What are my rights with faulty car and dealership?

JVRMac

Hoping someone can help me as I'm at my wits end.

I purchased a 2 and a half yr old nissan qashqui from a large dealership in October last year. After taking the car away that day I had it booked back in to get it valeted the following week. When I took it back I advised them that there was a knocking noise coming from the boot area and could they look into it and also that there were a few scratches that I wanted sorting out. When I picked it up later that day I was told that the knocking noise was something loose in the boot and they had no black pens to take the scratches out but would order and be in touch. Which they never did.

So months pass and I've learnt to live with the knocking thinking nothing of it. At the end of March I take it to another garage to get it's annual service and 1st Mot and I'm told that the rear shock bushes are split. I asked if that would have accounted for the knocking noise I've been hearing and they said it's more than likely, they recommended that I go back to the dealers I bought it from to see if they will fix it for me free of charge as the 3yr warrenty had recently expired.

So I immediately rang the dealers up to find out what they were prepared to do and why they hadn't found the problem when I reported it. After many calls chasing it up I have since found that it was never booked into the workshop so hadn't been checked, also when the car was purchased by them in September they had only done a pre-sale check which apparently wouldn't have picked up this issue.

So it's a month later and I've still had no satisfaction with the dealers giving me the runaround promising me they'll look into it and ring back and then not.

I've been so frustrated I've rang the local Nissan dealership as I'd heard there had been a recall on these but apparently my reg is not on the recall list so they won't do anything about it.

The frustrating thing is, if they had checked it out in Oct it would have been covered under warranty so it wouldn't have been an issue.

Can anyone give me any advice on how to proceed with this and am I right in making them accountable or will I have to pay for it myself, all I've been told is that it'll be very expensive?

Also I paid by using finance arranged by them, can I take my issue to them?

Any advice would be appreciated, I've also got another issue with this dealers but I will post seperately so as not to confuse the two.

Many thanks

SneaksyWhippet

The original knocking noise may have been the shocks; as you said, it's a known fault from the first Qashqais. A check of the serial number will tell you if they are from the dodgy batch (I've sent you a pm with some more info to help you with this) but if there was a issue the dealer should have noticed and sorted it before sale. They did this with my Qashqai before I bought it second hand.

However there is another known problem: a loose bit of the boot catch that could also make a rattling/knocking noise. It might be worth checking you don't also have this issue.

I hope you get somewhere with your dealer. The shocks are something they all should know about and be fixing without question! Has your car had the other recall done (steering screw I think)?

Tilt

Is there any documentation (like an invoice) showing the first time they investigate the knocking/scratches?

Premier_2

I understand why you made 2 separate threads, and I agree this was the right thing to do as the 2 issues are somewhat different.

However, for the benefit of others, I hope you don't mind that I provide the link your other thread here.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3932049

I have done this essentially for 2 reasons:

1. It is clear you have some ongoing dispute with this dealer already, and whilst this should not directly affect your rights, you should be aware of the possibility that should you pursue legal remedies in this matter, the dealership may attempt by way of defence or mitigation to suggest that such claim is vexatious in its nature

2. Irrespective of your rights in this matter, you may have difficulty in enforcing them (whatever they may be) based on the previous actions of the dealership ... they don't sound too trustworthy do they?

Occassionally it is sometimes better to swallow your pride and knock one down to experience ... and I fear this may be the case here.
This is only my personal opinion, and I am sure others will disagee with me. I am not a lawyer but I just thought I would express to you my views on how things may otherwise pan out for you to consider.

JVRMac

Tilt wrote: »

Is there any documentation (like an invoice) showing the first time they investigate the knocking/scratches?

No as they didn't actually investigate it, although they told me they had.

passatrider

The fact that you left it six months before you went back and told them about the fault. My guess is it's going to be up to you to prove that the vehicle was not fit for purpose.

As you are out of warranty my you may have a hard job convincing them to repair it for free.

Hopefully, someone may have better news for you on here?

JVRMac

Thanks Premier, although this dealership has branches throughout the country and would not noramally be considered a backstreet dealer. I purchased from them because they are supposedly a reputable dealer and so I would have piece of mind that I was not buying someone else's problems, which is in fact what I have done.

I would have paid for this without question if we were only talking a small amount of money but this is an expensive job which I just cannot afford and the more I look into this the more frustrated I get that they should be doing something about it. Although it doesn't help when they don't return my calls either.

I'll check the serial numbers SneaksyWhippet and have a look at the sight you recommend thanks

Tilt

Who are the dealers... do they have a head office/customer service address?

JVRMac

Stoneacre, yes I've got the head office details, do you think I should write to them?