Problems with brand new Vauxhall Corsa

glauber_berti

Hello,

I recently leased a 14 plate Vauxhall Corsa. It's a Diesel EcoFlex model.

I've had the car for 5 weeks. On Sunday, I noticed the car was failing to accelerate properly (I now know that it had gone into 'Limp Mode'). An engine warning light came on. After about 500 yards, as I turned a corner, there was a loud bang and a hissing noise coming from under the bonnet.

I called out the AA and got taken to a local Vauxhall Garage as I got free breakdown as part of my cover. The garage got back to me on Monday and said that a pipe had burst and had been ordered. They said the car should be on the road within two days again at no cost to me.

However, I got a call today to say that they now believe the problem is linked to the DPF filter becoming clogged and this has caused the pipe to burst. As a result, this is due to 'the manner the car has been driven' and is not covered by warranty and parts will cost £480 to fix.

I'm absolutely devastated. I get married next week and really can't afford this. The DPF light has only come on once since I got the car. I did the sharp burst down the motorway in low gears as suggested and it went off. I do a fair bit of short distance driving at the moment but am also on the motorway and dual carriages fairly regularly as well.

I've looked online and seen similar issues with DPFs going awry but they all seem to be much further down the line (1yr-18months at least). I've only done 1,000 miles and had the car only 5 weeks as I said.

Does anybody think I have a decent case to make with Vauxhall that this issue shouldn't be occuring so soon into ownership? If so, what is the best route to go down?

Any help greatly appreciated!

sinizterguy

I don't think 5 weeks of short distance driving interspersed with motorway driving is sufficient to cause DPF problems. It does depends on the proportion of the two.

It can cause engine to into limp mode, but will not cause a pipe to burst (AFAIK).

I wouldn't accept what they have said.

glauber_berti

Thanks.

Also, for the sake of argument, if Vauxhall are 'right' and my driving style is the cause of the problem, can I reclaim the costs from my leasing company?

My lease is for 10,000 miles per annum (or 192 per week). If that model of car requires somebody to be doing lots of motorway driving for it to run effectively, could I claim that I was misled at the point of sale and sold a car not fit for purpose?

F1F93

sinizterguy wrote: »

I don't think 5 weeks of short distance driving interspersed with motorway driving is sufficient to cause DPF problems. It does depends on the proportion of the two.

It can cause engine to into limp mode, but will not cause a pipe to burst (AFAIK).

I wouldn't accept what they have said.

Exactly. I ran my diesel for about 6 weeks or so doing just short (<2 mile) journeys (I was doing temporary voluntary work at the time, my "regular" mileage was suitable for a diesel). My DPF didn't go wrong then, and it was second hand anyway so the DPF could already have been clogged. It didn't go wrong for about a year.

I highly doubt that 5 weeks of short distances alone could clog the DPF, let alone interspersed with motorways.

glauber_berti

Thank you both.

I suspected that to be the case.

So what route should I go down with ensuring that I don't get made to pay for this repair? The workshop are just trying to fob me off with "You're not covered by warranty but we can fix it for you and you can appeal to Vauxhall afterwards or ask your lease company to cover it."

Already spoke to lease company and they basically said it's not their problem, they just arrange the finance and delivery of the car.

albionrovers

I do tend to agree with the lease company. They simply broker the cars and you then use your local dealer facilities, which is where you are now.

Happy to be corrected?

Stoke

albionrovers wrote: »

I do tend to agree with the lease company. They simply broker the cars and you then use your local dealer facilities, which is where you are now.

Happy to be corrected?

Not sure why the OP should have to pay though if the car is brand new?

welfayre

First of all forget about driving styles just now. 5 weeks is not a reasonable amount of time for a DPF to go faulty no matter how you drive it. So it should be fixed under warranty regardless

I'm assuming you didn't just blindly select this car without speaking to a salesperson? If so then the salesperson should have made you aware that diesels aren't ideal for short journeys and pointed you towards a petrol version. If the lease company insist on sticking to the "you don't drive it right, it's your fault" line point out you feel you've been miss sold this car as you explained to the salesman that you did a lot of short journeys and he said that would be fine (I know that may not be 100% true but they'll not be able to prove otherwise) once they see your not just going to roll over and pay they might change their tune.

If they still don't budge I'd look at the possibility returning the car for another on the grounds that this one is not fit for purpose.

Not the sort of hassle you want before a wedding but hopefully it won't come to that.

BeenThroughItAll

welfayre wrote: »

(I know that may not be 100% true but they'll not be able to prove otherwise)

OP shouldn't have to pay for the repairs at all as 5 weeks/1000 miles shouldn't be long enough to cause major DPF issues as already suggested.


But you're suggesting they potentially lie/bend the truth in order to get something out of the lease company/garage, etc? If someone was genuinely mis-sold an inappropriate product after asking all the relevant questions and giving all the relevant information, then fine, but to suggest that 'they can't prove anything, so say what you like' is an appropriate course of action is plain wrong when it could simply be that the sales bloke didn't ask and the buyer didn't volunteer any information about their use of the product; in that case, the buyer is as much to blame as the seller.

AdrianC

I strongly suspect the OP was blinded by low VED and high official MPG figures, so just assumed diesel was the obvious choice...

But even if the DPF is blocked (unlikely), that wouldn't have caused a hose to burst.

welfayre

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

But you're suggesting they potentially lie/bend the truth in order to get something out of the lease company/garage, etc? If someone was genuinely mis-sold an inappropriate product after asking all the relevant questions and giving all the relevant information, then fine, but to suggest that 'they can't prove anything, so say what you like' is an appropriate course of action is plain wrong when it could simply be that the sales bloke didn't ask and the buyer didn't volunteer any information about their use of the product; in that case, the buyer is as much to blame as the seller.

If the lease company refuse to cover the repair under warranty as they should then yes the OP should consider bending the truth. In my experience lease companies/dealers/management companies will bend the truth in circles if it saves them some money and if the only thing the OP will get if they accept responsibility is a £480 bill

The lease company have already proven they're willing to do as much by peddling the "your driving it wrong" line when anyone with a little bit of knowledge on the subject (which they should have since they sell them) would no that that's not the case here.

Secondly it's the salespersons job to ask those sort of questions and give the buyer all they info they need to make an informed decision. The buyer might have no knowledge on those sort of things and goes to the "expert" for help in making the right decision. If salesperson didn't mention that diesels aren't got town cars then they are to blame not the buyer.