Rights to return faulty car...long story

judderman5000

Hi All,

I traded in my Ford for a used Kia at a well known dealership a couple of weeks ago. The ticket price was good, although I had to fight to get it - the initial figure on finance would have added up to over £2500 over the price!! I took a little neg equity over and a warranty, and it wasn't much more a month than the Ford, just over a new loan period. I was after reliable, cheap motoring as the Ford seemed to cost a lot for silly things - tyres were oddly rare for it and it was due the cambelt changing in the next year...something I don't need to worry about with a timing chain on the new car. I left with the car on a Sunday night and went back to sign paperwork on the loan on the Monday. The car was sold on HP, and they chirped on about the virtues of being able to hand the car back after a couple of years if you wanted to (something I wouldn't ever do anyway, it can affect your credit rating...).

I got the car picked up on the Tuesday to have a couple of paint bits done, few scrapes here and there they promised to fix. There was a big ding on the rear bumper, and they actually sorted that quite well...but the other two scrapes were filled in by a toddler...I was told the paint guy said he would have had to fill in a whole wing...which is rubbish - he could have at least filled them in a bit. I also pointed out that the passenger door lock was intermittently making a loud buzzing noise - the service manager saw and said I would have to get it done at Kia, as it was still under manufacturer warranty. Erm....yeah.

Anyhoo, they rang me a couple of days later and said they shouldn't have put it on a HP loan as it couldn't carry the neg equity. So they put me on a motorloan and I had to sign more paperwork...feeling a bit dodgy at this point, but I thought I'm in a bit of rock and hard place as I've handed the deposit over and taken delivery of the car - so I sign. Again, I didn't really mind as I wouldn't hand it back anyway, but it seems a bit of a dodgy state of affairs and unnecessary hassle for me to come and sign more paper work (I requested a letter confirming the other paperwork dissolved, and got a scrawled handwritten note).

A week later, I got out and put something in the boot with the engine running. I noticed there was white smoke coming out of the exhaust, and having owned my fair share of bangers, checked the oil and water levels. The oil was about the same again as the distance between the full and empty mark...ergo it was running on oil, which could damage all sorts. I had to take it to Kwikfit to get it drained as it was closer than the dealership and they took about a litre and a half of extra oil out...it was a bubbly, being whipped by the cam. Not good. At all. So I rang the dealer having taken a picture of the oil reading etc...), and complained - they asked to see the car, so I brought it round and they gave me a suzuki to take away over the weekend. On the Monday, the Suzuki wouldn't start, seemed like a flat battery. I rang the mobile of the salesman as this was 7.30am, and was told to "wiggle the positive battery connection" as it was a known fault with the car. Not great as this could have electrocuted me...if I was an idiot...which I'm not, so I got the contacts back on properly and it started. I picked up the Kia on Tuesday, having been told that all the relevant checks had been done...and emissions test and new spark plugs...'no damage was found'...so why did they change the spark plugs??? Durp.

Anyway, annoyed but...ok....I rang Kia and they said it would cost £50 if they couldn't find the fault - I know this is just a tactic employed to put you off and not something they actually charge very often, but I thought I'd ask the service manager to ring Kia and get them to do it, as it was all local. He said (now I've had a bad experience) that they would do it as a favour, since I've had bad luck...erm...anyway....I was pretty happy with that though, and said yeah - it'd be four days, but I could wait. Until I couldn't when none of the doors would lock...and then...loud noise from multiple locks...the car won't start. Half an hour later, car locks fine....gremlins....not happy. So, after all this, I want rid, I call up and am told the regional manager will call me...call never came. So I asked to speak to the sales manager on site, call back never came. So I went in, sat for a bit and got to see them. I explained all of the above, and said I would like to swap back to my old car and just rewind the deal...on his good will, didn't mention any 'trading standards' this or 'sales of goods' that. He said my car was sold (was a bit dubious, but remained calm) and I said could I get into something else...he said no, and offered me 1 free service...2 free services...and extension on my warranty (which isn't a 'warranty', its some sort of 'care plan', which requires me to get it service there...so they just get the services they gave me for free back anyway)....

I took the deal (on word of mouth...I still have to sign on it), but I wasn't happy about it. I drove away quite sad, but thought....look, they're gonna fix it. That was yesterday. The locks worked when I got home and the car drove fine today. Then, on the way home, my boot opens without warning - not gone near it, no light on the dash to say it was open. Fortunately, there wasn't anything in the boot other than plastic bags, so nothing fell out. Then I pull in and turn the engine off...the drivers door won't open...press the lock button...won't open...press the key...won't open. I check all the doors and fortunately the passenger door was open...probably because the lock is broken haha! So I ring at about 5pm and leave a message to the sales manager (as they are 'with customers'), and say that I am begging them to let me have a better car...I will take one that is twice as expensive...literally!!

