Changed my car for one with problems!

judygarland

After 4 years of trouble free motoring in my Mondeo I decided to downsize to a more economical car.

I've purchased a 4 year old car with less than 40,000 on the clock and the day after picking it up, a warning light came on. I've checked the manual and it says it relates to the Exhaust Management System.

I took it straight back to the garage and they checked it over. They reckoned they cleaned a valve and that it should be ok. That was Friday. Yesterday, the light came on again.

The car is quite juddery when being driven.

I'm starting to wish I hadnt bothered changing my car.

Where do you stand legally? Am I stuck with the car if it has some major fault that costs a fortune to fix? Obviously I have put a lot of trust in the garage and I am not a mechanic.

Should I reject the car? I traded mine in and have already had the log book back for my purchase.

esmerobbo

What car is it? is it a diesel? I am thinking DPF!

judygarland

It's a Skoda. Petrol Engine

jase1

MAF sensor?

Not the end of the world if it is. They're only about £60 and 10 minutes fitting time.

esmerobbo

That rules the DPF out then. It really needs plugging in to diagnostics comp to see what codes it throws up. I assume by valve they cleaned the ERG valve. This may need replacing rather then cleaning. It could however be other items such as Lambda sensors. Without reading the codes its a bit hit and miss and could get expensive replacing everything it could be.

judygarland

jase1 wrote: »

MAF sensor?

Not the end of the world if it is. They're only about £60 and 10 minutes fitting time.

Thanks for your reply. The garage have had it back and said they cleaned "a valve". Same problem continued. I'm thinking of taking it to my local garage to get them to diagnose it.

judygarland

esmerobbo wrote: »

That rules the DPF out then. It really needs plugging in to diagnostics comp to see what codes it throws up. I assume by valve they cleaned the ERG valve. This may need replacing rather then cleaning. It could however be other items such as Lambda sensors. Without reading the codes its a bit hit and miss and could get expensive replacing everything it could be.

Thanks for that. I'm presuming they did plug my car into a diagnostic computer but by the time I took it to the garage, the warning light had gone out. Sods law!

jase1

That's why I said MAF. There are a lot of reasons this could be happening but the most common "cleanable" cause tends to be the MAF, which is, in effect, a valve.

IME cleaning these things rarely works. Replacement with a branded product (and not a cheap ebay special) is the cure.

That said, as esmerobbo says you need to get an electrical specialist (not a local garage usually -- they'll most likely refer you to a local specialist) to read off the code(s) and make an educated diagnosis. The problem is, they'll charge £40-60 just to take a look.

esmerobbo

judygarland wrote: »

Thanks for that. I'm presuming they did plug my car into a diagnostic computer but by the time I took it to the garage, the warning light had gone out. Sods law!

Even if the light had gone out the fault would or should still be stored until you clear the memory.

judygarland

jase1 wrote: »

That's why I said MAF. There are a lot of reasons this could be happening but the most common "cleanable" cause tends to be the MAF, which is, in effect, a valve.

IME cleaning these things rarely works. Replacement with a branded product (and not a cheap ebay special) is the cure.

That said, as esmerobbo says you need to get an electrical specialist (not a local garage usually -- they'll most likely refer you to a local specialist) to read off the code(s) and make an educated diagnosis. The problem is, they'll charge £40-60 just to take a look.

Thanks. It is the main Skoda dealer that I took it to and they sell new, used and provide servicing etc. I was thinking of taking it to my local garage and to see if they can work out what is going on.

jase1

Hmmm. The main dealer should know what he's talking about. Take it back to them and give'em hell if you've paid anything.