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No sooner has the new Consumer Rights Act become law than we are already seeing lawyers disagreeing with each other. Let’s take the example of the used car dealer who sells a car that turns out to be faulty and is returned by the customer. One lawyer suggests ‘The durability of a vehicle is down to the manufacturer in the design and use of quality materials and, as such, a second hand dealership does not have control over these issues.’ Idiots!

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They are advising dealers to try to avoid their responsibility to their customers by suggesting that if the car has a fault when sold, that is a manufacturing fault, that the dealer isn’t responsible. As another lawyer pointed out, whilst this may be true the second hand dealer could be liable for any issues as the purchasers contract is with the dealer not the manufacturer. Could be?? That should read definitely liable. No question!

If the dealer wants to offset the cost by suing the manufacturer that is up to him but the customer has a right to expect the car to have no faults other than any that have been pointed out prior to the sale. Next issue was over Fit for Purpose. One lawyer suggested that if an electrician can carry all of his tools in a briefcase, a sports car with a small boot would be fit for that particular purpose.

That might be fine but to be fair to the dealer he needs to be told the purpose for which the car is being bought. You can’t buy a 1.0 litre city car then take it back because it wouldn’t tow your 8 berth caravan unless you told the car dealer that this was what you wanted to do with the car and he told you it would do that no problem.

But it gets worse because another lawyer, trying to be a bit of a smart arse said that if an electrician or tradesperson is using the vehicle for business, then they are probably not a consumer and so the act would not apply in this case.

Well Mr Smartarse lawyer you are right, a business user is not covered by the new Consumer Rights Act but as long as he isn’t a limited company or large partnership he is still covered by the Sale of Goods Act and the car must still be fit for purpose and if it isn’t you can still get your money back. Good grief – and I’m not a lawyer! Lawyer 1 then goes on to say the following to dealers when it comes to remedies:

1. Short term right to reject (up to 30 days from the point of sale)
2. The right to repair or replacement (for 6 months following the point of sale)
3. The right to a price reduction

Lawyer 2 points out that the right to repair does not end at 6 months. The statute of limitations gives the consumer 6 years – you may not have known that! Point c should read ‘the right to a price reduction or final right to reject’.

Regarding the issue of deductions for usage. The first lawyer states the following:

“The question here is how dealerships would assess this deduction. The obvious place to start would be the price that they would need to pay for a similar vehicle if they purchased it for stock on the day of the rejection, which could of course be significant and would need to be explained to the vehicle owner.”

That is a disgrace because the instructions within the act on this matter are very clear and quite contrary to this advice that suggests that usage should be based on the price of the vehicle when bought at its retail price less the trade value of a replacement vehicle. The instructions state:

Note that the deduction must be calculated based on the use that the consumer has had from the goods, and not the second-hand value of the goods. 

Couldn’t be much clearer could it you idiots. But the point here is that if the lawyers advising the car dealers can’t agree amongst themselves and get it right what chance do consumers have? By Graham Hill

Here is part 2 of my safety tips as we count down to winter. I mentioned in my last list of tips the importance of making sure that your screen is clear, not only outside but inside. Clean the inside of your screen regularly with anti mist cleaner.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

My experience is that this still won’t stop the screen from misting up but it makes them clear quicker when you turn on the demister. Remember that in the rain stopping distance is doubled so allow plenty of space between you and the car in front. It is a legal requirement to switch on your headlights (if not automatic) when visibility is less than 100 metres.

Another recommendation is not to use cruise control when driving in the wet. Also if you break down in heavy rain don’t leave your bonnet open, some older drivers and truck drivers would do this to indicate that the vehicle had broken down but this will allow the electrics to get wet and make the job of the recovery man or woman much harder.

For some strange reason Brits don’t understand the full dangers of floods, maybe because it is rare for us to experience really heavy flooding (last year being an exception) so we tend to be somewhat glib. The fact is that a massive 32% of all flood related deaths are by drowning in a vehicle.

Here are some more frightening facts to remember the next time a local stream or small river overflows its banks and you feel safe to drive through it. Two feet of standing water is enough to float a car whilst 12” of water flowing at 6mph is also enough to float an average family car. And if you feel the need to drive through a flood splashing water up into the engine compartment, an egg cup full of water in the combustion chamber can wreck an engine.

OK, onto some water tips. Only drive a car through water that you know isn’t too deep, by that I mean halfway up the wheels. Don’t drive through fast moving water, even if the water is just a small stream. Drive on the highest section of the road, check the camber, this is normally the middle of the road.

