Devastated by new car failure :(

jomow1977

Hi all
Would appreciate some advice. We bought a car (Rover 25, diesel, 03 plate, 105k miles) for £1950 from a reputable car dealer, established for 30+ years, family owned, specialise in higher end cars.
Anyway, bought the car, drove it home, all ok. Discovered the radio was locked, needed a code which we didnt have. Emailed the dealer - no joy. Got new stereo, then discovered boot wouldn't lock through central locking or via the keys provided!
THEN driving about 40 miles away from home to a day out...disaster. Turbo blew, lost control of car, masses of smoke, fire engine called, traffic both ways ground to a halt as no-one could see. Likely to be terminal, new ngine, new turbo etc. Had to pay £30 to get it towed off the road.
My b/f called the dealer straight away, the guy he spoke to was SO rude, said they wouldn't do anything until it was back with them (30 miles from where we broke down). It'll cost £130 to get it back to dealers and got a horrible feeling they'll refuse to do anything. No warranty.
Am SO SO sorry for long post, just would love some advice, any response appreciated.
Thanks
Jo

Incyder

Well you've broken my car buying rule No1, No Rovers or any other British Leyland badges, ever.

The waters have been muddied somewhat with the new Mini (now BMW) but it affects me not.

I just don't go there. Never have, never will.

Rover. I just don't see why people do. I remember Richard from 'keeping up appearances' had a 216.
He would.

I do feel sorry for you as it must have been awful. Please don't get another one.

WelshPaul

Incyder wrote: »

Well you've broken my car buying rule No1, No Rovers or any other British Leyland badges, ever.

The waters have been muddied somewhat with the new Mini (now BMW) but it affects me not.

I just don't go there. Never have, never will.

Rover. I just don't see why people do. I remember Richard from 'keeping up appearances' had a 216.
He would.

I do fell sorry for you as it must have been awful. Please don't get another one.

Helpfull. NOT!!!

Incyder

Well welshpaul, there is no joy or hope to work with in the story, I'm sorry.

It's a Rover, with no warranty.

The 75 does have a decent diesel bmw engine I'm told, but its of no help here.

All that can be done is to make sure the OP doesn't get another one.

goldspanners

£2000 for an 8 year old rover with over 100k miles on it? seriously?

i'm selling a ford focus soon with 35,000 less miles on it and a year younger for not much more.

vaio

How long did you have it before it broke? miles covered?

Generally, Sale of Goods requires merchantable quality, reasonably durable and faults to be repaired without cost or inconvenience to the buyer. There is also the possibility of rejection and full refund.

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file25486.pdf

is a guide for traders but covers everything you need to know.

I'd be inclined to document everything and then reject as it doesn't sound like the sort of garage you want to be dealing with

moonrakerz

jomow1977 wrote: »

the guy he spoke to was SO rude, said they wouldn't do anything until it was back with them (30 miles from where we broke down).................. got a horrible feeling they'll refuse to do anything. No warranty.

Sorry, but aren't you being a bit premature ?

What is so rude about them saying that they won't do anything until it is back with them ? Are they expected to wave a magic wand from 30 miles away ?

jomow1977 wrote: »

got a horrible feeling they'll refuse to do anything. No warranty.

Why do you feel they won't do anything ? No warranty ? It sounds as if you were a bit doubtful in the first place when you took the car - so why did you ?

Let them look at it - then complain when you actually have hard facts, not just supposition. They just might surprise you..........

NeverAgain_2

The usual anti-Rover tosh from one poster on this thread.

My brother was a Rover fan and had about six of them until the company folded.

None of the cars ever left him stranded, or failed to start, but he did have some warranty work done.

The biggest job was a replacement Steptronic gearbox in a 400.

Bit of a joke that, since the box was made by BMW.

Going back to the OP, it is a sorry tale, but she doesn't say how soon after buying the car it was that it broke down.

The sooner the better in terms of getting a refund.

vaio

moonrakerz wrote: »

Sorry, but aren't you being a bit premature ?

What is so rude about them saying that they won't do anything until it is back with them ? Are they expected to wave a magic wand from 30 miles away?

Why do you feel they won't do anything ? No warranty? It sounds as if you were a bit doubtful in the first place when you took the car - so why did you?

Let them look at it - then complain when you actually have hard facts, not just supposition. They just might surprise you..........

I'd have thought that.....

jomow1977 wrote: »

.......then driving about 40 miles away from home to a day out...disaster. Turbo blew, lost control of car, masses of smoke, fire engine called, traffic both ways ground to a halt as no-one could see. Likely to be terminal, new ngine, new turbo etc. Had to pay £30 to get it towed off the road.........

is plenty of hard facts to get a decent garage to send someone out in a breakdown truck to look at it rather than expecting the poor punter to get an immobile car 30 miles back to them

jd82

A lot of Rovers were just Hondas with Honda engines anyway. The Rovers to avoid are any with a 1.6 or 1.8 K series engine.

Rolandtheroadie

Relatively young with a mere 18 years of driving, I've had a couple of 820's, a couple of 827's a v8 sd1 and a v8 range rover. Every one of them would be over 18 years old now.
I've even been in a rover owners club and would buy any of the above again if I could justify a third car (although the 820 would be a vitesse this time).
I probably wouldnt have had a 1.6, 1.8 or even the 2.5 v6, but only because of the ones I liked.