Hire Purchase

Sheena82_2

Hi All

I am looking for some advice on a Hire Purchase agreement I have with Black Horse, The agreement wa taken out in April 2007 and within 2 days the Cylinder Head had gone. I took the car back to the dealer and they fixed the problem, again 8 months later it happened again the dealership is now trading under new managment so couldnt help me so I took it to the garage and got it fixed half price as they had only repaired it 6 months earlier.

Then again 12 months later it went again this is now Dec 2008 which I paid for the repair. This is when I started to investigate as I was not happy and I put a claim in to Black Horse I was offered £470.00. I was not happy with this offer so I have put in a claim with the Financial Ombudsman.

Now the head gasket has gone again Black Horse say they can not do anything as I have made a claim to the Financial Ombudsman.

I am at my wits end I have no car, the Financial Ombudsman take months to look into a case. So I am asking would it be worth going to a solicitor and does anybody know something I dont with regards to my right.

The head gasket has gone 4 times in two and a half years it is a Rover 75 and is obviosly a manufacturing fault.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

MoneySavingNovice

Hi Sheena82

I'm guessing that your Rover 75 is a 1.8t (i.e. Rover K series Petrol engine)

Not sure that I can help with the above issue - I think that you do have a claim, but just wanted to add that these particular engines have a known issue of Cylinder Head and Head Gasket Failure, the engine is simply to fragile to power such a big heavy car around.

There are specialist companies who can sort out HGF for a reasonable price, - that said it will be still an expensive to put right. It’s a false economy to simply have a skim - the HG will fail again if you do this.

I recommend that you get a minimum of three quotes for the work - don’t go with any-one you don’t feel you can trust.

Finally good luck with your claim on Lloyds.

Sheena82_2

Thanks for you reply you are right about the engine, to be honest I dont want to pay for another repair I think the Finance company should take some responsability for this fault. But thanks for the reply.

Out of curiosity what do the specialists do that normal garages dont.

MoneySavingNovice

Sheena82 wrote: »

......Out of curiosity what do the specialists do that normal garages dont.

In theory nothing, but HGF is a difficult one of the more difficult things to put right. Hence you are better off taking it to some-one who knows the issues and problems than somewhere that only does this sort of repair occasionally.

One other thought - Land-Rover also fitted the same engine into the mk1 Freelander. They faced the same issues and developed a kit for HGF, which is actually a better than the original. It might be worthwhile getting this solution - it will cost more however, but your less likely to need a further repair.