New Car with a faulty optional extra

Dragon19a

Hi there looking for advice what to do...
In April I purchased a new car from a local dealer via the manufacturer PCP offers. I specified a number of options including an upgraded stereo (over £1000 extra ).

Within a few days I noticed one speaker when playing very specific music / notes had interference - like the speaker was faulty/not fitted right. Taking it back to he dealer they also heard the issue and ordered a replacement part and (eventually) fitted it. THre issue hasn’t gone away and they told me that despite doing the work it’s improved but still there. They were out of ideas and had listened to similar music on a similar car and spec and heard the same issue making them think it was a design issue or something bigger and recommmended o get in touch with the car company and their customer services team.

Have written to them explaining my issue, linking to Consumer Rights law that they had their chance to fix it and it isn’t delivering the ‘crystal clear sound’ their glossy brochure had suggested. I also stated on top of not being as described I don’t think it’s fit for purpose etc. I also stated I was looking for a refund or recourse on the specific additional extra which I wouldn’t have purchased had id known it was ok for most music but not all (for those interested it appears to be music with piano chords rather than any 80s synthesised stuff!:D )

The manufacturer told me they’d need to investigate with the manufacturer of the stereo system (a well known brand) and would come back to me.

They’ve now said today that as this is a part supplied to them I need to complain to the audio supplier company and not them. I’ve replied and said my contract is with them and they cannot fob me off to their part supplier.

I don’t want to had the car back as it’s more hassle but some recourse or refund on the additional extra is something I’d be looking for if indeed this cannot be fixed.

Am I right pushing back and if they play hardball what would my next step be?

Thanks all!

neilmcl

Dragon19a wrote: »

Am I right pushing back and if they play hardball what would my next step be?

Absolutely push back. Your next step depends on what you want to happen, the nuclear option would be to reject the car.

What make/model of car is it? Have you looked to see if there are any other owners with this issue on an owners forum?

Dragon19a

Thanks yes I’ve pushed back and suggested they cannot do that - yep I’ve been clear with them what I want - sending the car back isn’t one I’d like to go with as I know they can deduct money for wear and tear (I believe).

It’s an Audi Q7. Have seen similar issues on other cars also, but not specific on this - the dealer did say they have replicated the issue on another car also.

Will see what they say but wondering if small claims is an viable option - if they tell me to go away what next.

motorguy

Dragon19a wrote: »

Hi there looking for advice what to do...
In April I purchased a new car from a local dealer via the manufacturer PCP offers. I specified a number of options including an upgraded stereo (over £1000 extra ).

Within a few days I noticed one speaker when playing very specific music / notes had interference - like the speaker was faulty/not fitted right. Taking it back to he dealer they also heard the issue and ordered a replacement part and (eventually) fitted it. THre issue hasn’t gone away and they told me that despite doing the work it’s improved but still there. They were out of ideas and had listened to similar music on a similar car and spec and heard the same issue making them think it was a design issue or something bigger and recommmended o get in touch with the car company and their customer services team.

Have written to them explaining my issue, linking to Consumer Rights law that they had their chance to fix it and it isn’t delivering the ‘crystal clear sound’ their glossy brochure had suggested. I also stated on top of not being as described I don’t think it’s fit for purpose etc. I also stated I was looking for a refund or recourse on the specific additional extra which I wouldn’t have purchased had id known it was ok for most music but not all (for those interested it appears to be music with piano chords rather than any 80s synthesised stuff!:D )

The manufacturer told me they’d need to investigate with the manufacturer of the stereo system (a well known brand) and would come back to me.

They’ve now said today that as this is a part supplied to them I need to complain to the audio supplier company and not them. I’ve replied and said my contract is with them and they cannot fob me off to their part supplier.

I don’t want to had the car back as it’s more hassle but some recourse or refund on the additional extra is something I’d be looking for if indeed this cannot be fixed.

Am I right pushing back and if they play hardball what would my next step be?

Thanks all!

Whats the quality like of the music source?

For example, are they FLAC files or MP3?

Have you been able to listen to exactly the same files in another car with the same system and it works fine?

macman

I find it incredible that Audi are trying to pass the buck for a factory installed extra (which I assume this is) to the manufacturer. If the tyres are faulty, or the wipers, do they expect you to seek a remedy via Michelin or Bosch?
What remedy are you actually seeking though?

neilmcl

Dragon19a wrote: »

Thanks yes I’ve pushed back and suggested they cannot do that - yep I’ve been clear with them what I want - sending the car back isn’t one I’d like to go with as I know they can deduct money for wear and tear (I believe).

