new (to me) car - fault 2 hours after driving it home!

antwilson

Bought a new car Tuesday, (53 plate vaux corsa), was driving it around a bit, went out in it, and all of a sudden a light comes on on my dashboard! Looked in manual and it is the emission's light, which means there is a fault with the emissions system. :mad:

Phoned the garage "it could be nothing - could be serious, il put you through to book it in"

Told the lady it could be serious and needs to be in as soon as possible.

Nothing till next Saturday! So if my new car blows up before then :T

Dont know which one im more :mad: about the fact that its had 2 services and MOT's in the past month

Or that a car out the showroom has gone wrong in under 2 hours!!!!

Anyone more experienced than the garage know what this light is or what it could be??

Anyone else not like there local vauxhall retailer??

(cant complain too much, they forgot to ask me for money for my road tax )

brazilianwax

antwilson wrote:

Bought a new car Tuesday, (53 plate vaux corsa), was driving it around a bit, went out in it, and all of a sudden a light comes on on my dashboard! Looked in manual and it is the emission's light, which means there is a fault with the emissions system. :mad:

Phoned the garage "it could be nothing - could be serious, il put you through to book it in"

Told the lady it could be serious and needs to be in as soon as possible.

Nothing till next Saturday! So if my new car blows up before then :T

Dont know which one im more :mad: about the fact that its had 2 services and MOT's in the past month

Or that a car out the showroom has gone wrong in under 2 hours!!!!

Anyone more experienced than the garage know what this light is or what it could be??

Anyone else not like there local vauxhall retailer??

(cant complain too much, they forgot to ask me for money for my road tax )

Can be all sorts. We get something similar every time one of our cars is hoovered, cos wires run under the driver's seat and get disconnected by the hoover!

It's usually the airbag or ABS light that comes on then though.

It's never been because of an actual fault.

My advice? Get yourself a Haynes manual and start reading!

Claire

Lady_E

I had a problem with my little car and I put a note on the motoring /days out forum and it certainly prepared me for the garage "speak" I got , perhaps a mod could move it over there for you?

joshm_2

Hi, first off, was it a private sale or from a dealer? If it was from a dealer you should be able to get them to fix it so make sure you tell them about it and give them the chance to put it right. If it was 'sold as seen'/a private sale, then there's still no great cause for alarm yet.

Before exhaust gas sensors were installed, cars ran fine, and you can bet that most of the cars on the road without these fitted are still ok and performing within their limits. But, if they had the same sensors and circuitry, most of these cars' dashboards would be lit up like christmas trees!

The chances are that it's an oxygen sensor (also called lambda sensors) that tell the engine management system how to mix the fuel & air. Provided your car's engine sounds fine and it isn't billowing smoke, you're pretty safe in my opinion.

So no need to panic, and if it's not covered under guarantee it's not the end of the world, most mechanics will be able to replace them and since it's a common car, parts should be cheap.

saintjanet

My opinion is that as the garage have booked your car in and i assume this is the garage that you bought the car from ,you really have nothing to worry about ,they should solve the problem for you.

I realise that it is annoying to have a problem,with a vehicle you have just bought but sadly mechanical things can go wrong at anytime,this is a fact of life,leave them to sort it out.if they dont then is the time to get annoyed.

In answer to your last question,I have been quite happy with my own vauxhall dealer.

antwilson

had a phonecal from them today saying my drivers license wasnt for my current address (which it was ) and asked about it.

Asked about this while on phone and he said it could be when the valeters were cleaning it could have knocked something.

droid1978

I have vauxhall corsa. Firstly, you need to go to a garage that has the system to read the engine management system. It does not need to be a main dealer by the way. Although most back street garages will not have the equipment.

From my own experience on my car the emission light came only after 10 minutes driving and the coil (it powers the spark plugs) was only firing on 2 cylinders and needed replacement. Basically emssions light goes on because the unburnt petrol is being sent through the exhaust. It ill wreck the catylser if you do not replace it. Very easy to replace by the way.

mikey-mike_2

If I’d had a 53 plate car which didn’t last 3 hours without going wrong I’d expect the seller to fix and provide me with an alternative car whilst it was being repaired

Big_O

Could just be the fuel lines need cleaning - all mine needed afetr failing the emissions MOT section - it cost £12 to do. Depends on miles and how it's been driven though...