Tweet
Hi everyone,
I'm very sorry, I can see from reading through the countless threads on here that this is (unsurprisingly) a popular topic on here. Everyone is always super helpful.
I bought a car (paid £250 deposit by CC, £13k balance by bank transfer) and took delivery on Friday 11th October.
I drove it c.20 miles to my house (from my mums, the delivery location. The dealership is 80 miles away)
I parked up. Didn't use it again until Friday 18th October. I drove c.5 miles and as I entered the motorway noticed the Check Engine Light came on.
I drove, filled with petrol, drove back.
Called local approved dealership (different franchise but car under warranty) and they got the car in for a diagnostic (£144)
They called today (21st October) and told me:
- brake discs are flagged as red on their traffic light system
- enginge oil low
- catalytic converter basically gone (!!!)
The mechanic told me that they can see from their records (as the service centres are all on same system and car history recorded) that it had been in twice for misfiring in the previous year or so, had the coil pack replaced but he thinks this must have been the issue all along.
Its c.£4k for repair
I called the dealership that I purchased from to fill them in (after emailing them on Friday to report a probable defect in advance of the check) and told them.
The transaction manager was incredibly defensive, suggested the converter had been stolen (its eroded, but either way our house has 3 cameras covering different angles of the drive) and also suggested the other service centre might be lying.
I told him I'd potentially accept a repair but I could not get the car to them safely or without cost to me. That I do have the right to reject. They went on about repair, I said I can allow you to repair if it works for me but insisted that this was my decision.
They have agreed to call the other service centre tomorrow.
I've driven just 65 miles in this car.
MY questions are:
- if I am happy for them to attempt repair would it be considered reasonable for me to suggest they sort it out with the current service centre OR they arrange both collection and redelivery and that should all be done within WHAT time frame?
- if they agree to repair, but later something else goes wrong, I assume the 30 days are paused from... me flagging issue? Or is it my formal rejection?
- if they refuse to collect/pay for other centre to repair/ can't do it in XX reasonable timeliness, then do I need to get ANOTHER diagnostic (they don't appear to be part of AA) so I have another report or will the other service centres diagnostic report and video be enough for rejection?
- If they refuse my rejection/ refund am I best claiming via my credit card than any other route?
Apologies, I am just trying to get my ducks in row as I'm sans car, already out of pocket for the diagnostics and have already dealt with a combative and defensive manager.
THank you so much
I'm very sorry, I can see from reading through the countless threads on here that this is (unsurprisingly) a popular topic on here. Everyone is always super helpful.
I bought a car (paid £250 deposit by CC, £13k balance by bank transfer) and took delivery on Friday 11th October.
I drove it c.20 miles to my house (from my mums, the delivery location. The dealership is 80 miles away)
I parked up. Didn't use it again until Friday 18th October. I drove c.5 miles and as I entered the motorway noticed the Check Engine Light came on.
I drove, filled with petrol, drove back.
Called local approved dealership (different franchise but car under warranty) and they got the car in for a diagnostic (£144)
They called today (21st October) and told me:
- brake discs are flagged as red on their traffic light system
- enginge oil low
- catalytic converter basically gone (!!!)
The mechanic told me that they can see from their records (as the service centres are all on same system and car history recorded) that it had been in twice for misfiring in the previous year or so, had the coil pack replaced but he thinks this must have been the issue all along.
Its c.£4k for repair
I called the dealership that I purchased from to fill them in (after emailing them on Friday to report a probable defect in advance of the check) and told them.
The transaction manager was incredibly defensive, suggested the converter had been stolen (its eroded, but either way our house has 3 cameras covering different angles of the drive) and also suggested the other service centre might be lying.
I told him I'd potentially accept a repair but I could not get the car to them safely or without cost to me. That I do have the right to reject. They went on about repair, I said I can allow you to repair if it works for me but insisted that this was my decision.
They have agreed to call the other service centre tomorrow.
I've driven just 65 miles in this car.
MY questions are:
- if I am happy for them to attempt repair would it be considered reasonable for me to suggest they sort it out with the current service centre OR they arrange both collection and redelivery and that should all be done within WHAT time frame?
- if they agree to repair, but later something else goes wrong, I assume the 30 days are paused from... me flagging issue? Or is it my formal rejection?
- if they refuse to collect/pay for other centre to repair/ can't do it in XX reasonable timeliness, then do I need to get ANOTHER diagnostic (they don't appear to be part of AA) so I have another report or will the other service centres diagnostic report and video be enough for rejection?
- If they refuse my rejection/ refund am I best claiming via my credit card than any other route?
Apologies, I am just trying to get my ducks in row as I'm sans car, already out of pocket for the diagnostics and have already dealt with a combative and defensive manager.
THank you so much
