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Palfrem

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 11, 2005
Messages
2,965
Location
Solihull, near Birmingham
Car
W124 E36 AMG, G 300 GEL his, SLK 200 hers
Chaps

A bit of an update for all thosewho took the trouble to comment on the other thread. thanks for your support.

The salesman suggested I look at other cars in the group, in particular a Lexus GS 300.

I have suggested another Phaeton from dealer some 60 miles away that they get for me and we can discuss a bit of extra cash from me. This one is over £3K dearer.

No joy! They seem to have lost interest.

So, here is a copy of a note I have sent to their Brand Manager yesterday. I have not had the courtesy of a reply yet nor is he returning my calls.

If this is not sorted by Tuesday I plan to contact our local Trading Standards and VW Customer Services.

Perhaps ******** cars may need to take a hit on this deal to sort me out as clearly the vehicle was misrepresented (albeit unintentionally) and as such is in contravention of Sale of Goods Act never mind the VW 30 day exchange scheme.

I expect a diesel is the only real option . I had been looking for a petrol Phaeton for ages and yours was potentially the best one I had seen. That's why I bought it. The minor issue with the gear display and the dodgy phone install could have been fixed I'm sure.

Being reasonable man, I'm willing to consider spending a little more to get the 56 plate one we looked at - how about you propose a deal?

Failing that, I want a full refund of the invoice price, my plate put on retention, the insurance admin. charges to change cars again covered and a reasonable sum by way of compensation for the considerable amount of time I have wasted. There is also the time and effort needed to sort another car out.

As to Lexus, I don't care for Japanese cars as you know.

There is nothing on your web-site that floats my boat. Two VW Polos will not make me happy!

Please get back to me with your proposals asap as I rely on a car for work and will need to get into something over the Easter break.

Regards
 
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Chaps

See below, latest message from garage.

Not happy at all with that - where do I stand legally here?


I have been and spoken to Ashley and Phil who have agreed to take the Phaeton back from you and return to you your Mercedes. We will arrange for head office to reimburse the £3,175.00 that you gave us and will put your personal plate on the Phaeton on retention so you can then transfer it quickly and easily to the next car you buy.



If you want to pop in tomorrow we can exchange the registration documents and start the ball rolling. You will also need to get you insurance to swap you from the Phaeton back to the Mercedes at some point enabling you to re-tax it.



It’s a shame it hasn’t worked out but wish you all the best in seeking you next dream car.
 
How much are you out of pocket exactly? Wondering if its worth fighting or just taking it on the chin.
 
That seems reasonable , i agree with Sp!ke , sometimes its better to just chalk it up to experience ....

You have your old car back , you have your money back , what more do you really want ?

Sorry to hear it didn't work out with the VW.
 
Agreed - if they'll let you back out and not be out of pocket for all but minor expenses and inconvenience, I'd take it.
 
Your Mercedes will now have an additional two owners ......... them and you again.

Getting your car back should not be part of this conclusion.
 
I can't drive my car - no tax or insurance

It's the principle now I'm afraid - I want the invoice value back plus a few quid to cover my costs. They contracted to supply a 2 owner car not a 4 owner.

Already spoken to VW customer services - seems they have a "Luxury Car Division" that handles any complaints about Phaetons.

They will be in touch on Tuesday.
 
It's the principle now I'm afraid

Sleep on it before taking any action and weigh up the costs of doing so before doing so.

And most importantly, put the principle out of your mind. I doubt you will enjoy litigation and the cost of it, so only chase principles if you can afford to lose.
 
Jeez man I feel for you. Just have a great weekend. All this will be over by the Royal Wedding.
 
Whilst I don't support VW in their customer care, you've both lost out here. VW will have lost time = money devoted to a failed sale. If you got the money and Mercedes back, it's not too bad an outcome - albeit a very disappointing one. Let's see what happens Tuesday!
 
Your Mercedes will now have an additional two owners ......... them and you again.

Getting your car back should not be part of this conclusion.

That shouldn't be the case, possibly himself again as another owner. As a trade-in the car would never get registered to the dealer. If they hadn't sent anything off to DVLA (quite possible) then you may just get the whole V5 back.
 
Chaps

See below, latest message from garage.

Not happy at all with that - where do I stand legally here?


I have been and spoken to Ashley and Phil who have agreed to take the Phaeton back from you and return to you your Mercedes. We will arrange for head office to reimburse the £3,175.00 that you gave us and will put your personal plate on the Phaeton on retention so you can then transfer it quickly and easily to the next car you buy.



If you want to pop in tomorrow we can exchange the registration documents and start the ball rolling. You will also need to get you insurance to swap you from the Phaeton back to the Mercedes at some point enabling you to re-tax it.



