returning the car I bought

Blue_Diamond

Another thing you can do, is our local news station has like a "On your Side" program that help consumers out that have been stiffed, like you, and they make it public, which in return no company wants negative feedback ESPECIALLY by the media.

They air it on TV and this gives the company a bad rating and customers avoid that place.

Most of the time, when the media contacts the company, the company resolves the issue right then and there. They don't want it to go on TV.


Check with yours..............you never know!!

easy

Blue Diamond, that link is to an american site, so won't help if the OP is in the UK, the legal situation is different.

I suggest instead you take a look at this http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=74479&m=857049&v=e .

It seems to be a similar situation to yours.

One of the posters on that forum suggest that you consult Consumer Direct, and that seems a sensible move.

I think you will have a fight on your hands tho'.

vaio

What is the car? How old? what did you pay? and what is the fault?

Premier_2

ramblingtree wrote: »

...We immediately noticed a problem with it on its first long drive, an issue that only appears after the engine is fully warmed up. ...

Presumably you bought this used car without test driving it first? :eek:
(or at least not a long enough one to warm up the engine?)

Caveat emptor!

Could have saved you a whole heap of trouble & strife.

ramblingtree wrote: »

...The dealer says they will fix it for free, but thats not what we want anymore...

Accept their offer ... then flog the motor if you don't want it anymore.

ramblingtree

Master of Nothing - not really sure what your point is.
Premier - we test drove it for about 30 minutes, after about 40 minutes the car 'clunks' when you steer hard. Unlucky on timings I guess.
All I was asking for was my legal rights in terms of return as the legislation to me is unclear and quite fuzzy. We will probably end up taking it back and selling it on. I don't want to risk more problems within the same area. If the garage had fixed it straight away I wouldn't be worried, but as they've been so incompetent thus far, I don't know if I can trust them to fix it.
Thanks for the links and advice though, from those that have been constructive!
x

Premier_2

ramblingtree wrote: »

... If the garage had fixed it straight away I wouldn't be worried, but as they've been so incompetent thus far, I don't know if I can trust them to fix it. ...

If you are going to flog it as I previously suggested, then does it matter.

You'll be able to tell if the sympton has gone, and if it has then a buyer wont know about it. If the sympton doesn't go, then come back and ask advice at that point.

If however you now plan to keep the car, but don't wish that particular garage to attempt the repair, take it elsewhere for repair
A small price to pay for peace of mind.

wuckfit

It will largely depend on the age of the car.

FWIW, my own story - I bought a 57 plate Octavia earlier this year. I'd had it precisely 18 hours and was 200 miles away from home when there was a Major ECU failure - oil pressure warnings, air bag faults, dashboard instruments went blank, then the immobiliser kicked in and stopped the car from starting again. After a cold night in a layby, it got taken to a local dealer who put it on the Fault diagnosis machine. said machine promptly spat out several pages of fault diagnostics. I took the decision to have the car uplifted and brought back to the dealer I purchased it from. The salesman was quite unhelpful saying that I should have got a dealer nearer to me to look at it, and he couldn't get it booked in for a few days. I took the courtesy car home, had a think, and phoned up the dealer and explained that I was rejecting the vehicle under the Sale of Goods act, as the car had broken down so soon. (the salesman's attitude had a fair bit to do with my decision too.) it only took 3 hours and a call from the Company Director to finalise the deal. A few days later, I got my old car back and a cheque for the full amount.

So it CAN be done.

harveybobbles

More fool you then... They would have just had the car fixed under Skoda's Mfr warranty and re sold the car to the next person. Wouldn't have cost them anything.

What car is it? Age, mileage etc...?

You say

And its a big problem with the gearbox, clutch, driveshaft,

Which is it? Thats three seperate items? All faulty?

ramblingtree

Premier - It needs to go to that garage as the warranty people will pay for parts and the garage is doing the labour for free. From advice on here I think we will keep it as it seems too much time as passed and we should have rejected it at the first sign of trouble. You live and learn. I just hope that its a long term fix and not a botch job.

harveybobbles - Its a subaru legacy, 2002, 50k on the clock. I'm sorry, my OH is better at understanding engines. Its the CV joints, but the mechanic says this has put the driveshaft out, and they also need to drop the gearbox and have it looked at as it could have affected or been affected by that. The gearbox being funny has also meant the clutch is pretty changeable, sometimes light sometimes really heavy. This has got worse since we bought it and wasn't a big problem when we test drove it. Thats one of my worries, it seems to be a lot of different things.

wuckfit

harveybobbles wrote: »

More fool you then... They would have just had the car fixed under Skoda's Mfr warranty and re sold the car to the next person. Wouldn't have cost them anything.

On the contrary. I was glad to be rid of it. After intermittent problems with my previous car (a saab) that the dealer was unable to cure, I wouldn't take a chance on a car that broke down so soon after purchase. I think I got a lucky escape from another Lemon.
In the end I went to a different dealer and got an 08 plate with identical in spec a week later.