Car Beyond Economical Repair

DaveTheRave87

Good afternoon all,

Obvious cry for help and advice like alot of people here!

I recently bought a family car through a private sale specifically for my wife to use to transport the kids (her first car).
Dont know if its relevant but its a 2011 Citreon Picassio 1.5HDI auto.
All was well during the sale, receipts, mot, test drive etc. so I went ahead and bought it via bank transfer.
Insurance is a differnt matter but my wife is the main policy holder and myself as named driver. (black box policy as it was the cheapest).

Approximately 2 weeks later the car packed up due to a gearbox fault (its an automatic). Finding no garage that would accept a automatic gearbox car i resorted to the nearest Citroen dealership as a last resort.
I was informed that as a specialist they could/would diagnose the specific issue and come back with a solution. I was informed the cost of diagnostic would be £50 for the first 30mins and £90 per hour thereafter. Gritting my teeth i consented and 3 hours later the issue was with the "gearbox oil pump and pipework" with a cost of £850 to fix.
I proceeded because i had no other option.

A week later i get a call fron the Citroen dealership. "the problem still exists and its the sensor also" with a further cost of £350.
Again i proceeded with the specific comment that i doubted the ability of the speciliasts 'diagnostic' as it seems they're just stripping parts and charging me for it.
I was re-assured that the technician believed this would resolve the isse.

A further week later, nothing. I call them and they say its something else at a further cost of £900.
A sum taking me the total to £2500+ now. A sum which i concluded was beyond econimcal repair and stupid of me to continue when i had no assurances this would resolve the issue.

I have contacted the car insurance company and explained the above. No where in the policy documents does it state that it does NOT cover mechanical breakdown but they inform me thats their policy.

I'm stuck between a hefty bill (the rock) and a wife with no transport (the hard place).

• I'm pretty sure i have no re-percussions to the seller (who i'm confident knew of the issue prior to sale but its impossible to prove)
• I have to pay £1400 (approx) for repairs to a car that isnt fixed
• I'm then paying insurance/tax for a car i cant drive.

I've got no hair to pull out but wondered what avenues people suggest to explore.
Thanks

EdGasketTheSecond

I suppose you could ask Citroen dealership to waive the bill as they haven't fixed it. They most likely won't which means you'd need to seek legal advice as to whether your costs were refundable as you paid for the car to be fixed and it isn't.

Tokk

Honestly, I'd get shot - it's already becoming a money pit and the dealer has already been confident that they knew what the problem was (at your expense) when they didn't.

It's difficult because if the dealer CAN get it right next time and that's definitely it for repair bills for a while, it makes sense to do it (assuming nothing else goes wrong soon)... If they can't, you could be throwing good money after bad even trying more fixes.

I'd be tempted to get shot and go bangernomics for a year or two, but not everyone is willing to try it.

sheslookinhot

Another cautionary tale about French cars.

sevenhills

DaveTheRave87 wrote: »

I was informed that as a specialist they could/would diagnose the specific issue and come back with a solution. I was informed the cost of diagnostic would be £50 for the first 30mins and £90 per hour thereafter.

If they hadn't charge you for diagnosis I would say that you had to pay their bill, even though the car isn't fixed.
But since they charged you? But I guess it comes down to the wording and what is in writing.

sheslookinhot wrote: »

Another cautionary tale about French cars.

Or automatics?

AdrianC

I suspect it's not an automatic - but an automated manual, the EGS box. Which is why an "automatic" specialist is going to turn it down.

A main dealer is always going to be very expensive in both labour and parts prices, even before you get to them only ever using brand spanking OEM parts. The best solution here would have been for a normal garage to simply source and fit a replacement box from a breaker.


As you are now, you've already given the go-ahead for the £1,400 of work. You owe that. The time has been spent, the parts have been fitted. So this isn't a question about £2,500 or £0, it's a question about £2,500 or £1,400. I presume the car is back together, and transportable, rather than dismantled? If so, it's probably still cheaper (and a lot more certain of success) to get it elsewhere and a used box fitted.


Since it was a private sale, it's going to be very hard to get any recompense from the vendor.

You don't say whether it's a C3 or C4 Picasso, but I'd have thought it'd be worth more than £2,500 intact and working - if it's one of the very last Xsara Picassos, maybe not.

fred246

If you take a car to a garage the deal is that they repair it and you pay for the repair. You don't expect them to change random parts and charge you for them. I would be very tempted to take these useless garages to the small claims court. I don't think you should be expected to pay when they have done nothing useful.

AdrianC

fred246 wrote: »

If you take a car to a garage the deal is that they repair it and you pay for the repair. You don't expect them to change random parts and charge you for them. I would be very tempted to take these useless garages to the small claims court. I don't think you should be expected to pay when they have done nothing useful.

Maybe they've sorted two of the three faults...

fred246

A judge is paid to make judgements. A garage is paid to fix cars. If they don't fix I don't see why you pay.

Arklight

As the other poster said, I would ask them to waive at least some of the diagnostic fee as they clearly didn't diagnose it correctly.

Otherwise, the car is worth nothing unfixed, but something if you get the work done.

AndyMc.....

fred246 wrote: »

A judge is paid to make judgements. A garage is paid to fix cars. If they don't fix I don't see why you pay.

Because they've done work on the car, they're willing to fix it at a cost the op isn't happy with.