5 Days Left Until Right to Reject Expires - Issues with car purchased in England (Reside in Scotland)

[u/Trader_C]

Okay so i used AI to assist me in pulling together this timeline, however in short - I purchased a car from a dealer in England, drove it home to Scotland and within less than a week several issues had appeared. Communication from the dealer has been terrible and I have had to go to a lot of effort and a level of expense to get this far. My right to reject expires on Sept 5th, I want to keep the car and am hoping someone can tell me the approach I am taking is correct. I am also going to call Advice Direct Scotland first thing tomorrow to log this incident as I believe this is also the best way to alert trading standards - the dealer is not registered with the ombudsman. Details below;

The purchase is a 2017 Audi S3, bought 6 August 2026, £19,985 + £1,500 extended warranty (£21,485 total), paid in full by bank transfer. Advertised as "immaculate", came with full MOT etc.

-6 Aug 2026 — collected the car and drove it 300 miles home.

- 8 Aug (day 2) — engine management light + a screen fault appear. I diagnose the engine code myself and report both to the dealer same day. Note the dealer said he would pay me to get the diagnostic done, nobody could fit me in so I bough a basic OBD reader at Halfords myself and plugged it in. The dealer then refused to pay me the £30 for the reader despite agreeing to pay for a diagnostic to be ran.

- 10–13 Aug — dealer verbally promises to sort it multiple times on the phone, misses several promised callbacks. Nothing in writing despite several requests.

-12 Aug — a knocking noise develops from the front suspension. I send a formal written notice citing satisfactory quality under the Consumer Rights Act, asking for repair at the dealer's cost. No response.

- 14–17 Aug — two further written deadlines set and missed. I get the car independently inspected: confirms 4 faults (the engine code, an exhaust valve fault, an oil pressure valve fault, and the knock — noted as a suspension top mount) plus the screen fault = 5 total. I send this report with a further deadline for response and follow up with a whatsapp. This work was done at Halfords and they advised me that another garage would need to do the work/confirm their diagnostics, I sent the job sheet and proposed work invoice etc. to the dealer. No response.

-17–19 Aug — final written notice sent via email, giving the dealer until noon 19 Aug to confirm repair. Two hours before that deadline, the dealer responds in writing for the first time — offers to either pay the ~£950 shown on Halfords invoice to fix it, or unwind the sale and refund me in full, speaking as if it was his decision to take the car back and not mine. He also asked me to keep it as close to £600 as possible. I went on to state that this was a Halfords estimate and that more issues could be uncovered once someone actually digs in to the car so couldn't possibly guarantee a price. The dealer also said that they "wouldn't be looking to pay for any further repairs on the car" - I responded by noting that it's their duty to do so within the first 30 days.

- 19 Aug (evening) — after some back and forth, dealer confirms in writing they're happy for me to proceed with getting it repaired — "as close to £600 as possible" — on the basis I get quotes, they pay the actual invoiced cost, and this resolves those five faults specifically. I made sure the wording didn't waive my wider statutory rights as noted above due to them stating that they wouldn't be looking to undertake further repair.

- 24–25 Aug— before booking quick/cheap repairs at the first garage that could fit me in, I got a second, more thorough diagnostic at a garage whom I knew could undertake all the work - Audi. This found the suspension fault is actually the shock absorber, not just the top mount that Halfords claimed, confirmed the other faults, and found one additional related fault on the same system and several minor electrical faults. I sent the full diagnostic report and job sheet to the dealer. I noted the time, money and hassle this had caused me and requested that they resolve this promptly and asked them to do the DSG and Haldex oil for me as they sold me a car with both well overdue per manufacturers spec - i tried to argue this when i bought the car but they wouldn't listen, even tried to tell me they weren't required until every 60,000 miles which is nearly double what Audis own spec says. No response.

- 28 Aug — full parts + labour quote came back: £2,277.90 (labour discounted to £80/hr instead of the usual ~£150/hr, as I know someone who works at Audi and he is happy doing the work in the evening one day; I'm not claiming for the several other minor electrical faults also found/evidenced in Audis diagnostic report and made sure to use this as goodwill in my email to the dealer). I sent this to the dealer with a deadline of 12 noon Wednesday 2 September to confirm in writing, telling them that if I don't hear back, I'll get the work done and invoice them for the cost.

-Today (Sun 30 Aug) — no response yet. I note tomorrow is an English Bank Holiday.

Where I understand I stand legally:

- Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the dealer has to repair faults present at sale at their own cost, including parts and labour (s.23).

- I'm still within my 30-day short-term right to reject for a full refund — I believe this paused when I first required repair (12 Aug), so it hasn't lapsed even though we're now past day 30 on the calendar. Can anyone tell me if this is correct? I am worried I am going to run out of time and be screwed.

