5 day old brand new car has broken down.

seabass90

Hi all,

I picked up a brand new Peugeot just 5 days ago, 65 plate. Approx 24 hours later, a number of things appeared on my dashboard - an orange symbol indicating a problem with the emission control, an orange symbol indicating under-inflation of tyres, and one suggesting that the traction (?) has been activated? I didn't panic too much to begin with as I thought it was more likely to be something wrong with the computer system rather than the car having developed 3 separate problems overnight.

I gave it a few days to see if anything resolved itself and refrained from driving it very far. This morning I decided enough was enough and rang the Peugeot dealer where I bought it. He sounded concerned and said he would get one of the service team there to ring me to advise me. He said they'd ring by 5pm.

5pm came round today and still no phone call. I made the decision to drive home anyway, but within minutes I was experiencing significant issues - the car was shuddering and stalling constantly. It would start randomly slowing down by itself and on one occasion completely stopped by itself!? I found myself constantly having to change gears and it always sounded like it was in a lower gear than I had it. I had to stall it on about 6/7 occasions because that was the only way to stop it from shuddering so violently.

I have now discovered that the car had gone into "limp mode". When I got home, I rang the Peugeot dealer immediately who was furious that the service team hadn't phoned me - I could hear him shouting at them whilst on the phone. I spoke to someone from the team who advised me to ring the Peugeot breakdown people which I did and am still waiting for them to show up nearly 2 hours later.

What are my consumer rights here - am I able to demand a replacement? I'm worried a repair might affect the re-sale of it?

m0bov

Most cars need a repair at some time so no effect on resale. You can reject the car now if u have lost confidence in the car. Otherwise you can wait and see what they say. Chances are if the lights appear straight after picking it up they knew the faults and cleared them. Is the PDI paperwork in order?

seabass90

m0bov wrote: »

Most cars need a repair at some time so no effect on resale. You can reject the car now if u have lost confidence in the car. Otherwise you can wait and see what they say. Chances are if the lights appear straight after picking it up they knew the faults and cleared them. Is the PDI paperwork in order?

Thanks for your quick response... To be honest I do feel like i've lost confidence in it. The breakdown guy came and ran diagnostics - he wrote down the codes and got the traction, engine and under-inflation lights to go off. I then test drove it round the corner and it seemed OK. He then asked me to come and sign some paperwork in his van but, just before doing it, I decided to park my car a bit better as it was at an angle. Low and behold as I was reversing, the orange engine light comes back on. I told the guy and he said I need to take it back to the garage ASAP as it's unacceptable. Umm.. to be honest i just had to google what PDI paperwork was! I'm not sure I had any paperwork relating to the inspection of my car....?? I just had a load of paperwork about finance and the logbook/registration details too.

AdrianC

The lights are on because the computer's logged what it sees as a fault.

Clearing that log entry will "resolve the problem" if the problem is just a temporarily odd reading that doesn't reoccur. But if the problem is a poor connection or a duff sensor or something similarly simple - it'll come back.

Modern cars are massively complex balls of computer sensors and wiring. It's more of a surprise that they tend to work perfectly immediately, than when one doesn't. Let the dealer fix it, and you'll be fine.

No, you do not have grounds for rejection. Maybe if the dealer doesn't/won't/can't fix it, you will. But not yet.

thescouselander

This probably isn't a big deal and I suspect the dealer will be able to sort it out. It's not that uncommon for new things to suffer faults, especially something as complicated as a car - look up the bathtub curve on Google.

Meanwhile take the car back and milk all the freebies you can as a result of your inconvenience.

seabass90

thescouselander wrote: »

This probably isn't a big deal and I suspect the dealer will be able to sort it out. It's not that uncommon for new things to suffer faults, especially something as complicated as a car - look up the bathtub curve on Google.

Meanwhile take the car back and milk all the freebies you can as a result of your inconvenience.

Thanks. Any suggestions on good will gestures I should be offered/ask for!? I'm expecting them to provide me with some sort of vehicle tomorrow for me to use whilst they investigate my car- I'm working late and if I don't go I don't get paid and let down a whole load of people who I work with.

WellKnownSid

I'd insist on a courtesy car under the circumstances - the service manager will no doubt be able to lend you theirs if there isn't one available.

These things happen - especially the more complex cars get. I remember picking up a brand new Cavalier about 25 years ago. Didn't get as far as the first corner before it broke down... It's more embarrassing than anything else...

I've just completed my 29,000th mile in my Peugeot - never had a single issue in two years - so expect the same once they find your glitch...

seabass90

WellKnownSid wrote: »

I'd insist on a courtesy car under the circumstances - the service manager will no doubt be able to lend you theirs if there isn't one available.

These things happen - especially the more complex cars get. I remember picking up a brand new Cavalier about 25 years ago. Didn't get as far as the first corner before it broke down... It's more embarrassing than anything else...

I've just completed my 29,000th mile in my Peugeot - never had a single issue in two years - so expect the same once they find your glitch...

Thanks. My precious car was also a Peugeot which had done 29,000 miles and I never experienced a problem at all with that once, hence why I wanted to stay with them!

m0bov

I would push for a tank of fuel at the very least.

daveyjp

The law has moved on.

The new Consumer Right Act 2015 introduces the right to reject any faulty product within 30 days and receive a full refund.

Down to OP whether they want to start the process, but I would.

shaun_from_Africa

daveyjp wrote: »

The law has moved on.

The new Consumer Right Act 2015 introduces the right to reject any faulty product within 30 days and receive a full refund.

The law hasn't moved on yet.
The Consumer Rights act 2015 doesn't come into force until the 1st October.