Evans Halshaw

xsupercatx

:mad::mad: I bought a used rav4 on saturday the 29th November from evans halshaw sunderland nissan and had nothing but problems with the car..and afterwards. here is a copy of the email i sent the day after i bought the car:-

Dear Mark/Dave

I have tried to call you this morning but there is no answer.

I have a major problem with the Rav4 that i bought yesterday which results in me needing a full refund.

The car needs a new engine.
Engine management light stays on and blinks intermittently.
It is burning oil and thick white smoke and fumes pour out from the exhaust.
I noticed this after about 5-10 miles of driving but thought nothing much of it as it had been sat undriven for a while and I thought just needed to be driven in for a while.
Fumes and smoke was so bad that over 5 cars behind beeped me which is not surprising as it was a danger to them not being able to see where they were going.
Heading down the A19 car starts jerking and hardly any acceleration. I thought at the time the top speed i was going to get out of this car was 40mph. Put my foot down nothing happened and when taken off acceleration slightly to slow down and then accelerated again nothing happened.
It did not like hills at all.. and when I say 'hills' I am just meaning usual road/driving conditions with hardly any incline at all.
I stopped at service station at Durham to check the smoke issue. Got out of the car to find thick cloud of fumey smoke which obviously looked at lot worse to me being stationary than what I had seen in rear view mirror whilst driving. Couldn't believe it. Unfortunately phone ran down at that point also so was stuck with noone to contact for help or advice. Restarted car and battery seemed dead. Tried again 10 minutes later and it started.
Noticed check oil light had come on so I did. No oil in engine. Went over to petrol station and bought 1 litre and put that in. Seemed to work fine. Bit jerky still at times but no smoke/fumes and acceleration was much improved. I was relieved when I thought that was all the problem was.
Approx 40 miles later same thing started to happen. Jerky driving, smoke/fumes no acceleration and hating any kind of incline in the road.
Car stalled at roundabout although still travelling over 5mph.
Battery kept trying to cut out and stalled any chance it got at lower speeds.
Heading through Kirkby Stephen got to a road just outside of the village when the car slowed and stopped. I put hazards on at this point because the road was pitch black and in the middle of nowhere.
Wouldn't start and if it did was only for 5 seconds and make loud knocking noise. Checked oil there was none left.
Walked up to the only house in sight to ask for help and for them to ring me a taxi so I could buy more oil to see if that helped and would get me home. No answer.
Waved down a car heading back into the village which was good enough to stop and agreed to take me and my daughter back into the village to find help.
Got to the village headed to a Chinese takeaway to ask them if they could ring a taxi to take us home to Fleetwood. Was told that all taxis are booked up and that there are only 2 taxi firms in the village and that this is normal.
Not knowing what to do I asked the next customer who came in if they knew of another taxi service because we needed to get home. They said no but asked what the problem was so told them. Fortunately he knew of a recovery service which he rang for me and arranged pick up and drop off home of my daughter and I and the car. It was -3 degrees last night. The car is sitting outside my house.
The cost of this recovery was £176 which as you know I had no funds in my bank to pay for this so I had to borrow it from my sister.
We got home at 12midnight.

I would like the full purchase price of the Rav4 refunding immediately £2,994

The purchase price of 6 months road tax refunded immediately - £115

The expense to my sister of £176 for roadside recovery refunded immediately.

The cost of rail fair to Sunderland to inspect/collect the car which I was told had been serviced/MOT'd and had 100k on the clock refunded as the car is obviously NOT driveable/not sellable and I'm not sure how it got through any emission tests or otherwise. The car had in fact got 115k on the clock. Rail ticket price for wasted journey is £50 per adult x 2 adults.

The cost of unleaded fuel put in at service station - £20.

The cost of 1 litre of oil - £6.


Total costs incurred - £3411

I have receipts.

I would be grateful if this total amount could be refunded immediately. I have to pay my sister back today as she is in financial hardship and the money was only loaned on an emergency basis.

I do not want to keep the car nor have it 'fixed' as I don't believe it can be fixed. I bought the car as an investment hoping to hold on to it for as long as possible but as it has proved unreliable I am not interested in taking any more risks/chances with it. My daughter and I were virtually stranded out in the middle of nowhere at sub zero temperatures last night. I had to keep a strong head and avoid any panicking so that my daughter didn't feel any more scared than she did. It was not a pleasant experience and thoughts of freezing to death if we were stuck there overnight came to mind.

I cannot tell you how disappointed/upset I am with the whole experience yesterday. As you know when I took the car for a test drive I was very impressed, but at that point no faults were obvious. The fact that we couldn't even get the car home is very worrying as Evans Halshaw is a huge firm with a good reputation to uphold. I am shocked that this car was let out of the dealership at all. It was hazardous driving at times for both of us and for other people on the road. There could have been an even worse outcome to this.

