Advice on this would be appreciated.

Bought a used car from a car dealer 2 weeks ago and got a 3 month warranty
Engine management light is coming on when accelerating and it started dripping coolant after a run.

Rang dealer and he wants me to book it into my local garage so they can identify the problem, then ring him back to see what he can do. He was quite abrupt on the phone.

Should I have to pay for faults to be diagnosed?
What are the obligations of the dealer in relation to faults on a (new to me) used car?

Cheers

N

Haw far away is the dealer and how much did you spend on the car?

Plenty of threads like this on Pistonheads which play out according to the above

Good luck

A fault with a car you bought 2 weeks ago, warranty doesn’t come into it. As above, how difficult is it to take back to where you bought it?

Check the small print about is actually covered.

A lot of these warranties only cover certain items and leave a lot of other stuff out.

I had a BMW used approved car and the bonnet release mechanism wasn’t working properly after a few months and that wasn’t covered.

It is simply an insurance policy and any work covered will be paid by the underwriters, doesn’t come out of the dealers pocket directly.

Dealer is 20 miles away and car cost £4k.

To be fair the usual “3month” warranty ain’t worth a deal, I had the option to extend this to 12 month and a good mate who is a dealer said don’t bother as it basically covers no “wearable” parts such as the clutch. However he did say there was a certain length of time after the purchase (may have been 30 days) where everything is covered.

Hmmm – I recently bought a £4k car from 30 miles away. That came with a 3 month “warranty” direct from the dealer rather than in insurance policy – not really worth the paper it’s written on given statutory rights are more than that, but he seemed keen to give it to me so I took it (he saw the look on my face and admitted it didn’t affect any other rights I had, but said he was happier to do it that way). If I’d had the issues you’re having I’d have taken the car back to him to be fixed. In the event the only problem I did have was the cruise control stopping working – a problem which was there when I first test drove it, but he’d got fixed before I picked up. I was planning on going back with the car near the end of the 3 months, but in the event it started working again.

Booked it in to my local garage tomorrow. They’re going to plug it in to check the fault codes, and diagnose the coolant leak issue for £30.
I’ll go back to him when I know what the issues are and see what he says.

Sounds like a good plan – always a good idea in situations like this to have the opinion of a garage for whom you’re the customer.

IIRC under statutory consumer law, if you experience a fault with a second-hand car within 6 months of purchase, you must give the dealer a fair chance to rectify it. If they cannot/will not rectify it you have the right to demand a full refund.

The dealer cannot reasonably expect you to get it seen to and then “see what he can do”. The ball is firmly in his court on this one. Stick to your guns, and if he refuses to budge take advice from your local trading standards.

The relevant info is HERE (linky)

Warranties don’t come into it – these are your statutory rights as a consumer which trumps everything else. The only get-out that the dealer has is to say that he told you about the fault when you bought the car, but to do this he would have to show that you were aware of it – and he would have done it by writing details of the fault on the sales invoice, which you then sign as acceptance.

Update

Leaking coolant is an easy fix. It’s a gasket or split pipe.
Engine management light is a big issue. Loads of codes being displayed and garage reckons its a faulty ECM.

Time to speak to dealer again

I had simillar sorts of things,

First dealer replaced several items, then after 6 weeks gave me a 100% refund on purchase price.

Bought another car, had a few niggles, the dealer paid for Ford to do a few bits on it without question

Dealer told me its probably something and nothing.

Also said he’s going to speak to his garage ( that he said he didn’t have when I asked him about bringing the car to him for initial garage). Slightly wary that if I take it to him to re-inspect he might do something to try and mask the issue rather than fix it but he’s going to have to have the car to verify my local garages findings.

Told him I wanted it fixed or I return the car.

Spoke to CAB consumer service and they advised speaking to credit card company.

Dealer is ringing me back later so I’ll see what he comes up with.

I had a car from a dealer where ‘their garage’ had ‘fixed’ a serious engine problem which was causing an engine management light to show. And written on the paperwork that they’d done it (and hence proved that the dashboard light was working at the point I saw the car!). Claimed a full MOT, full service etc. too.

So I took it into local trusted garage when it became obvious that the brakes were broken, wheels making funny noises etc, so much for the ‘full service’, and the engine was doing something funny. He plugged in the fault reader, showed a potentially serious engine fault, but no dashboard light. After some investigation, turned out that ‘their garage’ had opened up the dashboard, put a bit of black tape over the light, and then put the dashboard back on. They were obviously bang to rights, but totally denied it, offered repairs etc, said I wasn’t due my money back, sent me bogus legal letters etc. A few months later, and a small amount of court paperwork, and they paid me in full for the cost of the car, insurance + tax for the time I had it but wasn’t able to run it, oh, plus fees for the court, plus fees for the high court enforcers who collected the money. After all the fees and things, Derby Car Centre ended up paying out the best part of 3 grand to me and the court thanks to their efforts at not paying me back for my £1800 car purchase. If they’d just given me a refund of the £1800 there and then when I first discovered the blacked out light, they’d have been £1200 better off. Silly billies.

So anyway, based on that, my advice is to be extremely wary of fixes by the dealer that sold it to you. Particularly if they are Derby Car Centre, but I suspect they’re not the only second hand car dealer with county court judgements against them for this kind of thing.

Well. It’s booked in at Marple Motor Co next Thursday.

I know nothing about these guys but will give them the benefit of the doubt. They will want it for the day so the dealer is giving me a courtesy car which is fair enough.

Looks like I’m driving my mothers car for the next 7 days.

Has anyone had experience of this Marple Motor co and can tell me how honest/good they are?

Update

Dropped the car at the dealers yesterday and was given a courtesy car.

He was taking the car to be diagnosed at Marple Motor Company

Got a phone call this morning advising that they have 3 codes coming up regularly on the ECU indicating faults with the throttle, an injector and fuel pressure.

Dealer stated that the issues are all expensive to trace and fix. and there is no guarantee that soemthing else is linked to it and the engine management light would remain off.

He has offered to give me my money back but says he cannot give me the full amount as he doesnt have it available unless he sells mine first
He also offered me a different car and the balance in cash but we’ve now got a caravan so I need a car big enough to pull it and he has nothing that fits the bill.

Can I demand my money back? Im awaiting a call back from Consumer advice helpline.

2He has offered to give me my money back but says he cannot give me the full amount as he doesnt have it available “

rogue traders ?

sounds dodgy as sin to me.

Nomad – Member

He has offered to give me my money back but says he cannot give me the full amount as he doesnt have it available unless he sells mine first

I would like to politely suggest that this is utter sloblocks. 🙂

He has offered to give me my money back but says he cannot give me the full amount as he doesnt have it available unless he sells mine first

Suggest he takes out a loan.

Hope the dealer’s garage doesn’t cover up the EML with…. PAINT! (Yes, they painted over the EML light on the dash!!)

http://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=304848

they put tape over joemarshalls – under the dash but over the light !

DODGERS

To be fair, it is entirely possible that he’s telling the truth about the cash situation. Given that they’ve now agreed the refund, depending on whether it’s a reputable dealer that’s been around for a long time, or a fly-by-night who might disappear tomorrow, you might be able to reach a compromise with a written agreement of when they will pay the balance owed to you – if you do this, make sure you don’t give title on the vehicle back until you get everything.

Most dealers will have their working capital tied up in stock, and it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to do otherwise.

Holy cow, just read that post!

Following a conversation with consumer advice, I have again spoken to the dealer.

I have agreed to give him 7 days to get together the money to refund me in full and also the £36 I paid to have it initially diagnosed.

We’ll see what happens next Friday.

good call. i bought a nearly new car from a major dealership in cornwall that not only went wrong within 48hrs but also was supplied with bits of interior tim unfastened, one of the probs aircon, i had specifically asked them to check.

being non the wiser i gave them the chance to fix it. cue 2 years of utter hassle and ultimatly me selling the pile of rubbish for a whacking loss just to see the back of it.

and i would say it was’nt just the dealer who was rubbish, don’t get me started on the rust issues and the ‘rust’ guarantee that suddenly did’nt cover rust… eh Kia!!

Rang the dealer today as I’d noticed some movement on his website.
Agreed to meet him to on Monday to get refund.

Sound promising but i can’t help but feel that something is going to go wrong.

Nomad,

What car model is that?

😯

Nomad – Member
Rang the dealer today as I’d noticed some movement on his website.
Agreed to meet him to on Monday to get refund.

Sound promising but i can’t help but feel that something is going to go wrong

I’m a little dubious too i must admit..

Hope it all works out fella.