Rejecting car

[Dickster]

Now then.

I bought an Ocatvia vRS (II) in August. Ex-showroom, ex-demo, 2k miles, 1 dealer owner thing and about 8 months old.

Had lots of little problems but mainly caused by dealer.... Now found out the whole front end has been re-painted and had a new bumper. The paint has started peeling at an alarming rate and there are lots of parts put of line on the front too. Original dealer has admitted this and will pay for local dealer to fix. Local dealer doesn't want to as they say it could cost quite a bit.

I have told original dealer I want a different car and am rejecting it as it is not as described. They have offered to repair it (again???) themselves until I am satisfied. I say NO!!

Anyone else had similar dealings and how they go about it?

I have an email into Citizens Advise and also one in Auto Express. I won't stop until I get a replacement car. I ain't willing to accept I paid

[Tom_vRS]

To reject a car I think you have to give them reasonable opportunity to fix it to a satisfactory standard.

I'd let them have a go at repairing it. A good bodyshop repair is nothing to be worried about, and finish should be as good as OEM. IF the repair isn't up to scratch, then reject the car.

Another thing to remember is that it wasn't brand new. If you didnt ask at the time whether or not it had been accident damaged, then it hasn't been mis-sold.

However, still get some legal advice, I know nothing!

[Lance]

Dickster

Unfortunately I can't help but would second Tomvrs's advice, as in getting legal advice, or/and perhaps give 'What Car' a call as they love stories like this and often get involved to help the dis-satisfied customer.

Trouble is with getting opinions from forums, is that they are often just that and in a situation like this you need facts, not opinions. Hence talking to someone who has legal knowledge.

Feel free to name and shame the dealer though as I'm certain no one from here would want to deal with them.

Good luck mate and I hope you get a good result from this matter

Lance

[Dickster]

Cheers. I was leaving the naming n shaming as a later weapon! I have put it in the west midlands dealer part though.....

I'll give What Car a shout, ta.

Dickster.

[EddyH]

Give Consumer Direct a call, they were very helpful when my stepdad needed to reject a car.

[ric04vrs]

what would concern me would be how bad was the damage to require the front end to be painted , from what you're saying with regard the panels out of alignment , it will have had numerous panels replaced and may still be bent underneath these panels , maybe get an independant vehicle inspection off the RAC or AA

[Chris197]

At least they are owning up to the damage/repair.

I bought a used Fiesta from Ford a few years back. It was around 8 months old when I got it (paid 7K).

I booked it in to have the steering checked (clonking noise when turning the steering wheel). The dealer phoned me to say they would not repair under warranty because the car had been involved in a crash which had damaged the steering:eek:

After hearing this I done a history check on the car and found it had been involved in three accidents and used to be owned by Hertz rental:eek: This was a Ford approved used car:mad:

Anyway Ford said it was up to me to prove the car had be involved in accidents before I bought it. They were basically saying I crashed it after buying it, had the body repaired and then brought it back to them to have the steering repaired.

Im ashamed to say I had to px that car (didnt like the thought of someone else being lumbered with it) but there was no other route to take.

RE your car - I would give them the chance to repair it, you can always reject it if you are not happy with the work.

Good luck, hope you get it sorted ASAP.

[Jono76]

Dickster - Any idea why the front end had to be repaired/re-painted??

I work at an accident repair centre and can agree that a decent bodyshop would repair the car to OEM standards and you should have no problems!! If it was me I would get the car repaired (at the dealers expense obviously!!) at an independant repairer but make sure the job is not recorded on any insurance registers as this could possibly effect re-sale values!!

[Stuart_J]

Unfortunately I also believe that as the law stands the dealer must be given the right to make good the damage. If this is the case get an independant Engineers report BEFORE they do any work. The AA /RAC can do this but you might find the assesor used by Insurance companies for crashed cars is cheaper. I recently bought my pranged Octy back from the Insurance co & the assesor was about £50 cheaper than the AA for the report after it was repaired.

If you cant afford this take it to a good quality repair shop & ask them if they can stick it on the ramp & give it a once over for a few pound notes.

Also get from the dealer details of the original repair prior to the Engineers report, he will have details somewhere, also might be worth contacting the previous owner.

You will then have as full a picture as possible of what was damaged before they repair it

A good repairer will be able to repair the car to be as good if not better than new I say that because we had an Escort repaired after a rear end shunt that we had owned from new, it drove much better after the repair so must have been out of line from new.

Once repaired take it back to the original engineer for a check over, I would also expect the dealer to reimburse all your out of pocket expenses & give you a guarantee of a year at least on the repairs.

If you manage to reject the car PLEASE PM me how, we recently purchased a brand new car & have just found evidence of repairs, Im currently awaiting the manufacturers explanation !!

Good Luck

[bryan]

To reject a car I think you have to give them reasonable opportunity to fix it to a satisfactory standard.QUOTE]

I could be wrong but think that only stands if the car is "faulty". In this case they sold him a damaged car without telling about the repaired damage.

As I said I could be wrong but :confused:

[It aint no taxi]

Best advice I can give is that the dealer should be given the opportunity to get the car fixed correctly, but if you agree insist that the car is repaired by a Skoda approved bodyshop. The other thing to do is to call Skoda customer services asking them to help you, this will put a different slant on things with the dealer even if you decide to continue down the road of rejecting the car.

[~~****~~]

I must admit I bought a fabia, couldn't see anything wrong with it. Picked it up then noticed that the paint wasn't quite right later on, I noticed initally on the rear door having had the rear bumper off I now know that the rear quarter panel and bumper have also been resprayed. Spoke to the dealer and was basically told you had chance to look at it before you bought it...bye. (Bye to my future custom for them!)

I've had lots of run ins over another Fabia with them and decided that I paid a reasonable price for the car and it drives OK so decided to hang on to it. I must admit it been a good car but I do wonder where I stand with the Skoda paintwork & perferation warranty (it's an approved car so I assume I'm covered).

As for rejecting a car the quicker you get the wheels in motion (excuse the pun) the better, speak with consumer direct, as previously stated, they will advise the best course of action. Also advise the finance company (if any). Skoda Customer Services will also help in increasing the dealers sense of urgency.

Good Luck.

[Dickster]

Cheers for these replies.

I did call Skoda customer service as soon as I found out and they basically said it's nothing to do with them; it's between me and the garage!

Regarding the quotes to let the garage repair it, I didn't want to do this as in my eyes they had had that chance and this is what was left! They were supposed to have used a Skoda approved bodyshop too. They did say my paint warranty wouldn't be affected but I wasn't prepared to find out in 4 years if it was or not.

The update is that they called me last wek saying they have sourced me a replacement!!! It has a few more miles on but has satnav instead so as long as it's mint I'm fine. No idea why they changed their minds unless they realised it was worse than they thought and I also mentioned Trading Standards to them too.

I do believe I had a fairly good case though and made sure they knew I wasn't going to back down.

We'll see if this new one is good or not.....

[Babs]

way hey

result, hopefully!

[Tom_vRS]

That sounds promising. How many miles is "a few"?

[Dickster]

That sounds promising. How many miles is "a few"?

Just under 5k so I think the SatNav offsets that nice enough.

[ric04vrs]

sounds like you may be getting a good result , just make sure its as spot on as it can be for a 5k miles car

[ChrisRs]

Just under 5k so I think the SatNav offsets that nice enough.

Good result. Accept it!!! Sat nav is worth

[dan123]

I agree, sounds like a good offer.

[cheezemonkhai]

Tell them you want to have the car inspected at their cost before you will accept the offer.