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Note this question is from a UK (England) perspective.

I recently purchased a car (2013) from a reputable garage. Within 30 hours the TPMS was alarming.

I checked the tyre and discovered it was on 12 PSI (should be 26).

I immediately emailed the dealer to inform them, and inflated the tyre.

Checking 24 hours later, the pressure was down to 20 PSI.

I've booked the car in for them to look at on Saturday, but their response suggests they are not going to help for free:

It sounds like you have picked up a puncture, as the vehicle was on site with no issues here.

Does anyone know

  1. what my rights are (e.g. under the Consumer Rights Act 2015), and
  2. ignoring my rights, what an appropriate response from a dealer should be.

I understand that a tyre is not a warranty item, but I'll be a bit miffed if I have to buy a new tyre 3 days after buying a car...

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I am not a lawyer so I'm not going to talk about rights. The appropriate response from a dealer is open to opinion, however there are some common sense answers here:

  • If the tire is leaking because of a puncture then it's not covered under warranty and if I was the dealer I wouldn't pay out of pocket to fix it. Punctures are part of driving and things happen. Just because it happened to you soon after buying it doesn't mean you aren't responsible
  • If it is a slow leak from a faulty valve or the tire seating wasn't right then if I was the dealer I would fix it for you as it most likely was a problem which existed with the car before I sold it, and I want to keep a customer happy and maintain a reputation for quality. If I was a dealer I would err slightly on the side of the customer, again for reputation
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  • That makes sense - my only thought is that it is losing about 6PSI a day, suggesting it was leaking for 1.5 days before I bought it. Hard to see a dealer accepting that argument though :(
    – RB.
    Commented Jul 13, 2017 at 13:01
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    It's quite possible it's not a puncture, and that there was a pre-existing problem that was leaking slowly enough that the dealer didn't detect. It could be just gunk in the valve, you could try exercising the valve a few times to see if that stops the leak.
    – GdD
    Commented Jul 13, 2017 at 13:05
  • Marking this as accepted, as it feels right, and aligns with my own thinking. I'm taking the car to them on Saturday as they've offered to take a look, but if it's a puncture in the tyre, I don't think I'll argue. Thanks for the advice :)
    – RB.
    Commented Jul 13, 2017 at 13:43
  • Here in the States (in most states), car dealers will give you a "We Owe" slip, meaning what the dealership owes the customer pertaining to the vehicle. If nothing is due, the slip will say it. If nothing is due, the dealership is under no obligation to fix anything unless they've offered some type of warranty with the vehicle. That said, I'd hope most legit dealerships would try to help the customer in a case like this. The reason is, when selling a car, you are trying to setup a lifelong relationship with the customer. Turning them away now may mean they might never come back.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Commented Jul 13, 2017 at 17:03
  • @GdD Just in case you wanted some closure - the "puncture" went away eventually! I think you might be onto something with gunk in the valve or similar!
    – RB.
    Commented Jul 17, 2017 at 21:54

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