Arnold Clark - major problem, no warranty

3yearstogo

I purchased a 2009 plate car from Arnold Clark in April 2013 ( 7 months ago) When I test drove the car I originally said to the sales man that it sounded funny - he said thats how a qashqai sounds. I have only ever driven one type of car before hand so I believed him. I purchased the car at an average price of £9000 and got it on finance through arnold clark. I took the car back 7 days after purchase as the gear stick kept moving every time I put my foot on the pedal like it was trying to jump out of gear. A fine smoke like mist was coming out of the back for the first few minutes the car had been driving. I took it back and the service dept took it for a drive - he said it was normal and all ok.

7 months down the line, i turned the car on this morning and it ticked over like a tractor, it then just stalled. I can turn it back on but it makes a HUGE noise. So I called my cousin who works in a garage to make sure it was safe to drive back to arnold clark. My Cousin said the bottom of the engine was "out". I dont really know what he meant but he said it was something to do with oil and basically we would need a new engine costing £3-4 THOUSAND. He told me to call arnold clark to come get it . I called arnold clark and they told me as I have no warranty that they would charge me £85 an hour labor charge and I'd have to pay for anything wrong with it. I made a complaint and told them what I just told you all.

They said i have to bring it to them and t hey will look it over free of charge. I know they are going to tell me it needs a new engine though and will try to charge for new one.


I know I have no warranty I accept that however, the fact is I only got this 7 months ago and I took it into the garage 7 days after purchase to express my concern and they told me it was ok... do I have any grounds based on that? The car is only 4 years old, i'd had it serviced, MOT, oil changed etc so there is nothing I could have done to stop this from happening. They way I see it, they sold me a dodgy car. Anyone else had a similar experience?

Buzby

Was it out of oil? If so, the fault needs to be resolved but I'd avoid AC and use a recommended independent garage with no axe to grind. I know of two drivers that wrecked their engines due to low oil and their warranty was invalid because of this.

Had it been regularly serviced before you purchased? What was the mileage when you accepted it?

motorguy

Buzby wrote: »

Was it out of oil? If so, the fault needs to be resolved but I'd avoid AC and use a recommended independent garage with no axe to grind. I know of two drivers that wrecked their engines due to low oil and their warranty was invalid because of this.

Had it been regularly serviced before you purchased? What was the mileage when you accepted it?

+1

The car needs independently inspected to understand what has went wrong.

If its due to lack of oil, then thats not Arnold Clarks fault.

captainawsome

When and where did you have it serviced? And did you cousin check the oil level?

scheming_gypsy

You could struggle.

It took 7 months and you've had an oil change since, if there was an issue with it leaking oil then it should probably have been spotted when the oil change was done.
There's also a possiblity that it happened when you had the oil change done. If the sump plug / oil filter wasn't fitted properly then it'd leak.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Moving gearstick would mean one or more of the gearbox/engine mounts need replacing....nothing to do with the oil problem. The fine mist you speak of would of been exhaust fumes, so nothing ab-normal there....what was the funny sound you mentioned?

How many miles have you driven since you bought it and whats the service history like?

WTFH

I know this may sound like a silly question but if your cousin works in a garage, why didn't you ask him about the noise when you got the car, also where and when did you get it serviced? Did they not notice anything wrong?

Retrogamer

When was the car last serviced?
What's mileage at the moment?

3yearstogo

I have since called the finance company who said I needed to make a complaint with arnold clark to get them to investigate it free of charge due to the fact I came back with the car 7 days after I bought it. Arnold clark said they were too busy to get it today so I called AA to take it to them.

The AA man checked the oil and oil was fine (I top up oil ever 2 weeks, same time as i wash the car).

The car was purchased with 46k miles, it is now 49k miles.

I had it serviced 3 months ago in the local garage.

I did not take the car to my cousins garage a few towns over when I got it - due to my own stupidity.

I am very naive

Bottom line is, i dont have 3-4 grand for it to be fixed and will have to spend the next 4 years still paying it off so im stuck with a shell of a car which is only 4 years old and warranty only ended a month ago (just finished checking the paperwork).

Thanks everyone

2013 unlucky for me! Roll on 2014

Foxy-Stoat_3

You top up every 2 weeks....how much oil does this car use?

WTFH

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

You top up every 2 weeks....how much oil does this car use?

My old Alfa (I don't have it any more ) used to need oil, but it was very precise about it...
1500 miles after every oil change it needed 1l of oil. It wouldn't burn any (much) more for the next 12,000miles (can't remember the exact service interval), and then it would get a new filter & new oil. 1500 later, another litre went in.
In 4 years and 80,000 very enjoyable miles it used 6l of oil - on top of what went in at services.