Bought a turkey from a dealership - what should I do next?

Muscle750

Alfa Romeo I haven't worked on one yet that isn't rotten 5 years old and its finished

BeenThroughItAll

Nevermore098 wrote: »

Not implying that any MOT done at a local garage is dodgy, I have always had my previous car MOT done at a local garage who were fantastic but its perhaps not unfair to say that an MOT pass on a car with a broken suspension, handbrake cable and very heavily worn breaks was perhaps not 100% above board.

The vast majority of local garages are great and I would never knock them

You needed a reliable car for commuting and to cut costs, and bought an Alfa? Sorry - that's probably your first mistake.

Needing a couple of wishbones doesn't mean 'broken' suspension. A split handbrake cable doesn't mean MOT fail. If it's severely corroded or frayed the cable may be a fail, but a split covering would be an advisory at best.

Can't comment on worn brAKes, but they could pass an MOT effectiveness and still need replacing a week later, especially since MOT tests don't involve removing roadwheels - it can be bloody difficult to accurately assess brake wear level when you can't easily see the pads etc.

That's a highly emotive way of putting what is probably just one subjective opinion of one main dealer 'technician' on whether or not one or more of the (probably 3) wishbone bushes fits within the 'try to flog clearly inexpert car owner' criteria applied by that dealership's service manager who is chasing this years OTE bonus.

Another vote for an INDEPENDENT garage to take a look - that does not mean Kwik Fit, National Tyres, Halfords Autocentres, etc. Cheapest way of getting a view would be to take it in to the place you say you trust with your previous MOTs and get them to stick it through a test. If it passes with them, job done, you'll be happy.

harveybobbles

YOU chose to buy a car from a dealer that was two hours away. So YOU have to get the car back to them should it require something.

You need to gice the dealer a few chances at putting it right.

As for the leak, it amazes me how many people say a car has a leak when they see a pool of water underneath it.. they dont realise how aircon works..

caprikid1

Age, Mileage , Price ? Model ?

usignuolo

Before I bought my last (used) car I had a full independent inspection. I recall it cost around £150. Why don't you get one of those? Then you can show that to your dealership. I do wonder myself about how much work dealerships sometimes drum up for themselves.

I had a previous car, a Renault, which broke down a long way from home, it was towed to the nearest garage who diagnosed a problem with the gear box and wanted (from memory) around £300 to fix it. It was still under warranty (new car) so I phoned Renault who said I had to take it to the Renault dealership and had to move it there at my own expense. I did that and was told it needed a complete new gear box because the gear box was wrecked....when I asked how come I was told I must have forced it into reverse while driving forward. Utter garbage. It wouldn't even have occurred to me that was possible.

I tried to get an independent review but was told by the company I approached that they could not do it as they also did reviews for Renault. I then got the RAC to look at it, and they issued a report with an ambiguous review of the cause of the damage. I was so angry I got onto the RAC and asked to speak to the engineer concerned. He was very embarrassed and admitted the RAC garage had asked him to leave it open or it might put them in a bad light.......but said he was only saying this off the record.

I then asked to be given the gear box to have my own inspection done and was told it was the property of Renault once in the garage and in my case it had already been shipped back to France.

What I later found out was that the Renault dealerships had to cover the cost of the spare parts for warranty repairs themselves and so tried to fix the cost onto the customer where they could. You can tell I am still incensed about it after all this time.

All I am really saying is you cannot invariably trust the dealership and you really should try to get an independent inspection of the car. They will go to your garage to do it. I imagine you could arrange to be there is you wanted to while it takes place. You get a full written report afterwards. I used DEKRA.