Arnold Clark - Where do I stand?

charhoe

Hello, Im having abit of an issue with Arnold Clark and I will start from the beginning. (I will try not to rant and please be kind - I'm traumatised)

So I bought a Vauxhall Corsa 10 plate from a branch of Arnold Clark 5 months ago yesterday. Within 2 weeks of having the vehicle the timing belt went and was replaced by Arnold Clark. I was also given a faulty key which was replaced with a new one and re-coded. After that my car wasn't performing as well as it should and they replaced the electrical coils. The car has been a complete nightmare, the heating system completing packed in and even though I have the AutoCare they "temporarily" fixed it as the AutoCare didn't cover fixing it. One morning I went out to start my car and the spark plugs went consequently flooding the engine with Petrol. I had to get AA to recover my vehicle so that I could take it to Arnold Clark as they wouldn't take responsibility or pick it up. They have replaced the spark plugs and checked over the car advising me that the rear alignment of the plate for the calibre of the wheel (I don't know what that means) was out and therefore they re-aligned it. They said my gearbox was faulty and then backtracked and said it was fine.

At this point I kicked off with Arnold Clark and raised a complaint for the vehicle to be swapped to which the general manager refused point blank and said the recent problems were not inherent at the point of purchase and rejected my request to swap even though I refused to take the car home because I didn't feel safe in it.


I eventually picked the car up as I need a car for work and the gears are sticking, the wheels are making a grinding noise everytime I turn corners and the brakes are failing and making a noise when used.


I am now dealing with the directors of Arnold Clark and the executive office are handling my complaint but advised that they have passed the new issues to the branch to repair the car and that I will hear off them shortly. They said that nothing happens over night and that I should be patient.

What do I do? I have said that I don't want the car and that I want to swap it for a like-for-like car. I don't care what color it is and as long as its the same im not bothered as long as it works! Im reaching the end of my tether and im constantly dealing with rude managers that don't seem to care.


Do I have any rights whatsoever?


Thanks

WannaBLoaded

Well i would think you would need to contact trading standards or tell Arnold Clarke of your intention to get in touch with trading standards if they do not crack on and sort it out.

charhoe

Ive already advised them of this, I spoke to the consumer ombudsman who has stated that I need to contact my finance company which I have but they can take up to 8 weeks to respond.


Surely, I have a case here.

AdrianC

Five months into a five year old car, you'd have to be finding something fairly major and inherent to justify an exchange. Most of the issues you report are relative small and clearly weren't present at the time of purchase.

If the brakes are "grinding" and "making a noise when used", it sounds as if the brake pads are worn down to the metal. This is normal wear, would not be covered by any warranty or SOGA, and you need to sort them asap.

jadejade55

Did you get anything sorted with arnold clark? I'm having a problems with them at the moment too and I also keep being dismissed.

peter12345678910

Ask them to show you the owner history. If their cars are ex hire/lease/company cars, these cars may have been pushed getting to meetings and deadlines on time. They may have low mileage, but what is the point if these cars have been pushed to their limit.

AdrianC

peter12345678910 wrote: »

Ask them to show you the owner history. If their cars are ex hire/lease/company cars, these cars may have been pushed getting to meetings and deadlines on time. They may have low mileage, but what is the point if these cars have been pushed to their limit.

What on earth are you wibbling on about now?

charsmit90

This is my other account - but after this post, I was in a car accident on Saturday and actually wrote this car off. The steering locked on me whilst on a roundabout, so the car was sold to me with defects.

Inner_Zone

charhoe wrote: »

Hello, Im having abit of an issue with Arnold Clark and I will start from the beginning. (I will try not to rant and please be kind - I'm traumatised)

So I bought a Vauxhall Corsa 10 plate from a branch of Arnold Clark 5 months ago yesterday. Within 2 weeks of having the vehicle the timing belt went and was replaced by Arnold Clark. I was also given a faulty key which was replaced with a new one and re-coded. After that my car wasn't performing as well as it should and they replaced the electrical coils. The car has been a complete nightmare, the heating system completing packed in and even though I have the AutoCare they "temporarily" fixed it as the AutoCare didn't cover fixing it. One morning I went out to start my car and the spark plugs went consequently flooding the engine with Petrol. I had to get AA to recover my vehicle so that I could take it to Arnold Clark as they wouldn't take responsibility or pick it up. They have replaced the spark plugs and checked over the car advising me that the rear alignment of the plate for the calibre of the wheel (I don't know what that means) was out and therefore they re-aligned it. They said my gearbox was faulty and then backtracked and said it was fine.

At this point I kicked off with Arnold Clark and raised a complaint for the vehicle to be swapped to which the general manager refused point blank and said the recent problems were not inherent at the point of purchase and rejected my request to swap even though I refused to take the car home because I didn't feel safe in it.


I eventually picked the car up as I need a car for work and the gears are sticking, the wheels are making a grinding noise everytime I turn corners and the brakes are failing and making a noise when used.


I am now dealing with the directors of Arnold Clark and the executive office are handling my complaint but advised that they have passed the new issues to the branch to repair the car and that I will hear off them shortly. They said that nothing happens over night and that I should be patient.

What do I do? I have said that I don't want the car and that I want to swap it for a like-for-like car. I don't care what color it is and as long as its the same im not bothered as long as it works! Im reaching the end of my tether and im constantly dealing with rude managers that don't seem to care.


Do I have any rights whatsoever?


Thanks

Quoted for prosperity

straighttalker

charsmit90 wrote: »

This is my other account - but after this post, I was in a car accident on Saturday and actually wrote this car off. The steering locked on me whilst on a roundabout, so the car was sold to me with defects.

No it didn't.

straighttalker

AdrianC wrote: »

What on earth are you wibbling on about now?

Didn't you know that only the driver's of lease/hire cars are the ones important enough to be in a rush?!