OT info re: is there any redress anywhere

[MadAmster]

Though I suppose there are plenty of dealers out there, who know full well and pick them up cheap.

That is our suspicion. The garage has taken photos of the damage. Legal advice will be taken.

[ramAnag]

I fear MA, given the state of the UK’s roads today, that your relative’s problem is going to be proving that the damage hasn’t been done, even unknowingly, in the last year.
You say the damage is to the near (kerb) side suspension and track rods and unfortunately this is exactly where the majority of potholes on our current excuse for a road network (another thing against bike riding GP) are to be found.
How many of us have had the experience of hitting such a hole at speed only to breath a huge sigh of relief that the tyre is intact and we can continue on our journey? It’s sadly not uncommon and in this case a year, possibly 12,000 miles, is a long time.
Sorry...playing devil’s advocate...still wish your relative well, but the ‘nasty bang’ might be exactly what I’ve described.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Only you could turn a question of auto related contract law into an oblique dig at the government / local authorities for not spending enough on infrastructure! You really should be an opposition politician 😄

[ramAnag]

Only you could turn a question of auto related contract law into an oblique dig at the government / local authorities for not spending enough on infrastructure! You really should be an opposition politician ��

Lol...and only you could turn a totally objective and thoroughly justified comment about the state of our roads into an ‘oblique dig at the government/local authorities’.
Am I wrong then? Are our pothole riddled roads not in a very poor condition and is it untrue that it will be very difficult to prove that the damage was not done either unknowingly, since the car was bought, or possibly both?

[Geoff Parkstone]

Lol...and only you could turn a totally objective and thoroughly justified comment about the state of our roads into an ‘oblique dig at the government/local authorities’.
Am I wrong then? Are our pothole riddled roads not in a very poor condition and is it untrue that it will be very difficult to prove that the damage was not done either unknowingly, since the car was bought, or possibly both?

I don't know what your roads are like oop in t'peaks, but they are absolutely dreadful in Surrey, more pothole than road. But if I remember well, they were just as bad 25 years ago: as fast as they try to fix them, the constantly increasing number of vehicles on the road set them back as fast.

[ramAnag]

I don't know what your roads are like oop in t'peaks, but they are absolutely dreadful in Surrey, more pothole than road. But if I remember well, they were just as bad 25 years ago: as fast as they try to fix them, the constantly increasing number of vehicles on the road set them back as fast.

Ah...so we agree, and there was no need for any contentious comment in a thread concerned only with seeking help. The roads are, in your own words, ‘absolutely dreadful’.

[Trickytreesreds]

Maddy, what car is it if I may ask?

The MOT would have been its first after a service for the end of its warrenty, on most cars? Obviously things like Hyundais get a 7 year warrenty, which would make the case better.

But my point is that. If this bang was done whilst under warrenty, why wasn't it fixed by the dealer?

[MadAmster]

Audi A3 Limousine.

Damage caused by driving doesn't fall under warranty does it? 'Scuse me Mr Dealer, I just crumbled the entire front end when I hit a wall, does that fall under my warranty? I don't believe it does.

In that case the front left suspension and track rods etc all got a hefty whack. No bodywork damage it seems but how that could happen is a mystery to me. Somebody, nobody knows who, or they're not saying any road up, decided to forcibly do a straightening job on some parts and file other bits down to a dangerous thinness so that everything appeared to be hunky dory. They forgot that what was left was an accident looking for somewhere to happen. Fortunately it was spotted before it all fell apart, as it most certainly would have, at 70 mph on a motorway or up to 130kph on certain stretches of NL snelweg....

[Andy_Faber]

Audi A3 Limousine.

Damage caused by driving doesn't fall under warranty does it? 'Scuse me Mr Dealer, I just crumbled the entire front end when I hit a wall, does that fall under my warranty? I don't believe it does.

In that case the front left suspension and track rods etc all got a hefty whack. No bodywork damage it seems but how that could happen is a mystery to me.

Potholes. There's a notorious roundabout at the University Of Sterling with five sunken drain covers, I've seen a number of cars with destroyed front offside suspension thereabouts over the years, none with bodywork damage. Just a supposition

[Trickytreesreds]

Audi A3 Limousine.

Damage caused by driving doesn't fall under warranty does it? 'Scuse me Mr Dealer, I just crumbled the entire front end when I hit a wall, does that fall under my warranty? I don't believe it does.

In that case the front left suspension and track rods etc all got a hefty whack. No bodywork damage it seems but how that could happen is a mystery to me. Somebody, nobody knows who, or they're not saying any road up, decided to forcibly do a straightening job on some parts and file other bits down to a dangerous thinness so that everything appeared to be hunky dory. They forgot that what was left was an accident looking for somewhere to happen. Fortunately it was spotted before it all fell apart, as it most certainly would have, at 70 mph on a motorway or up to 130kph on certain stretches of NL snelweg....

Not really what I was asking MA.
I meant for a car under warranty( especially something like an Audi), for the warrenty to stay valid, it has to be repaired by the main dealer or its void.
Was it there, at the last dealer stamp etc?

They would have flagged it under their service agreement, so I would assume Audi would have records. As proof of time scales.


If not, it was done privately and the seller was probably the culprit.
I would persue this myself, under a breech of the trades description act, as dishonesty.
The dealer failed to inspect properly, or was in fact the guilty party.

You can check the law here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights/ Specifically this bit: The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) contains a general prohibition against unfair commercial practices and, in particular prohibitions against misleading actions, misleading omissions and aggressive commercial practices. The Regulations are enforceable through the civil and criminal courts.

http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/cons...g-selling/...l , www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2002/20023045.htm and www.consumerdirect.gov.uk

This creates an offence of misleading omissions which would not previously have been an offence if the consumer had not asked the right questions. So if a salesman knows a car has, for example, been badly damaged and repaired and does not tell the customer, he could later be held liable if the customer subsequently discovered that the car had been damaged and repaired. A recent case precedent over Misleading Omissions under Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008/1378 was Regina (House of Cars) v Derby Car and Van Contacts Ltd, Derby Crown Court before HHJ Burgess on 12-6-2012, covered here: Regina (House of Cars) v Derby Car and Van Contacts Ltd