EPV

You have nothing to worry about here mate, you seem to do the job properly and want to do the right thing by the car and customer and you’re looking for a bit of comfort and a good nights sleep and I think I can confidently say you’re in a strong position, you don’t have to refund him and Nik’s letter is all you need to say. You probably won’t hear from him again. Send the letter and get on with your life and forget it.

I expect the OP isn’t a mechanic like most of us and anyway, judging by how the punters behaved he’s not likely to accept the OP turning up to have an unqualified look? Besides, the OP has plenty going for him here, he doesn’t need to have a look he just needs to write a polite fuck off letter. The punter can continue feeling as bad as he likes.

As my post above. We need facts and answers to the questions I asked. Or else it’s just speculation on our part.

Look mate this all depends on what you want to do. Do you want a quiet life? Do you want to fight it and win in court? Do you want to try and reason with the bloke? What do you want to do? If it’s a quiet life, find out what the current mileage is, deduct the point of sale mileage, multiply by 45p, offer him a refund and deduct the above and refuse anything else. That will cover you legally should he take you to court. If you want to push back and see it through to the bitter end we need more facts. Mileage at point of sale, did you PDI, how much did he pay for the car, how many miles does it have now. Put the warranty aside for now, it means nothing when it’s either refund or fight fire with fire. You don’t have to give a warranty. 6 months or 6 seconds.

45p per mile. That’s what HMRC use so by using this you can demonstrate some logic. That’s of course if you chose to refund him. It depends entirely on your enthusiasm for a fight. How many miles on the car at point of sale? How many now? How many since the fix in July? How much did he pay for the car? VW’s will throw a code for anything, change in temperature, when the wind blows in a different direction, when the owner sleeps in a certain position etc. If you have the stomach for it and don’t want to refund, write to him stating that under the CRA he is entitled to a repair not a refund. The previous issues regarding the EML were fixed to his satisfaction and this latest EML is unlikely to be linked to the previous issues. In order for you to offer a repair you will need him to have the car diagnosed at his cost and send the report to you in writing only. If it emerged that the fault is consequence of wear and tear them under the CRA you are not liable to fix the issue. If it emerges it is not down to wear and tear (seems unlikely that you couldn’t pin this on wear and tear) then you will carry out a repair using reconditioned parts or used parts as is your right to do so. Under no circumstances will you be offering a refund as you are not legally obliged to do so. I’d personally make no reference to a warranty whatsoever as it’s irrelevant if you intend to fight fire with fire.

IMO it’s; Do the job right, cover yourself with the correct paperwork and make it difficult for the punter to have a case. My understanding is that when the bank receive a chargeback request from someone they get both sides of the story, they don’t just say “ok mr customer, here’s your money” so if you have done the job right, your risk of being subjected to a chargeback should be very low I think. Almost nil in fact. This is really to protect consumers against unscrupulous retailers who misbehave. *sorry I have just taken the time to read this properly, this is not a section 75 credit card scenario. Ignore me, i’m talking out of turn

I send a fifty quid deposit if I know the car is too cheap and will go quickly. Have done this the last two private purchases and both times the seller has been fending people off with a stick. Both times the car has been fine and good margins had. Its just fifty quid and if the car is very cheap and worth going after it’s a small risk.

This!

I always call and text in the hours leading up to the apt. If people don’t respond I know they’re not coming. Everyone (so far) who’s going to be late let’s me know.

My dent man turned up in shorts yesterday morning. I’m half considering putting the heating on ffs.

What’s a call? (Joking, i’ve had a few these past couple of days)

Well, you could always try other platforms. Plenty do well without AT. I tried and I couldn’t but that’s just me. Try things for yourself.

He means you can get your piece of the pie because it’s a free market. Whining about another business’ profits because it means you have to pay more than you like is just that. Whining. Sour grapes. AT charge dealers high prices and make very good profits. So what. Good for them. You don’t have to use their platform, plenty don’t.

If you watch an embedded video it won’t count as a you tube view.

Not long at all, since the start of the year.

It’s theoretical mate, not everyone would deal in this stuff I know, it’s just a what if, for a bit of sport.

