We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
£30k car purchase - is faulty and not as described - mega urgent help!
alant1000
Posts: 252 Forumite
Hi all,
I treated myself to a nice new car on Saturday, having been very disciplined and saved up the cash, I don't have any loans etc and work almost 75 hours a week sometimes so why not.
Anyway justification out of the way, i purchased a 2 year old car with just 6.4k miles on the clock, and PX'd a car for £14k, and paid the balance on my debit card. It was bought from an independent sports car specialist.
Within the very first 2 hours, each time i started the car from warm, a massive plume of white smoke billowed out of the exhaust for a few seconds, enough that i couldnt see out of the rear window! I immediately took it back that afternoon when this happened twice more, and they said they had probably just over filled it with oil in the pre-delivery service. They then drained out some oil to try to remedy the problem, but the problem continued for the rest of the weekend.
The car was also advertised with a full manufactureres service history, and as this particular brand of car only has a 2 years manufacturers warranty, the car is just over 2 years old so no warranty left, and the car does NOT have a main dealer service stamp at all. The garage simply serviced it themselves and stamped the service book. This is quite a big problem as i now cannot buy an extended manufacturer warranty without having the car put through a major service with the manufacturer first - and this is over £700!
I was not happy with the car, and took it back to formally reject it yesterday, having looked up my consumer rights, which i was under the impression could be returned if not of satisfactory condition, and if not as described. I feel i did this within a fair timeframe (less than 48 hours) and i had given then one opprtunity already to remedy the situatoin which didnt work within 2 hours of delivery.
The owner of the dealership got very aggressive and said it was NOT an option to have a refund, and it was not going to happen (he kept repeating this). I staged a bit of a sit in, and explained that he had also misdescribed the car as having a full dealer service history when it doesnt, and he tried to fob me off by pointing out that the car had a pre-delivery inspection stamp from birth (this is the sticker in the front of the service history book which is ticked before it is dropped off brand new at the dealer), and this made it a full service history?!
After getting nowhere and trying to reel off my rights, he said i could stay there all day, and his rights as a dealer are to have the opportunity to put the problem right first, and only after this would he even consider a refund - he said this was the correct legal position.
He then immediately rang a local main dealers service centre (to his credit) and arranged for the car to be taken immediately to them for a full diagnostic and repair.
The service centre rang me yesterday and said it should be fixed, based upon what he believes is the problem as the independent dealer told them the car was over filled with oil.
The niggling doubt is that i have subsequently found out that there are known issues with 09 plate versions of my car, and that some people have had to have replacement engines under warranty due to the same problem - white smoke on start up.
i'm not happy or confident with the car - it was not as described and within the first 3 days of ownership ive been without it for 1 day, and the other 2 days have been tainted with embarrasing episodes of smoke bombs in public - its not the way it should be.
I am not sure what to do - i know i have to act quickly, but just want rid of the car.
The official service centre recommends running it for 2-3 weeks to see if the problem persists, if its still there after this time frame then there are more serious problems.
What would you recommend? Help or advice much appreciated!
I treated myself to a nice new car on Saturday, having been very disciplined and saved up the cash, I don't have any loans etc and work almost 75 hours a week sometimes so why not.
Anyway justification out of the way, i purchased a 2 year old car with just 6.4k miles on the clock, and PX'd a car for £14k, and paid the balance on my debit card. It was bought from an independent sports car specialist.
Within the very first 2 hours, each time i started the car from warm, a massive plume of white smoke billowed out of the exhaust for a few seconds, enough that i couldnt see out of the rear window! I immediately took it back that afternoon when this happened twice more, and they said they had probably just over filled it with oil in the pre-delivery service. They then drained out some oil to try to remedy the problem, but the problem continued for the rest of the weekend.
The car was also advertised with a full manufactureres service history, and as this particular brand of car only has a 2 years manufacturers warranty, the car is just over 2 years old so no warranty left, and the car does NOT have a main dealer service stamp at all. The garage simply serviced it themselves and stamped the service book. This is quite a big problem as i now cannot buy an extended manufacturer warranty without having the car put through a major service with the manufacturer first - and this is over £700!
I was not happy with the car, and took it back to formally reject it yesterday, having looked up my consumer rights, which i was under the impression could be returned if not of satisfactory condition, and if not as described. I feel i did this within a fair timeframe (less than 48 hours) and i had given then one opprtunity already to remedy the situatoin which didnt work within 2 hours of delivery.
The owner of the dealership got very aggressive and said it was NOT an option to have a refund, and it was not going to happen (he kept repeating this). I staged a bit of a sit in, and explained that he had also misdescribed the car as having a full dealer service history when it doesnt, and he tried to fob me off by pointing out that the car had a pre-delivery inspection stamp from birth (this is the sticker in the front of the service history book which is ticked before it is dropped off brand new at the dealer), and this made it a full service history?!
After getting nowhere and trying to reel off my rights, he said i could stay there all day, and his rights as a dealer are to have the opportunity to put the problem right first, and only after this would he even consider a refund - he said this was the correct legal position.
He then immediately rang a local main dealers service centre (to his credit) and arranged for the car to be taken immediately to them for a full diagnostic and repair.
