[Rich1880]

Hi

Can you believe this, I put a deposit on a 2nd hand Golf Annie GTI TDI at Benfield Motors in Newcastle, A VW main dealer. I was due to pick the car up tomorrow and they have phoned me today to say the car is no longer available for sale, this is after I paid deposit, arranged loan, insurance etc etc.

The dealers have accepted that they must find me a replacement car and have offered me ?500 off a new golf. They said that because the Annies are few and far between they simply cant get me one. However I have found another main VW dealer who have one for sale of exactly the same spec, surely they can just get it delivered to my local VW dealer.

Can anyone help as i'm getting nowhere.

Rich

 

[v6rkc]

I'm sorry to hear that. I dont know what to say really, but it seems to me that they have very poor internal communication. If i were you i'd ask for my deposit back plus whatever costs you have incurred for insurance etc... Did you actually sign anything at the dealers when you paid your deposit? When you get your money back i would then just go to the other main dealer where you seen another. Hope you get it sorted.

 

[Rich1880]

Hi

I thought about doing that, the car was advertised at ?13,995 for a silver model with only 22k on the clock and I cant find another Diesel for the same price.

Rich

 

[nickh]

I had major problems in locating a diesel anni with decent mileage, and when I found one doing the deal was a nightmare- I totally sympathise with you!!!!! One minute the deal was on, then off, then on...... you get the idea! In the end I finally got my hands on it, 24k miles and it cost me ?13k.

Hang on in there and keep looking, I looked on the autotrader website everyday and in the end one turned up. Its well worth the wait! It might be worth writing to the DP at the dealership, sometimes going straight to the top is thge only way.

Good luck!

 

[Rich1880]

Here's the best bit, I sold my Golf at the weekend and currently have no motor at all!! I'll have to go straight to the top tomorrow and kick some ass. Does ?13,995 sound about the right price? or does it seem a bit rich?

Sounds like you got a bargain at ?13k

 

[nickh]

I sold my car before finding the anni, d'oh!!! I've seen them advertised from ?11k with 85k miles to some joker who wanted ?16k for one with 25k miles. I would have happily paid ?14k to be honest, the only thing to insist on is full vw service history and make sure that no one has nicked any of the trim.

 

[J18WJR]

unless the dealer are of the same group, they can;t just transfer the car, this works with new cars but not used

they will have to contact the dealer and see of they can arrange a price to buy it off them at, this is rarely agreed to rarely are used cars bought by other dealers

 

[simch]

Rich, they have broken the contract you had to buy the car, whether you signed anything or not is totally irrelevant. They must compensate you to a reasonable ammount, and if you have no car now, they should lend you one until the matter is sorted.

If there is a similar car at another dealer, whether that is part of the group or not is irrellevant IMO. They could buy it and sell it to you for zero margin, IF you are inagreement to buy THAT car for the same money as the one they have stiffed you for.

I would suggest a solicitors letter, and their offer of 500 off a new mk5 is a joke! There is 2k margin to play with there at least.

BTW, what was the reason for the sale being cancelled, ie where is the car. Sounds like they sold it someone for more cash than you offered??

A price on the screen is purely and invitation to treat, but once you agree a price and agree to buy it, that is offer and acceptance, and if they realised they sold it cheap, tough luck to them!! The same as if you relaised it was over the odds, they would hold your deposit until they sell the car, and then only be allowed to keep any "loss" over the sale to you and the sale to the eventual buyer.

Go to the top my firend and give em hell, (once you have spilled the beans as to whcih bag of toads this was!!)

 

[Rich1880]

I have a copy of the contract that we both signed, so if they don't give me any joy in the morning i'm going to go through and sort it out with the dealership manager. The excuse they gave me was that the car was meant to be traded in but decided not too, they have been very vague over the whole thing.

Think I will try the solicitors letter if I get nowhere tomorrow.

 

[jrw]

I have a copy of the contract that we both signed, so if they don't give me any joy in the morning i'm going to go through and sort it out with the dealership manager. The excuse they gave me was that the car was meant to be traded in but decided not too, they have been very vague over the whole thing.

Think I will try the solicitors letter if I get nowhere tomorrow.

ah ah ah chooo[|-)], sorry im allergic to bull dung! Get them for all they are worth.

 

[matt747]

I have a copy of the contract that we both signed, so if they don't give me any joy in the morning i'm going to go through and sort it out with the dealership manager. The excuse they gave me was that the car was meant to be traded in but decided not too, they have been very vague over the whole thing.

Think I will try the solicitors letter if I get nowhere tomorrow.

