Purchased a car that broken down on way home!

ashcarr88

I purchased an 03 Renault Clio from Evans Halshaw, having test drove the vehicle and foud that it didnt run as smoothly as it should i was ensured that it would be looked at and repaired so that it would be working fine for when i collected the vehicle if I decided that I wanted to buy it. After 2 weeks of the vehicle being repaired at Renault (replaced throttle sensor and fuel injector).

I finally picked up the car and drove it home, after 20 minutes of driving the problems that occured on the test drive started and then I lost power so had to pull over on the hard shoulder of the motorway, luckily im in the AA so called them out to fix it. The HT leads wernt attached properly causing the car to only run on 2 cylinders which is why the car was mis-firing and died, no other problems were found and told by the AA that this is what was causing the problems. On my way home it cut out a further 4 times due to the HT leads popping off the spark plugs which i pushed back on myself and carried on home.

Im not sure where i stand on getting a full refund as i am not happy with the car and can only see myself having more and more problems with this car in the future as it has had many problems before I bought it and 20 minutes of having the car.

I am looking at what I am able to do next and if I am entitled to a full refund?

Thanks

xocbc

If it didn't drive as expected on test drive, that was the time to walk away from the deal.

I'd be looking to reject the car as unfit for purpose immediately and looking for a refund. I'd also be taking my money to another dealer tbh.

I once test drove an Alfa 155 from Arnold Clark and the oil light and engine management light came on after about 10 mins, didn't even consider buying it.

Anihilator

Why on earth would you buy a car not running properly
Why are the HT leads popping out? If its fixed I doubt you have cause for a refund.

Cool_Username

I know this isn't what you want to hear but I'm afraid I've got to agree with the other posters - why on Earth you would continue with the deal when the car was running badly on the test drive is, quite frankly, beyond me. How many other used Clios are there on sale - thousands!

That said, Clios and other Renaults tend to have problems with their ignition coils failing - when one or more of them fail the engine starts running on fewer cylinders and starts running very roughly - shaking and juddering. Once the faulty coil or coils are replaced then the engine starts running properly - however when the engine is running on fewer cylinders is can do damage - unburned fuel can harm the catalytic converter so you should stop immediately rather than letting the car keep running.

Obviously you now have to get in touch with the garage who sold you the car and get it repaired and the necessary parts replaced - I doubt they'll take the car back and return your money.

Anihilator

If it was the poster above says reject the car and get a refund.
Its imperative though you do this immediately and dont use the car again.

Wig

You may not be able to reject the car and get a refund (that is ultimately for a judge to decide) By all means drive it back to them and if it still gives problems on the way back tell them you reject the car and leave it there. But don't count your chickens yet.

It may be that it needs new HT leads, if the new leads don't fall off and it drives ok when the leads are fixed then what's the problem?

Of course you should not have bought it in the first place....

Cool_Username

Wig wrote: »

It may be that it needs new HT leads, if the new leads don't fall off and it drives ok when the leads are fixed then what's the problem?

The problem is that running a car in the manner described can do damage that may not rear its ugly head until the vehicle fails its next MOT on emissions for example.

Wig wrote: »

Of course you should not have bought it in the first place....

I'll be genuinely interested to hear the answer to that one - seems like madness to me.

harveybobbles

Sounds like the usual failure of a coil pack on a Renault.

Cool_Username

harveybobbles wrote: »

Sounds like the usual failure of a coil pack on a Renault.

Of this much you can be sure!

Absolutely notorious for it aren't they?

harveybobbles

Every Renault we have we end up doin coil packs.

Cool_Username

harveybobbles wrote: »

Every Renault we have we end up doin coil packs.

I bought an 02 Clio back in 2003 - lovely car when it was running but all it did was go wrong! Went through a good few ignition coils in the two years I had it - I can remember it breaking down the first time (engine started running very roughly all of a sudden) and the second the AA man jumped out of his van said "wonder which ignition coil has gone!"

When I asked him what he meant he explained that in almost every case of attending a broken down Renault it's caused by an ignition coil failing!