Could I sue this dealer?

Amtmann

I bought my car (a '96 Golf) from a dealer last July for 2,500 EUR.

Originally he priced it as 2,200; when I told him I wanted a three months engine and gearbox warranty he said that I would have to pay 2,500. If I only paid 2,200 I would get no three-month warranty.

I've since heard that that was illegal, as regardless of the price a dealer is obliged to give the three month warranty.

Can anyone substantiate this? If he lied to me, then I will sue for the 300, as he effectively conned me of my hard-earned money.

Thanks

cjt156

Do you have anything on paper to indicate the extra 300 was for the warranty? If so I'd say you have a case. I'd go direct to the dealer first though, give him a chance to pay up. Solicitors don't come cheap.

Edit to say yes; 3 mth warranty is obligatory AFAIK

Amtmann

cjt156 wrote: »

Do you have anything on paper to indicate the extra 300 was for the warranty? If so I'd say you have a case. I'd go direct to the dealer first though, give him a chance to pay up. Solicitors don't come cheap.

Edit to say yes; 3 mth warranty is obligatory AFAIK

No, I have nothing on paper unfortunately. It was priced on carzone, however, for 2200. I wonder, would that be any good?

Also, I don't think a solicitor would be necessary - surely this would fall under the jurisdiction of the small claims court?

Also, can you supply a link to where it states that a three month warranty is obligatory?

Amtmann

Hmm, I just rang the dealer pretending to be interested in a Polo he has for 2,300.

I asked if he'll include a three-month warranty and he said "no, we don't do three month warranties on anything under 2,500 but we do carry out a full service".

They seem pretty confident that there's no problem with their policy, don't they?

Atomic Pineapple

its probably not a simi registered garage?

if it was you could contact them.

stevenmu

Someone who knows more may correct me but I don't think there is a specific law requiring dealers to provide a 3 month warranty. I think the confusion here is caused by the statutory consumer rights given by the sale of goods and supply of services act, which applies to dealers selling cars and states that they must be of merchantable quality, and that they will work as specified for reasonable period. This is seperate from a warranty which acts in addition to your statutory rights, which you always have whether you get an actual warranty or not.

In this case, whether you paid extra for a warranty, or just paid the 2200 for the car without one, you would still have been protected by consumer law. Because a dealer warranty is in addition to your consumer rights (even if it doesn't actually provide anything extra over them), afaik the dealer was technically allowed to say that there was no warranty provided, and I think could legally charge extra for one.

But you should really check with a soliciter or get in touch with the consumer association

www.consumerassociation.ie

Anan1

To be honest, I can't really see that the OP has a case. The legal requirement is supposedly for a 3 month warranty, and that's what the OP got. The fact that the garage offered to sell the car more cheaply without warranty is neither here nor there, given that the OP declined the offer, no? If the OP had paid €2,2k and had then needed the warranty then I could see a case.

cantdecide

I wouldn't get upset over a €300 warranty. The "trade" price was obviously €2200.

Even if they are obliged to give a comprehensive warranty (which you weren't given), for the price you paid, there's no way you were getting a warranty of any use if something went wrong.

Engines and gearboxes are pretty much reliable these days anyway. You would only be giving away €300 that you could have spent on those suspension repairs.

In a nutshell, foregoing the warranty and accepting a lower purchase price is by and large the most sensible option for everyone concerned when buying a cheap used car. This is the only lesson to learn really. If I were buying a €10k+ car, I would want and would expect to be given an unlimited warranty.

Anan1

cantdecide wrote: »

In a nutshell, foregoing the warranty and accepting a lower purchase price is by and large the most sensible option for everyone concerned when buying a cheap used car.

Quite true. I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would rather buy from the kind of backstreet dealers who operate at that end of the market than buy privately.

MercMad

It seems crazy that the OP was given the choice,€2200 without, and €2500 with warranty.................and he didn't run away, he actually went ahead with that deal ????

:eek:

Amtmann

Thanks guys, lesson learned!