Your questions answered: ‘My brand new €46,000 car constantly needs repairs. What are my options?'

Irish Independent

22-06-2025

Plus, your rights as a consumer under package holiday legislation
Q I bought a new car in January for €46,095. I'd cashed in an old pension and got a credit union loan so I didn't need to use a PCP. I was meant to collect it on January 2, but this was delayed because I was told there was a manufacturing issue with the ball joints in the front suspension.
Since then, it's been one problem after another.
Initially, the rear camera wasn't working, and I had to take time off work to bring the car in to the dealership to get it fixed. At the end of February, the indicators stopped working. On April 7, it broke down completely. The car company arranged a recovery truck and a replacement car. On May 12, the dealership rang to say it was down to the gearbox, which needed replacing. It's ready for collection now.
As I've been without the car for almost half the time since I bought it, I contacted the dealership, the carmaker and even its CEO on several occasions. I'm terrified that if I take the car back, something else will go wrong and I'll have to start this whole exhausting complaint process all over again. What can I do?
Noreen, Limerick
A When you bought the car, you entered into a sales contract with the dealership. Under consumer law, the dealer is obliged to provide a car that's fit for purpose and has the durability you would normally expect from a new car, taking account of factors like the car's make, its durability, any need for servicing or maintenance, and how far and how often you drive the car.
If an issue with a car arises in the first year, the dealer must show that the car was not faulty when you received it.
The dealership has already carried out several repairs to your car. If a business repairs a fault and the same or a different fault occurs afterwards, you can reject further repairs if you can't be reasonably confident in the business's ability to fix the car.
Complain to the dealer in writing, outlining the issues with the car and request the remedy that you feel is most appropriate.
If you don't want further repairs, you can seek a reduction in the price you paid for the car, or you can ask to cancel the sales contract and request a refund. You can get further information on your consumer rights for car purchases on our website.
If the dealer doesn't give you a satisfactory response, you can choose to pursue the matter through the courts.
We suggest you get independent legal advice. Given your safety concerns, you can report the problems to the Road Safety Authority (RSA) who can then assess if the model of your car needs to be recalled or recalled for repair.
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'We had to cancel our package holiday to Spain. Can we get the tax back?'
Q My wife and I, who are in our 80s, booked an all-inclusive package holiday to Spain for 10 days in May. We booked through a Germany tour operator via its Irish branch in February, paying €2,000. But my wife became seriously ill in April, and had to be hospitalised.
The medical advice was that she was unfit to travel on the holiday – so we asked the tour operator to reschedule it, a week before we were due to travel. They refused. Our travel insurer reimbursed us, minus an excess of €300. But we believe that the holiday company should return the Vat, which we assumed was included in the total price of the holiday.
Are we legally entitled to get these taxes back?
Tom, Dundalk
A I'm sorry to hear of your wife's illness and hope she is making a good recovery.
The holiday you booked is covered under package holiday legislation. When you book such a holiday, you enter into a contract with the tour operator.
You should receive all the essential information about your holiday before you agree to this contract. This includes the total price, including taxes and fees, and the tour operator's terms and conditions regarding cancellations.
You can find more information about your rights under package holiday legislation on our website, at www.ccpc.ie/consumers/travel/package-holidays/
It's unfortunate your tour operator refused to reschedule your holiday on medical grounds. However, you were wise to have taken out travel insurance so you could claim back most of your holiday costs.
A consumer generally has the option to apply for a refund of airfare taxes and charges directly from an airline for a cancelled flight. But the claim usually needs to be made within a set timeframe after the flight – within 30 days, for example. The airline may charge an administrative fee to process the refund.
As you bought a package holiday, you should first refer to the terms and conditions in your holiday contract and then speak to your tour operator to confirm if you are eligible to claim back the tax on the flight portion of your package.
You can also contact the airline about a refund but you'd need to inform them that the flights were booked as part of a package holiday.
Gráinne Griffin is director of communications at the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. You can email your questions to [e-mail]