[Kala]

Hello, i hope someone was in similar and can advise me what outcome can i expect. Basically me and my fiance purchased our first every car from dealership on PCP finance in may 2024. Its Vauxhall Corsa 2021 1.2 turbo. Not even after 2 months “low oil level” on dashboard start to pop up, we drove straight to dealership and sales menager look at the oil level said that its definitely low and we can come next day for someone to see it. We did what he said and mechanic said that someone must forget to top oil up and that it (mind you on service book it says that they top it up after we bought it). We trusted them and continued to drive it. After month from that low oil level light came up again. We booked service check and they said at this time that we need to drive this car for 1k miles for them to see how much oil is going down. After month from this service oil light came up once again. They took it for diagnostic and said that Vapur Seperater needs to be replaced. They replace it and never said to come back just to have a eye on the oil. After 3 months from that low oil level again. This time we decided that this is enough and started process of complain to finance company. We also contacted Vauxhall about that and they said need that investigation need to take place. We agreed for that they took our car once again, they topped up the oil and ask to come back after month. This is what we did and now they said that the engine is faulty and need replacement and we should not drive this car. We already update finance company about that and contact Vauxhall customer care which they said that dealership need to agree for our rejection of the car. So my question is do we have strong case to get full refund from them ? Im pregnant now and really stressed about this situation. We also need trusted car and with this one we basically can’t drive.

[Nick]

Hi @Kala - welcome to the RAC Community and thanks for making your first post.

I went through something similar a few years ago (pre-covid) - for me it was important to keep an account of all my interactions so I had a log of who, what, where, when etc.

This article outlines some good information about your rights under the Consumer Rights Act.
Important to note that a full refund is essentially on the table only within the first 30 days after purchase. Beyond that you are likely looking at exploring the possibility of repair or replacement.

In my instance I got the dealership to replace the vehicle - they took the original one back and sourced me an identical one in replacement. It did take the best part of a year since the first instance - my first breakdown was less than a month after purchasing the car and I eventually put the onus on the dealership that the car was not fit for sale. (I recall the issue was one of the coolant pipes was incorrectly fitted or something similar which led to constant overheating and some conversation about the head gasket eventually going. It went back in for investigations several times to no avail and eventually I told them I didn't want it back).

Obviously every case is different and this was just my experience.

[olduser]

Citizens Advice Bureau should help you on your way https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Trying to add up the months in your post, it looks as though you are out or very nearly out of the 6 months warranty on second-hand cars bought from a dealer, or at least that is what the dealer will try and claim.
However, you look to have a good case but unless you are confident you will need legal help.

Good Luck.