Spent small fortune in garage and car still not working - what to do?

Flipjango

Our car has has problems since we bought it (second hand) a year ago with a strange intermittent judder, as well as issues with the 'auto start/stop' feature and intermittent issues with the remote key. Its only 4 years old and highly computerised so no local garages have been able to do anything and just tell us we need to take it to the Nissan dealer for them to plug into their computer. We've had it in and out of the dealer three times now - the first time they said they couldn't find anything wrong (£150 for this). When it got worse we took it back and they told us there were faults showing on their computer in the glow plugs and the EGR valve. They replaced the glow plugs as this was the cheaper fix, which did nothing (another £180), so it went back and we've had the EGR valve replaced to the tune for £550. But we're still having the same problems. I'm really fed up now as this was such an expensive fix for it to make absolutely no difference whatsoever. But I"m really not sure what to do? Do I have any rights to ask for my money back and the old part to be replaced as there appears to have been nothing wrong with it?

sevenhills

Flipjango wrote: »

Our car has has problems since we bought it (second hand) a year ago with a strange intermittent judder, as well as issues with the 'auto start/stop' feature and intermittent issues with the remote key.

If its an intermittent judder that is the fault all the time, you need to think about what is causing it to judder.
Is it an engine issue or a brake issue, if its not a computer fault, you need to describe the fault better.

peter12345678910

With diesel cars the fuel filter has to be changed every 2 years. Check your service books it could cause a judder or could trigger a sensor down the line.

Flipjango

Thanks Peter but the fuel filter has already been changed (as has the battery and the air conditioning compressor which also failed in the first few months of ownership). It’s been serviced twice, and the brakes checked. The fault is most likely either engine or computer based though nobody seems sure- we’ve also had an auto electrician out who couldn’t do anything to fix it either. I’m not really looking for you all to diagnose the fault (though thank you for trying) and I have explained the judder and other associated issues too complicated to explain here (like the engine just cutting out randomly) to the garage in great detail on several occasions. I’m really just looking for advice as to whether we have any comeback on the ‘repairs’ that have already been done please. It feels like we’re at the mercy of the dealer who seem to just be saying ‘well, we’ll try this and see what happens’ at great cost to us, and with no success. They could keep replacing parts until we have a new car at this rate. It’s very haphazard and horribly expensive and I’d really like to try and get some money back as what they have done hasn’t fixed anything or made any difference at all. I mean, surely the dealer is supposed to have some expertise? I’m putting my trust in them to diagnose the fault- and paying heavily for it too. Shouldn’t I expect to get value for money or have some right to a refund?

AdrianC

There are fault codes over the EGR and glow plugs. Modern diesels use the glow plugs for a lot of things, apart from cold start - emission reduction and general running. So, yes, it's entirely reasonable to resolve those first. When those fault codes are resolved, if the fault remains, it will be simpler to find the actual cause.

How do you know they weren't contributing to the problem? It's entirely possible there were multiple contributory factors - or that resolving this problem would have brought the glow and EGR issues more to the fore.

Flipjango

I understand that these fault codes were showing, but I took it in for them to diagnose and resolve a very specific fault which is absolutely not fixed after nearly £1000 of repairs. If these faults were contributing to the fault then surely there would be some improvement? But there is not. The car is behaving exactly the same. Therefore the ‘repair’ appears to have done nothing at all. So can I ask them to replace my ‘faulty’ EGR valve as it seems it wasn’t causing any problems, and that something else was? I can’t keep taking it into the dealership forever and letting them just replace this that and the other in the hope it might fix it- they seem totally clueless to do anything unless the computer tells them to.

Flipjango

I think the point I’m trying to make is, where does it end?!