Arnold Clark - major problem, no warranty

colino

I'm surprised AC have agreed, under any pressure, to look at it for free. It's not under warranty, it has been used for 7 months and they are most definitely not going to be footing any further bills or pointing the finger of blame at themselves.
Get it to a recommended repairer for a proper diagnosis and fix.

SLITHER99

Sorry to hear about your situation, not a great thing to happen.

As you checked the oil every two weeks, how was it when you last checked it? I mean, was it low?

What was the noise you were hearing?

Being a diesel engine, these take a good while to die through oil starvation. They don't just pop within seconds, in fact it'd need to be running for several minutes before it eventually seizes. And it'd make a hell of a racket when it's doing it.

Is the engine actually runnable or do you turn key and nothing?

If a new engine is on the cards, then your best bet is eBay and the scrap guys on there.

Retrogamer

Perhaps the oil pump gauze on the pick up pipe got blocked.
A lot of modern cars have longer service intervals and if these get missed, or the mechanic is lazy and decides not to change the filter, the paper in it breaks up and can clog up parts of the engine leading to oil starvation and a slow death.

Has the oil light ever came on before?

Westmead_Fan

bit of a dumb question but was the right oil used???

3yearstogo

Hi,

right oil has been used.

AC called today to say they know it is an engine problem and from the sounds of it, they need to replace the engine.

However, before they do that, the want me to authorize them to take out the old engine, strip it and put it back together to diagnose the issue. This costing me £995 as they estimated 10 hour labor charge... I did not authorize them to do this.

The finance company I went with agreed that AC should foot the bill to investigate due to my original complaint when the car was 7 days out the shop and still in warranty (AC fobbed me off and guaranteed i was "hearing things"). They also advised me not to pay them. As the finance company technicaly own the car, they are going to raise a consumer goods complaint to have it looked at. I have left it for them to discuss between themselves now and glad to know the finance company is on my side (which i was surprised at!). Even their complaints team said it was unreasonable for a full new engine being required for a car I had for 7 months and took care of it.

They said it is not expected that a car costing 9k (10.5k including interest) should require a 5k labor and parts fix. I will let you know how I get on but the finance team estimate 3 weeks to get this resolved. I am not going to be optimistic about it at all though.

Thanks for everyone's replies.

photome

I rarely side with a car dealer.

this time I dont see why the dealer is at fault, you took the car back afer a week and was told there was no problem and then drive the car for 7 months, I dont see how the problem after 7 days is related. If it still had problems between a week and 7 months why didnt you get it investigated during that time.

I hope for your sake that AC agree to put it right but I cant see that happeneing

john_white

The finance company simply want the asset the loan is secured on to be worth as much as possible. If AC don't play ball the finance co will expect you to foot the bill.

As it stands, it would cost AC far less to fix it than you (cost of parts and salary for a couple of days for one of their mechanics).

I can't see AC being out of pocket on this so I would expect that you will have to cover the above as a minimum.

fivetide

Will AC really want to annoy a good customer though? - by that I mean the finance company.

OP - hopefully there is a solution here but it might be you paying for parts and AC fitting them at their cost.

colino

I really don't think you understand how AC has been so rich for so long. It certainly isn't by replacing engines at discount and they do so much business, the finance houses court them, not the other way round.

fivetide

colino wrote: »

I really don't think you understand how AC has been so rich for so long. It certainly isn't by replacing engines at discount and they do so much business, the finance houses court them, not the other way round.

I don't think you need to patronise. I know full well how they work, it was a genuine question as the finance company seem to have sided with the OP for now. If they are so scared of AC then surely they wouldn't even be entertaining raising a complaint on the OP's behalf?

I know AC don't really work on car profit they work on finance profit. Would they really want to annoy Black Horse or someone like that for a small amount?

Remember, access to credit is a bit of a sticky wicket at the moment so the difference between being able to offer that extra 1% to a customer will make a difference to the attractiveness of their cars. Especialyl if the finance house remain on better terms with Vardy, CarGiant or Halshaw etc.