Advice needed regarding a faulty car and finance

hugop

Bit of a long story but will make it as short as possible. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am at my wits end !!!
Purchased a mini cooper s brand new on a pcp in June 2007. No problems at first but at 25,000 miles was on my 3rd front drivers tyre. The tyre centre suggested BMW look at the subframe and wishbones as they should not need replacing so quickly. Also tyre sensor dash light kept coming on and there was a tapping sound in the engine area. Took the car to local dealership, still under warranty. Said nothing wrong other than replacing a sensor. After the 3 year pcp was up, bmw contacted me regarding a replacement car but payments were considerably higher that I was paying as I put down a big deposit so they offered me the opportunity of keeping the car for another 2 years. Said I only wanted it for a year and he explained I could hand back after 1 year (wrong, I have since found out. Has to be kept full term). I have spoken to mini finance who confirmed I can hand it back but would owe £5000 although I could have handed it back owing nothing after the original 3 year pcp period. As it was being sold back to me again in effect, my query is do I get another 12 months warranty on the vehicle as they offer that on all used cars ??. My concern is I am paying finance for a car that is off the road with major faults. Is there any clause in the sale of goods act with the car having such major issues that were not identified by the local BMW dealer when it was taken to them.

Anyway, 3 months after the 3 year warranty ran out, the car started to overheat/losing water, tyre needed replacing again, now 30,000 miles, strange noises from engine. Took to local dealer who called me after 5 days to say engine mount needed replacing, wishbones, thermostat and housing. Total charge £1000. I was gobsmacked and asked why these things were not identified before as it had been serviced 12 weeks before. They simply said if I didnt like it, ring BMW customer services which I did. Several phone calls later they agreed to do engine mount as goodwill but nothing else. Got thermostat done at another local garage for £85 instead of £269 they wanted. Didnt use car much and was still losing water over next 3 weeks. Broke down in the middle of nowhere for 7 hours, AA advised water pump issue. Took to local garage as it was at night. Garage have advised that water pump/supercharger snapped/head gasket/cylinder head damage. Have showed me all the faults and told me no way should this happen in a 3.5 year 30,000 mile mini. Parts alone £1500 plus. They dont even want to do the work as it will be so expensive and feel bmw should sort. These issues were obviously there when it was taken to BMW. My local garage insist that this has gradually been getting worst and has resulted now in major engine damage .

I have contacted my local dealership, dont want to know, rang bmw customer services 3 times, said they would call back and havent, emailed complaints dept, no response. I havent had the car for 3 weeks and dont know what on earth to do. Cannot afford over £2000 to put it right and I am livid these issues wernt noted before. Feel tempted to cancel my direct debit finance payment !! Can anyone give me any advice. I am extremely upset and need the car to get to work.

Rossy.

I have no advice sadly as i don't know much about the SOGA (Sale Of Goods Act) etc

Finance isn't my strong point either

Bet you thought that buying a bimmer would be the best thing ever seeing as they are so relieable(not)

Good luck though, I'm sure someone with more knowledge will post soon

bigjl

So, basically you agreed to keep the car for another two years even though you thought it had suspension problems, now that it has broken down properly you want rid, the car was sold to you 3 years ago and I would think the sale of goods act doesn't apply.

That is sadly the kind of opinion that the finance company will take.

You need to keep a level head, get the allegations the dealer made in writing, as they serviced it 3 months ago then they should have noticed the gradual problems that they have said caused the breakdown.

The fact that you have driven it with a water leak doesn't look good, they can blame you for all the other failures as consequential.

Your best bet is to write a polite letter to BMW customer services and request a contribution due to the cars low mileage and (hopefully) fully stamped up service history.

A lot of the failures you have mentioned can be contributed to by a water leak and subsequent failure of the water pump itself.

The issue of do you get another 12 months warranty shows that you should have researched this PCP thing an awful lot better.

I personally would have got rid after 3 years, a PCP is just a way for somebody to have car that they can't afford by offseting some of the value to the end.

And yes I bought a car on a pcp many years ago and wouldn't do the same again, I would also never advise anybody to do so, they may suit some people, but think about it would you buy a House and then find that after the entire term of the mortgage you had to find another £50k, no you would buy a house you could afford.

I have every sympathy for your position, and such mistakes normally happen when you are young, everybody makes them, next time don't listen to a salesman, listen to your head, the bonus is that surely after the next 2 years the car is yours to keep?


You have two issues, you need to keep paying the finance, you need to get the car fixed.

Once you have the car fixed you need to try and get some money back from BMW, the dealer doesn't care, he only wants to make money from you, BMW may take a longer term view as you have been a BMW customer for 3 years.

Personally I think the best you will get is a contribution to repair costs and the benefit of hindsight for the rest of your car driving career. Try to contact WhatCar as they sometimes write letters to the manufacturer and dealer in these situations, nothing scare the motor trade more than bad press.