Blackhorse finance complaint. Consumer rights act

Schievano

Hi. New to the forum and my first post.

I bought a car back in February from a car showroom called car motion in mexborough. It was a 61plate Volvo s40. It was on hire purchase through blackhorse.

Now, 16th July this year the car dies on the motorway. Bare in mind this is less than 6 months. Plooms of smoke. Engine died.j just went no warning signs or anything. Long story short I had it taken to my local Volvo specialist as I didn't take out a warranty so didn't know what else to do.
£500 later they tell me the engine is Donald ducked!
An injector went which flooded the engine and caused piston damage cylinder gauges and other bits. Stuck, the Volvo place told me about the consumer rights act 2015 and because it's within 6 months I have a right to complain. So I did to the finance company who own the car.
Another long story short, they took it to another garage where the engine was taken apart so they could send an 'independant' inspector to decide whether there was a fault at the time of sale. How they can tell is beyond me.
Low and behold they got back to me to say that the fault happened there and then and the complaint is not being upheld. In essence, I am now paying x amount each month for the next 5 years for a massive paperweight. Either that or magic £4k for repairs. I'm sure you can picture my dismay at the complaint handler. And to top it off they refused to have the vehicle recovered back to my place.

So now I am about to write to the financial ombudsman with all details. They have been spoken to and await my paperwork. Plus I will be writing to the CEO of blackhorse.

Basically, has anyone been through the same? What happened? Am I doing the right thing? What can I do?
It cannot be fair that I now have to pay money each month for a car that is dead. HELP!
Thanks in advance.

Fat_Walt

What does your independent garage say about the problem?

Wear and tear, sudden failure then it's down to you.

If it's an inherent fault then you may have a claim.

maninthestreet

How many miles has the car done?

maninthestreet

How does a failing injector cause such engine damage? Expected symptoms would be misfiring, hesitation, etc, not catastrophic engine damage.

Schievano

No idea how a failed injector causes that damage. It's covered 121k. Strangely the independent Volvo place, the owner said that the fault must have been there when bought. However he has since become very ill so at the moment can't help.

AdrianC

maninthestreet wrote: »

How does a failing injector cause such engine damage? Expected symptoms would be misfiring, hesitation, etc, not catastrophic engine damage.

Injector fails open, hydraulic lock follows in short order.

glentoran99

Why didn't you complain to where you purchased rather than finance company? That should have been your first port of call

Schievano

I honestly had no idea what to do. I followed advice of the Volvo garage and the cab who said complain to the finance company who own the car.

Fat_Walt

Schievano wrote: »

I honestly had no idea what to do. I followed advice of the Volvo garage and the cab who said complain to the finance company who own the car.

Well until you have evidence it's an inherent fault with the car and not just wear and tear you're gong to struggle.

flashg67

IMHO, at 5 years old & 121k, this is failure due to wear & tear. As AdrianC says above, hydraulic lock from massive overfuelling due to a failed injector would kill the engine in seconds.

arcon5

Unlikely.
Fuel pressure from a dodgy injector can cause problems with engine management, an injector stuck open completely will almost instantly cause fuel pressure to drop well and truly below what is required for even limited mode and injectors would stop pulsing. A Diesel engine wouldn't 'runaway' with leaking fuel in just one cylinder.

Ops either been exceptionally unlucky, a one in a million type scenario or the garage have misdiagnosed. I'm certainly a bit sceptical about the current scenario but then we've not seen the car so hard to argue with a specialists diagnosis