We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
What compensation, if any, should I ask Vauxhall for?
Long story short
Long story
I got a recall letter from Vauxhall asking me to bring my 10-reg Astra in as they needed to replace some small component. In the cooling system I think. I rang up and they told me it would take about 40 minutes, so I booked it in for the following afternoon. I handed over the keys, got a coffee and settled down to thumb through the magazines. I left it about an hour before I went up to the desk to ask if it would be much longer and the chap told me they were investigating some warning lights and they’d be with me shortly.
Another half- hour or so passed and then he told me that the car wouldn’t start at all as they had no working electronics. I know very little about cars, but as far as I could understand it, they’ve damaged and/or “blown” the main electronic module that manages everything else. I remember he referred to it as a “module”. So the car has no ignition, no lights, no sensors, nothing.
They gave me a Corsa to get me home, and said they would order in a new module and replace it, free of charge (I should hope so!!) That was on 24th May and today is 11th July. Apparently there are none of these modules anywhere in the UK and they have to get one from Germany. But Germany’s not that far, how can it take this long? In fact, the last time I spoke to them, about a week ago, they still didn’t have a date for when this thing will arrive.
As a result of this, my son’s car was scrapped.
We were going on holiday three weeks ago, flying out from Gatwick, which is about 150 miles from where we live. I have a wife and two tall kids in their late teens. And between us we were taking 5 cases, so the Corsa was completely unsuitable. My son had an 07 reg Mondeo (his first car, bought only three months earlier) so we decided we’d have to take that and we could share the driving. The trip to Gatwick went fine though there was a bit of vibration. In an old car with 120,000 on the clock I wasn’t that surprised.
However when we flew back and reclaimed the car, we found the clutch pedal all the way to the floor. The “Purple Parking” staff claimed to know nothing about it and we called the RAC. Their mechanic checked for leaky hoses, found nothing and then towed us to a specialist clutch place, who told us the dual mass flywheel “thingy” had gone. They couldn’t replace it that day and anyway it would cost about £850 including parts and labour. My son paid £775 for the car.
We discussed it with the RAC guy, who had warned us this might be the case, and agreed that it was not worth doing. The only alternative was to tow us again, this time to a scrapyard where my son was given £30 for his car. He was almost in tears. I was almost in tears. So there we were, in a scrapyard somewhere near Crawley, miles and miles from home, with five suitcases, wondering what to do.
I called Vauxhall, explained what had happened and they did pay for a hire car, one-way, back home. This was 2pm, after having landed shortly after 10am. The local Enterprise people were very helpful and kindly allowed us to leave our bags with them but they did not have a car available until 5pm. We then had to negotiate the M25 at rush hour and eventually got home at around 9pm, nearly 11 hours after we’d landed.
OK, I accept my son’s clutch was going to fail at some point anyway (in hindsight that car was a bad purchase) but am I justified in assuming it failed much more quickly? His normal mileage would be less than five miles a day, generally on his own and with an empty boot. So to load it up with four adults and five cases, seems to me like it did a couple of months of normal driving in one night. Crucially, we would not have had to do this if Vauxhall didn’t still have my Astra, OR if they’d provided me with a like-for-like courtesy car.
Other losses
They still don’t know when this part will arrive and how much longer I’ll have the Corsa, but when it’s finally done, I want more than an apology. For a start I will insist they give the car a proper road test as I won’t feel comfortable driving something that has sat idle for so long. Should I insist they service it? To be honest I can’t remember if it’s due. Are there any adverse effects to six-year old cars that are left sitting idle for seven weeks and counting?
Anyway, it seems to me they should offer compensation. I don’t accept that the Corsa has compensated me for the lack of the Astra and I think they should offer more. But I don’t know how much would be reasonable.
Any thoughts, tips on how to take this forward?
- Car recalled by Vauxhall
- They broke it and have given me a smaller car for seven weeks (so far)
- We used my son’s car instead and “killed it”
- The smaller car is not suitable for our family’s needs
Long story
I got a recall letter from Vauxhall asking me to bring my 10-reg Astra in as they needed to replace some small component. In the cooling system I think. I rang up and they told me it would take about 40 minutes, so I booked it in for the following afternoon. I handed over the keys, got a coffee and settled down to thumb through the magazines. I left it about an hour before I went up to the desk to ask if it would be much longer and the chap told me they were investigating some warning lights and they’d be with me shortly.
