In this week's Money Problem, the Money blog team helps a reader whose second-hand car broke down after three months. Send your queries to moneyblog@sky.uk and we'll see if we can help.

Every week, we answer your financial problems or consumer disputes - you can email moneyblog@sky.uk with yours. Our latest problem, available to newsletter subscribers first, is from cjenk, who asks...

My partner bought a nearly new car from a garage three months ago, it has since become undrivable with both the garage and the finance company refusing to give a refund or repair the vehicle with a huge list of issues that couldn't have occurred since it was bought. What can we do?

Buying a car is one of the biggest purchases we ever make, so we were sorry to hear about your experience.

We asked Complaints Resolver Scott Dixon to look at this one - he's advised on hundreds of similar cases and has been through a similar dispute himself (of course, he won).

Hopefully his advice can help you resolve this case - and others who find themselves in a similar situation.

Dixon writes...

A car purchase creates more complaints than anything else.

Standards, attitudes and the culture in the industry need to change radically.

Although we have some of the best consumer laws in the world, so many traders flout them, leaving consumers vulnerable or ripped off without knowing their rights.

First up, you have a short-term right to reject faulty goods including cars within the first 30 days under Section 22(3) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, although the onus is on you to prove the goods were faulty when sold.

After this, any faults found within the first six months are considered to have been there at the point of purchase. The burden of proof is on the retailer to show otherwise.

You only need to give a trader one opportunity to enact a free repair. If that fails, you can reject it but that's easier said than done.

If the car has a long list of faults that renders it undriveable, it clearly doesn't meet the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which states goods sold must be:

In this case, the finance company has bought it from the dealership, so you can pursue a S75 claim under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (depending on the finance agreement - I have seen some deliberately sold as personal loans disguised as Personal Contract Purchases) so you would need to look at that closely.

Although all faults within the first six months are considered to have been present at the point of sale, I would recommend an independent inspection report from a reputable garage or the AA or RAC to reinforce this under the circumstances.

Keep all communications with the garage and finance company in writing, and get any verbal promises confirmed in writing.

Amnesia is a common medical condition in the trade, where staff have sudden memory lapses and struggle to recall what was said and promised on such disputes.

The next step would be to submit a formal rejection letter by email and recorded delivery to reject it under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Don't let the garage or finance company fob you off with excuses like "wear and tear" or "you accepted the car as seen" - this does not apply under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. S31 addresses this specifically.

Final right to reject

S24 of the Consumer Rights Act outlines the right to a price reduction or final right to reject, after one chance to repair.

Offers made will be calculated on the anticipated lifespan of the goods - time of use and depreciation. Ask for any offers made to be evidenced with calculations to ascertain how the amount has been arrived at. Never accept the first offer unless you are happy with it.

Car dealerships will often cite that they are entitled to deduct 45p a mile for use on refund calculations when you try to reject a faulty vehicle. This is false and a scam. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has ruled this as unfair on previous decisions and HMRC do not provide guidelines for car dealerships to use on fair use deductions. The FOS has ruled 25p a mile is fair and acceptable.

Check to see if the garage is a member of the Motor Ombudsman scheme as well, as that may be another avenue to pursue, but I've found it to be a blind alley to be honest and one I wouldn't recommend.

Don't fall for warranty 'fob off'

Car dealerships will often offer a one to three-month warranty on used car sales and say "it's out of warranty/the warranty doesn't cover this" if any issues arise.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 provides you with an implied statutory warranty for up to six years in England and Wales and five years in Scotland - and gives you better cover for free.

Nobody ever needs to buy an off-the-shelf warranty.

Contracts

If a car dealership is trying to enforce a spurious term to deny you a remedy, ask them to direct you to the specific paragraph in their terms and conditions.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 has a fairness test. Key terms need to be prominent, fair and transparent.

Advice when you buy a second-hand car

This feature is not intended as financial advice - the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about. Submit your dilemma or consumer dispute via:

在本周的《金钱问题》栏目中，Money博客团队为一位读者提供了帮助——他购买的二手车在使用三个月后发生了故障。若您有类似疑问，请发送邮件至moneyblog@sky.uk，我们将尽力为您解答。

每周我们都会解答您的财务问题或消费纠纷——您可以通过邮件moneyblog@sky.uk联系我们。最新一期的问题来自用户cjenk（该内容优先向订阅用户开放），他提问...

