Recurring air conditioning fault

The consumer’s issue:

“I purchased a two-year-old used car. When I test drove it, I noticed the air conditioning unit was not working correctly. I pointed this out to the salesperson and was told that this would be fixed by the time the car was ready to be collected.

However, after a couple of days of owing the vehicle, I noticed the air conditioning was still faulty. Therefore, I returned it to the dealership and I was given a courtesy car while it was being fixed. The repair ended up taking a few weeks, as the dealership ordered the wrong part and were waiting for the correct one to arrive.

After collecting the car again, the fault was still not fixed, and after having it for three months the problem is still there. To resolve this long-running issue, I would like to either reject the car, to have a like-for-like replacement, or for the fault to be fixed.”

The accredited business’ response:

  • We apologised to the consumer, as we hadn’t realised that the fault was still present.
  • The faulty part was replaced, and after testing it, we believed the air conditioning to be fixed.
  • There have been staff changes within the dealership, so this could have been the reason why the customer was not contacted with a follow-up.
  • We provided a courtesy car for the whole period that the consumer’s vehicle was being worked on.

The adjudication outcome:

  • Looking at the discussion between the consumer and the business, it was deemed highly likely by The Motor Ombudsman that the fault was present during the test drive and at the point of purchase.
  • The business had two attempts to correct the issue, but it still remained.
  • The adjudicator recommended the business investigates what is causing the fault, for a courtesy car to be provided during the period, and for the customer not to incur any charges for the work being carried out.
  • The case remains ongoing at the time of writing.