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Hello! I bought (pcp I believe) a 2014 BMW 1 series (118d sport) in August 2020, after part exchanging my previous car. Come September, I experience an issue with my car where, when driving above 50mph, the breaks would come on involuntarily and slow the car down by at least half the current speed. The first time I was doing 75mph on the dual carriageway and the car slowed suddenly to about 30mph. No warning lights on the dash and I had no idea if my brake lights were on during this episode. Obviously this was really dangerous, the road was busy, I had multiple cars behind me which could have easily caused a crash and I had no idea what was happening.
This issue occurred a few more times to I booked the car in for diagnostics (the dealership I got the car from had no availability that week so I went somewhere independent) assuming it was a perhaps a electrical fault, I’m no technician so I have no idea. This revealed a large list of errors, faults, short circuits etc. This independent garage was unsure what was causing the sudden involuntary breaking issue without further investigation so booked to have the original dealership have a look at the car as it was only 2-3 months after I purchased it, so still under warranty.
The issue persisted and when driving the car to the garage, within maybe 5 miles the car had 10+ “episodes” and again nearly caused an accident. I had the car recovered as it was too dangerous and terrifying to drive any further. The garage had the car for a month and came to the conclusion the ABS pump was causing the issue. This was replaced - luckily under warranty as it cost over £2000 in total. When collecting the car they said “it shouldn’t do it again but let us know if it does”. Confidence restoring, right?
So now, December 2020, only 5 months into owning the car, I am left with a car I am terrified to drive after multiple near misses. Since collecting it at the end of November I haven’t been able to bring myself to drive it anywhere over 40mph, and will not use it if it’s raining (the issue was more frequent in wet conditions). I will use my partners car for anything further afield than the local shops etc but have to commute using dual carriageway/motorway for work so obviously want a reliable car.
The replaced ABS pump only has 1 year warranty. I don’t want to end up paying out a fortune when the car is no longer under warranty for an issue that’s been there all along, especially if the garage didn’t seem 100% the issue is fixed. I am not happy to be stuck with this car and I am unsure where I stand now. Please help?!
This issue occurred a few more times to I booked the car in for diagnostics (the dealership I got the car from had no availability that week so I went somewhere independent) assuming it was a perhaps a electrical fault, I’m no technician so I have no idea. This revealed a large list of errors, faults, short circuits etc. This independent garage was unsure what was causing the sudden involuntary breaking issue without further investigation so booked to have the original dealership have a look at the car as it was only 2-3 months after I purchased it, so still under warranty.
The issue persisted and when driving the car to the garage, within maybe 5 miles the car had 10+ “episodes” and again nearly caused an accident. I had the car recovered as it was too dangerous and terrifying to drive any further. The garage had the car for a month and came to the conclusion the ABS pump was causing the issue. This was replaced - luckily under warranty as it cost over £2000 in total. When collecting the car they said “it shouldn’t do it again but let us know if it does”. Confidence restoring, right?
So now, December 2020, only 5 months into owning the car, I am left with a car I am terrified to drive after multiple near misses. Since collecting it at the end of November I haven’t been able to bring myself to drive it anywhere over 40mph, and will not use it if it’s raining (the issue was more frequent in wet conditions). I will use my partners car for anything further afield than the local shops etc but have to commute using dual carriageway/motorway for work so obviously want a reliable car.
The replaced ABS pump only has 1 year warranty. I don’t want to end up paying out a fortune when the car is no longer under warranty for an issue that’s been there all along, especially if the garage didn’t seem 100% the issue is fixed. I am not happy to be stuck with this car and I am unsure where I stand now. Please help?!
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