Too much time to repair

The Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal has highlighted a decision when it was determined a trader took an unreasonable amount of time to repair relatively minor issues with a car, so the buyer was allowed to reject it.

The consumer purchased the vehicle in late January 2023. He soon noticed a knocking noise coming from the steering and the heater wasn’t working properly, so it was returned to the dealer on February 3.

The customer then contacted the trader on February 6 and 13 after receiving no updates. The dealer tried to repair the vehicle but couldn’t find the fault with the steering, so referred it to a different mechanic. 

On February 15, the mechanic diagnosed the issues as a broken flap in the heater box and a faulty steering-shaft universal joint.

The trader bought replacement parts needed on February 21. The buyer continued to contact the dealer about the repairs and was advised it wouldn’t be fixed until the start of March. The customer then sought to reject the vehicle.

The tribunal ruled that while the faults weren’t substantial, the remedial work was simple and should have been performed within two weeks – even if there was an initial misdiagnosis of the cause of the knocking noise from the steering.

Consequently, the adjudicator allowed the purchaser to reject the vehicle and the trader was ordered to refund the customer. Click here for the full decision.