Returning a used car and refusing repairs - possible?

Igniseus

Hi all,

I bought a Peugeot 206 Rolland Garris 1.4 automatic 2000 reg about 2 weeks ago from a local garage/dealer. Cost me £2,200, looked to be in great condition, had 60k miles on clock and had MOT done after deposit.

Just a few days later I started noticing problems (which I should have reported there and then, but lets not dwell on past mistakes).

Here are my problems thus far:

• Speakers intermittently cutting out
• AC sometiems works great, sometimes completely useless
• Strange click noise then small rev increase happens regularly
• A loss of power for a second (only happened once so far)
• One time I set off and the air-bag light was on for the whole journey

And then here's the big one; randomly at any point the engine can totally cut out losing all power, PAS, etc. I have to pull over, engage Park and turn off the engine. Engine braking also seems to happen as I rapidly lose speed when the engine stalls.

I've heavily read up about it on the internet and it seems it was a common fault on the cars, however the problem is extremely hard to fix permanently, and in nearly all cases the car has to be brought back for repairs repeatedly over the months, even years trying to fix it. Many of the cars have been took to Peugeot dealers around the country unable to fix it. It's generally considered by most impossible to cure, but unfortunately all garages will replace something and claim its fixed until the problem hits again....and again.

The real issue is that its completely unsafe to drive and I cant possible drive it in the future even after a supposed "fix" as at any time it could just stall and cause an accident (which it has for many). Explaining the garage that they are very unlikely to fix it permanently is not going to be easy though obviously.

Anyway, apologies for the long ramble, but the real question, and my request for help, is whether I have full rights to just demand a refund and decline any repairs or inspection? I can not live with this car knowing that in the vast majority of the case this dangerous problem can come back at any time, and can cost thousands of pounds worth of repairs over the months. They've said they'll sort it out, but I don't want this death trap (and money sink) vehicle so I really want to know if I have 100% the right to get a refund or if I'm stuffed and have to live with the repairs and hope for the best?

Thanks for reading and any input

Weirdlittleman

No,

In all honesty I think you could struggle to even have it covered under SOGA for these faults due to age.

Hintza

You've bought a 10 year old banger, it should be running OK but you can't expect it to be perfect. It alo sounds as if you have done your research after buying instead of before!

You will need to give them a chance to repair.

Igniseus

Just a little update for everyone:

I took the car in and they seemed happy to take a look and repair it. They seemed to take the problem quite seriously and wanted to make sure it was safe before I drove it again.

So, they held on for it for nearly 2 weeks and said they had replaced a part which they were confident would fix it, and the whole situation was not related to those I had found on internet.

Oh they were so wrong....it drove 200 miles fine after the "fix" but then twice in under 5 minutes the car stalled dead. As it is out of working hours I will have to contact them tomorrow to take another look. Not a happy bunny. I just knew deep down this problem would not be an easy fix and it is looking more like it is just like those unfixable cars I've researched.

Igniseus

Here are the symptoms in as much detail as I can give if it helps anyone give any clues as to the problem:

• So far car has only stalled with my foot completely off the accelerator pedal
• Usually I am braking when it happens (I think every single time)
• Just once, the most recent time, the engine didn't suddenly stall straight away, the rev's sat at about 1,800 not moving, but the accelerator pedal did nothing. Upon stopping, the engine then died as usual.
• The engine always starts straight back up
• I heard a loud bang from behind a few days after the repairs, but as I can see no damage or feel any effect on the car, I'm assuming and hoping it was a bottle or something
• Sometimes the engine diagnostics light pops on for a second
• Sometimes I think the car is bit a stuttery/jumpy when I'm trying to maintain a low speed (20-35mph) with very light pressure on the accelerator pedal. This may just be me still being new to driving and the car though.

Many thanks for the help.

Michtaylor09

Sounds like a problem with the engine management system to me.

I would say it needs to go to the Peugeot main dealer to be put on the diagnostic computer. I have very similar problems with a Fiat Marea automatic once.