Not Impressed With Evans Halshaw

motorguy

tgon wrote: »

Seems they are dumbing it down because of the low cost and margin to them. Ebay is a good idea for a new lid however contractually I'm sure you can still reject the car as its not fit for purpose if you wanted.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Rejecting a car because the glovebox lid wont close!!! :eek:

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Get real

motorguy

tony6403 wrote: »

I bought a Zafira for my daughter from Evans Halshaw.
It was from their "runabout" range and cost £3,400.
It came with papers to confirm that it had undergone full pre-sales checks and carried a 30 day guarantee.
It is generally a good car but a few days after use we found that the bonnet would not open and the glove box would not close.
Rang them they agreed to resolve both issues under the guarantee and they booked it in to sort things out.
The bonnet problem was fixed but they told me that they would not pay for a new glove box lid as it would cost £78 and they would try to find one from a breaker's yard. They undertook to call me when they had sourced one.
Got a call to say that they couldn't find a used glove box lid and had decided that they would not be prepared to do anything more.
Not what I expected from such a large dealership.

Its right that they repaired the bonnet latch, and poor that they didnt repair the glovebox lid.

I guess from their perspective they're working on waifer thin margins at that price point and are taking the view that it could have happened subsequent to purchase BUT they really should have sorted it - i would have when i was trading.

You could try complaining formally to them, but i doubt you will get far given their rep.

Its then either ebay or check with local breakers. Its not a big job to fit a new one - i've done several myself and it takes a matter of minutes.

motorguy

Strider590 wrote: »

When staff are treated like dirt and have unrealistic targets set on them by the usual fly by night middle managers (the ones that spend two years making themselves look great and then duck out just as it all starts to fall apart), is it any wonder the customer has to suffer?

But then they're not the only dealership chain to have issues, AC have an equally bad reputation.

The long and short of it is, whilst it's human nature to trust chatty and apparently friendly people, but 9 times in 10 they are sociopaths and car dealerships are full of them, because they sell sell sell and have no conscience.

At that price point and from that type of dealer, i'd agree totally.

There is no shortage of Zafiras in the world and if you really must buy one, buy one privately from someone who has owned it for years and has a genuine reason for selling.

If you must buy from a dealer at this price point, try to find a small indie with whom you've a better chance of getting problems sorted - and avoid fly by night "meet you at tescos" home traders or "selling it because my wife doesnt like it" types.

[Deleted User]

Like already said, they probably haven't serviced it or done any pre-sale 'checks' if the bonnet didn't open. I bet if you check the air filter it will be black.

GwylimT

Did you push the bonnet down first? I have had problems with vauxhall bonnets in the past and some were incredibly hard to open.

Its a shame they didn't replace the glovebox, but it is a minor cosmeic issue, saying that mine is serviced at an evans halshaw and they replaced mine for free, I thanked them for it as it had been broken for ages, the mechanic thought he has damaged it.

Unfortunately some garages are poor, I always personally inspect a car I may consider buying, even if your not completely savy have a look under the bonnet and then ask to have oil levels shown etc while you're there, they have no clue how knowledgable you actually are.

If you're concerned it has been serviced you could pop it to a local independent or get an AA inspection.

tony6403

Thanks for the comments.
It is not really a cosmetic issue, the front seat is very obstructed and potentially injurious in the event of heavy braking or a collision.
I rang Trading Standards who were very helpful and have taken the matter on board. They say I have a case under SOGA.
Under their guidance I have sent a letter to Evans Halshaw and will post the outcome.

arcon5

Risk of injury? Lol just brilliant.
You've bought an old used car for God sake! They are never going to be like new and problem free. You also had the opportunity to inspect its condition prior to purchase.

Get on ebay and buy a replacement latch for however little it will cost. Then get some perspective, your expectations are closer to what you'd expect of a 2 yr old car.

SteveJW

motorguy wrote: »

"selling it because my wife doesnt like it" types.

Not always a bad thing, in 2003 I bought a Mazda 323F from someone at work, he had bought it at auction a month previously for his wife, she didn't like it. Still going strong, just passed it's MOT admittedly with about £200 worth of work
I only do around 5,000 miles a year but son had car issues this year and managed 12,000 miles in six months

motorguy

SteveJW wrote: »

Not always a bad thing, in 2003 I bought a Mazda 323F from someone at work, he had bought it at auction a month previously for his wife, she didn't like it. Still going strong, just passed it's MOT admittedly with about £200 worth of work
I only do around 5,000 miles a year but son had car issues this year and managed 12,000 miles in six months

Whilst your mate from work may have been the one in ten thousand who use that line and its actually the truth, the rest are most likely home traders.

If you buy from someone who is avoiding their responsibilities under the SOGA by advertising as private and "selling it for my uncle" or "my wife doesnt like it", then you have no hope of being able to get them to exercise your legal rights if something goes wrong.

The best one i saw was a guy selling a BMW as "just bought it but its an automatic and i really need a manual". I checked his ad history on gumtree and two weeks earlier he'd flogged an audi with the tag line "just bought it but its a manual and i really need an automatic". :eek:

motorguy

tony6403 wrote: »

Thanks for the comments.
It is not really a cosmetic issue, the front seat is very obstructed and potentially injurious in the event of heavy braking or a collision.
I rang Trading Standards who were very helpful and have taken the matter on board. They say I have a case under SOGA.
Under their guidance I have sent a letter to Evans Halshaw and will post the outcome.

Tony, you need to keep a sense of perspective and a sense of reality here.

Clearly the glovebox WAS working when you bought the car, so something has happened it since you bought it.

Now, our friends in trading standards may sit there and quote from the SOGA but the reality here is, you could pursue this forever and waste more in paper, stamps and ink than would resolve the issue, let alone lost time, stress and hassle.

You've done the right thing by sending a letter to EH, and i would follow that up with a phone call in a weeks time. With a bit of luck they may fix it as a "goodwill" gesture.

However, if that does not work, get yourself one in the right colour off ebay - they're advertised from £20 - and take the six or eight screws out yourself and replace the glovebox. I've done them several times on various Zafiras and its a doddle. Heck, heres even a youtube video showing you what to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqBVHfDY47k

You bought an old car, old cars break, fix it.