Advice Please

[kramer81]

My mum bought a nearly new car from Arnold Clark which she discovered was leaking water into the cabin after 6 weeks. She paid them �150 to fix the leak and they kindly cracked the windscreen and used all the petrol in the tank (atleast a quarter of a tank) in the process, which they are denying. What can she do, to be atleast refunded for the windscreen?

Thank you in advance

[NORMANTHEDOG]

yes they are entitled to fix the windscreen,threaten them with court action if its not done,tell them you will go to the local paper if they dont as well.

[almcd007]

It should cost you little or nothing to repair the windscreen on your insurance. You will not lose your no claims. If there is a small excess - usually �50 - try and get them to pay for that. Put the petrol down to experience - I always take a note of mileage and petrol before I leave my car with any garage and if they deny going anywhere you are armed with the figures.

[Toureman]

This seems very bad service, did she get any sort of warranty , especialy with buying a nearly new car? what car was it?

She should ignore the garage and get on to their head office stating all the facts.

[CSG2306]

Hi Kramer81,

If as you say it was a nearly new car, surely there must have been a dealers guarantee with it?

Without knowing the complete facts it is difficult to answer this question, but I would have thought that you would have some sort of claim against "Arnold Clark" especially as the leak only started 6 weeks after your mum bought it. Again the windscreen should be down to them, inform them that you would be prepared to go to the Small Claims Court if they dont pay up.

The petrol side of your story is down to "Experience" nothing you can do about it, unless whoever drove the car was caught speeding or whatever.

Regards

[BillyNoMates]

Get in touch with your local Trading Standards office. They generally like matters such as these.

[kramer81]

Thanks for all your answers.

Its a Ford Ka. Sorry, "nearly new" isn't quite right, its just over a year old. Apparantly water ingress is not covered by the 3 year warranty or the 4 week warranty from Arnold Clark. It would have been covered if it happened in the 1st year.

She isn't bothered by the value of the petrol but possibility that someone has been driving her car about.

They claim it was already broken, but its a huge crack and would have been impossible to miss.