Junction 17 Cars in Peterboro - Buyer Beware

[adrianr]

I would like to begin this thread by saying that the views expressed herein are the personal opinions of the writer which are based on his actual experience when buying a Maserati Ghibli from Junction 17 Cars in Peterborough recently.

Junction 17 Cars in Peterborough/Nottingham sells a range of supercars and currently is advertising for sale a Mclaren priced £240k; Ferrari at £150k; a Porsche at £95k and a BMW at the same price. It is a company that on the face of it should be concerned about its reputation and customer service levels? Of particular interest to this forum are the 6 used Maserati's currently on sale.

One week-end recently I saw a Maserati Ghibli advertised at circa £33k in a lovely colour which caught my attention. I telephoned Junction 17 Cars in Peterborough and basically did a deal blind, buying a car that I had not seen and agreeing a p/ex price for my Maserati QP. The garage had answered “absolutely nothing needs doing to the car†- when I posed the question is there any immediate expenditure required to bring the car up to mint showroom standard? Deposit paid on my credit card, I agreed to collect the car on the Monday evening.

Now I know some of you know what's coming next and are already screaming at me ‘caveat emptor' – but I was relying on the fact that the car was HR Owen supplied and serviced with the balance of a Maserati warranty, so even if the garage was not reputable – I did have back-up.

So what's the problem. Well two things. Problem 1: The rear tyres IMHO looked below the minimum legal tread depth. I queried this with the salesman immediately I saw the car. He showed me the vehicle pdi sheet which Junction 17 Cars had completed that day and claimed fronts 7mm and rears 5mm. Pure fabrication I challenged – as the rears were on the wear bar - so 2mm max! So another very helpful sales rep measures the rear tyres and says no they are 5mm or maybe 4mm! (I'm thinking this problem is a £300 fix). Problem 2: Although I disclosed kerbed wheels on my 2008 part/ex Maserati QP vehicle, Junction 17 Cars failed to mention the fact that the car they sold me had three seriously damaged alloy wheels. To my mind, no dealer selling a Maserati should present a car in this manner. OK – perhaps not a deal breaker but ‘not as described' (I'm thinking this problem is sorted out for £250 fix).

Else I have no complaints about the car.

So I proceed with the deal and intend to check the tyres out properly the following day. I assume that Junction 17 Cars will be commercial and honourable. They immediately mark up my part exchange vehicle by £7k more than they paid for it – so their side of the exchange appears to have gone well. So it turns out that all four tyres need replacing. (at a cost of £620). The rears are below legal minimum. More-over the last service by HR Owen several months and miles earlier had made an advisory note that the rears were 2mm-3mm! Surely impossible for Junction 17 Cars to now defend their readings?

Junction 17 Cars whilst they have taken my calls and asked for document trails and pictures – are clearly not engaging and are certainly not assisting or concerned. The MD merely dispelled the Kwik Fit report on the tyre condition (readings were Fronts 4 ;4; 2 and 4; 4.5; 3 Rears 2; 3; 1.6 and 1.6; 2; 1.6) – ‘because their business is to sell tyres' – and also claimed that Junction 17 Cars would never give any warranty on tyres!

So I will talk to Trading Standards; and I will send a Letter before Action; and I will offer ADR (alternative dispute resolution); and I will take Junction 17 Cars to the small claims court to recover £870 if I have to – but why would they expose themselves to this publicity?

Anyone thinking of buying a car from Junction 17 Cars – please do check out the car properly. From my experience of them, they are so far not proving to be honourable people to do business with.

I would be interested to hear your views on my situation and how you would proceed?

 

[russellp]

Adrian,
Please let me know if you manage to speak to Trading Standards (TS)
The number on their web site is for CAB and according to them TS do not talk to the public unless they choose to.
CAB will refer your complaint but TS may choose not to respond to you.
The dealer may be registered with an ADR scheme which will make life easier for you. Otherwise it's not so easy to start the ADR process. Many of the listed providers will only take on a case if the supplier is in a registered scheme.
I have a dispute with a company that supplied me with a bike which is unsatisfactory and they are just stonewalling.
You may have to engage a solicitor to progress your complaint.
On the face of it you have a cast iron case.
One can lose faith in human nature faced with a situation like this.
I share your pain and anger.
Russell

 

[Corranga]

Not the best when purchasing a car at that price.

On another note, I'd be having that laser aligned before you go spending 620 quid on new rubber which wears quickly and unevenly due to the kerbed wheels knocking the geometry out...

2nd option (though I don't know much about this as I tend to buy privately), could you not just hand it back and look out for another one?

 

[Jkulin]

Adrian,

I had the same problem with my dealer, under the consumer sales act, they must fix any problem within 90 days or you can insist on them "Undoing the deal" if your car is still there or you give them one option to fix the problem and if they don't then you can take it elsewhere to be fixed at their cost.

Have a read here: - http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/showthread.php/19545-Cold-Start-Noise

 

[Contigo]

Stop stop stop.

You have 14 days to reject the car under new Consumer rights if the car is not fit for purpose and an advisory for 2mm-3mm is not how a car of this value should be prepped.

Also you made a verbal agreement on the phone and you were promised that the car needed nothing fixing or attending to. This already is a breach of contract and you should return the car immediately for them to fix it or issue a full refund.

I really don't see how they can argue the toss with this one!!!!

 

[rossyl]

I think you should return it.

There will be others.

I would not tell them that you intend to return it as they will probably "sell" your QP extremely quickly.

 

[conaero]

+1 Return it, they won't jeopardise the sale for a grand.

