Used car turbo failure

jamiewakeham

So the dealer says he wants me to return the car to be rectified.

I'm not too keen on this, partly because it costs me two days work (and I'm a physics tutor in the middle of my busiest time of year, so I can easily be losing more than £200 a day) and partly because I'd far rather have this work done by a garage I trust.

Do I have any way at all to insist that I get the work done and send them the bill, or do my rights under SoGA only extend as far as demanding that they rectify the fault?

I don't quite understand why they want to do it this way. The projected £450 that the AA warranty won't cover isn't enough to even buy the new turbo. Are they planning to fit a used or pattern turbo? I'm surely able to demand a new and genuine VAG part, aren't I?

I'm fairly sure from reading around the issue that it does need a complete turbo - apparently if you just replace the actuator, something in the computer system says 'no'. Rubbish design, of course.

If I am doomed to let them fix it, can I get anywhere by demanding that they collect and return the car? Or bill them for lost earnings?

Damned annoyed by this, not least because if they'd bothered to test the car before selling it the fault would have been obvious.

Thanks, all.

vaio

Sounds like it is a SoG issue and if so then any consequential costs are recoverable too.

I'd contact the seller, explain you have been advised that driving it may cause further damage and suggest that either he collects it on a trailer or pays for a local repair

burlington6

You might trust your garage, but why should the dealer. Who's to say there isn't a fault and you're just ''in bed'' with the local garage to get some money back..........do you see where I'm going with this?

burlington6

Just so you know, I was in the same position last year except the dealer I bought it from said my garage could do the work. The garage I always used didn't fix the fault but still charged a few hundred quid for new parts. The dealer refused to pay and I had to swallow the cost. Looking back at it i can understand the dealers position.

jamiewakeham

Understood entirely, Burlington6.

I wonder if it's worth making it clear to the dealer that 'my' garage isn't part of the AA network and has no chance of getting the work, so they have no incentive to make up a fault. And pointing out that the AA's approved garage would make it clear very quickly if there was nothing wrong, or indeed if it turned out to be a cheaper fix.

Vaio, I think that's pretty much exactly what I'll do.

colino

Before you get ahead of yourself, there is absolutely no chance that the original trader is going to take your, or another, unconnected garages word on a fault. If you have just bought it, get it back to them for a fix, swap or refund, but don't have a bolt touched or part replaced beforehand or you can kiss any kind of warranty goodbye.

AdrianC

jamiewakeham wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. It's a Skoda Yeti 1.2TSi - cost me a little less than £10k with 18,000 on the clock.
it's a mechanical failure in the charge pressure control actuator. Threads on this seem to suggest this is a complete replacement job.

How far outside the original 3yr Skoda warranty is it? Does it have a full service history, to time as well as to mileage? Were those services at a Skoda main dealer?

I think I'd be on the phone to Skoda UK for some kind of goodwill contribution - but bear in mind that'll require the work to be done at a dealer, so might actually work out more expensive than going warranty plus top-up.

Having said that, if you've literally only very recently bought it, then I'd definitely be talking to the supplier under SOGA. This is in no way a reasonable wear-and-tear failure.

jamiewakeham

Literally only just bought it - a couple of weeks ago.

Dealer is utterly insistant that he wants to look at it himself. I want to take the line that the car is unsafe to drive on the motorway - I've been told that the turbo is likely to cut out completely very soon. Can I insist he collects?

colino

No you can't. You say the car has a catastrophic fault, want him to trailer it and repair. What if it turns out to be a faulty sensor (unlikely on this engine), will you be happy to refund the cost of transport?
It is really of no concern of the trader where you live or your personal circumstances.

AdrianC

jamiewakeham wrote: »

Dealer is utterly insistant that he wants to look at it himself. I want to take the line that the car is unsafe to drive on the motorway - I've been told that the turbo is likely to cut out completely very soon. Can I insist he collects?

No. It was your choice to buy from a dealer a distance away. Get it recovered to him.