三个月前，我的伴侣从一家车行购买了一辆几乎全新的汽车。如今这辆车已无法行驶，车行和金融公司却拒绝退款或维修——尽管车辆出现的大量问题不可能是购买后才产生的。我们该怎么办？

购车是我们一生中最重要的消费之一，听闻您的遭遇我们深感遗憾。

我们请投诉调解专家斯科特·迪克森（Scott Dixon）处理此事——他曾为数百起类似案件提供建议，并且亲身经历过类似的纠纷（当然，他赢了）。

希望他的建议能帮助你解决此案，并为其他身处类似境遇的人提供参考。

迪克森写道……

购车引发的投诉比其他任何消费行为都多。

行业内的标准、态度和文化亟需彻底变革。

尽管我们拥有全球最完善的消费者权益保护法，但仍有众多商家公然漠视法规，导致消费者因不了解自身权利而处于弱势地位或遭受欺诈。

首先，根据《2015年消费者权益法》第22条第3款的规定，您有权在购买后30天内对有瑕疵的商品（包括汽车）行使短期退货权，但需自行举证商品在售出时即存在瑕疵。

此后，若在购买后六个月内发现任何故障，均视为购买时已存在。零售商需承担举证责任，证明情况并非如此。

你只需给交易商一次免费维修的机会。若其未能履约，你虽有权拒绝，但说起来容易做起来难。

若车辆存在大量故障导致无法行驶，显然不符合《2015年消费者权益法》的规定。该法案明确指出，所售商品必须满足以下条件：

在这种情况下，金融公司已从经销商处购得该资产，因此您可以根据《1974年消费者信贷法》提出S75索赔（具体取决于融资协议——我曾见过一些故意以个人贷款形式出售、实则伪装成个人合同购车的案例），因此您需要仔细核查协议条款。

尽管购买后六个月内出现的所有故障均被视为销售时已存在，但鉴于当前情况，我建议您从信誉良好的修车厂或英国汽车协会（AA/RAC）获取一份独立检测报告以加强佐证。

与汽车修理厂及金融公司的所有沟通均需以书面形式进行，并将任何口头承诺以书面形式确认。

在该行业中，失忆症是一种常见病症，员工会突然出现记忆缺失，难以回忆起关于此类争议的谈话内容和承诺。

下一步将通过电子邮件和挂号信提交正式拒收函，依据《2015年消费者权益法》行使拒收权。

切勿让汽车修理厂或金融公司以"正常磨损"或"您已接受车辆现状"等借口搪塞推诿——根据英国《2015年消费者权益法》，这类说辞并不成立。该法案第31条对此有明确规定。

最终拒绝权

《消费者权益法》第24条规定：若商品经一次维修后仍未修复，消费者有权要求降价或行使最终退货权。

报价将根据商品的预期使用寿命（使用时长与折旧情况）进行计算。要求对方提供计算依据以核实报价金额的合理性。除非你对首轮报价满意，否则切勿轻易接受。

当消费者试图退回故障车辆时，汽车经销商常会声称有权按每英里45便士的标准扣除退款金额。这种做法实属欺诈且毫无依据。英国金融申诉专员服务（FOS）在既往裁决中已认定此举不公，且英国税务海关总署（HMRC）从未出台允许经销商进行此类"合理使用"扣减的指导文件。FOS裁定每英里25便士的扣减标准才是公平合理的。

建议确认该修车厂是否也是汽车监察员计划的成员，这或许是另一条解决途径。但说实话，我发现这条路根本行不通，因此并不推荐。

当心保修承诺中的‘推诿陷阱’

汽车经销商通常会对二手车销售提供一至三个月的保修服务，但一旦出现问题，他们往往会以"已过保修期"或"保修范围不包含此项"为由推脱责任。

英国《2015年消费者权益法》规定，在英格兰和威尔士地区，您可享有最长六年的法定默示保修期，在苏格兰地区则为五年，且该保障无需额外付费。

人们根本没必要购买现成的保修服务。

合同

若汽车经销商试图以不实条款拒绝为您提供补救措施，请要求其明确指出该条款在其合同细则中的具体段落。

英国《2015年消费者权益法》设有公平性检验条款，要求关键条款必须显著、公平且透明。

购买二手车时的建议

本功能并非提供财务建议，其目的在于概述您应当考虑的事项。如有疑问或消费者纠纷，请通过以下方式提交：