Motorist fails to win full refund for faulty Audi

A MOTORIST who was sold a luxury car that developed a series of faults and became "undriveable" has been awarded £13,500 damages, but was told he cannot return it and demand a full refund.

David Douglas paid 41,050 for the Audi A4 Avant 54Q in 2005, and things began to go wrong virtually from the start.

He took it back repeatedly to the dealers, Glenvarigill, then trading as Edinburgh Audi, but it was never long before other problems arose. Once, Mr Douglas was told the car had been repaired and was ready for use. It broke down as he drove it home.

And when he called in an expert to examine the vehicle, a road test proved impossible because the engine cut out on each of the 20 occasions an attempt was made to start the car.

Mr Douglas, of Braid Farm Road, Edinburgh, sued Glenvarigill, of Roseburn Terrace, Edinburgh, at the Court of Session and argued that he should be allowed to reject the car and be repaid the full purchase price.

However, the judge, Lord Drummond Young, said that "rejection" in consumer law had to be effected within a reasonable time, and the 15 months in this case was too long. The best that could be done for Mr Douglas was an award of damages for inconvenience and the decline in the value of the car.

The court was told that the Audi was bought as a third car for Mr Douglas and his wife. There had been immediate problems with starting in the morning, but the first major fault occurred after 13 months.

On a trip to Skye, the car slowed to 30mph. Next morning, it seemed to operate normally. Some weeks later, the car's speed dropped rapidly from 70mph on a motorway to 30mph. The couple said the incident had been "frightening". There were also other problems.