As the parent of a overworked trading standards legal enforcement officer that I have just shown your message to:
Trading standards have far bigger things to worry about!
unless the dealer has a catalogue of complaints TS won't spare the staff to look into it. Your case is minor compared to most, the money laundering / smuggling / main dealer clocking / fake football shirts are worth literally millions & they concentrate on that round here.
Check you insurance policies to see if you have legal cover.
Forget whether the gearbox is recently reconditioned or not that really doesn't matter.
Your best remedy is under the 6 months statutory warranty provided on any 2nd hand car bought from a dealer. Keep a copy of the advert. Your case for arguing about it not being just normal wear & tear expected on an old car is made virtually watertight by evidencing that it was sold with a reconditioned gearbox.
It is down to the supplying dealer to fix it, if they won't - evidence this, get it repaired then smalls claim court to recover costs. Its down to him to prove that the fault didn't exist when you bought the car, by saying it had a recon box he's shot himself in the foot.
Timeframes to pay attention to
If a car develops a fault within the first 30 days of purchase, it is under statutory warranty and the buyer can simply reject it and return it to the dealer for a refund.
If a fault emerges between 30 days and six months from the date of purchase, the law assumes that the fault was pre-existing and, unless the seller can prove otherwise, the vehicle is still protected by statutory warranty. Here, the seller has one chance to fix the problem. If they do not manage to do that, the buyer is entitled to a refund, which may be less than the original purchase price to account for the time during which the car has been functional.
After six months, the automatic protection of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 expires. It is up to the buyer to prove that there was a fault with the car at the time of purchase if they want to pursue a dealer for a claim to repair a fault.
Note that the statutory warranty on a used car only applies here to cars bought from a dealer. Private purchasers enjoy none of this protection and the rules for cars bought at auction will depend on the particular auction house, and whether it was online or not.
Never ceases to amaze me in this day and age of Information technology that the 6 month protection afforded under the Sale of Goods Act is not called up.
Drummed it into my children and family to always make sure any dealer that they are considering purchasing from is made aware that they will expect the dealer to conduct business with due regard to the SoG Act and the 6 month period. We would also tell the dealer that no matter how long the MOT is (if relevant) that it will be taken for an MOT immediately upon taking delivery. Those that cant be trusted to operate under the law, quickly show their hand.
