Hi - apologies for incoming wall of text but have been having issues with hire purchase car from dealership, England. Just want to know if we have a leg to stand on, all within 6 months of purchase and car has approx 47000 miles
6th April - Car due for servicing, light on dashboard and suspected oil leak
8th April - were told we needed a part for oil leak (£500), would be fine to drive in meantime . Due to be fixed 17th April
In the meantime clutch/gears had started to become very stiff/awkward to put in gear.
15th April - clutch went, car taken in. Told it was this that caused the oil leak (so dealers/servicing missed the actual cause) and actually a new clutch was needed (£1000) not a repair to oil
17th April - car ‘fixed’ - light on dashboard came on sometimes, rear view camera also started intermittently coming on, plus various notifications about malfunctioning park pilot
25th April - clutch went again, taken to dealers for servicing
26th April - told they needed to confirm car was broken down, spoke about potential wear and tear. First time this was mentioned
27th April - phone call. Apparently gears stopped working due to not ‘matching’ with the new clutch which can happen some times. Car definitely had broken down. Never warned about the potential of this happening and seems like dealer’s fault - what happens if it had happened on a Motorway?
Commented that the clutch failing previously was due to ‘wear and tear’ but this was never mentioned at any point when being worked on, was missed when told about part for oil leak
28th April - phone call. Dealers had without permission fixed clutch, going to give us £300 as good will gesture - wanted to be proactive. Repeated we didn’t want that car, no permission given and would be taken it further. Dealer admitted it was a fault developed after repair but that first fault on clutch was a wear and tear. Repeated we wanted either full refund or replacement, would take it further
Asked for replacement car/full refund - Dealers said this would have to go through Customers Service.
All within the 6 months of purchase - 29/10/25