike in that initial 30 day period. 

 

Email the letter to the principal or whoever he asks you to send it to, drop off all the documents for the car you're rejecting and hand them their courtesy car back. Try to take a debit card refund as they'll mess about sending a cheque otherwise. 

So I called the sales manager this morning to let him know my intention to reject. He has said I haven't given them the opportunity to fix it. This is despite its been in 2 weeks and they didn't fix it. I've sent the letter anyway detailing the many faults but I can see this probably going to court.  

Update to above. Just had a call from Looker and they have accepted the rejection. Thought they might drag it out but pleasantly surprised. I'm going to stay away from the 1.5 engine which is a pity as not much choice. 

Happy for you @Wgms Now to find something else. I went for a Superb and all I can say about it is…it’s Superb. 

Update to update. They are holding back 1k until I have sent them the V5. So ended up onto DVLA on a web chat. It was as helpful as a chocolate teapot. All he could say was they are sent within 5 days and that it was issued 29th June. I pointed out that the dealer  might have put my old address on it where I used to live 8 years ago.  (The salesperson had only worked there a week and said they take care of everything) and it was a new online system. I thought it was odd as I wasn't given any paperwork. What a complete nightmare.

22 hours ago, Wgms said:

Update to update. They are holding back 1k until I have sent them the V5. So ended up onto DVLA on a web chat. It was as helpful as a chocolate teapot. All he could say was they are sent within 5 days and that it was issued 29th June. I pointed out that the dealer  might have put my old address on it where I used to live 8 years ago.  (The salesperson had only worked there a week and said they take care of everything) and it was a new online system. I thought it was odd as I wasn't given any paperwork. What a complete nightmare.

Hi Wgms, hopefully your V5 will get to you shortly - my wife recently joined the Skoda clan with a Mk3 Fabia, the salesman did say that the DVLA was experiencing some delays in issuing new V5s - she got hers a little over two weeks after taking delivery. 

I got a V5 for a change of car in 4 days last week, that was done online initially and I got the actual printed form 4 working days later. 

On 10/07/2021 at 17:26, J.R. said:

That car will have already been rejected once for sure and just punted on to the next victim.

 

Somebody should start a register with the registration/vin numbers of rejected vehicles and the faults they had.

 

I'm not sure if you have the same rights of rejection for a used car than a new one, however being in posession of information about it having been rejected for the self same faults would give you a really strong case.

100% reject. It will have been rejected already. Read the Consumer Rights Act.  Tell the dealership the problem. I'll they can't fix, which they won't be able too, write your I tension to reject and do so within 30 days. You should get a full refund

This is a useful page to bookmark = https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/problems-with-a-new-or-used-car-your-consumer-rights/# . In fact, I find the whole Honest John site to be worthwhile, and when you ask a question in my experience they always reply.

21 hours ago, Sir_Ron_Norris said:

This is a useful page to bookmark = https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/problems-with-a-new-or-used-car-your-consumer-rights/# . In fact, I find the whole Honest John site to be worthwhile, and when you ask a question in my experience they always reply.

Very interesting. One problem is if the car is bought on finance, such as a PCP. In that case, the finance company needs to be informed that the car is being rejected, you then need to request how the car is to be returned and then from the time of rejection the car must not be used. I'm not certain how the owner will recover the contribution he/she has made towards the cost.