The consumer’s issue:
“Two months after buying the car, I starting feeling severe vibrations in the steering wheel when driving. Therefore, I took the car back to the dealership and they told me that I had a cracked alloy wheel. I believe it was already damaged when the car was sold to me, but the dealership disagrees. I am looking for the business to repair my cracked alloy wheel at no cost to myself.”
The accredited business’ response:
- We did not provide the customer with a car that had a cracked alloy wheel.
- The car passed its MOT and the vehicle health check, and satisfied our used car sales procedures.
- In addition, the vehicle was driven for over 7,000 miles before a fault was noticed. This would suggest that the alloy wheel was not cracked when we sold it.
- The car passed its MOT shortly before collection, and would not have done had it had a cracked alloy.
- We are not liable for the repair costs because the alloy wheel was not cracked at the time that the vehicle was sold.
The adjudication outcome:
- The adjudicator did not uphold the customer’s complaint regarding the alleged breach of The Motor Industry Code of Practice for Vehicle Sales and consumer law.
- The adjudicator stated that, since the car had passed an MOT and a vehicle health check only three days before the consumer collected the car, it was unlikely that the cracked alloy wheel, which was discovered over two months and 7,000 miles later, was present at the point of sale.
- Therefore, the adjudicator did not find the dealership liable for repairing the cracked alloy wheel.
Conclusion:
- The customer and accredited business agreed with the outcome as recommended by The Motor Ombudsman adjudicator, and the case was closed.