Another half- hour or so passed and then he told me that the car wouldn’t start at all as they had no working electronics. I know very little about cars, but as far as I could understand it, they’ve damaged and/or “blown” the main electronic module that manages everything else. I remember he referred to it as a “module”. So the car has no ignition, no lights, no sensors, nothing.
They gave me a Corsa to get me home, and said they would order in a new module and replace it, free of charge (I should hope so!!) That was on 24th May and today is 11th July. Apparently there are none of these modules anywhere in the UK and they have to get one from Germany. But Germany’s not that far, how can it take this long? In fact, the last time I spoke to them, about a week ago, they still didn’t have a date for when this thing will arrive.
As a result of this, my son’s car was scrapped.
We were going on holiday three weeks ago, flying out from Gatwick, which is about 150 miles from where we live. I have a wife and two tall kids in their late teens. And between us we were taking 5 cases, so the Corsa was completely unsuitable. My son had an 07 reg Mondeo (his first car, bought only three months earlier) so we decided we’d have to take that and we could share the driving. The trip to Gatwick went fine though there was a bit of vibration. In an old car with 120,000 on the clock I wasn’t that surprised.
However when we flew back and reclaimed the car, we found the clutch pedal all the way to the floor. The “Purple Parking” staff claimed to know nothing about it and we called the RAC. Their mechanic checked for leaky hoses, found nothing and then towed us to a specialist clutch place, who told us the dual mass flywheel “thingy” had gone. They couldn’t replace it that day and anyway it would cost about £850 including parts and labour. My son paid £775 for the car.
We discussed it with the RAC guy, who had warned us this might be the case, and agreed that it was not worth doing. The only alternative was to tow us again, this time to a scrapyard where my son was given £30 for his car. He was almost in tears. I was almost in tears. So there we were, in a scrapyard somewhere near Crawley, miles and miles from home, with five suitcases, wondering what to do.
I called Vauxhall, explained what had happened and they did pay for a hire car, one-way, back home. This was 2pm, after having landed shortly after 10am. The local Enterprise people were very helpful and kindly allowed us to leave our bags with them but they did not have a car available until 5pm. We then had to negotiate the M25 at rush hour and eventually got home at around 9pm, nearly 11 hours after we’d landed.
OK, I accept my son’s clutch was going to fail at some point anyway (in hindsight that car was a bad purchase) but am I justified in assuming it failed much more quickly? His normal mileage would be less than five miles a day, generally on his own and with an empty boot. So to load it up with four adults and five cases, seems to me like it did a couple of months of normal driving in one night. Crucially, we would not have had to do this if Vauxhall didn’t still have my Astra, OR if they’d provided me with a like-for-like courtesy car.
Other losses
- Well if I’d wanted a Corsa I’d have bought a Corsa. I’ve been reduced to driving a car that feels too small for me for six weeks now and I do about 45 miles a day. I can’t quantify that in monetary terms but I do feel hard done by.
- We paid £11 for a taxi from that scrapyard to Crawley town centre.
- We can’t go anywhere as a family in one car. I’m 6’3” and I need to push the seat all the way back. My wife is the shortest in the family and she can’t fit behind me, let alone either of the kids. This has curtailed our social lives. If we want to go somewhere together, we now have to take two cars and use twice as much petrol (my wife has a Fiat 500). I rarely drink anyway but now we need another person to stick to soft drinks. Again all because of Vauxhall.
They still don’t know when this part will arrive and how much longer I’ll have the Corsa, but when it’s finally done, I want more than an apology. For a start I will insist they give the car a proper road test as I won’t feel comfortable driving something that has sat idle for so long. Should I insist they service it? To be honest I can’t remember if it’s due. Are there any adverse effects to six-year old cars that are left sitting idle for seven weeks and counting?
Anyway, it seems to me they should offer compensation. I don’t accept that the Corsa has compensated me for the lack of the Astra and I think they should offer more. But I don’t know how much would be reasonable.
Any thoughts, tips on how to take this forward?
0
Comments
-
The was done by a franchised dealership, nothing to do with Vauxhall.“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
<><><><><><><><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><> Don't forget to like and subscribe \/ \/ \/0 -
The broke your car but gave you a car to use, your sons car is irrelevent.
If the car they gave you was unsuitable then your should have gone back and asked for a different vehicle, stating that if they cannot provide one you will need to hire one at their cost.
The clutch/flywheel went on a 120k mile car, its a wear and tear item the fact i costs as much as the car is worth is besides the point its still a wear and tear item. Bit like buying a car for under £200 and it needing £200 for brakes and tyres. Its routine work that costs. The cars value will have no bearing on running costs.
