Starting to panic slightly

peelie

Hi guys, this was my first second hand car purchase and i think i completely screwed up!

About 3/4 months ago me and the wife bought a new car, got it on a 3.5 year finance deal and (stupidly) got the GAP insurance for about £250, since found out that i could have got that for much less but heyho, anyways, we got a 3 month,3000 miles, 50/50 warranty with the dealer and sods law 3500 miles into owning it we start to have problems.

Was driving it one day when all power started to cut out, ABS, power steering, radio etc etc, got it into the dealers who charged me £250 to have a new alternator fitted, now i wasn't there to pick it up but apparently it had to be jumped b/c the battery was still dead, i presumed the battery was now totally gone and thought they'd changed the original problem with the alt so if i got a new battery it would be back on the road again.....

Got a new battery (bit smaller physically than the old but same power) fitted it and it started fine, ran fine all day on the saturday and then when i went to start it sunday morning it was dead again, so back to the dealers it went with a complimentary rover 45 loan car, at no charge, for me to get back to aldershot in (im in the army and based down there).

Its now been in there all week and they bascially dont have a clue whats wrong with it, the dealers in the process of speaking with an auto-electrician to try another solution but tbh i aint hopeful.

This is obviously a disaster and i dont know what my options are at all, im probably over reacting and getting worked up about it but worst case scenario it costs a stupid amount to fix, that i won't be able to afford (we've already extended an overdraft to pay for the alternator), we're then left with a car that wont run thats only 3 months into a 3.5 year finance deal

On top of all this im due to leave the army in a month and need a car to commute to my new job which is 30 miles away!

I've estimated that a settlement figure could be around £4700ish, the cars worth about £3000 part exchange and about £4000 private sell, but obv the value of that plummets if the bloody thing wont run, it seems to me that im stuck with it and will be paying £150 per month for a car thats rusting on my drive for the next 3 years.

Im really worried about this and its causing me sleepless nights, this could mean me losing my job that i had lined up and coming out of the forces with no wage and a £150 a month finance agreement to pay, all with a wife and 2 kids.

Does anyone know where i stand with regards to a) my rights as a consumer as i've been sold a car thats dead after 3 months, and b) my rights re: the finance agreement, can it be cancelled? Will they take the car off me and auction it for a few hundred quid leaving me car-less and now paying 150 per month for something that isnt even on my drive anymore!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Rafter

All I can suggest is contacting your local trading standards and finding out what your rights are in this situation.

There is only so much that can go wrong so I wouldn't write off the situation just yet.

Good luck (and with the new job)

R.

peelie

Rafter wrote: »

All I can suggest is contacting your local trading standards and finding out what your rights are in this situation.

There is only so much that can go wrong so I wouldn't write off the situation just yet.

Good luck (and with the new job)

R.

120 views and your the only one that bothered your !!!!, so thanks for that to start with! cheers for pointing me towards trading standards, least ive got an idea of where i can move forward if the car is fubar'd, ive gotta phone the garage back tomorrow to see if its started fine without the cd player installed, i REALLY REALLY hope it starts!! fingers crossed eh

Nancy888

peelie wrote: »

120 views and your the only one that bothered your !!!!,

People will look at your post and if they are unable to help will click away again. I was going to be one of them but had to stop by and point that out. I'm unable to offer any help, I'm afraid but wish you well in getting a result and also in your new job

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06

AMD

yorkshire-lad

Sorry,I can't give you any advice on the finance side.

But,£250 for an alternator?!
Have you thought about joining the owners club for your make of car?
There are often mechanics who could diagnose your cars problems very easily and if your a member you get all the parts at trade price. If your car is out of warranty at your finance garage,take it down to your local.

They are loads cheaper and don't rip you off.

If you want to get rid of the car,put it through a good service and sell it private.

Sorry I can't be much more help.

Good luck.
YL

kenh11

Definitely find the online community for your particular car and join up ASAP.

Its what Ive done for the past 3 cars Ive owned and has saved me a lot of money over the years.

The current car I have is on finance also, the only thing I could advise you about the finance is that I know you can give it back when you pay half the total agreement.

Other than that Im not sure really, did the agreement not include any warranty of guarantee?

peelie

AMILLIONDOLLARS wrote: »

Call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06

Cheers for that, been on their site and they could def come in handy in the future.

yorkshire-lad wrote: »

But,£250 for an alternator?!
Have you thought about joining the owners club for your make of car?
There are often mechanics who could diagnose your cars problems very easily and if your a member you get all the parts at trade price. If your car is out of warranty at your finance garage,take it down to your local.

They are loads cheaper and don't rip you off.

If you want to get rid of the car,put it through a good service and sell it private.

Sorry I can't be much more help.

Good luck.
YL

I got a settlement fee for the car today and it's at £5000 to settle, i can't see me getting any more than 4k for it tbh, got kinda robbed from the start but it was my first 2nd hand car in my defence! This obviously doesnt include how much it'll cost to get it running again!

kenh11 wrote: »

Definitely find the online community for your particular car and join up ASAP.

Its what Ive done for the past 3 cars Ive owned and has saved me a lot of money over the years.

The current car I have is on finance also, the only thing I could advise you about the finance is that I know you can give it back when you pay half the total agreement.

Other than that Im not sure really, did the agreement not include any warranty of guarantee?

Yeah i had heard that you can give it back after half, least that way i could clear half of it with a 2.5k loan and only be paying 2.5k for a car i dont have rather than £5k!

I dont have the agreement t & c's on me atm, they are at home but i'm going to have a good long read of them the next time i get the chance to try and see if theres anything about a warranty on their side, you'd think they would as surely they have to protect themselves from dealers selling crap cars even if they dont care about protecting me??

kenh11

Which car company was it with?

When I took mine out it the warranty etc was done through them for a year, and then the whole thing including the car was taken over by the bank so in my case it all seemed very iffy anyway.

I still have around 3k - 4k left to pay on a car worth around £1000 that is currently suffering some serious problems - so I kind of know how you feel and sympathise completely.

ILW

I would join the AA.
If a car will not start they are very good at diagnosing the fault. They carry a massive database of known issues for 1000s of models. 9 times out of 10 they will sort it, or at least tell you exactly what the problem is.
I do not have any connection with the AA but they have saved me a fortune in the past. My membership costs about £130 per year.

never_go_with_lombard

HI
this garage fitted a part that might not be the cause of the problem,most bussinesses today are out to reap what they can from people,i would want a break down of repairs to date,they are getting an autospark to look at it?,250 for car alternator is way too expensive,if they couldnt fix it get it returned to original condition by the garage and get your money back,i wish i lived close to you i would fix it for you,if they cant repair if first time they wont repair it the second be very very careful im serious

Ring them first thing in the morning