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So two months ago i purchased a 2006 ex british gas vauxhall combo 1.2CTDI with just 35,000 miles on the clock from car shop in northampton.
Wasent the cheapest van around but neither was it the most expencive at £4100.
After 6 days of owning the van the issues started. Driving back from wales on its first long drive it suddenly just cut out, the engine remaned on but i lost all acceleration. so i pulled onto the hard sholder turned it off then turned it back on, all seemed fine. pulled of again only to have the problem reacouring all the way home.
Brought it back to car shop for them to fix. 7 days passed of hereing nothing so i phoned and asked what was being done only to be told that its done and ready to picked up. They said they couldnt find a fault but they had updated the computer. So i drove away confident it had been resolved.
The next long journey was to london and yep you guessed it the same happened again. This time i had to get towed back home. So back it went to car shop for another 10 days. This time they said they had found the fault and it was the ECU so that was replaced under warrenty at the cost of £800.
So i picked up the van and all was fine untill my next long journey untill...yep it broke again.
So back to car shop it went and now almost 2 weeks have passed with hereing barely anything from them.
I have asked for a refund but they have said no because they have spent too much money on it already. so i phoned for some legal advice and have been told to just give them 2 more weeks of time to try and fix (it will be two weeks come this tuesday).
So im 18 years old and pritty scint and paying £108 a month for insurance for a vechicle i dont own which i cant cancell. Due to the cost of the van and so on i cant afford legal help and i feel im being treated very wrongly.
Any body out there with advice ?
Cheers
Richard
For free legal advice, try Citizens Advice.
Sounds like you're being shafted, I'd be after a refund too. Whatever money the garage has spent on it is their problem.
You say you don't own the van though, is it on finance or something?
No i do own the van it just dosent feel like it at the moment. I have Owned the van for 2 months but only had it to drive for around 2 weeks.
The finance company own the van until you pay for it on the final payment, send them a letter recorded delivery explaining the problem.also contact Consumer Direct, a governmnt dept, better than the cab, who are just unpaid freindly people .
I paid for the van in full, life saveings and all that.
So come tuesday when another two weeks have passed and im still with out my van which no body is able to fix or even find the fault. ( the local vauxhall garage mechanics have drove the van twice, both times it faulted and broke down but still they dont know how to fix it or even what the fault is) then what do i do next ?
You will have grounds to reject the vehicle under the sale of goods act, however the garage have to be given reasonable time to fix the problem. How long is reasonable time?, generally a month. Keep a record of how long the vehicle has been off the road and out of your possession, making sure you are noting what they are doing each time the van is in the garage.
If it is not fixed next time round, make sure it goes to a Vauxhall dealership to be fixed. Sounds to me like there is an issue with the Turbo and the van is putting itself into limp mode.
Does an engine light come on when it happens?
Ok, so it has been to a Vauxhall dealership and they are useless too!!
Nope engine light isnt comeing up, althought last time it faulted it did flash up for a split secound. Yer i cant belive how these guys cant fix it. Surely onest you have tryed all your ideas you just start takeing the thing apart untill you find the fault ?
Gingerbloke - MemberYou will have grounds to reject the vehicle under the sale of goods act, however the garage have to be given reasonable time to fix the problem. How long is reasonable time?, generally a month
Nope - under the sale of goods act you do not have to give them the opportunity to repair. You should be able to reject it and get your money back
However with secondhand vehicles the situation is not as clear cut as with new - you need real legal advice
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/after_you_buy/know-your-rights/cars/ might help - cab are good as well - as well as the volunteers they will have professionals availabnble to help you
do you not have legal cover on your insurance? contact them to see if they can help.
Sounds like a sticking valve?
Did you buy it from a GM dealer?
Full refundYou may be able to request a full refund if you detected a serious fault, if it is still within a reasonable time of the sale and you have stopped using the car. 'Reasonable time' is not defined in law so it will also depend on the facts - it can vary from weeks to a few months. Be sure to keep all of your documents, such as independent inspections in writing as it is up to you to prove that the car was faulty at the time of the purchase if the dealer disputes your claim. If your complaint is deemed valid, you are also entitled to claim for reasonable losses suffered, including the cost of any independent report you have paid for to prove your cas
Basic example of when you might switch remedies:
You discover that a one-year old car you bought for £10,000 three months ago is faulty. You take it to the dealer who agrees to repair the car. The dealer takes over two months to repair the car but the fault persists. In these circumstances you may request a replacement car or a refund instead because the repairs have not remedied the fault, were not carried out within a reasonable time and have caused significant inconvenience to you.
No legal cover with my insurance but thats something i will be checking tommorow
tandem jeremy is that from consumer direct website ? sounds fantastic pritty much sums up my situation bar the 10.000 price tag
Its from the link I posted. Its not solid tho as there is a reasoabnable test to do with how much you paid for the vehicle. clearly if you buy a £300 van and it blows up 5 month later you a#have little recourse.
You should be able toget the sale of goods act online as well and find more info
I would ( after taking real advice) go back to the garage and tell them you are rejecting the vehicle and want a full refund. Quote them the various bits of law.
The important thing to do now is write them a letter outlining your issues, what you want done etc and send it to them recorded mail. This notifies them officially should it ever go any further.
personally I'd say in the letter that you wish to reject the vehicle under the sale of goods act should this repair not be 100% effective. that way they've had 3 chances to repair which would be deemed more than fair if it came to it. Say that you'll expect a full refund of all monies paid if that is the case.
You could try and do this now but without the previous evidence of a formal complaint it's more difficult.
all good advice above, and never buy a vauxhall!
This is fantastic stuff and all things im going to start to act upon tommorow and over the weekend in preparation of tuesday.
The van was great except from the fault and i honestly still do think the combo vans are good. just not my one.
and never buy a vauxhall!
I disagree strongly.
Slightly off topic but regarding the vauxhall my brother has one and has had major issues with it. 08 plate and its had a new ecu, new timing belt (only done 17k) and pulleys, adjusters etc due to a warranty issue. new door seals, faulty door lock solenoids, both door handles on sliding doors broke - one by the dealer effecting a repair on the other handle. Its had to have a new engine mount bracket - large cast section that supports engine and box. New injectors and various other faults. As it was sold to a business rather than private individual and he didnt reject it soon enough he is stuck with it. I would not get one.
re: my comment against vauxhall, I Like the way they look and drive, some are really nice, but... my ex housemate had a brand new corsa, which spent more time in the garage than on the drive, eventually sorted, but if you wanted to know how fast you were going you had to smack the dash board! He then bought an Astra coupe, which is a poorly built, piece of very good looking junk. Another friend has as Astra SRI, and within a year of buying it has had 3 gear boxes, and its still not "right". We have vauxhall fast response cars at work, and apart from the mad blind spot by the A post they're not bad, except when they burst into flames or cut out, which is how we lost about 5 of them.
So, there are some really good vauxhalls out there i'm sure, I just seem to be exposed to the terrible ones!
Also, I used to work with a guy who used to work for vauxhall and told me about when he used to get annoyed with his boss he'd weld ball bearings into chassis and put bottles in fuel tanks etc, though i'm sure that happens everywhere!