Rejecting a new car.

sg21

Hoping someone may be able to help.

I am trying to reject my car that is just over a year old. We bought it from new but it has had an electrical fault from about 2months in causing the battery to die if the car is not used for a 24hr period, any longer than 3 days and the battery is no good and has to be replaced. This has left us in some rather precarious situations resulting in us having to pay out for breakdown cover because Ford Assist would not help.

Ford will not take responsibility and have directed us back to the dealer, these want to take a look and try and fix it themselves even though they wanted nothing to do with it a year ago.

The car has been in and out of the garage at least once a month since the first problem to no avail, it is now over on mileage as it HAS to be used every day.

Does anyone know if we have to allow them to try and rectify the problem even though Ford have not been able to on at least a dozen occasions? and also it would cost us a lot of money and time to get it to them.

They also tried to offer an alternate car but we would rather have a refund and buy elsewhere, does anyone know if we can legally refuse a replacement and if we have a right to ask for refund including the extra costs of breakdown cover etc.

Any insight would be helpful, TIA.

gilbert_and_sullivan

If they've already offered an alternative car, that's where i would be negotiating, to make that pot as sweet as possible.

Orangezorki

Yup, been there!

For me it was a car that decided to stick open its turbo waste valve and lose all of its pressure. Try driving on a motorway and suddenly having a max top speed of 15mph!

In the end it wasn't fixed after a few visits and I felt it was too much of a safety risk. Eventually I did manage to sell it back to the dealer/maker, but did lose about £1k in roughly 6 months, but that was at least £2k better than a trade in value. It was also stressful, and soured the relationship with the dealer.

Not that I did all these, but I mention these points in no particular order:

1. The car is over a year old. I would not expect 100% refund, but equally you have to be happy with the end result.
2. Look online at user forums (a Ford isn't exactly a rare vehicle) and I would bet that someone else has had the same problem. There might even be a fix that isn't well known. At the very least you may be able to get an idea of what to avoid if speccing a similar replacement.
3. Document every visit, fix, safety risk, cost incurred etc.
4. If it is a long time since you've had anything other than a road side patch-up, consider taking up the dealer's offer. There's a chance that a technical bulletin has been issued, and suddenly it's a simple half hour software update. (I know that some Toyota Auris hybrids have had exactly that for a recurrent dead battery problem).
5. Try to stay positive with the dealer if possible. You want them to think of you as a possible customer service triumph, not a thorn in their side.
6. Personally I wouldn't get lawyers or the courts involved due to the stress and risk of extra cost. I would guess though that it might be the way to get the highest refund.
7. Manufacturer and dealer discounts, when combined, for a brand that deals a lot in fleet purchases are high. I wouldn't be surprised if supplying you with a similar new car (without whatever was causing the problem of course) would be a decent deal for them as well, to 'shut you up'.
8. A few accurate but well placed twitter/facebook posts?

Hope this helps, I do really feel for you. A new car is a massive purchase and your personal fortress on the road. They're also in general pretty reliable. My uncle and cousin both have had the same fords for years, both are well over 10 years old, an I don't think either has really let them down. You deserve better!

David

EDIT: Crap that was a long post...

sg21

Thanks, when we originally found the issue i checked online and there had been a similar problem with older models but nothing with this one.

The garage did inform me in the summer that they had had another brand new UK Smax in with the same problem but again they were unable to sort it out at that point (we are not in the UK)

One of our problems is that the cars the dealer has are none that we would ever opt for, we only chose this one because of the seating/boot arrangement and because my brother and brother in law who both work for Ford were raving about it, i would not go for it again having been too let down. We also use our cars as an investment, we look after them well and generally don't lose much money when it comes to changing, i could understand losing out because of something that was our own fault but not when it is a manufacturing issue.

We have made sure to only use the Ford Servicing so that everything is properly documented with them, and have tried to be as amiable as possible by letting it go on so long, we have given both Manufacturer and dealer plenty of time to fix it and have dragged myself and my kids left right and centre trying to get it sorted, its just really irritating now.

Glad you at least got yours sorted, gives a little hope to the rest of us.

Orangezorki

Ouch - Have no need whatsoever for a 7 seater or even a versatile 5 seater myself but understand that outside of vans and SUVs they're not that easy to find nowadays. Perhaps once you're done with this headache (and you will be eventually), a Kia SUV might be a good bet? Never owned one myself but constantly impressed with how each generation seems to be light years ahead of the last and then you have 7 years of them sorting out any gremlins for free!

marlot

sg21 wrote: »

...we are not in the UK...

Are you trying to reject a car from a UK dealer?

missile

sg21 wrote: »

Hoping someone may be able to help.
... it has had an electrical fault from about 2months in causing the battery to die if the car is not used for a 24hr period, any longer than 3 days and the battery is no good and has to be replaced. .

It would appear there is a constant drain on the battery?


Any decent auto electrician should be able to identify the cause.


If you cannot identify what is causing the drain a simple expedient could be to disconnect the battery when car is not in use.

Hintza

missile wrote: »

a simple expedient could be to disconnect the battery when car is not in use.

You don't buy a new car to be disconnecting the battery. But to keep you going on a day to day basis it might be an option.

knightstyle

Similar problem on a Ford Mondeo was the heated windscreen in frost mode. Try removing the fuse, if not that remove fuses for accessories one at a time whilst having a cheap multimeter in checking current drain from battery, easy DIY.

ratrace

Id get the alternator checked out

Good decision on not buying another

Marktheshark

You would have a better argument for using sale of goods and place them on notice that as they have failed to rectify the defect you give them 7 says to make another offer for a solution or you will seek an independent experts opinion and have the fault rectified and sue in the county court for the value of rectifying the defect.
The choice is theirs, if you hear nothing in 7 days you will act in your own interests to mitigate the loss, if they so wish to do, they should contact you with a acceptable solution.
But a car which the battery goes flat is not fit for purpose.