Your rights when a new car breaks down | Business News

Only a few thousand kilometers driven, but your car keeps breaking down? Does the insurance increase with each visit to the garage? You’re not the only one…

Money Blog Reader Adam from Derbyshire asked: “I own a 2022 Range Rover Evoque (hybrid), the car has done 11,000 miles and I bought it new. It has been back to the Land Rover dealer six times for the same problem which is still unresolved and the car is unusable as the problem is the hybrid system doesn’t want to start it. I can’t sell it because the value has halved due to the ‘known issues’ with Range Rovers being so easy to steal, and my insurance. doubled. What can I do, if anything?

We asked Scott Dixon of The complaint solverto help flesh out what Adam can do here.

The starting point, he says, is the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which states that goods must be:

• Fit for purpose
• As described
• Satisfactory quality
• Last a reasonable period of time

The rules change depending on when you purchase an item – goods can be returned within 30 days, no questions asked, if you can prove they are faulty. After that, the responsibility falls to the retailer – in this case, the dealership, with whom Adam has a contract (not JaguarLand Rover itself) – to prove that the merchandise was not defective at the time of sale, and this burden lasts up to six months.

After six months, the burden of proof is on you to prove that the vehicle had inherent flaws when it was sold.

The key here is when the fault first occurred – with this information you will know which of the above applies, but it seems pretty clear that the vehicle is faulty.

Scott says, “You just need to give the merchant an opportunity to fix the same flaw. If this fails, you can reject the vehicle under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

“It’s clear the dealership can’t find or fix the fault. You don’t need to give them more opportunities to do so.”

If there is a dispute as to whether an inherent fault exists, Scott recommends seeking an independent report from a qualified and professional mechanic and repair shop.

Helping your case

There are several factors that support your case for rejecting the car, says Scott.

Land Rover’s own standard warranty says: “Your new Land Rover comes complete with unlimited mileage warranty, three-year manufacturer’s warranty, providing free repairs and roadside assistance.”

This could give you recourse with JLR itself.

Scott also did some Searching on Google…

“A quick search reveals that there are major issues that are well known with Range Rover Evoque hybrid vehicles on the forums.”

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Other paths

Scott says: “How did you pay? You should always pay at least a deposit by credit card if possible, as this gives you additional free protection and joint liability under S75 Consumer Credit Act 1974 for purchases over £100 .

‘If you paid a deposit by credit card, contact your credit card company and say you want to open an S75 dispute and claim a faulty car.’

You should cite breach of contract under the Consumer Rights Act – but Scott says you’ll need to be persistent.

“If the car is financed, they bought the defective vehicle from the dealership and owned it,” Scott says. “You can follow the same route and bring an S75 claim against them for breach of contract under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.”

If you reach an impasse with your credit card company or finance company, ask for an impasse letter setting out your final position so that you can submit a formal complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.

Final option

If all else fails, Scott says you can take your case to the County Court (for claims over £10,000) in England/Wales, or follow the Ordinary Cause Procedure in Scotland for claims over £5,000. Information about claims processes in Northern Ireland can be found here.

Response from Jaguar Land Rover

Until now, Adam has dealt directly with the JLR dealership – which is technically independent.

We contacted JLR to see if they could get involved, after which they contacted Adam and the dealership.

A spokesperson told the Money blog: “JLR is committed to ensuring our customers have the best experience with our brands. If a customer has any concerns about their vehicle, they will be carefully reviewed and corrected where necessary, as quickly as possible , to retain the high standards of service that our customers deserve.

“In this specific case, the customer occasionally experienced issues with their vehicle regarding EV mode engagement. These were resolved at your dealer via a software update; oil and filter replacement; and adding adequate fuel to the vehicle.

“More recently, the retailer continued extended testing for two weeks and there were no failures in the EV mode functionality. The retailer ensured that the customer was kept mobile throughout the process and following these assessments, the vehicle has now been returned to the customer.”

Adam confirmed he has the car back, but hasn’t tested it properly yet – we’ll be back to this one in the coming months.