Please Help (Car Dealer Issues)

phey708

Summurised story:

Bought a car back in June 2010 with full year warrenty that developed various faults, and as i was unhappy with the vehicle and mentioned rejecting it, they provided a replacement car and bought the old car back. I drove out of the garage from October 2010 with the new model.

However, this replacement has really peed me off! So far it has developed the following faults during the course of almost a year:

-Misreading from o2 sensor at the pre cat causing errors to throw up on the dash + putting the vehicle into limp mode (they refuse to fix this unless i pay for diagnosis even though car was warrentied)
-Excessive wind noise from driver door when doing speeds from 65mph+
-Fault with oil pressure sensor (was due to broken wire, but they refuse to fix as it was wiring)
-Rear suspension bushes went
-After bushes was replaced, they overtightened the rear damper bolt causing an annoying sqeak on all road conditions
-Worrying vibrating sound from front wheel when turning full lock (they again will not fix it unless i pay for diagnostics)
-Radio antenna broke at the back of the head unit, and yes, they did not want to touch this as part of warrenty
-Seat is making too much squeaking noise which is very annoying, but as they are 'deaf' to this issue they will not fix it
-The ride at the moment is amazingly crap! It rattles too much and there is a loud knocking noise going over a bump from the rear of the car.
-Excessive wear on the o/s tyre suggesting the tracking has been out when the car was bought (also the kerb rub on the alloy may confirm this)
-Condensation keeps building up in head lamp, but they don't cover this even tho i belive this is a manufacturing fault!

On top of all this, they failed to mention that 5 months of the 1 year warrenty is the extended warrenty, and the conditions change on this! As you can see, i am getting !!!!ed off with paying £167 a month for a car that keeps breaking!

I am also annoyed that they are saying i am responsible for diagnosis before they touch the car. They have been funny at me for the last 2 months.

Plan of Action

I am going to write to the finance company telling them the faults with the car and that i am rejecting it. I know that they will say the dealer will have to reject it, but it will get the ball rolling.

I am also going to complain to the Seat Customer Services (again) mentioning the dealer in question and explaining that i am looking at all options at rejecting the car, including visiting the CAB and TS for legal advice. The dealer will get a copy of the letter too.

Hopefully, something will come out of this! What are your thoughts?

phey708

bumping for replies

Enterprise_1701C

I don't know what you can do about the warranty as things are different on used cars, but it is clear that you have to do something fairly quickly as it is now September. When writing to the finance company (copying the letter to the garage) detail every single problem you have had, however minor, and make sure you post both letters by at least recorded delivery. Incidentally, even I would not expect them to deal with the aerial problem, that would almost certainly be classed as accidental damage.

Just one thing I had to come on here and say as my daughter had a similar problem when turning the wheels to full lock and it turned out to be the steering rack, one of the things that made us scrap her car (one of numerous faults on an old car I hasten to add!).

phey708

I have just printed a letter listing the faults and stating that i am requesting repair, replacement or refund. This is going to the showroom manager and the finance company after work today.

When i get home, i am also going to start a case with Seat Customer Services as well to get the ball rolling faster.

Ghostrider

How old is the vehicle? And who is the Warranty with?

phey708

I would say 3 year old. I was sold a years warranty however they did not mention that 5 of those months was on an extended warranty where i believe the conditions change.

Ghostrider

phey708 wrote: »

I would say 3 year old. I was sold a years warranty however they did not mention that 5 of those months was on an extended warranty where i believe the conditions change.

You would say, does that mean you know its 3 years old or you're guessing?

If you were sold a warranty, do you have the paperwork, if so who is the warranty actually with?

phey708

The car is registered in early 2008 so it is 3 years and a couple of months. I would need to check papers to confirm exact date.

Warranty is with Seat Guarantee, and i received a letter confirming that i am under the program for a year along with a booklet which lists what is and what isn't covered.

VWfan

read the warrenty book but id put money on all of this being exempt from a std warrenty as it will be down as used car wear and tear and should be pointed out by you prior to sale if you want it sorting.
-Rear suspension bushes went
-After bushes was replaced, they overtightened the rear damper bolt causing an annoying sqeak on all road conditions
-Worrying vibrating sound from front wheel when turning full lock (they again will not fix it unless i pay for diagnostics)
-Radio antenna broke at the back of the head unit, and yes, they did not want to touch this as part of warrenty
-Seat is making too much squeaking noise which is very annoying, but as they are 'deaf' to this issue they will not fix it
-The ride at the moment is amazingly crap! It rattles too much and there is a loud knocking noise going over a bump from the rear of the car.
-Excessive wear on the o/s tyre suggesting the tracking has been out when the car was bought (also the kerb rub on the alloy may confirm this)
-Condensation keeps building up in head lamp, but they don't cover this even tho i belive this is a manufacturing fault!

Ghostrider

phey708 wrote: »

The car is registered in early 2008 so it is 3 years and a couple of months. I would need to check papers to confirm exact date.

Warranty is with Seat Guarantee, and i received a letter confirming that i am under the program for a year along with a booklet which lists what is and what isn't covered.

In that case then i'd speak to Seat Gurantee directly to find out from the horses mouth what they do and don't cover.

I agree with the last post in that most of what you have listed is normal wear and tear to be honest, especially squeaks and rattles.

You could have had a case with the dealer though if you could prove that any of the issues like worn bushes, tracking out etc were apparent when you were sold the car, although I suspect now that time has passed you will find it almost impossible to argue that case.

phey708

You could have had a case with the dealer though if you could prove that any of the issues like worn bushes, tracking out etc were apparent when you were sold the car, although I suspect now that time has passed you will find it almost impossible to argue that case.

They have the paper work when the car was fixed for warn bushes etc therefore the case can still be argued as it was noted the time it was repaired from the date i bought the car.

Also since the bushes have been replaced the suspension then started to play up which i believe was a result of their not so good repair pratices. I forgot to mention that with my previous car (before they have given me a replacement), they had to take the car to another garage to try and fix one of the above issues.

Also all the wear and tear as described above is very hard to believe in a 3 year old car, they should not fall apart that quickly! I remember my old Mk2 Ibiza being more sturdy than my current car and that was a 15 year old car.