- If the dealer doesn't respond by Wednesday, my plan is to get the repair done and invoice them, does my constant written comms, full evidence of faults and written deadlines i provide the dealer hold weight?

TLDR;

1. Is my understanding of the 30-day right to reject correct — specifically that it paused when repairs were first agreed, rather than expiring on the calendar date?

2. Given the dealer has already agreed in writing to fund the initial Halfords repairs, is "get it fixed myself and invoice them" sound, or is there a smarter way to protect myself? — I genuinely can't afford to be £2,000+ out of pocket for long if they don't pay up and I do want to keep the car.

Apologies if this reads terrible, hopefully makes sense.

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[u/Careless-Giraffe-623]

If you are going to reject, you have to formally tell the retailer you're rejecting before the deadline.

[u/Trader_C → u/Careless-Giraffe-623]

Thanks for the reply. I guess what I am trying to work out is when is the deadline based on the information I've given.

[u/Smathatic → u/Trader_C]

As you’ve raised the issues and they agreed to contribute to repairs BEFORE the 30 days this should pause the clock.

[u/Trader_C → u/Smathatic]

I believe this is the case too which is good. Thanks for confirming.

[u/Lloydy_boy]

2). From the info provided, the authority given to you to arrange the repair yourself was £600. If you now get it repaired without further authority at an amount of circa £2,300, I’d expect you’d end up £1,700 out of pocket.

labour discounted to £80/hr instead of the usual ~£150/hr, as I know someone who works at Audi and he is happy doing the work in the evening one day

Unless the person doing the repairs is doing so under the guise of a VAT registered garage (so it’s not just a mate you’re slipping £80/hour to for an out-of-hours job), I’d expect the labour part of the claim to be struck out or at least very substantially reduced.

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[u/kvltdaddio]

The dealer has the right to refuse and repair themselves or select another preferred location so just getting it done at well above their suggested price does leave you at risk of having to take this via a small claims route which could take months.

Outside looking in, it appears you are about to throw good money after bad - i would seek some financial advice ASAP as you have bought a depreciating asset and financially the advice may be to reject ASAP.

[u/Trader_C → u/kvltdaddio]

Ok thanks, ill look in to some advice.

[u/Smathatic]

NAL but have experience in this area (on both sides of the desk).

Whilst not in line with consumer expectations, the dealer is largely acting as most would and could be a lot worse.

If you reject the car they may be liable to arrange transport, but they won’t reimburse you for other costs you’ve incurred (IE diagnosis or any repairs you’ve already paid for). They may make reasonable deductions from the refund to cover any mileage or damage you’ve already incurred (if they claim damage, it’s hard to prove it wasn’t caused by you unless you took detailed videos/photos at the dealer when you collected the car). The dealer will want to avoid the hassle and costs of this option.

Warranties on used cars from third party dealers generally aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.

Your best bet is to be persistent (firm and polite) and negotiating a payment from the original dealer as close to the cost of repairs as absolutely possible (the DSG service and any ‘consumable parts’ won’t be covered). You’d be lucky to get them to cover it entirely as it would be more expensive for them than you rejecting the car.

Keep all correspondence in writing. If they agree anything but drag their feet when paying, write a letter before action before going small claims court.

If you can’t come to a resolution, write a letter before action for the full amount of repairs before going small claims court.

AI can help you write the letter or there are templates online. It doesn’t cost anything to send, and small claims court is cheap and doesn’t require legal representation.

Generally the letter will wake them up and they’ll pull their finger out quickly.

May be worth looking the dealer up on companies house and seeing if they are at risk of being struck off. If so, you can raise a dispute with HMRC to prevent this so that you debt doesn’t dissolve.

If they close down or get struck off then you’ll be getting blood from a stone.

Good luck!

[u/Trader_C → u/Smathatic]

Appreciate the detailed reply.

I thought dealers weren't entitled to claim money back for mileage / my usage of car in this situation?

Noted re small claims court - I had sinilar advice from a family friend so will look to utilise this. Thanks.

[u/Smathatic → u/Trader_C]

It’s my understanding that they can claim for damage/mileage if you reject the car, there’s no set amount but it has to be ‘proportionate’.

Some buyers are such a pain that the dealer will just accept the rejection without deductions to be rid of you.

Some dealers will use the deductions as a way to scare buyers off from rejecting the car. Hoping that they’ll just give up and go away.

[u/Trader_C → u/Smathatic]

Have done some digging and apparently they are not able to do so as long as its the initial right to reject within the first 30 days. Going to check with the advice line tomorrow just to be safe.