The service centre rang me yesterday and said it should be fixed, based upon what he believes is the problem as the independent dealer told them the car was over filled with oil.
The niggling doubt is that i have subsequently found out that there are known issues with 09 plate versions of my car, and that some people have had to have replacement engines under warranty due to the same problem - white smoke on start up.
i'm not happy or confident with the car - it was not as described and within the first 3 days of ownership ive been without it for 1 day, and the other 2 days have been tainted with embarrasing episodes of smoke bombs in public - its not the way it should be.
I am not sure what to do - i know i have to act quickly, but just want rid of the car.
The official service centre recommends running it for 2-3 weeks to see if the problem persists, if its still there after this time frame then there are more serious problems.
What would you recommend? Help or advice much appreciated!
I never missed a payment :T , I paid off all my credit cards :T , I paid of all my loans :T , i have a work mobile :T - but am now "medium" credit risk 
0
Comments
-
If the service centre find a serious fault, then you can reject it, you will have the evidence to back this up. If you believe it to me mis described regarding the service history and the dealer doesn't agree with you then a courtr may be needed to settle it.
It sounds to me like you have a good case, but used car dealers are difficult to deal with so you may have a fight on your hands to get your money and px back.
I know that normally they are allowed to put things right as regard to fixing the white smoke problem, however the full service history is something he can't put right as it's not been done, the pre inspection he was on about does not make it a full dealership service history.0 -
If the service centre find a serious fault, then you can reject it, you will have the evidence to back this up. If you believe it to me mis described regarding the service history and the dealer doesn't agree with you then a courtr may be needed to settle it.
It sounds to me like you have a good case, but used car dealers are difficult to deal with so you may have a fight on your hands to get your money and px back.
I know that normally they are allowed to put things right as regard to fixing the white smoke problem, however the full service history is something he can't put right as it's not been done, the pre inspection he was on about does not make it a full dealership service history.
Thanks bris, i have copies of the adverts from 2 sources (their own website and pistonheads) which shows the advert wording, my car and reg plate, where the wording states it has a full porsche service history, so that advert is definitly misleading.
I am considering asking him to pay for a full manufacturer dealer service so that this is logged in the service histiry book as an option other than court action, plus a manufactureres extended warranty on the car. This will be cost - around £1600 in total, so in theory it may be cheaper for him to take my car back and refund me and simply put it up for sale again, but he's being stuborn.
Would asking for the dealer service and warranty be a reasonble compromise on my part as a start point?I never missed a payment :T , I paid off all my credit cards :T , I paid of all my loans :T , i have a work mobile :T - but am now "medium" credit risk0 -
for something you've worked so hard for I wouldn't be offering to patch up holes with extended warranties and late dealer services.
Porsche maintainence is not cheap - I would be using the missing service history and the other issues as a point for return - if they topped it up with too much oil i would be worried - it shows incompetence - and flat out lying about the pre delivery inspection...no this guy is trying it on - I would be returning the car and if no refund is forthcoming sue the guy in court...he knows he's in the wrong...
you have to be asking yourself - WHY should YOU be the one compromising?0 -
White smoke does not indicate that oil was being burnt - that would result in blue smoke."You were only supposed to blow the bl**dy doors off!!"0
-
for something you've worked so hard for I wouldn't be offering to patch up holes with extended warranties and late dealer services.
Porsche maintainence is not cheap - I would be using the missing service history and the other issues as a point for return - if they topped it up with too much oil i would be worried - it shows incompetence - and flat out lying about the pre delivery inspection...no this guy is trying it on - I would be returning the car and if no refund is forthcoming sue the guy in court...he knows he's in the wrong...
you have to be asking yourself - WHY should YOU be the one compromising?
yes i know you are right.. this is a tricky situation. I originally had the concerns about the smoke (for obvious reasons), but the service histoy situation is probably going to be the issue that would be most useful to me if this does go to court. I wont be able to do this in small claims due to the car value - so i can see this getting costly.I never missed a payment :T , I paid off all my credit cards :T , I paid of all my loans :T , i have a work mobile :T - but am now "medium" credit risk0 -
but realistically...without service history...the car itself is worth less...dont forget that...0
-
maninthestreet wrote: »White smoke does not indicate that oil was being burnt - that would result in blue smoke.
i thought this too (so suspected a head gasket), but apprantly oil smoke can be white if its burned in the exhaust and is forced through the cat (as per what porsche told me), there are also quite a few references to oil burning in cars producing white smoke online, so i have to take this as the cause for now!I never missed a payment :T , I paid off all my credit cards :T , I paid of all my loans :T , i have a work mobile :T - but am now "medium" credit risk0 -
White smoke IS an indication of over filling.maninthestreet wrote: »White smoke does not indicate that oil was being burnt - that would result in blue smoke.0 -
OP, can you posts the exact wording of the advert please?0
-
One would have thought that people spending over a hundred thousand pounds on a car, would insist that the manufacturer push the boat out and give a three year warranty, when even the cheapest of cars can have ten year warranty.The greater danger, for most of us, lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 352.4K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.7K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 454.4K Spending & Discounts
- 245.5K Work, Benefits & Business
- 601.3K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.6K Life & Family
- 259.4K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards