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disaster with Alfa purchase!

1 month warranty... im pretty sure thats illegal.

30 day warranties are common in Scotland, not sure aout the legalities though, Scottish motoring law has some real funny quirks, thats why English lawyers will not usually get involved in Scottish based cases.
 
If you want dunlop then why not pay the difference..

In all honesty any average trader will most likely put budgets on (I have seen £30K plus cars with budget taiwanese tyres) and asking for anything more will probably just get up his nose.
 
Who is paying for your local garage's pre and post inspections?
 
Talk to the trading standards officer in your area. As an earlier forum member said the car is not fit for purpose, so speak to the TS's quickly. Good luck, too many garages get away with this kind of crime and that is what it is, they are stealing your money.
 
Talk to the trading standards officer in your area.

if he is going to fix it to our satisfaction i think thats OK. this is his chance to sort it; if he messes up now we wont be asking again and will just pursue via the official channels, but hopefully it wont be an issue.

he says he will pay for the inspections, of reasonable cost (not AA priced ones) so local garage is what we need - but finding one who is willing to put the faults in writing is prooving difficult... so we need to find some sort of solution to that;

good call about paying the difference depending on what tyres he offers - will do that if needed.
 
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so local garage is what we need - but finding one who is willing to put the faults in writing is prooving difficult... so we need to find some sort of solution to that;

Take it to a top class MOT station, would the failure sheet not suffice as work that needed to be done? Just have a word in the testers ear as to your problems and tell him to go to town on it I'm sure they will be more than sympathetic. Either that or take up the offer you mentioned earlier of the VOSA inspection.

I know people that could help but they are all in Ayrshire, which may look a tad suspicious.
 
Being pedantic here - but could the garage potentially fit part-worn tyres or ask for a contribution for brand new ones to be fitted?

I agree that the faults need to be sorted out fairly, but it'd be unrealistic to expect them to replace used/worn tyres with brand new, premium brand ones on a ~ £2000 car.

I hope they sort out all the other issues painlessly :)

Will
 
Personally, I would let VOSA decide the inspection station in a mutually suitable location.

That protects you and the dealer and gives the only legal inspection should it go to court.

You need to find a middle ground here and having the governing body involved is the answer as the dealer isn't going to fight them - especially as they already are involved at MOT level. You have concerns over the MOT given so you are within your rights to insist on independent inspection at the requirements of the law.
 
Personally, I would let VOSA decide the inspection station in a mutually suitable location.

thing is there are a few things that may not actually fail the MOT but ideally we would like fixed as they are at the end of there life apparenty. if i take it to VOSA i expect the garage would be seriously pi$$ed off and will only fix what they really HAVE to and also wont do extra stuff like extend the warranty..... i'm trying to keep things as friendly as possible at the moment and i'm also willing to compromise to help them avoid costs that they dont need to spend - all i want is what it should of been in the 1st place.

after speaking to another garage, plan now is to take it to them to get MOT'd, this way we will have a list of things its failed on and a list of things that are very dodgy on the advisaries. then the garage who sold it will fix these things and then the car be re-MOT'd by the same garage again to confirm its now fixed. i dont expect them to fix everything that is dodgy on the car, but expect it to be safe now and have nothing that is about to break safety-wise in the next few months which will be on the advisaries. advisaries that are not that important or will last a good while still i dont expect them to fix.
 
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garage has agreed to fix list of problems presented by the new failed MOT cert & additional issues. i want to make sure i'm going to be covered since if i hand car over to him i cant pursure VOSA anylonger.....

does anyone have any advice on what to put in an agreement/handover letter that i'd like them to sign upon handover, apart from obvious "i blah blah agree to fix blah blah on xxx vehcile" etc etc

cheers
 
Sorry to hear of your woes. Do I understand correctly - you bought the car with a fresh MOT from the same dealer that sold you the car - and you can now show them a failed MOT certificate - is it an extensive list of items on the new fail?
To me this sounds very dodgy and I would want nothing more to do with the dealer - I would suggest that either they refund the money and take the car away or it goes to VOSA and trading stds. Its one thing to have a couple of issues with a used car but quite another to pass it on with a dodgy MOT. If that is the way they operate then what happens when the repairs are not up to standard? Once they have done some repairs you will have no chance of your money back.
 
Sorry to hear of your woes. Do I understand correctly - you bought the car with a fresh MOT from the same dealer that sold you the car - and you can now show them a failed MOT certificate - is it an extensive list of items on the new fail?
To me this sounds very dodgy and I would want nothing more to do with the dealer - I would suggest that either they refund the money and take the car away or it goes to VOSA and trading stds. Its one thing to have a couple of issues with a used car but quite another to pass it on with a dodgy MOT. If that is the way they operate then what happens when the repairs are not up to standard? Once they have done some repairs you will have no chance of your money back.

discussions with the garage have been good so far so i'm confident that they will fix what we agree to. i just want them to sign some sort of document.

vosa isnt going to be the best option for us as thgat will seriously pi$$ them off and they still need to replace the key, trim, + all the items that are not necessarily MOT failiure items but things serious enough that they have agreed to fix. if i go to VOSA all i'll get is the MOT items done.

any messing around when the handover happens/argument about signing the letter etc then i'll basically tell them to go on their way and i will just go via VOSA.

any further advice on the contents of the letter would be appreciated as i hope to write it tonight

cheers

d
 
I would be inclined to recap the whole story so far detailing what you have mutually agreed to be repaired and in what time frame, mention that its under this basis and verbal assurances received (write them down) that you return the car to them.

Id imagine its wholly possible (likely) that they may not be prepared to sign anything, expecting you to trust their word, and if your feeling is that they will not try and do the dirty, this should be enough along with a copy of the letter. I would ask them to read it before handing the keys over and get the name of the person who reads it.

Ultimately, it appears they mean to try and put right the car, and so long as you dont expect any significant degree of betterment, all appears fair to me. All IMHO of course!.
 
Detail the nature of your complaint and list the previously agreed items that required to be attended to.

Make another point of ensuring that they repair any other item required by the MOT inspection using OEM parts and proper procedure.

Add in any salient point you wish but keep everything concise and without any ambiguity.

Finally, make two copies and have both signed and dated in the presence of a witness. Retain a copy and supply a copy to the dealer.

This document will be the basis of any further challenge so it has to be right.
 
I suppose you could word the letter as a timeline of events:
1. bought car with 12 months MOT from you date xx
2. discovered serious faults with the car date yy - after covering only 300 miles as set out in the attachment to this letter
3. preferred solution from you is a complete refund and return the car - this was requested date zz
4. you (garage) refused this request and made an offer to put all the faults right to my (SS) satisfaction
5. you (SS) agree to the garage remedying all defects listed in the attachment to this letter conditional upon the work being completed by date xx; using genuine OEM parts and subject to a further inspection and re-MOT by 3rd party garage by date qq.
6. In the event that the work is not completed to a satisfactory standard or by the date above then a full refund will be given.
7. Subject to the remedial work being carried out on time and to an acceptable standard you (SS) will not provide any further details to VOSA or trading standards.
 
and by the way I agree with you - if they will not sign (and it should be the proprietor who signs not the receptionist) I would walk and just go the VOSA + trading stds route and reject the car - not sure if it would be as not fit for purpose or misrepresented - trading stds will advise.
Thinking about it a bit more - have you called trading stds and got their advice on your rights of rejection and refund vs repair - they may have some advice on the content of the letter - as I am pretty sure that you will substantially weaken your case for a refund if you allow the garage to go ahead and attempt to repair the car.
 
I am pretty sure that you will substantially weaken your case for a refund if you allow the garage to go ahead and attempt to repair the car.

If they breach the terms of a signed document in witness then this is a technical breach of contract. Coupled with the MOT situation it makes for a very strong case rather than a weakened one.

The end game is a car that is repaired as agreed and made safe or a refund - however messy THAT gets.

In my opinion, a carefully drafted binding document provides this end game either way for Derek. Remember that the dealer's refusal to sign the document is as powerful an argument as failing to make the terms of the signed document. It will be the witness that is the key.
 
If they breach the terms of a signed document in witness then this is a technical breach of contract. Coupled with the MOT situation it makes for a very strong case rather than a weakened one.

The end game is a car that is repaired as agreed and made safe or a refund - however messy THAT gets.

In my opinion, a carefully drafted binding document provides this end game either way for Derek. Remember that the dealer's refusal to sign the document is as powerful an argument as failing to make the terms of the signed document. It will be the witness that is the key.

yes I agree with you - what I meant was that generally alowing a repair to be attempted (ie without a signed document) will weaken the case for a refund.
 
I'd think that , in the eyes of a court , by giving them a chance to repair and make good something that was "not of merchantable quality" , you would be seen as having been fair and reasonable .

If they either refuse or fail to bring the car up to a merchantable standard , then it probably strenghtens your case : if they , the dealer , can't fix the car , what chance do you , a private buyer , have ?

Good luck .
 

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