You’re not causing offence at all mate, we’re all grown ups. You’re likening the advent of the internet impacting significantly on a business (blockbuster) and suggesting we “band together” and do exactly what AT do so very, very well, with our own version of AT. But cheaper. What AT have done for years and continue to do costs millions each year in R&D and they are always looking to provide new data to dealers to use for their own edge in this business. Do you still think we can “band together” as likeminded people and offer the same thing as AT do but for cheaper? Many have tried and spent lots of money trying and haven’t got it cracked just yet. Motors, EMP, Car Gurus. All trying to do what AT do but cheaper but not quite managing it. I don’t like their fees but I do like the leads they provide me. It allows me to run a business and do what I please. Would I like it cheaper? Sure. But if I wanted it cheaper I would do like Noacross does and make it work outside of AT. Let me know how your revolution goes though. Be warned, you’ll need deep pockets (millions) to knock AT from their perch. Obviously you’ll recoup your losses from charging dealers a lot less than AT. No offense, etc etc

Sorry mate this just reads like a load of woolly nonsense. 9 million people visit AT every month. How can a group of dealers (who’s prior concern is providing a living for themselves by selling vehicles) “band together” and get 9 million people to stop looking at one household named platform and start looking at another? Its not going to happen is it? You either suck it up, play the game and pay AT’s fees and reap the rewards or, you do as others have done and make a life for themselves outside of AT.

And I think every day normal punters would be looked after by most on here mate and a warranty wouldn’t change that either way. Here’s a few examples for a bit of fun, of instances i’ve had of post sale issues. What would you lot do in these examples? All of these examples have had a proper prep and mechanical check, PDI to you and me. 1. 2004 bmw 545i, 93,000 Miles. 6 weeks and 1,000 miles following sale, punter rings wanting to claim on warranty for a water pump and oil leak “somewhere” now assuming it’s genuine, would you pay for this? 2. 2010 bmw 318i Tourer, 59,000 Miles. 2 month and 1500 miles later, customer calls saying he needs to make a warranty claim as the low oil pressure light is on and eml flashing with a misfire. Let’s say it was diagnosed as an coil and a sensor for the oil pressure. Would you pay for this? 3. 2008 Range Rover Sport, 93,000 Miles. 10 days and 500 miles later, customer calls saying there’s a bad oil leak. Turns out its a new sump plug and job done. Would you pay for this? Note, all of these items are wear and tear. Meaning, something has been used, it’s worn, it’s failed. The manufacturer won’t want to know, their warranty expired years ago. I’m wondering, if you WOULD pay for these repairs, why?

Dealers don’t hate AT. Some people do. Lots like AT because they provide the most leads of any advertising platform.

Minimum dealer package with AT is 5+2 cars. So 7. You’ll be paying £2.8k for 16 cars.

You passed your monthly quota weeks ago

There’s plenty of people that don’t want a flashy German saloon but plenty that do. Both demands need supplying

I like that. I want to buy more suv’s and crossovers but I couldn’t buy Fusions, Kangoos. My soul would die a little each time I got in one. People say “don’t buy what you like buy what sells” but fuck that. I’m not alive long enough to do that. I’ll find what sells and what I like looking at/driving. I do love a Jag XF. Like driving a sofa. There again, I find e92 BMW’s sell very well for me but they are shit. I seem to have 1 in 3 with a low pressure oil issue. Another one today. Less alarming when you’ve seen it all before. Certain A3’s fly out for me, 1.8 and 2.0 black edition tfsi or 3.2 Quattros when I can find them. I couldn’t sell Hyundai or Dacias for example. I don’t care if they are faultless cars and never come back. I have to have some enjoyment in what I ask *sell

Mate, you know I respect your opinion more than most on here and maybe I am wrong but I cannot get my head around why I should be insuring 8/9/10 year old cars against mechanical failure for 3 months or more. I have to, as a retailer, provide something fit for purpose, as described and of satisfactory quality. I do that, each time, As for giving confidence to punters, I show them the car they are buying, 80 hd images, full walkround of the car inside, out, documents and keys, take the thing for a drive, show them the engine. They can look at my reviews and see 20+ five star reviews from genuine punters. If this doesn’t inspire confidence in people looking at my cars I don’t know what will. I feel like I do a lot for my margin, fix things that need fixing, mop scratches, proper valets, thoroughly check cars mechanically etc. I don’t feel like I want to wipe their arses as well when something beyond my control goes wrong. That’s life, it’s a used car, sometimes they go wrong. Max Brannings post has been quite thought provoking for me. I’m thinking there must be something I can do for punters, to make them fell like they’re not going to end up being taken on, sold a pup, yet also getting them to realise I won’t wipe their arse for them just because they think I ought to. There’s definitely some common ground between “sold as seen” and insuring the punters against spending any money on their own cars.