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New Car Issues

Nige F

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Club Sponsor
At the beginning of the year, I had a car accident following a medical episode. I couldn't drive but in April bought a new car in preparation for getting my licence back. It came with a 3 month warranty ND

The car was parked after being delivered by the garage. In June I got my licence back. The car was driven for 3 weeks before the engine blew up.

The dealer now has had the car for 4 months and cannot sort various problems with it.

After some advice as to whether I am entitled to get my money back on it?
 

T.C

Been there, and had one
Club Sponsor
This is a matter you really need to get some professional legal advice on.

In normal circumstances, 3 months warranty is not worth the paper it is written on as it has been known for the courts to tell a dealer to sort an issue out or refund money 12 months after a second hand car was purchaed, but in the grand scheme of things the general rules are -

Dealer given the opportunity to repair the vehicle to a satisfactory standard within a reasonable period of time. The term "Reasonable" is the main problem because what is considered a reasonable issue comes down to what the diagnosis is and what is required to fix the problem.

If the vehicle is not repaired to your satisfaction, then the next stage is you should be offered a suitable like for like replacement vehicle.

If they cannot do this, then you are entitled to a full refund.

Time scales go out of the window once the ball starts rolling as the onus is very much on the supplying dealer to make good, and in some cases dealers have also been made to stump up the cost of alternative travelling costs or the cost of buying an alternative car.

This is why you need to get proper legal advice.

If the value is over £5,000 you can get legal costs recovered, but under the £5K you would need to either use something like legal expenses insurance or go via CAB and they will advise you how to do it yourself which is very straightforward.
 

johnboy

rather fond of a cream bun
Club Sponsor
How was the car purchased, HP, credit card? A year or so ago I bought an old E class Merc, had nothing but trouble, it went back a couple of times eventually I rejected it got all my money back, partial payment from the dealer the rest made up by the credit card company.
If credit is involved in anyway it may be their problem as well as yours.
 
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sib8292

Registered User
Consumer Rights Act - tell the garage that it's obvious the car wasn't of merchantable quality and that they can either pay you the loss in value of the car (in effect cost of fixing it) or you return the car and they refund what you paid. Failing which say your next call is to Trading Standards at Local Authority.
 

Nige F

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Club Sponsor
An update on this.... I finally had the car returned to me this week.

They replaced the engine and spent an absolute fortune trying to sort a slight misfire.

They eventually gave up and asked if would be prepared to get it looked at. I had been telling them for the last 3 months what the problem was but they didn't seem to listen. On the basis of how much they spent I agreed on the understanding they paid for a y costs incurred.

Within 5 mins of me getting the car home I had resolved the issue.... Took a fuse out of the 4x4 system which is a torque on demand type. The root of the problem was mismatched tyres. A new set of tyres went on it yesterday and the fuse put back... Problem solved.

I now have a nice car with loads of new bits and the dealer is massively out of pocket. Had he listened in the first place it wouldn't have cost him so much.....
 

andyBeaker

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Club Sponsor
An update on this.... I finally had the car returned to me this week.

They replaced the engine and spent an absolute fortune trying to sort a slight misfire.

They eventually gave up and asked if would be prepared to get it looked at. I had been telling them for the last 3 months what the problem was but they didn't seem to listen. On the basis of how much they spent I agreed on the understanding they paid for a y costs incurred.

Within 5 mins of me getting the car home I had resolved the issue.... Took a fuse out of the 4x4 system which is a torque on demand type. The root of the problem was mismatched tyres. A new set of tyres went on it yesterday and the fuse put back... Problem solved.

I now have a nice car with loads of new bits and the dealer is massively out of pocket. Had he listened in the first place it wouldn't have cost him so much.....
I hope I am not bearer of bad news...my knowledge of 4x4s isn't great......I seem to recall mismatched tyres on 4x4 could cause damage to the drivetrain??
 

johnboy

rather fond of a cream bun
Club Sponsor
Mate of mine had a Vauxhall Cavalier 4x4 as a company car, rear tyres wore down and he took it to get all four replaced but the leasing company would not authorise all four as the fronts were well within the limit, a week later the car was in the garage having a new drivetrain.
 

andyBeaker

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Club Sponsor
Mate of mine had a Vauxhall Cavalier 4x4 as a company car, rear tyres wore down and he took it to get all four replaced but the leasing company would not authorise all four as the fronts were well within the limit, a week later the car was in the garage having a new drivetrain.
My understanding is that a bit of wear doesn't cause an issue but different profile tyres do.

Been racking my brains to remember where I heard this....finally got there, one of mrs Bs friends was kindly given two brand new tyres by one of her friends when she needed replacements.....the drivetrain didn't like it. Felt so sorry for them both, particularly the person who gave the tyres away..must have felt awful.
 

Nige F

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Club Sponsor
Andy you are right it would have eventually damaged the clutch pack in the transfer box as it was constantly trying yo engage the 4x4 system.

Been and tried it out in 4x4 mode today and all is good. Its recommended that the worn tyres go on the front... It all to do with the rolling radius of the tyres apparently.
 

andyBeaker

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Club Sponsor
Andy you are right it would have eventually damaged the clutch pack in the transfer box as it was constantly trying yo engage the 4x4 system.

Been and tried it out in 4x4 mode today and all is good. Its recommended that the worn tyres go on the front... It all to do with the rolling radius of the tyres apparently.
Great stuff...pleased,you are sorted:campeon:
 

Lee337

Confused Poster
Club Sponsor
My Mercedes had a fault when I bought it which I used to get a £250 knocked off the price. The ABS/ Traction control light would come on after driving it around a mile. I took a bit of a gamble as it was likely to be the yaw sensor (easily replaceable & not too expensive) of one of the ABS sensors. I also got a further £100 knocked off the price as it needed a couple of new tyres, the front being mis-matched and near the legal limit.

Two new tyres later & the ABS/Traction control light never came back on. Turns out the ABS sensors were getting confused as the rolling diameter of the two tyres I replaced were different. Didn't even need to reset the Engine Management Light as turning the wheels lock to lock a couple of times reset it (trick learned from SLKWorld).

Prior to that I had a Shogun & was advised by my local garage to make sure it had matching tyres to avoid winding up the transmission.
.
 

Malone

Been there, and had one
Club Sponsor
From my ZZR1400 days, if you change the gearing more than one tooth down on the rear it would annoy the traction control and ABS. And so, despite it being able to pull higher gearing there’s a practical limit to how far.
Apparently the latest dodge is to cut out every other bar on the ABS rings as that then defeats the ECU as it then thinks you’re going half speed.

it would however then stop the TC and ABS from working under normal circumstances.

Btw this is purely for top speed event purposes and not on the road.
 
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