falsely advertised car with garage

thekooman

hello all!
just need some advice. bought a car 6 months ago from a garage with a 6 month warranty. its a VW Golf and was advertised as a "TDI 130BHP"(130 brake horse power). I didn't know much about checking it out but the badge on the back is 'red D red I' meaning it is 130BHP.

low and behold i checked the book a few weeks back and its only 100BHP. Also got it scanned and it is definitely 100BHP. So I bought a car that should have been much cheaper(a thousand or so!) and i am done out of 30 BHP.

I rang the sales guy and told him the story. Now, to be fair i think he didn't know it either. it must have been rebadged before he got it. he was sound about it and he offered another 3 months warranty(OPTION 1) on top of the 6 months warranty. he also said that if i traded with him again, he would give me a price for a 130BHP instead of the 100BHP.(OPTION 2) I don't live in Dublin any more and would rather not go with option 2.

Should i go with this or as I gave him another option, should he give me, lets say, the difference(€) between a 100BHP and 130BHP car? At the time, the car was 13600 where as a 100BHP would have been around 12500+.

any ideas guys would be welcomed. Option 1 might be the best bet or is there an alternative. the 6 months warranty is up in 3 weeks.

EL WOG

Well the car was falsely advertised and u are entitled to money back, replacement or repair according to the law, the only thing is that you found out six months after sale, so don’t know if this still applies. And you say that the difference between them is about a grand, as far as I know, 3 months warranty does not come close to costing a grand; I would not go for that either. The last thing, if he says he will give you the trade in price of the above, he will give you no bargaining room that you would normally get, I would try for the grand in cash and last resort, a letter stating he will give you the 1 grand trade extra.

bullrunner

contact the advertising standards authority.

Option 2 he offered you is a disgrace...he will be making more money off you for retrading in the car and buying another from him...


I would not deal with this guy again.

The only way to stamp out chancers like this is to report the guy !

TheMonster

small claims court - know it doesn't stretch to 1K but tgink you coul dget 600/700 - will only cost you a few quid and can't see how you wouldn't win. Even a threat of it might be sufficent.

thekooman

will ring yer man in awhile and let you know how it goes. Will try for the difference in the 2 types of cars else that he buys the car back off me for what a 130BHP would have been worth at this stage.(~12500, have put alot of mileage on it! :rolleyes: )

nearlythere1

Cant see youre entitled to a replacement car. Damages in smalls claim court is the option, just go for the max. But be sure about your figures, how can you prove the difference?. I think that if there is no exact frugure that you can say that you are entitled to then the small claims court does not take it on as far as I know.
The extra warranty seems not a bad option, but can the thing be done by further negotitation.
By the way it seems there is an admission of liability in what they have said so far anyway, so there is no problem there.
The small claims court doesnt mean you end up in court, if it can deal with it the garage will pay up early without a hearing.

RainyDay

bullrunner wrote:

contact the advertising standards authority.

It's nothing to do with the ASAI. They are a non-statuatory body made up of advertising industry insiders who regulate their own industry. They have no legal powers - their only real power is name-and-shame.

TheMonster wrote:

small claims court - know it doesn't stretch to 1K but tgink you coul dget 600/700 - will only cost you a few quid and can't see how you wouldn't win. Even a threat of it might be sufficent.

Small Claims Court limit is now €2,000 - see here

Claims cannot be made in the Small Claims Court for debts, personal injuries or breach of leasing agreements. The procedure is designed to deal with consumer claims up to 2,000 euro.