A TOTTON man said he was left “stressed” and suffering “sleepless nights” after his brand-new car broke down just days after he bought it.
Jason James bought a used Jaguar F-Pace five months ago from Totton-based Carzoopa Ltd.
He needed the car for work and personal use - such as driving his new granddaughter about - and used a company car allowance to pay for it on finance.
But the 50-year-old said he was left out of pocket and without transport when the vehicle "developed faults just days after leaving the forecourt".
Jason, who lives in Commercial Road, said he bought the car, with a £25k price tag, on March 14 with 97,000 miles on the clock but two days later it broke down.
Having taken it to the garage for checks, multiple warning lights came up on the dashboard and the vehicle was returned to Carzoopa.
Although he has now been given a different car, he spent five months paying £570 a month in finance and £70 in insurance without being able to drive.
He said: “I spoke to my finance company and said I wanted to reject the vehicle because it’s faulty.
“But after two months of toing and froing they refused, because they said Carzoopa was going to get the car fixed.
“It affected me massively. It was so stressful. It gave me sleepless nights.”
Jason, who is a manager at an asbestos removal company in Romsey was left using a company van to get around whilst he awaited a response.
Despite being offered courtesy cars whilst he waited, he claimed these also developed faults.
Five months on, he has finally been given the choice to pick a new vehicle, an Audi A5, instead.
However, he said it is not the car he wanted and that he has had to restart his payment plan.
Lee O'Regan from Carzoopa said his company offered Jason the option to change the vehicle or to completely unwind the deal and that a new vehicle has since been provided.
He said: “Unfortunately the customer has a few issues with the vehicle, it is currently at a Jaguar main dealer.
“The issue with the used car was a timing chain problem, so we had the work done at a Jaguar main dealer.
“We are unsure why the fault developed so quickly after collection, however, as soon as there was a problem, we provided the customer with a courtesy car whilst they decide whether to change the car for another one or would like the deal completely unwound.”
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