Having MAJOR issues with Audi

[jideare]

I appreciate this is going to be a long post so excuse me.

I have a 65 plate car bought on finance... used from dealer as a second registered person on it but it was practically brand new with just a few 100miles on it. Car had a few niggles and issues within the first 6 months. It was taken in and to the best of my knowledge fixed. It'd always gone back to the garage and I get told the issues were fixed under warranty and I usually never question it. I'm 20 months into the finance now and the last 2 months have been Hell and here's a brief account of that.

First of, the car disengaged its handbrake and rolled into another car in a car park which I had to pay for privately, then the handbrake thing became a regular occurrence and when I told the dealer, I was advised to leave the car parked in Gear. Then Car not starting became regular occurrence. I have video evidence of Ignition NOT cranking. Then Car breaking down mid journey gets added to the list. Then Clutch, Parking and Braking systems start too fail while driving. And all the while, when I take it into the dealership or it gets RECOVERED by roadside, I get told it's all fixed. While all this had been going on I'd been late to work that many times in the last 2 months. I've missed days in work because I couldn't make it in. Weekly/Saturday drives to the dealership became the norm.

Then 3 Fridays Ago, the car went into "LIMP MODE" on a Live lane on the motorway. For those of you who like me didn't know what that as, it's when a vehicle ECU decides there's too many safety issues for you to be on the road so it cuts out your power. I had RED warning lights. No Parking Brake functionality and an error message to tell me that. Braking and ABS issues, Clutch, Ignition, Airbags..... every error under the sun flashed across on the dash [and I took photos of some of them]. I had to wait in the car until a recovery service came for me as if I'd got out, the car could literally roll into Traffic.
Recovery guy said he was taking the car in and I'd have to wait 3 hrs to get a replacement. I protested that I couldn't afford to not be in work so he said he can disable limp mode but the car would need to go to the dealership straight after and that happened.

Upon getting to the dealership, I made an Aftersales Manager aware that I'd like to reject the car. They simply told me I couldn't. I called my finance company who after speaking to the dealership came back to notify me that the verdict was that I had 2 tyres with depth tread 1.3 & 2.1. What was a scary episode on the motorway might have been caused by Tyre tread... or so I was told. I was provided with 1 courtesy vehicle which I was instructed to return after the dealership called me to tell me my car only needed tyres and could be driven. Meanwhile I had instructions that driving a car with those known faults make me a danger to other road users and if there was ever an accident, I certainly wouldn't be insured... Not to mention I could be fined.

I contacted trading standard and Financial Ombuddsman and at this point the Dealership made their standpoint very clear that I wasn't going to get a vehicle. I went a week without a car and that cost me a lot to get around in taxis and public transport. I was advised to put tyres on the car so last weekend, I went in to put 2 brand new tyres on the car after which I was told they have no legal/contractual obligations to give me a replacement vehicle seeing as they had none available.

In the interest of keeping this post short, I've suffered in total over 48 hours of being stranded hours from home without a vehicle in the last 2 months. The car's cost me thousands and I feel taxis are a better way of getting to work as 1 more late/no show will get me sacked. The Finance company said since the issues aren't within the 1st 6 months, I have no leg to stand on but keep giving them chances to fix it. I'm loosing sleep over this and can't fulfil my job going forward as I can't spare the hundreds it would take to get around with work after paying my monthly direct debit.

I'm confused as to what I can & can't do. Suing them is a very expensive option which I can't afford

[des8]

Re: Having MAJOR issues with Audi

Briefly the good part is that you actually have 6 years in which to reject the vehicle, but the downside is that after 6 months from date of purchase you have to prove the faults were present when the car was purchased.
To do this you will almost certainly need an automotive engineer's report (cost anything upto £500) from Institute of Automotive Engineer Assessors (www.iaea-online.org to find local inspector)

[jideare]

Re: Having MAJOR issues with Audi

Thank you. Massively appreciate this. suppose all I need to ascertain now is whether I can claim the costs back after all this gets sorted.

[jideare]

CAR Finance! Really Stuck with a way Forward.

I'm aware that under consumer law, if there's a fault on a car, I need to give a chance to fix it. Since that's already done and problems persist, I'd like to reject the car.

18 months in... the faults as listed on the car are: Ignition Faults, Stabilisation Control Faults, Stop-Start Faults, Parking Brake fault [not functioning], ABS faults, Brake Servo Faults.

Since Faults are now cleared from the faults log by a diagnostic kit but NO repairs done, dealership and finance company are claiming the faults above are not inherent since they didn't take place within the 1st 6 months of owning the car. car's fine and OK to drive despite me providing photo and Video evidence of the persistent faults.

Can anyone advise of a way forward? Can I get an independent report anywhere to say the faults above are definitely inherent or at least to do with poor quality?

Many Thanks
Michael

[R0b]

Re: CAR Finance! Really Stuck with a way Forward.

Hello,

Your situation is not quite clear so it is difficult to know what position you are in and/or what rights you have.

First of all, is the car brand new or used? Second, you mention 18 months in and the faults that have occurred but are you saying that these problems started 18 months in or have they continued intermittently since the car has been in your possession?

