Advice request please, car faulty following sale

[salt 1]

Hi All,

Can I ask for a bit of advice please.  I sold a fiesta last week and delivered to the customer and was paid in cash.  I was just called by her to say that all the dash lights are on the car (engine management, power steering, doors etc) and there is a smell of petrol and the car cuts out on her.  She asked for a refund and I kind of agreed, as she wasn't interested in getting it repaired though I asked that she call me during the day tomorrow and bring it over.  Questions I have are;

1.  I believe she is entitled to a full refund but do I have the option of repairing it instead?  I say this as it seems everything that could possibly go wrong has, it has full ford history and had no issues for the period of time I had it.

2.  When I give her the refund how is the log book handled?  It was a 1 owner car, I haven't notified dvla of a change of ownership yet (I'd read someone say they give it a week or so before doing so and thought it was a good idea).  She has taxed it but I don't know if she sent off the new keeper slip.  How would I resell the car?

Appreciate your time all, thanks

[NacMan 67]

33 minutes ago, salt said:

Hi All,

Can I ask for a bit of advice please.  I sold a fiesta last week and delivered to the customer and was paid in cash.  I was just called by her to say that all the dash lights are on the car (engine management, power steering, doors etc) and there is a smell of petrol and the car cuts out on her.  She asked for a refund and I kind of agreed, as she wasn't interested in getting it repaired though I asked that she call me during the day tomorrow and bring it over.  Questions I have are;

1.  I believe she is entitled to a full refund but do I have the option of repairing it instead?  I say this as it seems everything that could possibly go wrong has, it has full ford history and had no issues for the period of time I had it.

2.  When I give her the refund how is the log book handled?  It was a 1 owner car, I haven't notified dvla of a change of ownership yet (I'd read someone say they give it a week or so before doing so and thought it was a good idea).  She has taxed it but I don't know if she sent off the new keeper slip.  How would I resell the car?

Appreciate your time all, thanks

She is entitled to a full refund 100% as its only been a week.

[DCS01 27]

Just refund her money. If you are still in control of the log book and She only has the green slip then happy days

[Frank Cannon 812]

Sent the V5C off.....why would she do that

Refund her. 

What do your terms and conditions say about rejection? 

[salt 1]

I wasn't prepared for this, amateur sadly, so no terms and conditions. 

I will be refunding her, just wondering how to go about the V5C and reselling the car, once the issues have been addressed by the garage.  Will I need to put the car in my name to get a new log book as the new keeper won't be able to tax the car?

Feeling a numpty...

[Lakeside 94]

I could be wrong but I’m sure you can use new keeper slip more than once to tax it?

[MarkTVS 209]

The customer doesn’t send off the new keeper slip, they just keep it till the new v5c arrives 

[chrishowie 14]

For all the lights to light up, could be a battery/alternator issue.

Although I agree with the refund, it equally could be something she has done, i.e put diesel in a petrol, damaged some parts.

I'd get a workshop to diagnose the issue before parting with any money. Explain to her you want an impartial party to look at it first. If its an easy fix, explain everything to her, pay for the fix and happy days. Work from there....

 

[salt 1]

Thanks for your advice all,

I'd forgotten about the V5C not being sent off and even asked about using it twice a little while ago!  I guess it was the stress of this unexpected event yesterday that I panicked.  I will ask a garage to check over the car before handing over the cash if she agrees to let me do so. 

Thank you all again

[Dave2302 387]

19 hours ago, salt said:

I will ask a garage to check over the car before handing over the cash if she agrees to let me do so. 

YOU need to control this, don't mention delayed refund, simply ask her to return the car or you go collect it if local to you, then once you have keys and car, get it looked at first, before issuing the refund ....................

If she get's all aggy once you have the Keys and Car just tell her that there will be no delays but it is your "company policy" to inspect the Car at your workshops and only then will you issue a bank transfer or she can collect the cash and sign for receipt of it !!

HTH,

Edited October 8, 2020 by Dave2302

[salt 1]

Thanks Dave, it does help and I appreciate your time.  She hasn't got in touch with me again since the first call, I was expecting to to call and come around yesterday but nothing so far.  I will follow what you say and have lined up the garage to check it over. 

Just to say it is re-assuring to hear advice from a professional on how to do things - thanks again.

[CRW 73]

1 hour ago, salt said:

Thanks Dave, it does help and I appreciate your time.  She hasn't got in touch with me again since the first call, I was expecting to to call and come around yesterday but nothing so far.  I will follow what you say and have lined up the garage to check it over. 

Sounds to me like a possible case of buyers remorse! If the car was so bad, surely she would have been in contact with you by now? You need to be careful with these sort of customers and take control of the situation.  On Tuesday the car is basically undrivable, but by the end of Thursday you haven't heard from her?! You need to point out to her that her continued use of the car may cause further problems for which you wont be liable.

