My Brand New Car had a Duff Spare!!!

hellokitty08

I bought a brand new VW fox and got a puncture last night. I was horrified to find out not only was my spare wheel used, and not new, but it was also flat and had a puncture too.

I was horrified, I have phoned the dealer where i bought it from and have asked them for an explination. I think they should replace the wheel, but it they dont I am going to go and sit down there and wait until they do.

Any other ideas of how I could get this resolved? I am waiting for them to phone me back.

Rolandtheroadie

Ask them for a new wheel, they'll take it out a new car and stick yours in it. Then they'll forget about it and hope the new owner doesnt notice.
Just keep rational and dont mention that your horrified.

motorguy

scotsman4th wrote: »

Ask them for a new wheel, they'll take it out a new car and stick yours in it. Then they'll forget about it and hope the new owner doesnt notice.
Just keep rational and dont mention that your horrified.

Yes the important thing is to keep it in perspective and not over-react.

Also, consider compensation or demanding a new car.

penrhyn

Your lucky it had a spare, a lot of cars just have a pump and a can of goo.

On checking though you should have a full size (not a get you home) spare.

Strider590

hellokitty08 wrote: »

I bought a brand new VW fox and got a puncture last night. I was horrified to find out not only was my spare wheel used, and not new, but it was also flat and had a puncture too.

Please tell me you at least attempted to change the wheel yourself..... :rotfl:

scotsman4th wrote: »

Ask them for a new wheel, they'll take it out a new car and stick yours in it. Then they'll forget about it and hope the new owner doesnt notice.

Which is exactly what they've done to you.

How the heck did a spare (which should look black/shiney/unused) get a puncture?

blued

Chances are someone took it for a test drive and swapped it out with another spare. I've heard of people replacing a whole set of tyres by test driving cars from different garages and taking/swapping the spares.

hellokitty08

I did attempt to change it hence i noticed it was not as it should be. There was a actually a rather large looking bolt of some description stuck in it. The reason why i didnt notice this before is because when i bought the car and checked the spare was there (which it states comes with the car and is full size) the tyre was shinney and black.

I am with the RAC, so they came out and where able to put a temp repair on the puncture to get me to a garage this morning, so thats all been sorted, just didnt see why I should have to pay to replace the spare as well. I would be perfectly happy just to have the spare wheel that I am entitled too.

(I shall not be trying to claim any compensation for the loss and suffering I have endured! and the mild discomfort i got from standing in the cold waiting for the RAC to arrive or the magazine i had to purchase to ammuse myself! :rotfl:)

Inactive

blued wrote: »

Chances are someone took it for a test drive and swapped it out with another spare. I've heard of people replacing a whole set of tyres by test driving cars from different garages and taking/swapping the spares.

Indeed, but this should have been picked up by the garage on the PDI.

Gloomendoom

hellokitty08 wrote: »

(I shall not be trying to claim any compensation for the loss and suffering I have endured! and the mild discomfort i got from standing in the cold waiting for the RAC to arrive or the magazine i had to purchase to ammuse myself! :rotfl:)

Are you sure you didn't get whiplash when you recoiled in shock at the sight of the punctured spare? Just think of the compensation you could claim.

blued

Inactive wrote: »

Indeed, but this should have been picked up by the garage on the PDI.

Agreed!

Wouldn't be the first time a garage didn't check the spare properly. A friend put his BMW in to the main dealer for a service every year. Each time the spare would have a small sticker saying 'checked'. If they'd removed it from the boot they would have realised it had a huge chunk missing from the rim where he'd hit a curb in the snow. Surprisingly it still held air but you couldn't drive on it.

hellokitty08

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Are you sure you didn't get whiplash when you recoiled in shock at the sight of the punctured spare? Just think of the compensation you could claim.

Actually come to think of it, i did happen to collapse in the horror, and graze my knee, which needed the medical treatment of some TCP and a plaster, how much do you think that is worth? Plus I have had to take a total of 1 hour off work to rectify this matter! :rotfl: