Peugeot dealer misleading practices

rfmaria

I own a Peugeot 206cc from 2005.
My problem started when my battery was keep draining all the time even after it has been changed.
First time I went to the local garage where usual I fix my car and they said they couldn't find the fault of that and they advice me to go at the Peugeot dealer.

So I did, they said it was the earth cable from my battery was broken and because of this the battery is keep draining. I agree to be changed and they charge me 216£ for one single cable.
I took the car home and next day everything was fine but the second day same problem again. Battery of the car was dead and I had to call a friend to give me some power on the car so i can start the engine.

I phoned to my local garage and I told them that the Peugeot dealer found the problem and they changed the earth cable but my battery was dead. They said I could go back because my battery was still under guaranty to have it replaced for free, and maybe because the earth cable was just changed maybe the first battery was drained.
I went to the local garage and they've put a new battery and again same problem one day working the next day battery dead.
This time I just called the local garage and they said I need to go back at the Peugeot dealer as they said earth cable was the fault but the problem is still there.

Today i went in the Peugeot dealer and the manager from there said that could be another problem that cause the draining of my battery and if they find the fault i have to pay for it. As I told them i will not pay them nothing because they said the problem it was the earth cable.

So why did i paid 216£ for a cable if I still have the same problems of the car??

Now the car is in the dealer and I'm waiting a phone call from them but I am sure they will say is from something else and again i will be forced to pay another huge amount of money.

I asked the dealer how come first time they said it was the earth cable and now they sad it might be something else, as my problem on the car is the same as before even with the new cable? and the answer it was that it can be something else that cause that. Ok but why they didnt find it in the first place and that means that I need a refund for my first bill?

I want to make a complain at Unfair Trading Regulations???
Do I have a founded complain so i can go further?

Thank you.

agrinnall

Well, sometimes problems can only be diagnosed and resolved by trial and error, and this sounds like what they're doing in this case. However, I find the idea that an earth cable (or indeed, any car electrical cable) could cost £216 to be unbelievable - is it made of gold with a diamond encrusted cover?

Personally I would do 2 things. 1) Check with Peugot head office (or online, perhaps with a Peugot owners club) whether that really is the price of the cable. 2) Take you car away from a Peugot dealer and put it into a specialist auto electrical who will know what they're doing.

bod1467

Electrical problems can be a biatch to locate. But they should be able to do a resistance check across the battery leads (with battery disconnected) to confirm that there is a short/near-short. Then they should be able to start narrowing down the area of fault.

rfmaria

Thank you so much for the fast replays and advice.

My question are:
1. What they will do now that they haven't done in the first place. As they said after they put the earth cable the computer showed that everything its ok.

2. I said to the manager that what if they will come now saying thats another problem with another cable or whatever, he can give me the guaranty that the problem wont come again? And how can i trust to pay again if in the first place i came with a problem and i left with the same problem but more sort in my wallet with 216£.

The manager said I have to trust them if they say there is something wrong because they are a respectable company and they wont tell me to pay for something thats not wrong.

And i said I did trusted them and thats why ive paid 216£ but why my problem is still there?? How i can be sure i wont pay again a big amount of money to go home with the same problem??

bod1467

1. After a fault reset the onboard system almost ALWAYS shows no problems (for a short period).

2. Agrinall makes a good suggestion - use an auto-electrical specialist rather than a dealer. A 2005 206cc won't have such advanced systems that a specialist won't be able to deal with it.

dalesrider

There also could be a problem that as the battery has discharged so many times that it is damaged and will now no longer hold a charge even if the issue is fixed.

If you have a multimeter.
Test Volts on battery should be over 12V with engine off. Start engine and test again. Should be at least 13.5 Volts. If its above 14.5, then it could be that the battery is getting overcharged and it has cooked the battery to the point that it had boiled the fluid away and buckled the plates.
Even somewhere like kwik Fit would be able to do a basic battery test.

rfmaria

The local garage that I'm with it is kwik Fit and they are the ones that changed my battery 5 times by now.

Sadly they don't deal with deep electrical problems of the cars and thats why they advice me to go at the Peugeot.

Now i am waiting to see what the dealer peugeot will say and i will take further decision but i wont pay nothing to them even they they find another cable faulty.

I will keep you updated with some more news soon I have them.

I live in Paisley can anyone recommend any garage who deal with electrical and are good?
kwik Fit are more into mechanical part and they couldn;t help me.

Thank you once again.

bod1467

Kwik Fit aren't by any means anyone I'd trust to any great extent. Good for exhausts, tyres, batteries etc. But anything more complex than that they forget it.

Find an auto-electrical specialist, as already mentioned. I can't make any specific recommendations around Paisley - sorry.

http://www.thomsonlocal.com/Auto%20electricians/in/Paisley/