Hello all

This is a bit long winded but please bear with me. I need some advice please. I bought a WRX (6 months old at the time) which I was told had 2&1/2 years manufacturer's warranty left on it. I then found out that when brand new and while being transported for Subaru UK, there was an attempt to steal the car and there was some damage done to the car ignition and door frame. Subaru therefore held the transporter company responsible and sold the car over to them and the car was therefore not sold as a brand new car, minus the normal manufacturers 3 year warranty. In other words, Subaru UK wrote the car off their books as a brand new car. The car is not actually an insurance write off though.
After much letter writing, the dealer I bought the car from has given up on trying to get Subaru UK to reinstate the manufacturer's warranty as it will involve costly court proceedings etc. Instead they have offered me a 2 year, 5 star RAC warranty at their expense.
Now I have to mention, I bought the car in June 03 and only found out about the warranty issue in February this year. I received the proposal of the RAC warranty this week from the dealer. I've put about 5000 miles on the car since I bought it and total mileage is now just over 10000.
So, 1. Any idea of the actual value of my car with a RAC warranty versus a Subaru warranty? 2. Can I insist on the dealer taking the car back and what can I expect from them in terms of a refund? Help please!!

 

Was it a Subaru dealer you bought it from ?

 

If possible, i would push for a full refund as the car does not have the warranty they told you had when they sold you the car. If you don't get rid of the car now you may have further problems when it comes to selling it on.......besides, imagine the deal you could get for the same amount of money now

Phill

 

No, it was not an official Subaru dealer that I bought the car from and paid £23500. for it at the time. What about the fact that I have used it for a year, I can't imagine geting a full refund..??

 

What was it sold as ?

New

S/Hand

 

What spec.? WRX never cost £23500

How long are you thinking of keeping the car? Once it is over 3 years old then it has no warranty anyway so value would not be affected. There must be a sum of money that you would be prepared to accept to compensate for the change of warranty supplier that you have 'suffered'?

The car will have depreciated significantly under your ownership so a full refund is very unlikely.

Do you have a warranty issue now?

Good luck.

 

The car was sold second hand, 6 months old. It is the STI model, registered in January 2003. I do possibly have a warranty issue at the moment,a juddering clutch. If I do consider accepting monetary compensation and keep the car, how much is reasonable to ask for? It is true that if I keep it for another 2 years then this problem will disappear in a sense, but I still think I paid too mcuh for it in the first place and I don't really want to feel compelled to keep it. Once I accpet the dealer's offer of the RAC warranty, I'm accepting that I will have to keep the car for a minimum of another 2 years.

 

Is it worth speaking to your local trading standards / citizens advice mob , just to get a bit of expert advice ?

 

Thanks for all the responses everyone, will have to decide what to do by Monday and call the dealer. I also wrote to Used Car Buyer magazine so it will be interesting to see what they advise.

 

Hello again,
I'm trying to get this sorted with the dealer. Does anyone have any idea how much this car would have been actually worth at the time I bought it? i.e. without Subaru maufacturer's warranty and with the knowledge it was damaged in the attempt to steal it. I paid £23500 for it, now I'm going to try to get some money back.

 

Interesting problem Wayne

I don't think you have a chance of getting a refund or getting the dealer to take back the car. The issue is not with the car, but the warranty. So there's a breach of contract that you don't have a manufacturers warranty on the car. Your dealer should make amends to cover your financial damages & the offer of an RAC warranty sounds fair. You should check exactly how this warranty compares with the SUK warranty & if it is the same, then it is fair & reasonable that the dealer has made their best efforts to recompense you. You then however have an issue about resale value of the car with no SUK warranty. If you sell the car during the next 2 years, you will have to go into long explanations about the problem & this will damage the car's value. I suggest that it will damage the value down to that of a euro import car & you should start discussions on that basis. ie UK car value v Euro import value. Then be prepared to accept some reasonable offer from your dealer. I don't know the comparative values, but for instance the difference could be £2k. In that case, argue for RAC cover + £2k but accept RAC warranty + £500 compensation.

 

Thanks Nick, thats sum good advice, will definitely be looking for more than £500 though... and RAC warranty. Will let you all know what the outcome is in case anyone else may be unfortunate enough to run into this rather unusual problem also.