Need opinion of email about requesting refund from dealer

Tiny
PVPTIME
  • MEMBER
  • 2010 VAUXHALL ASTRA
  • 1.6L
  • MANUAL
  • 52,000 MILES
Dear (Name)

On 01/04/2022 I bought a Vauxhall, Astra 1.6 I Active Plus Hatchback 5dr Petrol M from you at a cost of £3500, which I paid by credit card.

The car is defective, and the fault(s) is (are) listed below:

1. ABS light stays on.
2. The Speedometer stopped working and stays at 0 MPH.
3. Possible other unknown faults.

The car gave me all these problems after a little of driving for 1 week and tried give chance to fix the faults but really disappointed with progress and short on staff problem.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires you to supply me with goods that are of satisfactory quality. The car is not of satisfactory quality for the reasons given above and you are, therefore, in breach of contract.

As it is less than 30 days since the car was supplied to me, I am rejecting it on the basis of breach of contract and claiming a full refund.


Please reply with your comments and intentions as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely
Thursday, April 28th, 2022 AT 7:06 AM

15 Replies

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,465 POSTS
So, the ABS light is on and no speedometer, sounds like a bad speed sensor. Did you take it in so they could look at it and diagnose the problem? With the current global shortage of parts, it might take a bit to even find the part if it's not a common one. Plus, most shops are booked way out these days because they are short-handed and have much more work because people are trying to avoid buying new vehicles by repairing what they have.
One other thing is that although it might be legal to refuse the vehicle because you don't like the time it takes to repair the problem, there is another side to consider. That dealership will likely refund your money, and then let it be known at any social or business events with other dealers or shops not to do any business with you. It happens here in the US where a shop will refuse customer service because of their actions at other shops.
Personally, I would say the repair isn't that difficult if it's a bad sensor. The issue might be that the part isn't available, or they are booked out (should give preference to their sales customers but that's a different issue).
Good luck with it.
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Thursday, April 28th, 2022 AT 11:17 AM
Tiny
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Their last reply before I asked for refund.
Good morning. As I explained, when you dropped the vehicle off, we were not made aware of your dash issue only that you had a abs light on. With the dash fault we have yo use one of our other technicians to check wiring etc, and I am afraid we are short staffed and are a member of staff down. I would hope that we will be on your vehicle next week. Please do not hesitate to give the office a call on Tuesday for an update. Many thanks.
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Thursday, April 28th, 2022 AT 7:52 PM
Tiny
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I had to wait 10 days for them to get the car to be fixed. After 1 week they told short on staff and wait another week.
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Thursday, April 28th, 2022 AT 7:55 PM
Tiny
PVPTIME
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  • 9 POSTS
Yesterday they told me for refund request I need send their email to their boss using their car sales email. I really don't like many things about them. Including, before taking the car for fixing I told on phone about speedometer two times but they in garage told me having no knowledge about speedometer. The car dealer and garage belong to the same business and employees use both places and 2 minutes time to walk from place they sell cars to garage.
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Thursday, April 28th, 2022 AT 8:15 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
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Well, the repair times are about right with the way things are these days. I know of shops that wait 2-3 weeks just to get a car into the shop, most are booking appointments a month or more out. Then getting the parts is even more fun, used to be you could get parts in at most 2 days, now the normal time is a week going out to a month or more for OEM parts.
As for the shop, not knowing about an issue that is unfortunately common. The way it normally works is that you call up about a problem, the person answering the phone transfers you to service. The one you talk to there isn't a technician, he's a paper shuffler who is supposed to write down all the information you give and ask questions to understand any problems. So, you call in saying the ABS light is on and the speedometer isn't working, the adviser writes down ABS light and figures that it's a speed sensor and doesn't write down the speedometer part. They hand that off to the shop foreman who sees ABS light and figures which tech does best with that and writes it as a service ticket. The tech then does a diagnostic on it and discovers it has a bad speed sensor and puts the order for the parts. Which could take a while to get there.
In your case they were two weeks out, which is normal in a busy shop. Then the service writer you talked to on the phone never mentioned the speedometer issue, that throws a wrench into the job because it could be a different tech who does wiring faults and he is out for some reason. So, you get upset and think they are worthless when in reality they are just trying to do their jobs.