Haven't heard anything...they were open until 7pm.

So I am sad, have a duff car and the possibility of a long stretch of visits to the dealer to get it fixed...as i don't think it is just the door lock, having owned a rover which needed entirely rewiring, I know a gremlin when I sees a gremlin.

I'm a sensible chap and I've read up on all my 'rights', but it is still a little unclear if this falls into the sort of fault I can return the car on. As I said, I haven't signed a settlement paper, but will do if nothing else can be done as I want the free services.

Let me know your thoughts, any advice is appreciated!

arcon5

So in summary the locks don't work and need looking at?

judderman5000

Yeah, that's the long and short of it...I'm a moany customer and the doors won't lock....or I couldn't start the car for no reason, I got locked in the car, car was running on oil, ask a mechanic...that isn't a good sign as it could be covering other things as well as damaging the engine (e.g. Leaking head gasket causing oil level to increase) and general bad service....including being told to fix a courtesy car myself...oh yeah and the lock needs looking at. Constructive reply.

bigjl

The good thing is that the school holidays are nearly over

wgl2014

Has the car gone back to Kia for the issues to be fixed?

If not then when it does ask them to do an inspection to identify any other issues.

arcon5

All cars consume oil to some degree or another.
And if it was that bad I doubt they fixed it in a weekend.
Burning oil won't be damaging anything either unless you let it run low. As for covering things I'm not sure you understand how an engine works.

So you've not elaborated on the non-start issue which I'm assuming transpired to nothing?

Leaving just the locks.

Problem is a lot of the post is rambling so hard to see the problem really. from the post the only issue I'm taking from it is the locks need looking at, although more likely the gem module than the actuators themselves

Silver-Surfer_2

bigjl wrote: »

The good thing is that the school holidays are nearly over

You'll enjoy year 9.

judderman5000

arcon5 wrote: »

All cars consume oil to some degree or another.
And if it was that bad I doubt they fixed it in a weekend.
Burning oil won't be damaging anything either unless you let it run low. As for covering things I'm not sure you understand how an engine works.

So you've not elaborated on the non-start issue which I'm assuming transpired to nothing?

Leaving just the locks.

Problem is a lot of the post is rambling so hard to see the problem really. from the post the only issue I'm taking from it is the locks need looking at, although more likely the gem module than the actuators themselves

I do appreciate that the long winded rant of my initial post clouded the topic. However, if you read it back, you'll see that it wasn't just burning oil, it was so overfilled that it was whipping it on the cam, which causes bubbles in the oil and stops it from lubricating properly. Overfilling to that degree can cause serious damage to your engine and damage the catalytic converter to the state where it can degrade and block airflow. I drove it for 300 miles like that, so I think I have the right to be not best pleased...engines aren't the hardest things to understand.

The non starting issue meant I had to get a lift home and leave the car unsecured as it wouldn't lock... So insurance wouldn't cover it or its contents. It did start again in the morning - I have made note that the problems generally occur under direct sunlight to the car, possibly when under expansion there is a short - something that due to its intermittence may be hard to diagnose and fix, leaving me with a complete dog of a car.

BeenThroughItAll

judderman5000 wrote: »

I do appreciate that the long winded rant of my initial post clouded the topic. However, if you read it back, you'll see that it wasn't just burning oil, it was so overfilled that it was whipping it on the cam, which causes bubbles in the oil and stops it from lubricating properly. Overfilling to that degree can cause serious damage to your engine and damage the catalytic converter to the state where it can degrade and block airflow. I drove it for 300 miles like that, so I think I have the right to be not best pleased...engines aren't the hardest things to understand.

The non starting issue meant I had to get a lift home and leave the car unsecured as it wouldn't lock... So insurance wouldn't cover it or its contents. It did start again in the morning - I have made note that the problems generally occur under direct sunlight to the car, possibly when under expansion there is a short - something that due to its intermittence may be hard to diagnose and fix, leaving me with a complete dog of a car.

Engines may not be that hard to understand, but your inability to tell the difference between a crankshaft and a camshaft does rather undermine the position of authority from which you're trying to speak.

Joe_Horner

The only part of that OP I can be bothered to comment on is that no, wriggling a car battery connection couldn't electrocute you. Not at all, not ever, not in a million years.

EdGasket

Joe_Horner wrote: »

The only part of that OP I can be bothered to comment on is that no, wriggling a car battery connection couldn't electrocute you. Not at all, not ever, not in a million years.

haven't you heard the saying:

"It's the volts that jolts but the mils (milliamps) that kills"? A car battery can supply hundreds of amps.

Technically if a car battery current breaches your skin resistance (through wire penetration and/or skin cuts) it could provide a shock to your heart that could kill. So I would not say "Not at all, not ever, not in a million years." but rather "extremely unlikely, not in a thousand years."