Help with faulty car on PCP Finance

Izzi20

Hi all, I hope someone here has any advice for me as I'm kinda in a sticky situation any help appriciated.

I bought a 14 plate Ford Mondeo Titanioum X 73k Diesel 1.6 on a PCP Finance/lease of National Car Credit UK this May.

. The contract was that I had to take it for either 2 years and then they can squash the contract with the choice of either returning the car, or of upgrading then to a new car and keep changing cars every two years essentially never keeping the car but having a nice car for two years every 2 years and if ever decide to keep the car I just keep paying it for 5 years and its mine.

I liked the idea before that I had 10 year old cars which always costed me alot in garages getting things fixed one after the other. This car came with 2 years warranty just the amount of time I'll be keeping it and I'm happy to pay the sum every month.

The car was set to cost 7100 Plus 7.5 percent interest which worked out 10k, 2k a year and 163 pounds a month with no deposit.

The car was promised to come with 2 years warranty and 12 months aa road cover and a full tank of fuel.

The company sent me to a finance company and I signed a digital application, confirmed the loan application on the phone everything with the loan company there was no contract with the car dealer.

And no proof of anything besides for my outstanding payments with oodle car finance and me with the car keys.

I asked them before they dropped off the car to send me the report of the car as it's getting checked etc they promised to send everything over but did they heck.

After 2 days of having the car which btw came almost empty of fuel unlike promised the guy who dropped off said not to worry send us your card details and we'll send you the 80 pounds, so after two days waking up to having a flat battery I messaged them because they told me it had a new battery, so they said take it get it checked and if your mechanic is sure it's the battery not the alternator then let us know and we'll approve it, and pay for the costs also for my A/c at the same time which wasn't working properly. So my mechanic checked the alternator and told me that it was fine it needed a new battery. The battery in it then wasn't strong enough for stop start engines and that that and the a/c will cost 280 everything got done and they paid me the 280.

The car was driving happy for afew weeks but then when I had it parked up once for 2 days it had a flat again I bought jump leads to get my car going and I had no time to get it seen to I was too busy working throughout the week my mechanic told me that he would have to check the car diagnostics and see what the fault was but I'll have to bring it in for a couple of days so it was pushed off.

The flat battery started to be a regular thing and then the parking sensors stopped working and the Bluetooth would cut out, I took it to the garage left it there for afew days he reported back saying the battery is fine the alternator is fine but the the ECU is coming back with countless errors he's cleared them and I should carry on driving it and let him know how it goes.

The faults started getting more and often the cruise down function also stopped working and the screen would flash sometimes. I decided to call the dealership but I couldn't get through I didn't have time for it so I kept pushing it off untill I took it for a service to get a oil change and service as I had done 10k miles in it already.

Again my mechanic said he can't actually get to the problem I should get in touch with my warranty and then he can pass it on to someone who knows better.

I decided to put a complaint through to my finance department through their complaints team and I pointed out that I also would require a courtesy car for the time this takes.

After a week they tell me that I might be aware but the dealership I bought the car off has ceased trading and that I should provide them with my warranty documents
I tried to find such documents all I could find was a email from them to me saying the car comes with warranty. No policy documentation. To which they said they can't assist me any further and case is closed.

Today I tried getting in my car wouldn't start I had to jump start it I took it on the motor way for half hour came back turned the engine off and tried turning it on again and again it was dead.

My mechanic says that there's something always on in the car which keeps draining the car even when switched off it could cost 2 grand to fix if it's the ecu.

What can I do I bought it under the assurance that it came with a warranty now I'm stuck with a broken car??

I'm going out of my mind here any advice I would be very grateful

Izzi

forgotmyname

Audio/Bluetooth is related to the flat battery syndrome.

What is the actual finance? Straight loan, PCP or Lease??? You seem unclear?

Izzi20

On contract with my finance it's as a 5 year contract but according to the dealership it's a PCP Finance because I can cancel anytime after 2 years and just return the car.

Now that the dealership is ceasing to exist it seems to me like it's become a contract just with the lender and there's no optional.

You can rightfully say I'm not sure.

AdrianC

The time to chase the warranty was shortly after delivery, seven months ago. The dealer are no longer extant, so you cannot chase them now.

It really does sound as if all your problems stem from the charging system - it's complex on a lot of modern cars, with the alternator load "managed" by the ecu to reduce emissions. If and when the battery voltage drops, high-load fripperies are turned off to help. A simple voltage check on output may well not be sufficient to diagnose an alternator issue - but a decent auto-electrician should be able to figure it in short order.

forgotmyname

Is the finance agreement for 2 years or 5 years? Looks like your going to have to pay the full 5 years worth.

Some lads on the Ford forums have looked into it and some found the bluetooth stayed active and searching for a connection after the car shuts down.

System

Izzi20 wrote: »

The car was driving happy for afew weeks but then when I had it parked up once for 2 days it had a flat again I bought jump leads to get my car going

Its a known problem. The bluetooth module doesn't go to sleep when you turn off the ignition and drains the battery sufficiently enough.

The flat battery started to be a regular thing

Today I tried getting in my car wouldn't start I had to jump start it I took it on the motor way for half hour came back turned the engine off and tried turning it on again and again it was dead.

Once a battery drops below 11V then its knackered as sulphation starts on the plates inside the battery. Might not be noticeable at first if you use it daily but it will be if it stands for any period of time or there's a cold night.

y mechanic says that there's something always on in the car which keeps draining the car even when switched off it could cost 2 grand to fix if it's the ecu.

Bluetooth module is the common theme on Talkford forums. It is under the dash on the passenger side behind the glovebox and can be unplugged. Get the mechanic to do that and see if it resolves the issue although you're going to have to change the battery because its stuffed.

Izzi20

380 pounds later.

The auto electrician found there to be water damage which came in when I had a lightbulb switched.. he fixed 2 modules and gave me back the car with the same battery and the car starts fine every time the battery and stop start work very good.

There's still the issue of the Bluetooth cutting out and reconnecting after 5 minutes.

What might that be?

System

Pass. When you next have it in at the main dealer for a service ask them to update the firmware in the Bluetooth module.

Izzi20

The Bluetooth module was taken out and the car still keeps breaking down not starting..

System

Its going to need to go into an auto electrician and have them go through it and find out what isn't turning off properly.

Scotd20011

Sorry to hear of what has happened. I see lots of great replies re the mechanical issues, may I respond regarding the financial. There's a car scamming operation currently in place impacting auto trader. A website called carsnip is part of the scam, auto trader are investigating the scammers impacting their website. Oodle finance are part of the scam which is probably why they've been not so helpful with you. The scam is complex and vast - UK wide and involves many independent garages (fraudulent ones) working with oodle finance in order to con people into buying a defunct car with finance or stealing an unknowing persons car details and putting a loan against it and more recently looking to take individuals data and use it on a loan. Please report what's happened to you to Action Fraud - you can complete an on line form or ring them. The FCA - financial conduct authority need to be made aware to regarding oodle. Hopefully this may bring you some compensation. I hope you get sorted.