It’s an Audi Q7. Have seen similar issues on other cars also, but not specific on this - the dealer did say they have replicated the issue on another car also.

Will see what they say but wondering if small claims is an viable option - if they tell me to go away what next.

That's entirely up to you, you have to decide what remedy you want. Also, one thing to bear in mind is that as it's a PCP, you finance co. also have a legal obligation to you. Speak to them.

motorguy

macman wrote: »

I find it incredible that Audi are trying to pass the buck for a factory installed extra (which I assume this is) to the manufacturer. If the tyres are faulty, or the wipers, do they expect you to seek a remedy via Michelin or Bosch?
What remedy are you actually seeking though?

Are they though? Or are they saying the system is performing correctly and talk to the manufacturer with regards to the range / expectations of it?

We paid for the sound system upgrades on both our cars - both are Harman Kardon systems and both cost towards £1,000 as options.

For kick off, whilst they're a lot better than the standard systems, they are by no means perfect. They are "very good" rather than "excellent". The biggest constraint in car systems is the amount of space and air you have to work with to install speakers. A lot of doors have loads of insulation in them which doesnt help the speaker do its job, and also often you're squeezing speakers in to a door card or dash panel that really should be bigger, but cant be.

Also if i play tracks through them that arent FLAC standard or similar, quite frankly the music out of them isnt great - ie, the sound system can play great sound but it cant convert low quality MP3 digital data into great sounds. Likewise older CDs for example would sound fairly kack.

So what needs to be established by the O/P is - is this a fault or is this a constraint of the system?

Getting a distorted note or two through any system isnt hard if the file itself is of poor quality in the first place.

So i'd be trying the same files on two cars with the same sounds system in it and seeing if there is any difference in the O/Ps car. If yes, then its a fault, if no, its a constraint / limitation of the sound system.

motorguy

Dragon19a wrote: »

They were out of ideas and had listened to similar music on a similar car and spec and heard the same issue making them think it was a design issue or something bigger and recommmended o get in touch with the car company and their customer services team.

Have written to them explaining my issue, linking to Consumer Rights law that they had their chance to fix it and it isn’t delivering the ‘crystal clear sound’ their glossy brochure had suggested. I also stated on top of not being as described I don’t think it’s fit for purpose etc.

So in other words, its not meeting your expectations, not that it is faulty?

agrinnall

I very much doubt if there is any legal definition of 'crystal clear sound', which is just marketing hype, so the fact that you think it isn't that is unlikely to hold much weight if it came to court.

motorguy

agrinnall wrote: »

I very much doubt if there is any legal definition of 'crystal clear sound', which is just marketing hype, so the fact that you think it isn't that is unlikely to hold much weight if it came to court.

+1

Thats my point.

• The O/P says its been checked on another car with the same system and has the same results.
• It appears to only do it on some notes on some files, therefore it sounds like a constraint / "feature" of the system
• How you have your bass / treble (or equaliser) settings set, which speakers you have the sound directed to will also have an impact on how the system can play specific notes

I could find music files to play on our HK systems and they'd sound naff, yet other files sound crystal clear. These systems arent magic.

We've a Bose sound set up on our TV at home with an optical cable passing the sound and certain TV programmes make the bass "drone". That doesnt mean its a fault, it just means i've the bass set too strong for a small percentage of TV shows, so i adjust it accordingly.

I've spent £3K+ on custom car setups in the past. Thats the sort of level you need to be spending (in fact, probably £5K now) to get crystal clear high quality sound in a car.

A £1,000 spec "upgrade" car system is getting you a handful more speakers, scattered around the car and maybe a couple of small amps extra if you're lucky. Factor in any discount received on that, the dealers margin on that and the manufacturers margin and you're probably looking at a couple of hundred pounds worth of kit.

motorguy

Just did a check there and the £1,000 Bose sound upgrade is one step up from the standard system, and there are two levels of upgrade above it, priced up to around £6,000.

General reviews compared to the standard system are that it is "good but not amazing", which again seems to align with the view that the O/P might have had higher expectations of the sound system than his £1,000 upgrade afforded him, rather than there being a fault.