[trade vet 702]

8 minutes ago, CRW said:

Sounds to me like a possible case of buyers remorse! If the car was so bad, surely she would have been in contact with you by now? You need to be careful with these sort of customers and take control of the situation.  On Tuesday the car is basically undrivable, but by the end of Thursday you haven't heard from her?! You need to point out to her that her continued use of the car may cause further problems for which you wont be liable.

It was delivered so Salt should collect it.Also the customer should be instructed not to drive it as that could be dangerous given that she has reported a smell of petrol.Nip it in the Bud and refund or it could cost far more later on.

[Frank Cannon 812]

If it comes to it, refund by same means as payment

[Dave2302 387]

15 hours ago, CRW said:

Sounds to me like a possible case of buyers remorse! If the car was so bad, surely she would have been in contact with you by now? You need to be careful with these sort of customers and take control of the situation.  On Tuesday the car is basically undrivable, but by the end of Thursday you haven't heard from her?! You need to point out to her that her continued use of the car may cause further problems for which you wont be liable.

 

15 hours ago, trade vet said:

It was delivered so Salt should collect it.Also the customer should be instructed not to drive it as that could be dangerous given that she has reported a smell of petrol.Nip it in the Bud and refund or it could cost far more later on.

 

10 hours ago, Frank Cannon said:

If it comes to it, refund by same means as payment

All of this yes

[hondansxr 1]

I PERSONALLY THINK THIS FULL REFUND IS A JOKE ..ITS NOT A NEW CAR!! BE POLITE TELL HER ITS A SECOND HAND CAR AND CAN GO WRONG AT ANY TIME , AND THE WARRANTY WILL COVER IT  .AND GET IT CHECKED  REPAIRED AND RETURNED TO CUSTOMER ....THESE PEOPLE WANT THERE CAKE AND  EAT IT .

[Kes 7]

1 hour ago, hondansxr said:

I PERSONALLY THINK THIS FULL REFUND IS A JOKE ..ITS NOT A NEW CAR!! BE POLITE TELL HER ITS A SECOND HAND CAR AND CAN GO WRONG AT ANY TIME , AND THE WARRANTY WILL COVER IT  .AND GET IT CHECKED  REPAIRED AND RETURNED TO CUSTOMER ....THESE PEOPLE WANT THERE CAKE AND  EAT IT .

What about CRA then?

[hondansxr 1]

1 hour ago, Kes said:

What about CRA then?

THE CUSTOMER IS BUYING A SECOND HAND UNIT AND THERFORE THERE HAS TO BE SOME LEWAY IN THAT THEY ARE NOT BUYING NEW! YES THEY HAVE RIGHTS BUT TO REJECT SOMETING THATS OLD AND WORN CANNOT BE JUSTIFIED , IF IT IS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE THEN YES , BUT WARNING LIGHTS ? THE SMELL OF FUEL IS QUESTIONABLE ?   I WOULD DO MY BEST TO GET IT CHECKED FIRST.

DONT GET ME WRONG I HAVE REFUNDED IN MY 31 YRS OF TRADING BUT MOST HAVE THEM REPAIRED AS ITS A PITA TO FIND ANOTHER CAR ... WHICH ON THE TRADERS SIDE IS GOOD NEWS . MY MESSAGE TO THE OP WOULD BE PUT THE BEST WARRANTY ON THE CAR YOU CAN , IT COVERS BOTH OF YOU.

[Frank Cannon 812]

4 hours ago, Kes said:

What about CRA then?

What about it, I'm all ears. 

[Kes 7]

7 hours ago, hondansxr said:

THE CUSTOMER IS BUYING A SECOND HAND UNIT AND THERFORE THERE HAS TO BE SOME LEWAY IN THAT THEY ARE NOT BUYING NEW! YES THEY HAVE RIGHTS BUT TO REJECT SOMETING THATS OLD AND WORN CANNOT BE JUSTIFIED , IF IT IS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE THEN YES , BUT WARNING LIGHTS ? THE SMELL OF FUEL IS QUESTIONABLE ?   I WOULD DO MY BEST TO GET IT CHECKED FIRST.

DONT GET ME WRONG I HAVE REFUNDED IN MY 31 YRS OF TRADING BUT MOST HAVE THEM REPAIRED AS ITS A PITA TO FIND ANOTHER CAR ... WHICH ON THE TRADERS SIDE IS GOOD NEWS . MY MESSAGE TO THE OP WOULD BE PUT THE BEST WARRANTY ON THE CAR YOU CAN , IT COVERS BOTH OF YOU.

I totally agree with you. My point was- we all know what some punters are like and law is on their side unfortunately. There are tons of stories on this forum about it.