Car repair done but now feels worse.

John90

Hi guys,

I've took my car to the garage where i bought it from 6 months ago. i've collected it yesterday. Basically i had an error code pop up several times and it was caused by faulty 'Electronic Gear Selector' Which they've replaced and now i drove it yesterday and today.. when i switch gears 'Automatic transmission btw' it feels very stiff and flimsy, it used to feel much better before and now it feels weird. I've asked them to look at it again to see if they've done the right procedures etc.

They've told me that they are not willing to look at the car anymore as its been 6+ months since i've had the car and i am not covered. I know that by law i am 100% covered up to 1 year if any fault develops which are not caused by me. They've said this fault is something else and not related to the previous fault! They've changed the part and this issue came up now! So yes it is caused by their new part and it's their fault.


What are my rights and what can i do? They've told me to go seek legal action as they're not willing to look at my car anymore.

Any help would be appreciated.


thank you..

caprikid1

"I know that by law i am 100% covered up to 1 year if any fault develops which are not caused by me"


Can you confirm which law this is ?

John90

"Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015". That is what is explained on the website. I do know that normally 6 months. but after 6 months it is up to me to show that the fault isn't caused by me. As the part was replaced by the Dealer and it now feels worse, so that means that they've made it worse and is caused by them?.

Carrot007

caprikid1 wrote: »

Can you confirm which law this is ?

I'd say it is the "law" of never buy a second hand auto. (especially cheap and from a non warrantied dealer).

caprikid1

I think it is nothing to do with whether you caused it, I think the onus is on you to prove the fault was present at the time of purchase IE A known defect.


What is the age and mileage, model etc of vehicle please.

John90

caprikid1 wrote: »

I think it is nothing to do with whether you caused it, I think the onus is on you to prove the fault was present at the time of purchase IE A known defect.


What is the age and mileage, model etc of vehicle please.

Mileage is 28k, car was registered in december 2014. so about 4 years old and it is a Seat leon 1.2 TSI DSG.

Scrapit

caprikid1 wrote: »

What is the age and mileage, model etc of vehicle please.

How's that relevant?

OP, do you actually have a fault? Does the car drive and change gear as it should? Are you sure how it feels is different to any other car of the same marque?

marlot

Scrapit wrote: »

How's that relevant?

Highly relevant - we've found out that its a DSG gearbox, for instance - which significantly increases the chances of helpign to work out what's wrong. eg. http://www.ecutesting.com/vw/golf-dsg-7-gearbox-problem.html

OP - Is it a 6-speed or 7-speed box? [I'm assuming its the 7-speed DQ200] Do you know exactly what they did with the car? Have you taken it to a dealer or specialist to have any fault codes read?

caprikid1

"How's that relevant?"


If it was a 180,000 mile 15 year old BMW with an auto fault on the gearbox there would be little chance of getting the dealer to assist.

AdrianC

John90 wrote: »

They've told me that they are not willing to look at the car anymore as its been 6+ months since i've had the car and i am not covered. I know that by law i am 100% covered up to 1 year if any fault develops which are not caused by me.

Absolutely not the case.


Within six months of purchase, there is a presumption that a fault was present at the time of sale, unless the retailer can demonstrate it wasn't.
After that time, the presumption reverses - it was not there, unless the consumer can demonstrate it was.


This is for issues which would not reasonably be expected of goods of that age/price/apparent condition - so, effectively, you need to look at the 4yo car as if you'd owned it from new.


You freely admit this issue was not present at the time of sale.
This is not a consumer rights issue over the sale.


It might be an issue over the quality of the workmanship from the previous repair - however...

They've said this fault is something else and not related to the previous fault!

...but there y'go. They say this is a coincidence, and not related to the previous repair, so it's not an issue there, either.


It's hard to be clear about what the issue actually is, but it sounds as if there was an electromechanical component in the gearbox which was faulty. They've replaced that, and you're now complaining the cabin gear selection mechanism is faulty? They are only connected by some electronics and wires, not mechanically, as gear linkages are on manual gearboxes. They will not have needed to go near the selector to sort the gearbox issue. All they will have done is use it normally to test the gearbox once the repair was finished.

They've changed the part and this issue came up now! So yes it is caused by their new part and it's their fault.

That's quite a leap of logic, and you're going to need a lot more to go on than that.

What are my rights and what can i do? They've told me to go seek legal action as they're not willing to look at my car anymore.

That's your answer. If you want more recourse on them, you are going to need to go legal. In practice, that means getting your car repaired elsewhere, and for that repairer to be willing to provide you with written evidence that the fault you now have was related to the previous fix. Otherwise, it's your layman's word against their experienced professional word, and that's not going to get you anywhere.

Scrapit

marlot wrote: »

Highly relevant - we've found out that its a DSG gearbox, for instance - which significantly increases the chances of helpign to work out what's wrong. eg. http://www.ecutesting.com/vw/golf-dsg-7-gearbox-problem.html

OP - Is it a 6-speed or 7-speed box? [I'm assuming its the 7-speed DQ200] Do you know exactly what they did with the car? Have you taken it to a dealer or specialist to have any fault codes read?

caprikid1 wrote: »

"How's that relevant?"


If it was a 180,000 mile 15 year old BMW with an auto fault on the gearbox there would be little chance of getting the dealer to assist.

Nope not relevant. The manufacturer makes no difference, ditto the model. The OP knows how to get it fixed, they take it to the garage. They ain't happy with the fix and therein lies the problem