Threaten Legal Action?

I'll try and condense this as much as possible....

I bought a car from a dealership 150 miles from my locality.
When buying the car we agreed that if any problems arose within the warranty period I would get the problem sorted locally and the dealer would reimburse me.

Well, a problem did arise. Contacted dealer and he advised me to use whatever mechanic I usually use.

My usual mechanic had a cursory look and diagnosed the problem and provided an estimate.
I faxed estimate to dealer and he gave the go-ahead for the work to be done.

When mechanic went at the job he found a secondary problem and had to do a lot of diagnostic work and a second part was eventually needed.

I tried to keep the dealer abreast of the situation, but the mechanic could not provide me with a final price throughout the diagnostic process. I did however let him know that the original estimate was going to change.

When job was finished I paid mechanic and faxed invoice to dealer.
Rang him to discuss and we left it that I would send up both parts that had been replaced - he wanted to check them out to make sure I wasn't trying to pull a fast one.

Sent the parts 2 weeks ago
I left it a week to allow time to inspect parts and then tried to ring him.
In the past week I have rang 9 times but he will not speak to me.
Receptionist keeps saying he is busy and he will ring back
I have not received a penny from him as of yet.

Any ideas on the best way forward
Should I threaten legal action?
Would I have a leg to stand on if I did?

Invoice total is €900

Why don't you try the small claims court?

Did you get the details of the warranty in writing?

CCOVICH said:

Did you get the details of the warranty in writing?

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Didn't go into the details of having any work done locally...
Just scribbled on the receipt - "6 month warranty bumper to bumper"

Firstly, after only 2 weeks I would be amazed if you had received any money back yet from a dealer. Him paying you is going to hurt much more that if he was able to do the work himself.

If it were me I would try one more attempt at an amicable solution.

Send him a letter by registered post reminding him

1 - what you had verbally agreed
2 - what action you took
3 - that the dealer sanctioned this action at every stage of the process
4 - that you returned the replaced parts as requested
5 - that you paid the garage directly (enclose another copy of invoice)
6 - that you have done your part and now you wish to be reimbursed as per your agreement
7 - that he has so far failed to reply to any of your phone calls (dates & times would be useful) which you do not appreciate.
8 - that you trust that he has simply been busy and that you hope that he is not going to put you to the trouble of pursuing him for your money.
9 - that you would very much appreciate it if he could send you your refund by a certain reasonable date.

Keep the letter business like and formal. No typos and no name calling or threats.

Let him draw his own conclusions as to what happens if you do not receive your money by then.

Remember, this may not be the only problem you have with your car within the warranty period. No sense making an enemy of the dealer if he is simply slow in paying you.

A letter like that may provoke a positive response and still enable you to continue to deal with him in the future.

good luck.

JMR said:

Didn't go into the details of having any work done locally...
Just scribbled on the receipt - "6 month warranty bumper to bumper"

Click to expand...

At least you have enough correspondance at this stage to show to an impartial that the liklihood that this arrangement you describe did exist.

So if its word versus word and you show all the paper trails backing up yours I reckon you have a good chance if push came to shove, yup try small claims no legal costs.

Civil cases are on the balance of probability.

So what are the odds that your story and paper trail are true compared to what the dealer may say to refute!

Update:
Dealer has been in touch.
He has tested parts. He was fobbing me off while he waited to get an Audi in as a trade in to test the parts on!

Original part was found not to be faulty but second part was faulty!

Dealer has agreed to subtract value of first part from invoice and pay up.

I will go back to mechanic and try to get reimbursed for the first part that was replaced.

It seems that the mechanic I used mis-diagnosed the problem originally but rather than admitting his mistake he insisted that both parts needed replacing.