It’s a shame it hasn’t worked out but wish you all the best in seeking you next dream car.

Don't think you will get better than this. I've been in this situation and lost the money I paid to have a tow bar fitted. The garage argued I could remove it if I wished and then added that they were not charging me for the mileage I had added over my few weeks of ownership.
Time to move on.
I would try to maintain a relationship with the garage (dealership group) as they may have exactly the car you want in stock next week.
 
It's worth waiting unril Tuesday I would think. I suspect that VW may have some clout here...
 
I can't drive my car - no tax or insurance

It's the principle now I'm afraid - I want the invoice value back plus a few quid to cover my costs. They contracted to supply a 2 owner car not a 4 owner.

Already spoken to VW customer services - seems they have a "Luxury Car Division" that handles any complaints about Phaetons.

They will be in touch on Tuesday.

Principles tend to be expensive and they always cost the holder! Good luck
 
That seems reasonable , i agree with Sp!ke , sometimes its better to just chalk it up to experience ....

You have your old car back , you have your money back , what more do you really want ?

Sorry to hear it didn't work out with the VW.

I would agree with Spike, Howard and others above - sometimes unfortunately we waste time and a lot of effort in changing a car, and sometimes it just doesn't work out well.

If you can get your own car back and not be out of pocket, I'd say fair enough. One is never likely to get compensation for inconveneience.

Is their Phaeton now going to show 6 owners, as well as your car showing 2 additional owners? I guess you could just hang on to the change of ownership dockets and show the next potential buyer that it was trivial ownership...

Good luck with it - sleep on it, see what the Luxury Car team propose on Tuesday (if anything).

Cheers,
Eddie
 
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Hello seems to me it's worth waiting for the call on Tuesday.

While it must be a complete pain in the what not...if you get you old merc back with no extra owners and the cash you added. They put you plate on retention and pay £20 say admin to your insurance to switch it? What more they can offer you o
I'm not sure....

It depends how hard you push and how far you want to go I guess? For me just get the merc back and waft away from the vw garage. It's a lump of metal at the end if the day and really not worth getting upset, stressed or worried about.

My wife Always says things happen for a reason and you Not being in a big passat must be for a reason.

Try to enjoy the long weekend and hope you get a favourable outcome on Tuesday.
 
Sorry to hear this deal went sour

I'd ask for the refund, but not your Mercedes back. Take the cash and source a car at your leasure, it may require going for a diesel, they are a rare rare car. Its not like getting an e320cdi

What about an audi A8? That might float your boat.
 
*** - They don't want to refund the invoice price
Given it's their c*ck-up they aren't being ever so helpful.

I have seen a diesel I like the look of and have suggested they buy it into their stock and I pay some of the difference.

Nothing will happen until Tuesday now though.
 
*** - They don't want to refund the invoice price

They will reverse the deal back to before it happened, you can't expect them to pay the whole cash invoice price and be left with your old car.

Perhaps you should've tried the trick of paying them £1million and them refunding the difference...
 
*** - They don't want to refund the invoice price
Given it's their c*ck-up they aren't being ever so helpful.

I have seen a diesel I like the look of and have suggested they buy it into their stock and I pay some of the difference.

Nothing will happen until Tuesday now though.

Contractually, I would expect the following to be true, I am not a lawyer though:

Phaeton costs X, Part exchange value Y, You paid Z. Contract between you and them is that they give you a phaeton, you give them the part-ex and £Z.

Contract is unfulfilled due to them misrepresenting the Phaeton, you are therefore entitled to reclaim your direct costs, which are the part-ex that they are returning to you and £Z. If they arranged insurance, tax and anything else that is tied to the deal and was paid for by you should probably get that back too.

They are unlikely to pay you interest, other expenses etc unless you carefully consider what would be reasonable, put it in writing and be willing to go all the way to small claims for it, after all they are losing money that they've already included in their expectations for this months sales...

If you're looking at another car in the group, use the fact that you are out of pocket as a bargaining tool. If you *never* want to deal with them again add up every penny of actual cost it's cost you (i doubt you'd get a court to grant a payment for your time and inconvenience) and hit them with it. If they're part of a big group it will just go to legal who will (if they're like any of the legal departments I work with) sit on it until the last possible day they can pay it without getting a CCJ. If they already have shedloads of CCJs (not unusual) then they'll sit on it until you get a warrant of execution and execute it.

If you think they care, believe me, the bigger the group the less they care - unless you're willing to name/shame (and then that legal department will want a piece of you) then as said elswhere, get as close to quits as you can then chalk it down to the "should have bought an S class" experience.
 

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