Warranty Issue and Finance

[DJ_Andy_M]

Looking for some advice.

Ford Focus 2015, 1.5 TDCi Titanium X, 10 speaker Sony system.

Brought my car in 2015 with 2 years worth of Ford manufacturer warranty left on it. About a month or two after I purchased the car one day I got in the car, started it and all I could hear was white noise from the head unit on everything. Took it to Ford, had software updates to remedy this (which it did) to then create another problem, the centre and sub woofer speaker frequently stop working.

My car has now been going back to Ford for the last 2 and a half years (we're now well outside of warranty but as this was raised before it expired they are still obliged to fix it) and they still haven't fixed the problem after many software updates, a new touch screen, two new audio head units, a new centre speaker and a new subwoofer.

Ford CRC (customer relations) are involved, its been passed up to Ford Technical who have also in turn been sending data off to Ford in Chicago. 

Can I go back to my finance company and ask for them to take the car back under the sales of goods act?

[alexp999]

Did the finance company pay the dealer, or is it an unsecure personal loan where they paid you?

[DJ_Andy_M]

2 hours ago, alexp999 said:

Did the finance company pay the dealer, or is it an unsecure personal loan where they paid you?

I'm not sure 100% as I never saw the money hit my account so I can only assume that they paid the dealer. They ask me for the car's reg every time I have called them. It's hire purchase if memory serves right.

I spoke to them today and they have said if I can prove the problem was attempted to be fixed within the first 6 months of ownership that I will have a case.

[alexp999]

18 minutes ago, DJ_Andy_M said:

I'm not sure 100% as I never saw the money hit my account so I can only assume that they paid the dealer. They ask me for the car's reg every time I have called them. It's hire purchase if memory serves right.

I spoke to them today and they have said if I can prove the problem was attempted to be fixed within the first 6 months of ownership that I will have a case.

If it's hire purchase, then yes under Section 75 of the consumer credit act, you can hold the lender accountable and enforce all of your consumer rights against them, however they normally ask you to have made every effort with the seller.

Have you tried a formal letter to the supplying dealer referring to your consumer rights?

[DJ_Andy_M]

17 hours ago, alexp999 said:

If it's hire purchase, then yes under Section 75 of the consumer credit act, you can hold the lender accountable and enforce all of your consumer rights against them, however they normally ask you to have made every effort with the seller.

Have you tried a formal letter to the supplying dealer referring to your consumer rights?

Every effort has been made to repair, however I haven't used the dealer who supplied the car as they were way too far away to keep taking the car back for manufacturer warranty issues. They were made aware of the issue on several occasions however when they called to try and sell me another car etc.

I am awaiting a call back from their manager so I can discuss it further with them anyway.

[alexp999]

5 minutes ago, DJ_Andy_M said:

Every effort has been made to repair, however I haven't used the dealer who supplied the car as they were way too far away to keep taking the car back for manufacturer warranty issues. They were made aware of the issue on several occasions however when they called to try and sell me another car etc.

I am awaiting a call back from their manager so I can discuss it further with them anyway.

The issue is that the consumer rights are against the supplying dealer. You have no legal recourse from the dealer undertaking the repair. They are simply acting on behalf of Ford in fulfilling the warranty, which in itself is simply a contract and does not affect or override your statutory rights (it usually has words to that effect within it).

You can hope for something out of Ford and the dealer trying to help you, but that's as part of the warranty and any gesture's of good will Ford chooses to support you/them with. Enforcing your legal rights against the finance company, they will probably expect you to have done the same to the supplying dealer first. However if I remember correctly, there isn't legally a need to, they are jointly liable, not just liable in the event you get nothing out of the seller.

It's worth speaking to Citizen's Advice on how best to proceed, if you hit a dead end through Ford and their warranty.

[DJ_Andy_M]

3 hours ago, alexp999 said:

The issue is that the consumer rights are against the supplying dealer. You have no legal recourse from the dealer undertaking the repair. They are simply acting on behalf of Ford in fulfilling the warranty, which in itself is simply a contract and does not affect or override your statutory rights (it usually has words to that effect within it).

You can hope for something out of Ford and the dealer trying to help you, but that's as part of the warranty and any gesture's of good will Ford chooses to support you/them with. Enforcing your legal rights against the finance company, they will probably expect you to have done the same to the supplying dealer first. However if I remember correctly, there isn't legally a need to, they are jointly liable, not just liable in the event you get nothing out of the seller.

It's worth speaking to Citizen's Advice on how best to proceed, if you hit a dead end through Ford and their warranty.

Thanks Alex, this has been ongoing for 2 years now I'm bored of it, and bored of having software updates that don't seem to fix that specific issue. Obviously you've changed cars now so you don't have the issue to worry about any more.

Finance company seem to be interested either way, maybe just that will be enough to push it up a level to get them to take this a little more seriously. But certainly the Citizens Advice would be the way to go I think.

Its either that or I either put up and shut up or sell and get something else which I really don't want to do.