Hire Purchase Cancellation Rights

mrsbunntobe

Hi,
Apologies if this isn't the right area for this topic and it needs moving.

Back story, family member took out a HP agreement on a brand new ford vehicle. The battery keeps dying whenever they leave the country for a week on business.

Just returned from another business trip and car wont start/move. Ford are claiming that new vehicle only comes with 1yr breakdown and 3yrs warranty

Is there any recourse of getting away from this HP Agreement due to the car not being reliable/fit for purpose? You don't expect a car that's 13 months old to not start if you leave it a week and require jump starting. Its happened several times now and they rely on the vehicle for getting to/from work.

Ford claim the battery is fine and its a known issue that you can't leave new cars with stop/start for this long without using them daily or you have this issue. Sounds like a poor excuse of "we know its a problem but cant be bothered to rectify it"

Ford garage advised should just pay for private breakdown cover which is another cop-out excuse.

Im in a Nissan which came with 3yrs warranty and 3yrs European breakdown cover as standard. I just presumed this would be the same accross the board on all new vehicles.

They are going to be leasing going forward and wanting to get out of this vehicle as soon as possible now as its just a constant headache whenever they go away for longer than a week

Browntoa

No rights to cancel the hp....car and finance are separate items

The issue is with ford

foxy-stoat

Naaa, you wont be able to stop paying the HP.

I would find out what is draining the battery while its not in case - boot light still on, or door latch not working properly ? Maybe its not telling the ECU that the door is shut and it keeps the electrics on all the time.

Push them to replace the battery and check the charging system, if these are fine then you need to find out what is draining the battery.

AdrianC

Keep one of these fully charged in the glove box. Job jobbed.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273505439579

It sounds like a cop-out of an excuse. Stop-start shouldn't make any difference when the car's turned off. But, yes, all cars have draw on the battery when they're off, to a greater or lesser extent - they're constantly using power on ECU memories, alarm, listening for radio remote unlocking, etc etc. A week is very short, though.

TadleyBaggie

Last time time the happened to me it was due to having the dash cam plugged into the always live socket.

agrinnall

mrsbunntobe wrote: »

Ford claim the battery is fine and its a known issue that you can't leave new cars with stop/start for this long without using them daily or you have this issue.

I think that's nonsense. Is it actually Ford UK saying it or is it the dealer? My Fiesta has stop start and is regularly unused for between 1 and 5 days, and I've never had any problem with the battery in 3.5 years of ownership from new.



Maybe try asking on a Ford owners forum to see if anyone else has experienced this or been told what you have, perhaps this one.


https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/

motorguy

mrsbunntobe wrote: »

Ford claim the battery is fine and its a known issue that you can't leave new cars with stop/start for this long without using them daily or you have this issue. Sounds like a poor excuse of "we know its a problem but cant be bothered to rectify it"

They're full of !!!!, frankly.

We had a similar problem with my wifes Subaru. If it was left several days the battery was flat. Not at all helped by the "well you must be doing something wrong pet. Are you sure you arent leaving the lights on?" type attitude with my wife. They checked the battery, which read fine, was working perfectly apparently. She told them she thought it was the battery, they said it wasnt.

After the third time it happened and they had it back she had a "JUST PUT A NEW !!!!ING BATTERY IN IT" conversation with them, which they did. Turns out it was the battery as when tested on the bench it wasnt holding charge, though in the car it was reading fine.

So it might be worth getting the dealer to put a battery in it, even if it means paying for it, IF it subsequently proves it was the battery and you get a refund.

System

Did you replace the battery when it first went flat? If the battery voltage drops below 11.6V then its basically knackered and one of the things it'll do is go flat when not used regularly, that can be in as little as under a day.

This is something you need to be getting the Ford dealer to sort out under warranty, you can't use it as a get out of a HP agreement you wish you'd not taken out.

JamoLew

We have an Audi A4 and Ford Edge both with stop start and they were both fine after a recent 2 week holiday.
Only car I ever had this issue with was a Subaru Impreza and we think it may have been the tracker/alarm that drained the battery.
It may be the wrong battery has been installed if not the original as a higher spec on is required for stop start engines ( or was def the case with our old Freelander)
I would take it to an independent auto electrician and get them to do some battery drain tests to try and isololate the problem.

AdrianC

Tarambor wrote: »

Did you replace the battery when it first went flat? If the battery voltage drops below 11.6V then its basically knackered and one of the things it'll do is go flat when not used regularly, that can be in as little as under a day.

It's unlikely that a single incident will harm a lead-acid that badly, and a stop-start car is more likely to have an AGM battery than lead-acid. AGM copes far better with being flattened.

shaun_from_Africa

AdrianC wrote: »

and a stop-start car is more likely to have an AGM battery than lead-acid.

An AGM battery is a lead acid battery, just one that is built differently to "normal" wet plate batteries.