Third gearbox installed - failed within 24 hours, help needed to reject / refund car

robster1978 · 17 November 2016 at 1:03PM

Hi,

Please can anyone help me with this:

I have just had the 3rd (yes third) gearbox installed in my car, this gearbox has now failed after less than 24 hours and 50 miles!

The story: Purchased from main dealer an 18 month old car in September 2014 with 7500 miles on the clock and balance of 3 year manufacturers warranty Car: Make MG, Model MG6 (petrol)

Gearbox number 1:
This is the original gearbox: noticed by end of 2015 (approx 28000 mile total) that gearbox 'crunches' when changed from 3rd to 4th gear quickly (yes this is a standard manual gearbox).

Went to dealer in March 2016 to complain about gearbox (and other warranty faults), they drove car and agreed with me about gearbox. Manufacturer agreed to replace gearbox and new gearbox arrived at end of April. I couldn't leave car with the dealer at this time as I was on standby to work abroad for a number of weeks.

Gearbox number 2:
Finally got gearbox replaced at beginning of June. New gearbox was worse! Not only does it crunch in 4th but it also whines (like an old mini) in 2nd.

Car returned at beginning of July to look at again, dealer agrees it is not correct but "doesn't know what manufacturer will say as it's out of warranty". Told them "don't care fault occurred in warranty period and has not been resolved - actually made worse". Manufacturer eventually agrees to send an engineer from the factory to look at my car who came last week.

Manufacturer has agreed that the new gearbox is faulty but they will only supply a replacement 'box if I don't complain about it crunching in 4th as this is a "characteristic of the car". This is not entirely true as I have driven one of the loan cars with same gearbox and it does not crunch however the other loan car did, however there is a lot on the internet about failing gearboxes, crunching, stiff changes etc etc. The gearbox obviously has an inherent design flaw.

Gearbox number 3:
The third gearbox was installed 15/16th of this month (i.e. picked up yesterday), this has failed within 24 hours and 50 miles, jammed in second - so car now unusable. This happened first thing this morning

This morning:
Called finance company: told them I wish to reject car for refund under sale of good act and consumer credit act, they said they will talk to the dealer and 'get back to me' and that their procedures can take 8 weeks). I have told them I'm not interested in their time scale, I now do not have a drivable car, asked them for an address where I can serve notice of intended court action. Told me that I need to provide burden of proof, I told them this has been fixed under warranty so I have no paper work (dealer has never given me paper work for warranty repairs) - the car is sitting immobile on my drive if they want to inspect.

Called dealer: spoke to the MD, he says it's not acceptable, can they collect car and give me a loan car. I can't arrange collection today or tomorrow as am too busy at work. Thing is I don't want this fixed now, too many attempts at a fundamental fault, I have no confidence whatsoever now.

What I would like help with:
I would like to claim from the dealer and finance company as they are jointly and severable liable - under sale of good act and consumer credit act - refund and cancel loan agreement.

The fault apparently can not be fixed, actually each gearbox is worse. This is a major fault. Could someone point me in the direction of a letter template, and how to handle the court claim - I need to move urgently with this, I am currently having to borrow my wife's car - I can not get to work otherwise.

Thanks in advance.

Tilt · 17 November 2016 at 2:04PM

Hmm. First thing i've noticed (although probably now irrelevant) is that you seem to have done quite a bit of mileage between purchase and the initial failure (being 20500 miles). However, obviously they (dealer/manufacturer) have either overlooked that or the warranty (as far as gearbox is concerned) allows unlimited mileage.

But I think I would agree in your thinking in that they have had 'reasonable attempts' at rectifying the issue. Now the consumer protection rights act came in in October 2015 so prior to that, faulty goods were covered under the sales of goods act 1979 (as amended). Either way, you should be able to reject the car and ask for a like for like replacement or refund. This link may help you further;

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-do-i-do-if-i-have-a-faulty-product

There is a process to go through to reject a faulty car. First you need to write a formal letter of rejection and once posted, the car should not be driven or messed around with.

Before doing anything else, I would also consider taking face to face advice via the CAB on the way forward as you may get conflicting advice on here.

robster1978 · 17 November 2016 at 2:51PM

Hi, Thanks for your reply. Manufacturers warranty was 3 years or 50k miles so gearbox was initially replaced under this, subsequently this gearbox was replaced because the first replacement was no good.

I think one of the problems is how much to claim. I would probably be happy with them just to take the car back, cancel the outstanding finance and perhaps refund me half of the cost of the most recent service (which was done at the same dealer), the outstanding road fund license, costs to change insurance to another vehicle and the fuel (nearly a full tank), plus my deposit and px car value. Therefore I am seriously helping them to mitigate their losses - they are keeping all of the money I have paid on loan repayments.