Hi, we bought a new caravan in 2007, it was an ex display model from a dealership, while we were giving it a wash after the last trip out we noticed pock holes in the paintwork, a family member works for the motortrade as a body repair specialist and we got him to look at it, he has told us that the caravan has had a repair before we bought it, we were not made aware of this at the time of purchase and we assumed we were buying a new undamaged caravan. The caravan is due for service on 5th October and I wondered if anyone could advise me on how to deal with this issue, should I mention it before I take it to its service? Does the dealership have a legal obligation to inform us of any damage repaired on the caravan before we purchased it? Any advice would be appreciated.
Quote: Originally posted by walker family on 08/9/2009
Does the dealership have a legal obligation to inform us of any damage repaired on the caravan before we purchased it? Any advice would be appreciated.
Gillian
I don't honestly know, but I would have thought it might be difficult to prove that the caravan was sold to you in this condition, 2 years after the sale. Just my yhoughts - others might know better.
I am pretty confident that there is no obligation to inform anyone of a previous repair, although if asked if there have been any repairs and they are aware of any then they are obliged to tell you. You would be hard pushed to make anything stick two years later in any case.
What do you mean by "pock holes" anyway? Is the paint coming off the body?
Thanks for the replies, by pockholes i mean...if you imagine someone stabbing at the paintwork with a fork, the holes are indentations, in the paintwork. It has only just started showing as it was not there in april when the van was last cleaned, and on closer inspection you can see where the repair has been done on the inside if you practically climb into the gas locker, apparently it takes longer for some fillers ect to start failing and showing up the repairs. I feel I may be fighting a loosing battle on this one.
sorry to inform you but as a rule the pin holes you describe are normally due to damp on the underside of the the alloy side.water ingress not showing inside does not mean it is not there.buy a damp meter and check the inside for damp. if so it should be covered by your warranty.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
When i was working in the trade. 1 in 4 New cars were coming into the body shop for repairs. It could be any thing from a scratch to a new wing or door that was needed.
This was before they were even registered. & the new owner was never told. One of the best ways of finding out if a panel as ever been resprayed or blown in is to get it under a street light at night. It will stand out like a sore thumb. (ie) different shade.
You say that it was a new van you bought, even if it was an ex display model, new means unused. Not towed, not lived in etc. If a 'new' van has had a repair, why?, and surely you should be told that you are buying a 'new' van that has been 'used, therefore not a 'new' van? The fact that it has been repaired for whatever reason, must mean that it is not 'new'?
I do hope you can get to the bottom of this, but most dealerships do not have a good record about being honest, do they? This makes me very cross, we spend a lot of money buying caravans and i would be devastated if this kind of thing happened
I was told on Monday by my dealer that such problems are 'Cosmetic and not covered by warantee', I stood my ground and after a few heated debates with management, they finally agreed to put them right, but only after a further 6 week wait, despite them reassuring me that the job would be done this time it went in to have some electrics sorted, after we first spotted the fault at handover when we bought it.
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
Well thanks for all the replies, i am going to mention it when it goes in for service and will see what happens, we paid a lot of money for an unused caravan and I may have to battle but I am determined to get it sorted one way or the other, who knows, they may be quite nice about it.....then they may not.....I wont know till I try,but I will let you know what happens.
I don't know if this is going to be of any help but you should be covered under European Law which gives you a 2 year guarantee. You will need to check this with either the CAB or Consumer Direct.
I found this the other day when looking for information about extended warranties!
Consumer sales and guarantees
Sellers of consumer goods within the EU are obliged to guarantee the conformity of the goods with the contract for a period of two years after the delivery of the goods.
Certain standards exist for assessing when conformity can be assumed and when not. If the goods are not delivered in conformity with the sales contract, consumers can ask for the goods to be repaired, replaced, and reduced in price or for the contract to be rescinded. The final seller, who is responsible to the consumer, can also hold the producer liable in their business relationship.
This is regulated in the Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees.
The Directive aims to harmonise those parts of consumer sale contract law that concern legal guarantees (warranties) and, to a lesser extent, commercial guarantees.
Member States can require consumers to inform the seller of the lack of conformity within two months after its discovery. A commercial guarantee must be clearly drafted and indicate what rights it gives on top of consumers' legal guarantees.
I would have thought that as the van was new even if it was a demonstration model it would be covered by the manufactorers warranty. Even if it was a repair ,whether done by the dealer or by the manufactorer it was a poor repair done before the sale & as such is a warranty repair down in the first instance to the dealer.
but you must be able fo prove the repair had been done before you bought it
As promised here is an update, the dealership have had the caravan for 2 weeks, we played dumb when we took it in and just said we had noticed holes appearing, rang today to see if it was ready for collection and was told the holes are stone chips,I then let them know that we have had a paint/body specialist look at the paint and told them the paint specialist said it was bad filler work done on a repair, they are now going to re-look at the caravan and it is staying with them,I have said that I am more than happy to pay for a further independant paint/body specialist to visit the caravan and give tham a report of his findings, I am now awaiting for the dealership to get back to me. I will keep you up to date when I know more.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Advice needed.
