Am I Liable For Faulty Hire Car?

Q.

I hired a car in November from a well known car rental firm for 1 week. As soon as I drove the car away I felt something was wrong. It felt sluggish and non reactive to my driving. It almost started to slow down and I got quite a fright as I was in the middle of busy lunchtime traffic. I managed to drive about 2-3 miles to the shopping centre where I was going in any case. I noticed an odd smell from the car but thought perhaps it was just a one off and it would be OK when I left.

I must have spent around 3 hours at the centre and my friend looked over the car, he thought it was a clutch problem. I drove again and this time it was much worse and I had to pull in sharply to a supermarket car park. I must have travelled between only 4 - 6 miles in these 2 very short trips. I called the rental firm immediately and they told me to call the AA who came and towed the vehicle telling me that it was more than likely a clutch burn out.

I went back to the rental firm and collected another car. At no point did they indicate that I could be liable for the breakdown. I explained everything that had happened and they sympathised and gave me the only other car available. I thought I might get some compensation and flagged it up with them.

A few weeks later I received a bill for over £600 for a burnt out clutch! Then followed a serious of phone calls between the firm and myself where I stated I would not be paying. I even called the AA and they told me that for me to have done this kind of damage I would have to have driven the car in first gear and revved it over and over consistently over a period of time. Given the time I had it (and the speedometer should prove this) it couldn't have been me who had damaged the car. The rental company are now threatening to pass information to a debt collector. I am so upset and feel that they are making me the fall guy for an existing problem.

Please can you advise?

A.

If the car was faulty when you picked it up, then in no way are you liable for the cost of the repairs to the car for the burned out clutch. Legally, under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, anyone who carries out a service (in this case, hiring a car to you) must do so with reasonable skill and care, and also using materials of a satisfactory quality.

You could argue that in the first instance, they failed on both counts because they failed to use reasonable skill and care in knowing that the car was faulty when they hired it out to you - arguably they should have known that there was a problem if the car was causing problems as soon as you took it away. They also failed because they didn't supply you with a car of satisfactory quality.

As you state that the car's speedometer will back up your claim that you only drove a few miles in the car before you had to call out the breakdown recovery service, and you know from your conversations with the AA that such a problem would have been the result of consistent revving in first gear over a long period, you have enough evidence on your side to defend any claim that they make.

They are trying to frighten you with the threat of debt collectors, and the chances are that if you make it clear that you are refusing to pay for the damage to the car, it won't go any further. If it does, all they can do is issue a claim through the small claims system, and you will be able to enter a defence to that, too. Legally, if they are claiming that you are responsible for the clutch damage in the car, the burden of proof is on them and they must prove that on the balance of probability, you caused the problem. If they do take you to court, an expert opinion from any qualified car mechanic to say that clutch burnout would be caused by consistent, long term driving of the car in first gear should suffice to prove you didn't cause it.

Write to the hire company and explain that you believed they were in breach of contract to you under the Supply of Goods and Services Act, and that you have reason to believe the car was damaged before you collected it. State that you will not be paying for their repairs. Good luck!

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