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RUTHYDOTS
By RUTHYDOTS | AA Member | 2 Posts | 9 August 2012 at 3:05pm

I purchased a van from a register motor trader for work purposes and explained to the trader what the vehicle would be used for. As its for work use the sale/purchase agreement contracted out Consumer Guarantees act. Just 3 weeks later the van over heats and won't start. We got it repaired, and the engineer who looked at it said he suspected the engine was in a pretty poor condition to start with and questioned whether it is able to do the task we purchased it for. It is repaired and running, but not up to the job we bought it for. The mechanic seemed to think it could be difficult to prove its condition prior to the recent overheating. Is this worth pursuing or not? Also the trader listed false info on the CIN, saying the vehicle only had 1 previous owner and we have now found 3 previous owners. What would you advise?

ABayliss
By ABayliss | AA Expert | 2169 Posts | 9 August 2012 at 3:37pm

In this case the CGA would not apply as you purchased the vehicle for business use. However, if there is false information on the CIN, that's a different story. Either way, even though the Consumer Guarantees Act does not apply, the Sale of Goods Act and Fair Trading Act do.
Assuming the 3 owners are all bonefide private owners (ie; two of them were not dealers), then perhaps the vehicle has been misrepresented to you, so you may be able to reject the vehicle on that basis.

RUTHYDOTS
By RUTHYDOTS | AA Member | 2 Posts | 9 August 2012 at 4:37pm

Thanks for your response so quickly!

I will persue the misrepresentation, but I am not sure I can reject the vehicle on that basis, but only seek some compensation as its not a major fault??

Do you think its worth rejecting the vehicle as 'unfit for purpose', I'm not sure if I can prove it.

Perhaps the both points combined may be enough to reject it?

ABayliss
By ABayliss | AA Expert | 2169 Posts | 9 August 2012 at 5:02pm

"Unfit for purpose" relates to the CGA, so you're not on the high ground there. Also, whether or not the vehicle is fit for purpose could be argued by the dealer.
For example, if you had gone into the dealership and said that you're looking for a vehicle to tow a 3 tonne boat, and they sold you a little car with a 900kg towing limit, then it would be unfit for purpose. In this case, you've chosen a van to use for your business, so I'm not sure that you could make that stick.