I have read up on websites and forums that Toyotas have oil burning and sludge issues and transmission failures which result in a new engine being needed. From what i've read I believe this seems to be the case with this car.

The car is outside my house waiting to be recovered from an Evans Halshaw branch. It WILL NOT drive so please ensure a pick up truck collects it as it cannot be driven away.


Yours sincerely, etc

got refunded the car purchase price plus road tax i paid for, but not until friday 5th December after much nagging from me. they said they would pay the tow truck invoice (no other payment was mentioned) of £176 but to date not received this. emailed them yesterday and today asking for again it as i'm buying a 'decent' car today and need the cash. also told them that i'd be complaining to head office if the money wasn't in my account by close of business yesterday..

the next deadline for payment of the 176 is 2pm today... thereafter the next email will be me telling them that i'm selling the rav4 for scrap to recoup my losses.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

marleyboy

Depending on the age, you can get petrol or diesel Rav4's It sounds like you were sold a dead horse. Hope you get your money back. Let us all know how you get on.

Optimist

Given you have only just bought the car you seem to have a good case under the Sale Of Goods Act however garages have been known to think they are above the law and I would suggest getting advice from trading standards/citizens advice if you get no satisfaction

dbaplaya

anniecave wrote: »

Shall I list my list of issues with Evans Halshaw in Walsall?

Nope, I'll just give the main one.
Paid for £20 of petrol with a used car. When I got the car the fuel indicator was almost on the empty mark. Went back inside to query it, and the sales rep was trying to pretend there really was £20 of petrol in there (well it's really £17 + VAT, it's a bit above empty...).

Eventually he agreed to refund the £20 but I haven't seen it yet (cheque in the post ... alledgedly...)

It was the fact that he didn't apologise and move on, he was actually trying to fob me off, so do they do that with everyone?

I used to work at the Walsall branch in West Midlands. They added the £20 cost for fuel to every car but never used to put it in. It was the worst car dealership iver ever worked at. Run in a very underhand way.

shadsy

We went into our local Evans Halshaw branch last Saturday and after spending nearly 3 hours with the salesman we put down £100 deposit on a car we really wanted which was in another one of their branches and they said they would get it sent to their branch so we could test drive it. The car seemed like a real bargain (now I know that alarm bells should have been ringing but we are too trustworthy!).

Anyway on Thursday we got a call to say the car we had signed the paperwork for and put the deposit on had been sold by their other branch! We were not amused but said we would buy another similar car from them for the same price. They managed to find one but surprise surprise got a call the next day to say that this car had been sold too! After finding another car for us they later admitted on the phone that they could not get through to the other branch and that they thought it was because it was a nice car and they wanted it on their forecourt?!!! !!!!!!?!! We decided to try and get yet another car from them which was in Scotland but yes, you guessed it the next day we got a phone call saying this car was also unavailable!

We then spoke to the manager, a 12 year old with a sales degree but no customer service skills whatsoever! who was incredibly rude to both me and my husband who tried to fob us off with a much lower spec car for the same price! We asked if his head office had been informed of the problems we were having and he said that why would he do that when the book stopped with him! You can imagine our amusement when we later rang back for our deposit and were told that this would have to be authorised by head office!!!

I would strongly advise anyone considering using them not to - having looked about on the net today (yes, we should have done this first!!) it appears other people have had the same problem with them!

:mad:

(Sorry if this seems harsh to some people but I am still fuming at the way we have been treated by them!)

spuds_2

I would say avoid them too. I have heard lots of bad things about them - cars not as described, dreadful administration. They are now part of the Pendragon group which has seen it's share price fall through the floor.

From The Mail's money site, 19th March:

"Pendragon, which is behind the Statstone and Evans Halshaw forecourt brands, is also deeply troubled, heavily in debt and a month late with its annual financial results."

I personally would be wary of buying from a group which seems to be in such financial difficulty.

andystanley

I have bought a couple of cars from their Vauxhall dealership. No problems whatsoever. Good staff, good prices and smooth transactions.
However - Can't say anything about post-sale service, as the cars have never developed any problems. (Thought it only fair to offer the other side!)

shadsy

andystanley wrote: »

I have bought a couple of cars from their Vauxhall dealership. No problems whatsoever. Good staff, good prices and smooth transactions.
However - Can't say anything about post-sale service, as the cars have never developed any problems. (Thought it only fair to offer the other side!)

I'm sure some of the branches are fine - it's a shame others are terrible and give them a bad name!

Karen._2

I have filed my claim against Evans Halshaw at court.

This is after months of them titsing about with my 4x4 runabout I purchased from them.

A week after having it ( in the summer ) I tested the 4 wheel drive, which didn't work!!!