As for the refund stuff, that isn't how it works here in the US. Under most of the lemon laws here you have to allow them three tries at the repair before you can do anything. Not saying they are doing good or bad, just that I know how bad it is right now in the auto industry.
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Thursday, April 28th, 2022 AT 10:58 PM
Tiny
PVPTIME
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What is a reasonable time period for fixing a car, if it takes a while?
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Wednesday, May 4th, 2022 AT 8:22 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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Well, using your vehicle and assuming the issue is a bad speed sensor the actual diagnostic and replacement of the sensor shouldn't take much over 2-3 hours. The thing then becomes if the needed part is in stock. I'm currently waiting on a part for a Liberty that has been on back order for 3 weeks as of today. I am currently scouring salvage yards for a good used one. I picked up a used engine to install in my wife's car because nobody has a remanufactured in stock and even if I sent them hers as a core, they expect a two week turn around if it doesn't need machine work. Just a mess at this time.
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Wednesday, May 4th, 2022 AT 8:37 PM
Tiny
PVPTIME
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I have accepted courtesy car from them almost 2 weeks ago and still waiting for my car to get fixed. They said they were going to try another ABS modulator or something like that. At courtesy car crack appeared at windscreen. What do you think I should do about my situation and crack in window? I haven't done much driving at all. Just 10 min to work and back from work, that crack in the windscreen window annoying me. On top from last night I found really small few cracks like long hair at passenger's doors window. They are too small for picture to see.
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Thursday, May 19th, 2022 AT 3:25 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
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Hard to tell what the cause was, any rock chips or other damage? Maybe call them about it. Every shop handles things like that differently.
As for the parts, the entire global supply chain is a mess at the moment. I am waiting on parts for 3 vehicles at the moment. One of them was described as being on galactic backorder with currently a 4 month wait. I know of shops that are doing diagnostic work and then turning away customers because of the lack of parts, and those are on 1-2 year old vehicles.
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Thursday, May 19th, 2022 AT 4:20 AM
Tiny
PVPTIME
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I was driving maximum 40 MPH only in town and while driving didn't notice anything. After overnight, I left it at work in a parking bay. I found it in the morning after work.
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Thursday, May 19th, 2022 AT 6:32 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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Hard to say without seeing it up close, could be from a rock chip that didn't get noticed and spread as the interior temperature changed or someone could have shot it with something like a bb gun or something like that as well. Glass really isn't that hard to damage. In shops around here the shop insurance on loaner cars takes care of it. But it depends on the local laws as well. That's why I would call them and let them know about it. Shows you are being honest with them.
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Thursday, May 19th, 2022 AT 9:25 AM
Tiny
PVPTIME
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  • 9 POSTS
I don't know what I will do about that windscreen, but they told me yesterday they fixed my car. However, they said they were looking for someone who will cover the cost of fixing for almost $400.00. Do you think they expect me to pay money which they fixed under warranty? They have two businesses as well. What do you think about it?
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Tuesday, May 24th, 2022 AT 10:07 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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That depends on what the warranty covers. Most are somewhat spotty in coverage. I would go through what they do and don't cover. That is the same with new cars. They will say something like 60K bumper to bumper (with exclusions) that last bit is what can get you in trouble. So, say you drive the car hard and wear out the brakes in 40K, those won't be covered as they are a wear item. Now if you had tried driving it prior to buying it and the brakes had been smoking hot, they would cover that. In this case it depends on what they cover. Without seeing the agreement, I can't say.
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Wednesday, May 25th, 2022 AT 2:00 AM
Tiny
PVPTIME
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They fixed the car free of charge because of the warranty. Thanks for your help and time a lot. About windscreen looks like I missed one day I get courtesy car because they already knew, lol. All good :)
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Wednesday, May 25th, 2022 AT 3:18 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,465 POSTS
Good to hear they stood behind the car. Thank you for using 2CcarPros.
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Wednesday, May 25th, 2022 AT 7:48 AM

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