Advice dealing with a car dealership

Jamiekrux

Hey! first time using this site as i'm usually able to resolve issues with purchases, this time however I have been dealing with a small car dealership that has no higher up bosses or managers we can speak to, I have written a report on the whole situation but will omit certain details to not defame them unnecessarily, any advice would be greatly appreciated!


On the 19/06/18 my partner and I visited a car dealership and agreed to purchase a used 2009 Ford Mondeo tdci on 119,392 mileage from the dealership with a part exchange of our car at the time, Subaru Impreza, for the sum of £2990, we received £1600 for our car and paid £1390 via card to settle.


We were unable to pick up the car immediately and instead had to wait until 28/06/2018 until repairs on issues with the car (respray of boot, dual mass flywheel, clutch and slave cylinder) also the car required an MOT and service in which the salesman assured us that all advisory's would be resolved as well as any faults.


There were no issues with the vehicle until 18/8/18 when without warning the timing belt snapped after approximately 1000 miles of use, a part of the car that is crucial to normal operation and needs to be changed when wear is apparent. This failure has resulted in engine damage to the vehicle which we promptly returned to the dealership.


The dealership has agreed to repair the car and at the time of writing has been with them for almost 3 weeks, we have called several times each week during this period for updates on the vehicle, initially telling us that they were trying to “fit it in” or were waiting for a part and that they would make it a priority, after the 2 week mark on a Monday they told us that it was going to be worked on for the duration of the day, at this point we still have no further information. During this period we have had to provide our phone number to the dealership almost every time we call so that they can call us back, a call which we have not received on a number of occasions. When asking about a courtesy car we have been told they have only one and that it is currently being used.


We are now approaching the 3 month mark of the warranty provided by the dealership, and the vehicle has spent as much time with them as us. We were using the car for our family including our 19 month old son, fortunately he was not with my partner when she was driving the vehicle however this could have been a major safety issue and we have lost faith with them completely.


My questions would be, what is a reasonable amount of time to give the dealership? where do we stand with our warranty if it fails again when we have hardly been using it during that period? do we have to accept the car back when it is repaired? as we have no trust in this dealership.


It's also worth mentioning how much of an inconvenience it has been not having a family car, we are unable to travel with our son and had to pay to insure ourselves on a parents car that is unsuitable for our car seat to be able to get anywhere at all, can any of this be claimed back?



Many thanks

Comms69

Think you overpaid to be honest for a start.


But that aside - this is a complex job and belts are usually exempt from warranties. So the fact theyre repairing it is a good sign. I suspect theyre in no rush as there's no money to be made.

Jamiekrux

Duly noted, however what kind of mechanic does not replace a crucial part of the engine before a sale? It's worth mentioning the car came with no service history so at best they would have been unsure of it's lifespan.

AdrianC

Jamiekrux wrote: »

Duly noted, however what kind of mechanic does not replace a crucial part of the engine before a sale? It's worth mentioning the car came with no service history so at best they would have been unsure of it's lifespan.

And you said it's 9 years old, slightly under 120k miles?

So the history is irrelevant, since it's not actually due a replacement yet, according to Ford's official interval - 125k or 10yrs from new...

In your original post, you said "and needs to be changed when wear is apparent." - no. Nobody ever checks cambelts for wear - they're changed on interval. Dismantling to check for wear properly would be pretty much the same amount of work as changing it, and would likely still not actually spot an incipient failure.


Perhaps negotiating a precautionary change as part of the deal would have been wise, given how close it is to due - but it's easy to be wise after the event.

wgl2014

I would be surprised if any dealer routinely changes the cambelt as part of a pre-sale service.

If it needed doing due to age of mileage the fact you have driven 1000 miles doesn't help.

However..... If the garage are actually fixing the car then fair play to them. I don't think there would be much you can do if they had refused. I would suggest keeping on at them to try to get it resolved, maybe ask what they suggest if they are unable to make the repair themselves.

Jamiekrux

Thanks AdrianC, I was not aware of ford's recommended interval, most cars I have seen its around 60k, yet it has still failed before that, which leads me to the question, how are you supposed to maintain your car safely when it can fail before recommended time. If no mechanic ever checks them, where does the responsibility lie? I'm no expert on cars but if you are sold a car with no service history, and it is nearing time to change a crucial wear and tear part, surely someone with that knowledge would have to make a call and say it needs to be looked at rather than hoping it lasts until the recommended time. I feel like they have ignored it hoping it would last until after 3 months and no longer be their problem rather than do the right thing and replace it since we would likely be doing more than 6000 miles until it's next mot.

AdrianC

Jamiekrux wrote: »

...but if you are sold a car with no service history, and it is nearing time to change a crucial wear and tear part, surely someone with that knowledge would have to make a call and say it needs to be looked at

That'll be you, as the buyer.

jimjames

Jamiekrux wrote: »

I'm no expert on cars but if you are sold a car with no service history, and it is nearing time to change a crucial wear and tear part,

Surely even as a non expert buying a car with no service history is a real risk as you have no idea what work if any has been done. Cambelt might be least of your worries if previous owner has done no servicing at all.

Definitely chase them up to get the work done but I'd be very cautious about such a car and make sure any service items are done if you want to keep it long term. Alternatively ditch it as fast as you can but be prepared to lose money on what you paid.

Jamiekrux

I was expecting that answer, looks like i'll have to accept that they are doing everything they can and seemingly going beyond what's expected of them. It still doesn't seem fair that there is no real protection for the consumer from this sort of issue when clearly it was due to be changed at interval within a year or really at the time of sale to be safe but a lesson has been learned for sure. Thankyou for the prompt and informative responses.

Jamiekrux

jimjames wrote: »

Surely even as a non expert buying a car with no service history is a real risk as you have no idea what work if any has been done. Cambelt might be least of your worries if previous owner has done no servicing at all.

Definitely chase them up to get the work done but I'd be very cautious about such a car and make sure any service items are done if you want to keep it long term. Alternatively ditch it as fast as you can but be prepared to lose money on what you paid.

This is true, however they are supposed to be the experts, car sales is their business, so as far as i'm concerned if there are any issues that should be resolved at the time or very shortly after purchasing the vehicle it should be mentioned if not resolved by the experts.

AdrianC

You chose to buy a 9yo 120k mile car with zero service history... and you blithely trusted the second-hand car salesman to tell you that everything that could possibly need attention in the short-to-medium term had been attended to...?