They say I broke it!... Erm, no I didn't!

Also problems found:
brakes worn
brake discs cracked
rusty brake pipes
oil & filter not changed which they said was

I paid for the repairs myself as they refused even though it was under warranty.

Steer Clear!!!

Freddie_Snowbits

aviator wrote: »

Ford Evans Halshaw rip me off!
My Ford Focus (1.8 TDCi 54') had a fault with the electric windows, so i booked myself in with Evans Halshaw (Portway, Preston), fully aware of being charge a premium price.

The problem i had was, all four windows intermittently kept winding down, when attempting to lock/unlock the car.

At Ford, after the initial diagnostic (Visit 1: £75 payment made), they advised me i needed to replace a MODULE in the car - i was told the "module" currently fitted in my car was faulty and that a new module would definitely resolve my issue.

Reluctantly, i parted with a further £375 using my Visa Debit card (Visit 2) and had this new 'module' fitted. When i reached my car to drive out of the FORD forecourt, i found that the problem was NOT resolved. Immediately i walked back into the Service Centre and informed the Service Desk manager of the issue.

I was then advised to return on the weekend, so the mechanics could check the problem again.

At this point i was beginning to think, either an incorrect diagnosis had been done OR no work had been carried out – either way I was being ripped off!

I returned on the Saturday and I left my car with the mechanics (Visit 3).

Couple of days later, i received a call from Ford (Carl – Service Centre Manager) who stated that my car was ready and the problem was now solved. He explained the fault was with the 'key-fob'. At which point, i stated that if their original diagnosis had been correct, then i would only have been charged a total sum of £200 (£125 = NEW Key FOB + £75 Diagnostic); instead, their incorrect diagnosis had cost me £425 (£350 = Module + £75 Diagnostic). I continued by asking for a partial-refund, to which Carl responded “I agree the module should not have been fitted and we are sorry, but we are unable to provide a refund, however we will not charge you for the new-fob).

I explained to him again, the incorrect diagnosis had left me almost £200 out of pocket – he listened and then again responded by telling me he couldn’t do anything and that he wouldn’t be charging for the new key fob.

Ive now picked my car up (Visit 4) and the problem with the electrics seems to be resolved.

After 4 visits and a poor service, I feel extremely annoyed having being ripped off – when the very reason I took my car to Ford was to receive a premium service.

Is there anyone who can help me? If there anyway I can have my money returned?
Should I consult a solicitor? Or even trading standards.

Thanks in advance
AP

Please Post in a New thread once, multi posting will not get absolution from Freddie

aviator wrote: »

Ford Evans Halshaw rip me off!
My Ford Focus (1.8 TDCi 54') had a fault with the electric windows, so i booked myself in with Evans Halshaw (Portway, Preston), fully aware of being charge a premium price.

The problem i had was, all four windows intermittently kept winding down, when attempting to lock/unlock the car.

At Ford, after the initial diagnostic (Visit 1: £75 payment made), they advised me i needed to replace a MODULE in the car - i was told the "module" currently fitted in my car was faulty and that a new module would definitely resolve my issue.

Reluctantly, i parted with a further £375 using my Visa Debit card (Visit 2) and had this new 'module' fitted. When i reached my car to drive out of the FORD forecourt, i found that the problem was NOT resolved. Immediately i walked back into the Service Centre and informed the Service Desk manager of the issue.

I was then advised to return on the weekend, so the mechanics could check the problem again.

At this point i was beginning to think, either an incorrect diagnosis had been done OR no work had been carried out – either way I was being ripped off!

I returned on the Saturday and I left my car with the mechanics (Visit 3).

Couple of days later, i received a call from Ford (Carl – Service Centre Manager) who stated that my car was ready and the problem was now solved. He explained the fault was with the 'key-fob'. At which point, i stated that if their original diagnosis had been correct, then i would only have been charged a total sum of £200 (£125 = NEW Key FOB + £75 Diagnostic); instead, their incorrect diagnosis had cost me £425 (£350 = Module + £75 Diagnostic). I continued by asking for a partial-refund, to which Carl responded “I agree the module should not have been fitted and we are sorry, but we are unable to provide a refund, however we will not charge you for the new-fob).

I explained to him again, the incorrect diagnosis had left me almost £200 out of pocket – he listened and then again responded by telling me he couldn’t do anything and that he wouldn’t be charging for the new key fob.

Ive now picked my car up (Visit 4) and the problem with the electrics seems to be resolved.

After 4 visits and a poor service, I feel extremely annoyed having being ripped off – when the very reason I took my car to Ford was to receive a premium service.

Is there anyone who can help me? If there anyway I can have my money returned?
Should I consult a solicitor? Or even trading standards.

Thanks in advance
AP