If your car is a manual keep the revs high by slipping the clutch whilst in water, it is important to keep your engine running. In deep water you should keep your foot on the accelerator as water will travel up the exhaust pipe if you let the revs drop. In a flood take it in turns if you meet oncoming traffic. Allow them to pass first keeping to the highest part of the road.

Make sure that you test your brakes when you leave the water. Finally in this section I must clear up a misconception regarding SUV’s or commonly known as 4WD cars. They are not amphibious vehicles. They are not safer than a normal saloon car, they won’t offer more protection if you are involved in a crash and they certainly won’t fare any better than any other car if you are driving through a flood.

Last year the AA answered calls from 4,000 motorists who had come to grief in floods. Many had driven through water only to get the car die on them when they drove out with 1,000 still stuck in the middle of the water. The AA has a specialist flood rescue team, known as AA SORT (Special Operations Response Team). They are already on alert as we start to move through autumn to winter.

One of the warnings from the AA, other than don’t believe your SUV is a boat, is don’t ignore statutory ‘Road Closed’ signs. They are there for a reason and certainly avoid driving through anything more than a puddle. By ignoring road closed warnings you could put your insurance at risk.

Water can write off cars or severely damage engines but if you ignored a warning saying that a road was closed the insurer could avoid paying out on a claim. So greater care is needed and take no risks. Water can be a killer. More next time so watch this space. By Graham Hill

Drivers are generally happier with their servicing than ever before according to a survey carried out by the self regulating body, Motor Codes. They surveyed 57,000 drivers and found that 95% of those using a Trading Standards approved Motor Codes garage would recommend it to a friend.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

It also revealed that one in ten had reason to make a warranty claim whilst there was also a 10% rise in satisfaction from 84% to 94% over the last 5 years when using a main dealer to maintain their cars. Surprisingly the age of cars maintained by Motor Codes recommended garages has risen from 10% in 2010 that were 11 years old or older to 18% in 2013.

This could be down to a number of factors as older cars are becoming less capable of being maintained by the DIY’ers or it could be that there is more money about as we come out of recession making it affordable to have cars maintained by a garage rather than a mate with a set of spanners. By Graham Hill

The RAC has brought itself up to date by fitting out their patrol vehicles with state of the art diagnostic technology in order to increase the number of roadside fixes it can carry out.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

The RAC has invested £6 million in Scan+ diagnostic software that will enable patrols to interact with a broken down vehicle’s own diagnostic system and on-board sensors to identify faults.

The technology will allow technicians to do a repair on parts that often need electronically adapting before they will operate – even battery replacements need computer ‘coding’ after replacing. No I didn’t know that either!

RAC Technical Director, David Bizley said, ’The RAC has always utilised the latest technological advances to ensure we offer the very best repair for motorists.

RAC Scan+ will give our patrols the very best information from the vehicle’s own diagnostic equipment to enable them to repair the car.’ Over to you the AA!

My gadget of the week is the latest solution to an old problem. It’s a fuel cap that prevents you from misfuelling a diesel car with petrol. The clever gadget replaces the standard filler cap and prevents the narrower petrol nozzle from entering the tank. The unit, called the Diesel Head is easy to fit, simply unscrew the factory fitted unit and place the Read more �

I love talking and studying the law, much to the annoyance of many who think they’re above it and try it on, especially with my clients. As a result I read a lot of legal papers and study case histories. Years ago I wrote a piece about the responsibility of dealers and brokers with regard to vehicles being fit for purpose and the importance of everyone Read more �

Most people know that they can now have their cars and commercials serviced and maintained at no franchised garages and still retain the warranty on the vehicle. However, I have always suggested that customers who choose to have servicing carried out by non franchised dealers ask the garage to use manufacturer own parts. I say this as I don’t Read more �

Have you heard of log book loans? Do you know what they are? As more people find themselves out of work and desperate to raise some cash to pay bills or attend interviews they are looking at some of these grey areas of raising cash. There are of course the loan sharks that everyone should avoid but there is one area that seems to have an air of Read more �

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

My gadget of the week is in fact an additive of the week. With fuel costs increasing daily (well it seems that way) a few additives have entered the market claiming to improve your car’s performance, improve fuel consumption and reduce CO2 output. One of these is called Mergi and is described by the manufacturer as ‘Magic in a bottle and helps you get Read more �

When is a lifetime warranty not a lifetime warranty? When it’s a Vauxhall it would seem. When Vauxhall announced the warranty to a fanfare of press support other manufacturers that had extended their warranties to 5 years were shocked. But after careful examination it was found that the warranty only applied to the owner of the car and not the car as it only covered the car if it was still owned by the original buyer. So as soon as the car was sold the warranty became null and void. Enter the Read more �