I agree that it's not what you want when you've bought a brand new car, and an expensive premium one too.

However, I think that the dealer is entitles to repair the car to return it to perfect condition. I'd go for rejecting it and see how you get on.

Here for the monkeys is the facts about 'Acceptence'.

First 'Acceptence' in a legal sense is not the same as our everyday undersatdning of the term.

Acceptence is deemed to have occured when given ALL circumstances the goods are accepted. The circumstances are KEY and the main point of contention is always TIME.

Note how asda, argos etc give 30 days for all goods... they dress this as a money back guarentee but if they did not do this they would have one rule for fish fingers, another for shirts andanother for mars bars... By allowing 30 days they comply with English Law by being over generous.

So... If I buy a mars bar I may reasonably be deemed to have accepted it within say 10 minutes or certainly within an hour. This is becasue logically I can determine within that time frame if owt is wrong with it.

A car is not a mars bar so one could not possibly be deened to have accepted it atfter one hour. One needs to drive it, to check the seats, the leather, the sound system, the lights, the wipers and the finish to the paint. One must be allowed a reasonable time to do this. There is no set time... But a week would most likely be deemed sufficient time. A month would certainly be deemed sufficeint. YOU HAVE LEGALLY ACCEPTED THE CAR..

That said it may be that during that month you did not for example check the 'Hill Descent' feature. If now the is a big snow fall and you use this system and it does not work would you be able to claim non acceptnacne becasue you had not had a chance to use this...? NO you would not. Of course the garage would have to fix it but they would not need to replace the entire car.

Just becasue you find something wromg with a new car does not automatically allow you to reject it. That would be unworkable. Where would you draw the line... a chip in the paint? a crack in the window? You have to find something so significantly wrong as to change the qhole bargin. ie the car is automatic instead of manual or the wrong colour or something as significant...

Your paint job may well have been enough for rejection, it is hard to say as I can not see it ... But as you noticed it only 4 weeks after visually inspecting it on delivery you are never going to be able to reject... How bad could it be anyway if you did not spot it?

Have the good grace to politely accept the garage's offer to fix the problem and next time you buy a car visually inspect it before climbing in...

(Edit - insulting comments deleted.)

Edited by Avant on 18/01/2013 at 11:28

Come down on the dealer with a ton of bricks. In the meantime, if you haven't already, take good quality photos of your own as proof and find someone independent to verify the issue.

I have a top of range Mercedes that is now a few years old and to my horror the paint on the roof and doors has started to peel off.

Went to the dealer to be told that they are not going to pay for the damage which is in the thousands of pounds because they concluded the car was repainted in those areas. I said, but I bought it brand new from you. They insist it was repainted, I insist that is how I bought it from them.

No joy. I wish I checked the car better from day one.

This is where I'm now saying never again buy a new car, buy second hand or just lease the thing. Really sorry to hear about the paint work. You better seek further advise or better contact trading standards. I'd get my money back if I was you.

"& finally ...... it's a Land Rover ...... why do you expect perfection? If you want perfection you should have bought a Toyota. Instead you bought a badge. Having the sort of money one of these costs as disposable money, you should have known better!"

100% correct. My experince with L/R customer service is nothing but bad. Soon as they have your money they dont want to know.

Good luck & persist

& finally ...... it's a Land Rover ...... why do you expect perfection? If you want perfection you should have bought a Toyota. Instead you bought a badge. Having the sort of money one of these costs as disposable money, you should have known better!

Wow ! I thought this level of vitriol was reserved for VaG group vehicles !!

Like or loath Land Rovers the lady has spend her hard earned cash on a product which is sub-standard. Look to reject the vehicle, if you gent anything less than bowing and scraping from the dealership go to trading standards.

Caroline needs our help, not an argument.

HJ has some advice (Ask HJ on this site, then FAQ no. 5) - but as you can see from there the picture isn't very clear.

The longer you have had the car the harder it is to insist on rejection rather than repair under the Sale of Goods Act. However English law upholds that which is reasonable, and you've discovered the paint problem at the first reasonable opportunity. I think you should try rejection: be polite but firm with the dealer, and demand to know (a) how this happened in the first place - which may not be the dealer's fault, and (b) why the dealer didn't spot the problem at the pre-delivery inspection - which most certainly was their fault.

Remember that your contract is with the dealer, not Land Rover: in an ideal world you can get your money back and spend it on an Audi Q3. If you can't get them to budge, get an independent auto body expert in to look at the respray and accept it only if it's indistinguishable from new.

With luck our regular contributor Gordonbennet may see this thread: he used to be a professional car transporter driver and although I don't suppose he ever dented a car himself, he may have some knowledge of damage to new cars.

Thank you for your helpful reply, I think I will try the reject route first and see how it goes. I am new to this site and haven't really worked my way round it yet!

Caroline needs our help, not an argument.

Avant,the OP has asked for advice & has received it.

But she has also made a number of comments as to what she believes "should" be the case.

I can't believe it left the factory like this.

So somewhere along the line someone has repaired it

I bought a brand new car and expected a brand new car in perfect condition

It is these comments which I (& can I suggest others) have also responded to.

However she is certainly within her rights to ASK FOR a refund / exchange & with this in mind:

1. Write to the dealer principal of the dealership you bought it from stating why you are dissatisfied & what you want doing about it
2. Copy Land Rover. You can find an address here http://www.landrover.com/gb/en/lr/contact-us/contact-us/ or you may want to phone them & ask which is the best address for complaints or you may want to ask the dealer where to complain to
3. Both letters should be by recorded or registered post
4. If you purchased the vehicle via a Finance Agreement you should also copy in the finance company who are jointly (with the dealer) liable for the goods, use the words "merchandisable quality"
5. Should you not recieve satisfaction you would then need to seek redress via the courts under Sale Of Goods Act. Unless you have legal experience I would suggest you do this via a solicitor

Good luck

Am I missing the point here?

Aren't Land Rovers supposed to be off-road vehicles that are likely to get dirty, bashed and generally knocked about? Why else would anyone buy a 4WD?

I've just been told a little rich girl with questionable singing talent was involved the the interior design. Sorry, I'm still not getting it. Interior design and Land Rover seem mutually incompatible.

;>)

I think you should read and digest all of the latest SOGA.