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Astra CDTI Nightmare
Hi
I'm hoping someone will be able to help us please, we are at our wits end with Vauxhall.
We bought a Vauxhall Astra 1.7 CDTI a year ago from a Vauxhall dealer, on finance that was arranged through the dealer. 10 days after getting it, we were on the M3 with our kids in the back of the car and it suddenly lost all power and ground to a halt in the middle lane. My husband managed to get over to the hard shoulder. After 10 mins it did start again and we took it back to the dealer/garage the next day. According to the paper work they removed intercooler pipes and press test sys, check vacum value & supply & activator'. I've no idea what all this means but this work was covered by warranty and the car did work when we got it back.
Fast forward to October 2009. Now we can't drive the car because water is pouring out of it, coming out as quick as it goes in. £89.49 for a coolant hose replacement/labour.
12th January 2010, car refuses to start and the engine management light is permanantly showing. Back to garage. Diagnostic states several codes are found relating to flat battery. Battery is recharged, another £89.89. 16th February 2010, MOT failed. Nearside inner drumstick joint steering joint has relative movement at its fixings and rear brake application is uneven. Brake is cleaned up and adjusted. NSF inner articulation joint is replaced, total £258.20.
22nd February 2010. On the school run when the steering siezes and the ABS light comes on. Then the engine management light. The speedo stops working, fuel gauge stops working and the radio seems to have a mind of its own, CD popping in and out by itself. Back to garage. Today have been told it needs a new battery. They put the battery on and then say the diagnostic machine has shown an ECU light. They say we need a new alternator (cost of repair on this occasion currently stands at £524). And if, after the new alternator is fitted, the ECU light is still on, we will need a new unit, which brings the repair to around £1400.
All this in a year. We don't know where to go from here. We don't have the money to repair it again, not to mention future costs with the rate it's going. The whole point of buying it was to have something reliable. It's a 2004 car, we're not talking some clapped out banger. We accept that wear and tear is going to occur but it cannot apply to everything that's happened in a year can it? And whose to say if we got it back it's not gonna go wrong over and over again. We just want rid of the car now. Do we have any rights legally? We just don't know what to do.
Thanks.
I'm hoping someone will be able to help us please, we are at our wits end with Vauxhall.
We bought a Vauxhall Astra 1.7 CDTI a year ago from a Vauxhall dealer, on finance that was arranged through the dealer. 10 days after getting it, we were on the M3 with our kids in the back of the car and it suddenly lost all power and ground to a halt in the middle lane. My husband managed to get over to the hard shoulder. After 10 mins it did start again and we took it back to the dealer/garage the next day. According to the paper work they removed intercooler pipes and press test sys, check vacum value & supply & activator'. I've no idea what all this means but this work was covered by warranty and the car did work when we got it back.
Fast forward to October 2009. Now we can't drive the car because water is pouring out of it, coming out as quick as it goes in. £89.49 for a coolant hose replacement/labour.
12th January 2010, car refuses to start and the engine management light is permanantly showing. Back to garage. Diagnostic states several codes are found relating to flat battery. Battery is recharged, another £89.89. 16th February 2010, MOT failed. Nearside inner drumstick joint steering joint has relative movement at its fixings and rear brake application is uneven. Brake is cleaned up and adjusted. NSF inner articulation joint is replaced, total £258.20.
22nd February 2010. On the school run when the steering siezes and the ABS light comes on. Then the engine management light. The speedo stops working, fuel gauge stops working and the radio seems to have a mind of its own, CD popping in and out by itself. Back to garage. Today have been told it needs a new battery. They put the battery on and then say the diagnostic machine has shown an ECU light. They say we need a new alternator (cost of repair on this occasion currently stands at £524). And if, after the new alternator is fitted, the ECU light is still on, we will need a new unit, which brings the repair to around £1400.
All this in a year. We don't know where to go from here. We don't have the money to repair it again, not to mention future costs with the rate it's going. The whole point of buying it was to have something reliable. It's a 2004 car, we're not talking some clapped out banger. We accept that wear and tear is going to occur but it cannot apply to everything that's happened in a year can it? And whose to say if we got it back it's not gonna go wrong over and over again. We just want rid of the car now. Do we have any rights legally? We just don't know what to do.
Thanks.
0
Comments
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oh dear
as regards the battery faults this points to alternator failure whitch is wear and tear as is the steering arm albiet £258 for an arm is a lot for a £30 part and 40mins labour, battery issue takes 5 mins to diagnose with a multi meter but dealers sting you with a diagnostic charge.
best advice tell vauxhall where to g0 and find a good local garage0 -
The joys of a modern vauxhall. If it makes you feel and better my old 06 cdti zafira and current 09 insignia company cars are every bit as unreliable. In 2.5 years the zafira had 3 serious water leaks, turbo problems, electrical problems, failed flywheel,, wiper motor packed in, alternator, central locking, endless other stuff. The engine failed catastrophically before it was 3 years old and was auctioned as a non runner. the cdti is an alfa/fiat engine IIRC. The insignia is 8 months old and been in the garage 5 times. The AA recovery man greeted me one time as "Oh, it`s you again!"
Best advice I can give is detail it thouroughly so it looks brand new, sell it for as much as you can and use the money on a toyota honda or mazda.0 -
Thanks. We can't sell it because its on finance through Black Horse. We can't even move the bloody thing cos its sat in that garage with no alternator on it since I rang this morning and told them not to do anything further til I say so. I just knew they would put a new alternator on it and then come back with the ECU needs replacing, they don't care that we've had this car a year. The salesman we bought it from even said on Monday "If you get another car now, we'll just stick an old battery on yours, send it to auction and let another dealer sort it out." Hmm professional. Can we reject the car under the sale of goods act or anything like that?0
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why are you taking a 6 year old car to the main dealer?
get the thing to an independant, an new alternator shouldn't cost any more than £150, a recon unit could be had for £50.
your being charged ridiculous labour prices aswell im sure at the main dealer, find a local independant garage. its only an astra not something specialized....work permit granted!0 -
Agreed, the problems do sound to occur a bit often but the majority sound like wear and tear, unfortunatley. But you are going to a main dealer to get work done, you are asking to get ripped off by up to 4 times the price of what it should cost.
E.g. my mk4 astra needed a new brake pipe and front discs and pads for the MOT. Nationwide Autocentres wanted £268 all in for this work. The local independent who is literally a 2 min walk around the corner did it for £130 all in. God knows what Vauxhall would have charged, probably £300 plus0 -
Vauxhall issed a recall on alternators...0
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harveybobbles wrote: »Vauxhall issed a recall on alternators...
Did they?
What models and what year was it?0 -
http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/default.asp
not for your model,last Astra recall was in 2002 for a brake issue
thing is the battery/alternator/ECU fault can all be down to the alternator throwing out dodgy voltages
so whilst it doesnt help its often oe of those things0 -
http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/default.asp
not for your model,last Astra recall was in 2002 for a brake issue
thing is the battery/alternator/ECU fault can all be down to the alternator throwing out dodgy voltages
so whilst it doesnt help its often oe of those things
:question: No alternator recalls for vauxhall on there, apart from one for wiring chafing brake pipes in 1993, and same on the corsa model.0
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