We are currently having a dispute with a local garage over a car purchased from them just over a year ago and I am looking for any advice on how to proceed with our case.

The car is a Renault Clio 1.2 and was purchased 13 months ago and had 9K on the clock at the time. Within 2 weeks of us having the car it developed a problem starting. It would take anything between 4

 

Sorry to hear of your problems and this is probably irrelevant.
My wife has a Clio 1.4. - 18 months old , had it from new.
If I pressure wash it or it rains hard - intermittently the car is a b***er to start.
Think the water gets into the electrics. One day I shall get round to spraying them

 

Lee,

go here http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/saleands...dsupply.htm#sga downlaod the PDF called "Short guide for consumers" and have a read.

If there are bits you think are relevant to your case print it out and quote it to the dealer, after reading it you will probably then know more about the sale of goods act than the dealer.

I believe the car should be covered as the fault was reported within the warranty and they have failed to fix it. You could argue that the dealer knew of the fault before the sale and the goods were therefore unfit to be sold which means you will be entitled to a full refund (I think).

Also contact you Citizens Advice Bureau and also you could try your local trading standards and see if others have complained about the dealer and find out if they have a history.

 

Also look here:

Office of Fair Trading advice on buying cars
http://www.oft.gov.uk/Consumer/Your+Rights...opping/cars.htm

 

I would not struggle with this any more. You want a refund now as the goods are not fit for the purposes for which they were sold for nor of a satisfactory quality. Put this all in writing and the links above are a very good starting point. You have nothing to worry about in regards to the expiration of the warranty as this problem has been ongoing. If you get no joy please check both your car as well as contents insurance and if you are with a decent company you will have free legal cover. This should cover any costs as long as they think that there is a 51% or greater chance of success. HTH

 

We need that system they have in the US "lemon tree" or something like that its called, would solve all the problems, if it goes wrong more than 3 times in the first year or it spends a certain amount of time in the garage they have to give u a new one.
But as we aint in the US im affraid i dont know what u can do. I guess uve tried asking for a permenant replacment?

 

drive it through their showroom window

or

Put a sign on the car and park it outside the garage. Go in the showroom and shout "DO NOT BUY A CAR FROM HERE.... " Tell everyone in the showroom your story and how badly you have been treated.

They'll soon want to see you gone and will sort you out

 

A colleague of my dad's bought a new Clio or Megane from a franchised dealer - he had no end of problems with it, all sorts of things going wrong. He had it for about 12 mths, but complained so much that in the end the dealer gave him a new (better as models had changed) replacement.

I was astonished, but it does show that if you're persistent, you can get lucky.

 

If it's on HP your finance company may well go into bat for you

 

good luck with it