If the car was purchased as a used car, then life becomes a little more difficult because although garage/dealerships should provide a car that is of satisfactory quality and roadworthy, they are not required to ensure that it is all spick and span and there has to be some appreciation that a used vehicle is likely to have some faults, but businesses should discharge that duty by carrying out a reasonable inspection of the vehicle to ensure it is in a roadworthy condition before it is sold.

If the vehicle is second hand, then an independent report would go a long way to assist you if it is in your favour but it would also help to know what mileage the vehicle has and how many previous owners there were. All of these can be factors which could make or break any claim or rights you have against the dealership/garage.

P.s your title states car finance, was this purchase on finance?

[jideare]

Re: CAR Finance! Really Stuck with a way Forward.

Hi, Thanks. I've never gone through anything like this so I need to educate myself on the subject matter and Fast.

Car was brand New with delivery miles on it. The only speculation is it was registered to the Dealership already either for intended use of a courtesy car or Staff car but it was offered to me and I'd accepted.

The car's on finance. We're 20 months into the finance. The issues started for as long as I can remember however they were never really treated as a MAJOR deal as I'd always taken it into the garage and I get told the issues were fixed under warranty. It'll be a few months until there was another incident. I didn't keep a paper trail unfortunately. The only huge inconveniences occurred over the last 2 months i.e. between month 18-20. Inconveniences such as being stranded for hours, car won't start, weeks without use of a vehicle and weekly trips to the dealership which takes anything from 4 hours to all day/all weekend.

Mileage approx. 46000.

Thanks

[des8]

Re: Having MAJOR issues with Audi

The cost of a report will only be recoverable if the report is prepared for the purpose of litigation, not pre-action negotiation.

[beaconsman]

Re: Having MAJOR issues with Audi

Any idea on how long the warranty is from Audi? We bought a brand new (17) Ford Kuga ST Line in April (very lucky as we have family members who used to work for Ford then Jaguar/Land Rover so we didn't pay list price..and its on 0% apr!)..I would gather all the evidence together as a fact file, a car or any vehicle that is only 2 years old in your case, should not disengage the handbrake, going into limp mode on a live 3rd or 4th lane on a way is life threatening. At the very least Audi should have connected it to their software and investigate the car or its issues before returning. We made the mistake of rushing into buying a new Ford, when we could have got a better deal on Land Rover Discovery which holds money better.

I would argue it is not fit for purpose, pay for an independent vehicle inspector assessors report and put the findings to audi...

If it makes you feel any better our kuga went back to the dealer after 12 miles on the clock...

(Ex Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineer)

[des8]

Re: Having MAJOR issues with Audi

Just noted you have another thread on this matter (http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...140#post763140) so asking our [MENTION=49370]Kati[/MENTION] to kindly merge threads so we don't all get confused!

[Kati]

Re: Having MAJOR issues with Audi

Just noted you have another thread on this matter (http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...140#post763140) so asking our @Kati to kindly merge threads so we don't all get confused!

sorted xx

[jideare]

Re: Having MAJOR issues with Audi

Thanks. I was new to the group and what I thought was updating a thread was actually writing out a new post.

Many Thanks

[R0b]

Re: Having MAJOR issues with Audi

The cost of a report will only be recoverable if the report is prepared for the purpose of litigation, not pre-action negotiation.

I'd argue otherwise des, the report is a direct loss as a result of the car issues (if found to be of unsatisfactory quality or fit for purpose) and so that cost should also be recoverable as part of the full refund provided. Of course if they refuse to pay for the report then its a question of whether or not there is the appetite to pursue it through the courts!

[jideare]

Re: Having MAJOR issues with Audi

After spending hours on this forum reading other people's responses, it seems as though the 6 months rule is only applicable to used vehicle. A new vehicle breaking less than half of the finance term duration seems to put me in the advantageous position does it not?

How do I push that forward though? Is suing them all I can do?

[des8]

Re: Having MAJOR issues with Audi

I'd argue otherwise des, the report is a direct loss as a result of the car issues (if found to be of unsatisfactory quality or fit for purpose) and so that cost should also be recoverable as part of the full refund provided. Of course if they refuse to pay for the report then its a question of whether or not there is the appetite to pursue it through the courts!

In a recent case I was working on it was submitted by defence barrister "where an engineers report is prepared for pre action negotiation, it cannot be recovered as damages or costs (Langden v O'Connor [2002] EWCA Civ 510 paras 154-156)

I haven't been able to see a copy of the case, but have found confirmation on other sites.

[des8]

Re: Having MAJOR issues with Audi

After spending hours on this forum reading other people's responses, it seems as though the 6 months rule is only applicable to used vehicle. A new vehicle breaking less than half of the finance term duration seems to put me in the advantageous position does it not?

How do I push that forward though? Is suing them all I can do?

The 6 month rule (i.e. if an item is unsatisfactory etc, it is deemed that any faults were in existence at the time the item was purchased CRA 2015 19 (14)) applies to all items, new or used.

Court action is the final step..try negotiation/mediation /ADR first. Court is always stressful and a bit of a lottery!