 

[spkennyuk]

Hi Adrian.

The other option that springs to mind that should give the dealer a wake up call. You paid the deposit by credit card. If you report it to your credit card company they can put a hold on the £500 deposit. The trader then gets 30 from memory to resolve the issue as the goods were not as described.

As far as if you end up going legal to recover the money. Depending on which credit card or bank account you. There is a good chance you have free legal cover as part of the benefits of that credit card or bank account.

As others have said you have the right to reject the car however you would be out of pocket on the tyres you have put on it.

 

[adrianr]

Some good comments from you all. Thank you.

My preferred option is to retain the car. I also do not see my old QP on their web site any longer suggesting they may have either sold it; traded it; or have secreted it away from sight. Under law I believe that if they cannot re-instate then the equivalent value in money terms - gets returned. But I do not want to go there anyway.

I paid the deposit - just £250 on a credit card. We then encountered payment issues trying to pay in full on my cards. So I ended up transferring the full amount of the balance online using their computer system - by bacs transfer on-line. Not ideal, but I did insist on paying a further £1k on a credit card - as I thought this might come in handy. By then I had inspected the car and I'd done the mental maths on the repair costs. I had forgotten about this so thanks for reminding me spkennyuk. I will telephone the credit card company and make them aware that I have a dispute. That can't do any harm. I am just, only just within 30 days of purchase - albeit my complaint was raised within 10 days - when they telephoned me to give them customer feedback on my sales experience!

 

[Contigo]

Document everything you send in writing both email and letters. As you reported it in the first 14 days you are fine but as I said let them rectify it.

 

[Wack61]

Playing devils advocate , those tyres are legal so they haven't broken any laws , kerbed alloys are cosmetic not a fault, what you should have done IMO is walked away from the deal if they didn't agree in writing to fit new tyres and get the wheels refurbished

I'd be amazed if trading standards were even slightly interested in getting involved in it for those reasons ,the distance selling regulations may apply as you paid a deposit before seeing it but you'd need to contact the CAB

 

[redsonnylee]

I would push for a refund under the 14 day rule, clearly the are not being truthful. So far you can visually see what they have lied about, I wound have lost confidence by now and would be worried about what can't be seen.

if you do keep the car best wishes on getting everything fixed.

 

[adrianr]

Wack61 - I think you are being a bit harsh?

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, this Maserati used car should be of a satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. My rights have been breached. The law that they have broken is to supply me with a car that is not as described, becuase the tyres do not show 7mm tread at the front and 5mm tread at the rear! And the alloy wheels require expenditure on them to bring them up to showroom standard - indeed any standard!

I have now raised a dispute with the credit card merchant.

 

[Contigo]

I like you paid a deposit on the car without seeing it but I made it very clear in writing too (email) that if the car was not as described or something didn't stack up then I would not proceed with the sale and I would be refunded the deposit.

 

[Wack61]

My point is you viewed the car prior to final purchase , if you'd ordered the car over the phone and they'd delivered it then it's cut and dry as you haven't viewed the car prior to it being delivered , but I don't know how the law stands if you collect it after paying a deposit,have you read the contract you signed when you collected it to see what it says about rejecting the car.

I do know once it's in dispute you have to log the mileage and park it up

 

[adrianr]

Wack61 - I think you raise some good poinst of law here which might be a challenge for me. When I paid the deposit then Distance Selling Laws would have applied, as the car was bought blind. However the dealer will argue (probably correctly) that the transaction was completed on collection in the showroom and that the deposit was refundable up until that point. I accept that I did agree to the car condition by signing their lengthy contracts, and that I was given the opportunity to inspect the car on collection, etc. However I would still argue that I relied heavily on their pdi report which to my mind formed part of the contract terms - and has proven to be not as described.

 

[Wack61]

That's where I think they'll have you,I had something similar with a car I bought last year, the ad said satnav, it looked like a satnav but I forgot to check it, it wasn't until I was trying to program it for the journey home that I realised it was just a touchscreen radio, went back in and the dealer principal pointed out the info on the website was just generic based on model and I'd signed the contract so it was a done deal.

he was however a fair guy and offered me £100 back as he didn't realise it wasn't a satnav

it's whether you want to go down the legal route which could prove costly if you don't win or hope they do the decent thing and at least make a contribution

 

[zagatoes30]

You wonder how some traders remain in business, this is a relatively quick fix for them and it won't cost them a lot.

In most cases I have found traders to be less than honest about a cars condition over the phone. Numerous times I have asked specific questions to justify a visit only to find things are not as discussed. However with private sellers the reverse is often the case, they are over critical of minor issues and when you visit you are presently surprised.

Not all private sellers are like that I have dealt with the odd dodgy one over the years

 

[highlander]

hate to say it, but think Darren is correct here. hard to hear for OP but this car was bought after being seen and has not developed a fault............easy for all of us now with hindsight to say "you should have this or the other before parting with the remainder of the cash". cold, but I would just put this down to experience learned for your future 2nd hand alfieri purchase

 

[Wack61]

However with private sellers the reverse is often the case, they are over critical of minor issues and when you visit you are presently surprised.

That's me all over, I just sold my yeti , I told the guy on the phone there was a slight rubbing sound when you turn right but it's been looked at twice , hasn't got any worse si I was told to leave it alone and live with it

On the test drive he didn't even notice it until I pointed it out

when I sold my Impreza I had a buyer with shiny car syndrome, he was throwing the asking price at me coming up the drive , I really miss that car , I do regret selling it