Sold dodgy car

Paulineb_3

Hi all I am new here but I am desperate for some help & advice. My husband bought a 61 plate Seat car from motor range in January 2015 on fianance over 5 years using motonovo finance. In October 2015 we received a letter from Seat saying "our car is affected by the recent emissions issue and whilst it is technically safe and roadworthy a service action will be required to rectify the situation and technical solutions are currently being developed". In December 2015 we received another letter saying "our car needed a software update to the engine management system and they will contact us some time after August 2016". A few weeks ago the car stopped working and we had to call the RAC who took it to a garage for us it worked out oil got into the gear box and we needed a new gear box and radiator which cost us £4,000, 4 days later the car broke down again this time the engine control unit had broke costing us another £1,100 the car is not worth all this money and we can't afford it anymore. We've contacted the fianance company saying we can't afford it anymore and they are not interested saying there is nothing they can do, we've wrote a letter of complaint in saying we've been sold a car with a known fault on it, once again they're basically saying tough!
Do we write to motor range and fight them now or Seat as they've admitted it needs an engine management upgrade. I'm £5,100 out of pocket and have just under 4 years left on this car that I don't want and can't afford anymore.

Retrogamer

The emissions recall issue won't be the cause or related to any of the issues you are experiencing.

If you were able to prove that the faults that happened were inerrant and present at the point of sale you may have had some recourse with the seller but as you got them fixed out your own pocket i don't think much can be done about that now.

I'm not sure what else you can do, but hopefully another poster will have some advise.

tberry6686

The "fault" that you are alluding to is not really a fault. It is just a piece of software that adjust the engine under test conditions to lower emissions. Very doubtful that you will have any recourse with Seat, especially as you didn't buy it from them.

Unusual to need a gearbox at that age unless it has very high miles. It sounds like the oil/gear fluid cooling radiator failed rather than the gearbox itself (the lack of proper cooling would kill the gearbox over time though). A failed ECU is not that common and is usually caused by something else( water damage etc). Was it the same garage that did both the gearbox and ECU replacement ? If so I would be getting another opinion.

Ozzuk

If I'm reading it right you bought the car and have used it for 15 months and now its broken down. Can't see you having any luck claiming the fault was there at POS as it hasn't (at least you haven't said) shown any symptoms in last 15 months.

You should have taken out more of a warranty but hindsight is easy. Sounds like you are stuck with the car, especially as you haven't given the original dealer any opportunity to look at the car - maybe they wouldn't have needed to replace the gearbox for instance.

s_b

sounds like a right dodgy car to me,have you tried an exorcism? cured the jitters in mine and only cost some beads

Johnmcl7

tberry6686 wrote: »

The "fault" that you are alluding to is not really a fault. It is just a piece of software that adjust the engine under test conditions to lower emissions. Very doubtful that you will have any recourse with Seat, especially as you didn't buy it from them.

Unusual to need a gearbox at that age unless it has very high miles. It sounds like the oil/gear fluid cooling radiator failed rather than the gearbox itself (the lack of proper cooling would kill the gearbox over time though). A failed ECU is not that common and is usually caused by something else( water damage etc). Was it the same garage that did both the gearbox and ECU replacement ? If so I would be getting another opinion.

That's what I was thinking as I noticed on the Skoda forums that garages would frequently diagnose a fault as being caused by a fault ECU requiring a pricey replacement and in most cases (if not all) it wasn't the ECU at all and something much cheaper.

I was quoted a silly amount of money by a Mazda garage to fix a rumbling noise in the air handling system, took it to my own mechanic and found some leaves caught in the system. Unless it's a known serious fault with the car I'm always wondering when I see these ridiculous bills whether it's been correctly diagnosed or not.

John

Paulineb_3

We took it to our usual garage who is a good friend so we know he wouldn't rip us off and he found the fault and had to send it to another garage who specialises in gear boxes. After speaking to motorange we didn't know we should of took it back to them but it works out they would of sent it to the garage we used anyway to be fixed. I just want to hand the car back and cancel the fianance, and BTW it's not a made up thread I'm asking for advice

glentoran99

What kind of person spends over £5000 to fix a car?

Retrogamer

glentoran99 wrote: »

What kind of person spends over £5000 to fix a car?

The type of person who wants the faults fixed on their car?

Rain_Shadow

glentoran99 wrote: »

What kind of person spends over £5000 to fix a car?

The sort of person who takes out a five year :eek: finance deal on a car that is already three years old.


Does it really cost £4000 to source and fit a second hand gearbox and oil rad?

BeenThroughItAll

Rain_Shadow wrote: »

The sort of person who takes out a five year :eek: finance deal on a car that is already three years old.


Does it really cost £4000 to source and fit a second hand gearbox and oil rad?

No. It does not.


(Yes, I knew it was a rhetorical question).