[Help] Legal type help: Relatively minor new car trouble

[Papak]

How long has your father owned the vehicle? I would suggest rejecting the car and seeking a refund if that is possible.

It's strange, I have seem a number of MG badged SUVs around in recent years and always wondered who would "risk" their money buying one...

 

[Rookie]

SCC is up to 10k, as the car costs more than that a solicitor may feel that it's better pursued in County Court.

Small claims track is part of the county court, it is not a separate thing. The track the claim will follow depends on the value and the complexity.

 

[Rookie]

What is the loss that has been suffered? Very difficult to put a value on a faulty radio, but possibly a he cost of a replacement (if available) and that will be of limited value

Also how was the car purchased? Cash, HP etc? Makes a difference as to who is responsible

 

[wellquickwoody]

Are the complaints about fitted features that do not work, or features that are not actually there but we’re in the sales brochure?

 

[Flagship]

My Dad got a new car recently (a MG HS). Since getting it the radio hasn't worked properly. He cant store DAB pre-sets and the FM radio has no RDS. Obviously these aren't major issues but more annoying.

Apparently, this is a known issue and a result of the Ukraine/Covid chip issues, i.e. the radio wasn't built properly. Despite this being a known and accepted issue, there is no fix and the MG garage haven't offered any kind of compensation. He has tried badgering them but they wont do anything. He has tried sending letters and contacted Trading Standards but isn't getting anywhere.

Obviously this isn't a major issue, like the brakes not working, but is there anything he can do or expect? Ultimately he has bought a new car and it doesn't work as it should.

You need to use the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Contact the retailer quoting this law. It effectively gives you the right of redress for six years after purchasing goods. It is particularly relevant for things that you can't service, just like your radio.

Quoting the Act should do the trick but failing that, get a solicitor to send a letter.

If you need to take it further, you can use an online service called Moneyclaim Direct which is cheap and easy and you can claim all your costs from the retailer if you win, which you should, if they can be bothered to defend.

Make sure you have all your correspondence relating to the fault as you may need to prove that it was faulty at the time of purchase.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It's a very simple contractual issue. What was sold doesn't work !

So your Dad should ask them how much it would cost to replace the radio unit with a working one. Once he has that price then tell them he will take them to the Small Claims Court for that cost plus incidental costs ( Small Claims Court is easy to get going online - https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money ) and doesn't cost very much and if you win you can claim the costs ( just as long as you indicate you will claim costs in the application ).

Hopefully simple. It becomes a lot less simple of the losing party still refuses to pay/cooperate . This has happened to me twice regarding a lettings agent and a property management company. Both times I was ultimately successful but it’s not for the faint hearted, can take years and can turn very expensive. If someone decides they don’t want to cooperate, or know the law and continually frustrate you, it’s difficult

 

[Rookie]

You need to use the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Contact the retailer quoting this law. It effectively gives you the right of redress for six years after purchasing goods. It is particularly relevant for things that you can't service, just like your radio.

Quoting the Act should do the trick but failing that, get a solicitor to send a letter.

If you need to take it further, you can use an online service called Moneyclaim Direct which is cheap and easy and you can claim all your costs from the retailer if you win, which you should, if they can be bothered to defend.

Make sure you have all your correspondence relating to the fault as you may need to prove that it was faulty at the time of purchase.

Few bits …

Unless the claim is of good value a solicitor will cost more than the value of the claim. Any solicitor that says guaranteed success is lying, no such thing.

You cannot recover costs (expect in certain, limited, circumstances) - https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part27#27.14

Yes, the consumer rights act is there to help consumers. It is limited though and if a trader ignores any letter sent or pays lip service to it the routes of further action due to the costs and hassle of taking further action are limited. In addition, any enforcement against a big company are difficult.

 

[pb21]

Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like an absolute ball ache to pursue some kind of legal claim by himself, that might not go anywhere, but cost loads, be surprised if he goes down that route.

Will look into some MG forums though to see what other people are doing and if there is some kind of group action, as mentioned by @Ronnie

 

[Weststander]

A very cheap alternative from non-profit Which? would be your Dad signing up to their very cheap legal service, staffed by lawyers:
https://legalservice.which.co.uk/consumer/all-consumer/

 

[Flagship]

Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like an absolute ball ache to pursue some kind of legal claim by himself, that might not go anywhere, but cost loads, be surprised if he goes down that route.

Will look into some MG forums though to see what other people are doing and if there is some kind of group action, as mentioned by @Ronnie

It won't cost you loads. I was in business for many years and had to take quite a few construction companies to small claims court and won every time and each time I recovered interest on the money outstanding and costs. It didn't cost me anything because the other party had to pay my company's costs.

More recently I had an electrical fault on my motorbike. I took it to a main dealer and they diagnosed a problem with the wiring loom, which they said would need to be replaced at a cost in excess of £1200 . My bike was under 6 years old so I knew that I had a right to some sort of recourse

I got in touch with the dealer from whom I purchased the bike but they didn't want to know, so got in touch with head office who were remarkably helpful. I was told to book the bike into my local dealer and they paid for all the work in full and lent me a bike to ride whilst they were doing it.

I assume that this may have been a recurring fault with a number of bikes so, in order to avoid bad publicity they just take the correct route and get it fixed.

Just get your dad to write to the dealer and head office explaining the situation, quote the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and I am sure you will get some sort of reaction, particularly as the fault with the radio is a known one.

Just try it. A letter won't cost you anything.

If you don't get any satisfaction then go the small claims route. No big car dealer is going to sit in a courtroom trying to defend themself about selling a faulty radio are they?
The process is very simple and you dont need a solicitor. It starts with your dad writing to the dealer of his intention to take them to Small Claims Court. If you get a negative response, then you get Moneyclaim to serve papers. It is so so easy. They are effectively your solicitor and deal with all the hard stuff. All you need to do is show up in court and present your evidence to the judge. The dealer will present his defence and the judge makes his decision there and then in court.

If the radio was faulty when you bought the car, you can't lose the case.

Believe me, it's not hard.