So just to understand their claims; were they trying to sell a car they didn't actually own at the time? At the very least I would suggest they have breached the sale of goods act; as others have said an offer of ?500 discount off a MK5 is a joke and irrelevant. They contracted to supply you an Anniversary TDI and have taken money from you so I would expect them to supply exactly what was agreed in the contract.

 

[Rich1880]

yes they sold me the car that they didn't even have in their posession, this was unknown to me until the car didn't turn up!

I got no joy at all at the stealers today. After speaking to the Branch manager and after a promise for him to ring me back I'm still waiting for his phone call. So I have sent a fax an e.mail to the Owner of Benfield Motor Group and he is to phone me 1st thing in the morning, I won't hold my breath.

The next step is for me to go through to the garage and make a bit of a scene until they agree to give me a courtesy car until they find me a silver anni.

Unfortunately they seem to just think I'm going to go away and are not making any effort to sort it out, hence I have borrowed a fiesta[:'(] off a friend so I can wait for them to sort it and have full intetion of taking this through the legal route to highlight the way they treat people. I have a half hour appointment with my solicitor tomorrow for free but after that this could cost me a fortune and BENFIELD MOTORS know it.

 

[Foxy]

This is a serious travesty......please please stick to your guns and take it all the way.

Talk to your local trading standards office too - they are usually very supportive if you've a case.

Keep us updated.

 

[Rich1880]

Good idea, I'll give trading standards a call tomorrow morning to get an idea if I have a case against them. I'll keep you all posted once I get word back from the owner of the garage, I'm going to insist on a way forward by the close of business tomorrow.

 

[mnh]

rich1880, just in case you're interested in a petrol anni, i am putting my totally stock silver model with 16.5k up for sale at the weekend. pm me if you are interested. will be going in the classified's in any case

cheers

 

[simch]

Rich, i would not borrow a car, hire one and charge them. Write to them detailing what has happended that you bought a car, they weched on it but only having sold your own, and that you will be renting a car and expect them to pay for it, OR they supply a courtesy car for you IMMEDIATELY until the matter is sorted.

Straigthforward breech of contract, get a solicitor, (wont cost much) and they will do the letter for you I am sure.

Its amazing, if you had breeched the contract they would want your deposit, even though you as a consumer have "cooling off" period rights 14 days believe. They DO NOT have such rights as they are dealers and are deemed experts in law on such sales.

maybe you were taking a risk in buyin a car you had not seen, but that's all you could be critisised for, and it is not YOU breeching the contract.

Just go see a good solicitor and a letter will be about 50 quid. I think you will get a result.

I would say you would be wise to go elsewhere for a car though, as you will get poor service from these guys now, so maybe just get a hire car paid for, or get 500 quid just ot go away and forget it all!

 

[simch]

BTW, do you have an e mail forthe dealer? If so, post it here and a few thousand of us will e mail them for you saying what bad service they appear to have given you!

Amazing what a bit of "bad press" will be worth to them!

 

[Rich1880]

Well I phoned the stealers today (again and again) until I spoke to the dealership manager and the owner of Benfield Motor Group. The plot seems to thicken. They have said that they will contact the BMW garage that was supposed to supply them with the car and trace where it has gone too, they think it has been sold to a different garage for more money. I personally think that they have got the car and have either sold it to someone else for more money or are hoping to get more money for it from someone else. I have a feeling it might unexpectantly turn up tomorrow.

If they find where the car is they will pay whatever cost to get it back. If they cant locate it they have already got their buyer trying to purchase a replacement for me. They have also said that they will sort out a loan car until they have my Anni. What might have helped is that I lodged a complaint with Trading Standards and contacted a member of management at the VW head office to express my concerns.

So I guess I will find out what is happening tomorrow, if I get no joy I will see the solicitor and I'll post the dealership manager and owners e.mail address.

Cheers for the offer of a petrol but I am set on getting a diesel.

 

[Foxy]

any news buddy?

Post up that feckers email address...........i double-dare ya !

 

[Rich1880]

Hi

Well phoned the stealers AGAIN today and to my surprise they still don't have it sorted !!! So once again after a heated argument they told me to come through to the stealership and they will give me a loan car until my Anni is ready. Just been to stealership where they give me a new golf mkV out of the showroom, they marked on hire form that the car was in mint condition so I got the owner to check over it with me before I drove off, it had deep scratches all over the rear quarter, I wonder if I didnt check if they would have blamed me for the damage on my return????. I told them they won't get their car back until they sort out the Anni, so hopefully will get sorted on monday.

Some smart Ar*e from their customer service said that they thought I was being a bit unreasonable asking for a car of exactly the same spec? I bet he wishes he never went into work today!!!!

So much for going to a main dealer to get good service.

Still lodged complaint with trading standards so hopefully they will think twice about messing people around in the future.