The clutch didnt fail more quickly, it failed at 9 years of age and 120k miles. Did the company park the car for you? Possibly they used the car daily and broke it. But you probably wont be able to prove that.
Seen video's where people have dashcams and left cars with parking companies, supposedly taken to the car park over the road, but quite often taken all over the place and left in fields and residential areas and also used as daily runabouts.
A large car and 5 miles a day, there is the helping cause of the clutch failing. Sat idle for so long? Cars used to sit for many many months in fields before being sold.
Mountains out of molehills.Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0 -
why havent you asked/insisted the garage lend you a larger loan car
then there wouldnt have been any issues0 -
:rotfl::rotfl:
You want them to pay for your sons car?? Brill0 -
yes totally unbelieveable maybe they will pay for your holiday too.
What you should ask for is a similar sized car to our Astra and perhaps due to the time taken in getting parts an exchange car at a reasonable price.0 -
120k miles is hardly a lot on a 9 yr old car. My civic is a late 2008 model and has done 140k and due to regular services and paying to get the clutch and DMF replaced in Feb when i felt it was going (clutch slipping slightly) the car is cool, only replacing it as I need something bigger.
As for giving you a corsa, don't ask you dont get. Civic went in for a recall last year but they needed to keep it as mrs, me and baby went on holiday. I had been given a Jazz, and rang them to ask if they had anything bigger. they said to leave it with them, but if they cant they would hire a car for me, got a call 2 hours later offering me a CRV or Civic SW, i took the civic and they allowed me to keep it until my car was done - however i accept the fact that if my car is in Honda, they'll probably give me a Jazz courtesy car, if it goes into my dad's peugeot place, i get a 108 or 208 - they dont have to give me a car - bear in mind a brand new one. And i doubt either garage would be responsible if my wife's car broke down in that time because i chose to use it...0 -
The was done by a franchised dealership, nothing to do with Vauxhall.
Yes fair enough, important distinction perhaps. But the principles remain. What would be reasonable in this situation?
I have done, to no avail. Not at the outset, but isn't hindsight a wonderful thing? I had no idea at the beginning that this would take more than a day of two. I was checking with them every couple of days at first and even at the end of the first week they were telling me it would be done early the next week. The impression I was given was that this module would show up any time now, so I didn't really push them on another car.your should have gone back and asked for a different vehicle
Then we went on holiday - and all that entailed - and when we came back I did ask them for a bigger car. They haven't got one and yet again told me that the part was due "any day now". Like most places I assume, their courtesy cars are small basic models, that they can give to motorists for a day or two, while they carry out work at the request of the customer. This recall was at their/Vauxhall's request. The galling thing is that my car was fine!
Yes if I'd known at the beginning it would take this long I'd have insisted on a hire car. But I didn't know that.
I did. They haven't got one. Maybe I should insist on a suitable hire car now.why havent you asked/insisted the garage lend you a larger loan car
I never said that. I have asked for advice as to whether the aggravation we suffered on return to Gatwick should be taken into consideration. I clearly said I accept that my son's clutch was going to fail but asked for advice as to whether this had happened earlier. Even if it hasn't, the fact still remains that we would not have been in Gatwick in that car were it not for the fact that the Vauxhall dealers still had my car.You want them to pay for your sons car??
Which part don't you believe? You think this is fiction?yes totally unbelieveable
Well if you're just going to be facetious...maybe they will pay for your holiday too0 -
Did you tell the dealership the Corsa was too small for your family? Did you ask for a bigger car? Did they refuse a bigger car?Accept your past without regret, handle your present with confidence and face your future without fear0
-
When it became clear they could not fix the Astra quickly, did you ask for a larger car? If not, then I don't think you have a leg to stand on. I would expect a goodwill gesture from them for having your car for so long, but your consequential losses are largely irrelevant if you didn't ask for a larger car.
In your position, I'd be pushing for a free service as this will cost them next to nothing, but is valuable to you.0 -
I don't think you've got any claim with the Mondeo, it'd have failed anyway, and with 5 cases you'd probably have used that even with the Astra on your drive.
You should definitely be pressing them for a suitable courtesy car, as well as any out of pocket expenses from them having yours (fuel from having to take a 2nd car anywhere), but not including anything resulting in the Mondeo breaking down.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 348.6K Banking & Borrowing
- 252.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 452.5K Spending & Discounts
- 241.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 617.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 175.8K Life & Family
- 254.5K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards