28K for a 3 year old car, notice a knocking noise when leaving garage , a year and still not fixed

marksuds

I bought a  second hand 2016 X4 last July and when leaving forecourt i could feel and hear a knocking noise from front end. I carried on home and called and mailed once home. They could not look at it until September so i had to put up with it till then. it only had 22.555miles on the clock and is a lovely car. Anyway September came and i took time off work and took the car back to the main dealer. Left it and collected it later that day to be told they could not find anything wrong and would be better to let it develop so the noise could be found quicker. They said they thoroughly checked it over and it was fine , as i was rather concerned about taking the grand kids in the car. November came and the noise was worse than ever so i called the garage and told them i was going on holiday in Jan 2020 and i wanted to leave them the car for 2 weeks so they could properly diagnose the fault and repair then i could pick it up on way home. NO was the reply so  instead i booked it in for a couple of days prior to me going on holiday. they had the car 2 days and i got it back they way i left it as they still could not find a problem with it at all. Again i inquired about safety and was informed that as they had found nothing then nothing could be wrong. So again i drove home listening and feeling the knocking all the way home. July the 6th 2020 was the next time i arranged to drop the car off and fully explained about the noise , when and how it felt and the fact that every time they give me a courtesy car that i drive the same roads home and hear nothing ,therefore i am not imagining it at all. They had the car 2 days and MOT'd the car when the mechanic  called me to tell me that he cannot find anything wrong with the car and it had sailed through the MOT. I convinced him to keep the car 1 more day to try and find the noise. He did and found nothing. So again i find my self taking time of work to go collect the car after they cannot find anything and again i drive home listening to it rattle and knock and it is frustrating as hell.
I decided to take the car for a second opinion , so i called the local MOT center where i live and ask if he can look at a knocking from my car. I book it in and when the day comes i drive it down. I park and am met by the mechanic just as i exit my car. He asks about the noise and as i begin to tell him he steps forward and shakes the steering wheel and would you know it a loud rattle can be herd. - "your steering rack is knackered mate" he says - barely 15 seconds that took !!!!
BMW main dealer has had 3  shots at fixing the problem over about 6 days over the coarse of a year they have had the car and passed it twice in an MOT.!!! SHOCKING..

I have emailed the dealer after talking to trading standards and also a solicitor who advise me to let the garage have the chance to fix the car.
How safe is it still to drive with a steering rack that is severely faulty ?? 

 what do you guys think - If they could not diagnose and fix the fault over a year then what chance do they have to successfully fit a new steering rack ?? do i still have the right to Refuse the car ???

let me know your thoughts

best regards

Mark...

Grumpy_chap

I bought a  second hand 2016 X4 last July and when leaving forecourt i could feel and hear a knocking noise from front end

Why didn't you turn straight back round at that point?  Was this different to when you took the car for a test drive?

marksuds

I know. That is exactly what i should have done but was going onto nightshift and had to get the wife home first. I mailed and called them as soon as i got home.  Didn't have a test drive !!! long story  

[Deleted User]

marksuds said:

I bought a  second hand 2016 X4 last July and when leaving forecourt i could feel and hear a knocking noise from front end. I carried on home and called and mailed once home. They could not look at it until September so i had to put up with it till then. it only had 22.555miles on the clock and is a lovely car. Anyway September came and i took time off work and took the car back to the main dealer. Left it and collected it later that day to be told they could not find anything wrong and would be better to let it develop so the noise could be found quicker. They said they thoroughly checked it over and it was fine , as i was rather concerned about taking the grand kids in the car. November came and the noise was worse than ever so i called the garage and told them i was going on holiday in Jan 2020 and i wanted to leave them the car for 2 weeks so they could properly diagnose the fault and repair then i could pick it up on way home. NO was the reply so  instead i booked it in for a couple of days prior to me going on holiday. they had the car 2 days and i got it back they way i left it as they still could not find a problem with it at all. Again i inquired about safety and was informed that as they had found nothing then nothing could be wrong. So again i drove home listening and feeling the knocking all the way home. July the 6th 2020 was the next time i arranged to drop the car off and fully explained about the noise , when and how it felt and the fact that every time they give me a courtesy car that i drive the same roads home and hear nothing ,therefore i am not imagining it at all. They had the car 2 days and MOT'd the car when the mechanic  called me to tell me that he cannot find anything wrong with the car and it had sailed through the MOT. I convinced him to keep the car 1 more day to try and find the noise. He did and found nothing. So again i find my self taking time of work to go collect the car after they cannot find anything and again i drive home listening to it rattle and knock and it is frustrating as hell.
I decided to take the car for a second opinion , so i called the local MOT center where i live and ask if he can look at a knocking from my car. I book it in and when the day comes i drive it down. I park and am met by the mechanic just as i exit my car. He asks about the noise and as i begin to tell him he steps forward and shakes the steering wheel and would you know it a loud rattle can be herd. - "your steering rack is knackered mate" he says - barely 15 seconds that took !!!!
BMW main dealer has had 3  shots at fixing the problem over about 6 days over the coarse of a year they have had the car and passed it twice in an MOT.!!! SHOCKING..

I have emailed the dealer after talking to trading standards and also a solicitor who advise me to let the garage have the chance to fix the car.
How safe is it still to drive with a steering rack that is severely faulty ?? 

 what do you guys think - If they could not diagnose and fix the fault over a year then what chance do they have to successfully fit a new steering rack ?? do i still have the right to Refuse the car ???

let me know your thoughts

best regards

Mark...

If you didn't turnaround straightaway as @Grumpy_chap asked why wait 2months(?) for them to look at it and now 12 months later try and solve the issue.

Wiser heads will be along soon to try and help.

tacpot12

As a BMW main dealer, they should be able to replace the steering rack properly. They have access to the official procedures on how to do this from BMW. Given how much they have messed you around, I would expect them to offer some compensation as a good will gesture as well as actually fixing the issue.

You have a right to have them fix the issue as you reported it them when you got home on day 1 of your ownership so you have no problem with proving that the fault was present when you bought the car. You don't have a right to refuse the car; that right lapses after 30 days. 

You need a professional opinion if you wish to assert that the car is not safe to drive, and you need that opinion in writing. I would go to another BMW dealer for this. Note that they can be sued if they are negligent as to how they inspect and assess the steering rack, but if they are diligent and the steering rack fails while you are driving the car, you can't sue them as they weren't negligent - my point is that even if an expert says it can be driven safely that does not mean that it is not going to fail at a disastrous point. You have to decide whether you want to take that risk yourself of driving it if another dealer says it is ok to drive. 

You have put up with a lot of hogwash from this dealer, so I would expect them to try to work with you on an equitable arrangement for repairs, e.g. a free hirecar while they repair yours and, I think I would really push for this, an offer to buy back the car from you if they can't repair it within six weeks - major parts for newish cars can take an age to come from the manufacture, so I wouldn't let them take the car into the workshop without a guarantee as to when you will get it or some money back. You will not be entitled to a full refund as you have had use of the car (less the time it was with them). You might look to go to mediation to fix the amount of refund and how long they have to repair the car.

marksuds

blueskinnedbeast said:

marksuds said:

I bought a  second hand 2016 X4 last July and when leaving forecourt i could feel and hear a knocking noise from front end. I carried on home and called and mailed once home. They could not look at it until September so i had to put up with it till then. it only had 22.555miles on the clock and is a lovely car. Anyway September came and i took time off work and took the car back to the main dealer. Left it and collected it later that day to be told they could not find anything wrong and would be better to let it develop so the noise could be found quicker. They said they thoroughly checked it over and it was fine , as i was rather concerned about taking the grand kids in the car. November came and the noise was worse than ever so i called the garage and told them i was going on holiday in Jan 2020 and i wanted to leave them the car for 2 weeks so they could properly diagnose the fault and repair then i could pick it up on way home. NO was the reply so  instead i booked it in for a couple of days prior to me going on holiday. they had the car 2 days and i got it back they way i left it as they still could not find a problem with it at all. Again i inquired about safety and was informed that as they had found nothing then nothing could be wrong. So again i drove home listening and feeling the knocking all the way home. July the 6th 2020 was the next time i arranged to drop the car off and fully explained about the noise , when and how it felt and the fact that every time they give me a courtesy car that i drive the same roads home and hear nothing ,therefore i am not imagining it at all. They had the car 2 days and MOT'd the car when the mechanic  called me to tell me that he cannot find anything wrong with the car and it had sailed through the MOT. I convinced him to keep the car 1 more day to try and find the noise. He did and found nothing. So again i find my self taking time of work to go collect the car after they cannot find anything and again i drive home listening to it rattle and knock and it is frustrating as hell.
I decided to take the car for a second opinion , so i called the local MOT center where i live and ask if he can look at a knocking from my car. I book it in and when the day comes i drive it down. I park and am met by the mechanic just as i exit my car. He asks about the noise and as i begin to tell him he steps forward and shakes the steering wheel and would you know it a loud rattle can be herd. - "your steering rack is knackered mate" he says - barely 15 seconds that took !!!!
BMW main dealer has had 3  shots at fixing the problem over about 6 days over the coarse of a year they have had the car and passed it twice in an MOT.!!! SHOCKING..

I have emailed the dealer after talking to trading standards and also a solicitor who advise me to let the garage have the chance to fix the car.
How safe is it still to drive with a steering rack that is severely faulty ?? 

 what do you guys think - If they could not diagnose and fix the fault over a year then what chance do they have to successfully fit a new steering rack ?? do i still have the right to Refuse the car ???

let me know your thoughts

best regards

Mark...

If you didn't turnaround straightaway as @Grumpy_chap asked why wait 2months(?) for them to look at it and now 12 months later try and solve the issue.

Wiser heads will be along soon to try and help.

I didn't wait 2 months on purpose , that was the soonest they said they could look at it. Then when receiving the car back and i notice the noise getting worse i would call again and have to wait for the booking and so on. If for 1 minute i thought it was serious i would have hit the  roof. Bear in mind each time they kept telling me there was nothing wrong. For a while i thought i was hearing and feeling things BUT took them at their w word as they are the " specialists". or not  so as it turns out. I have kept every email i sent so shows the timeline and that i was raising my concern level each time as the noise and then wandering across the road was getting.

AdrianC

marksuds said:

How safe is it still to drive with a steering rack that is severely faulty ?? 

It's just as safe as it's been for the last year, during which it's been MOTd twice. How many people have died?

Why on earth didn't you take it to a different BMW dealer? I presume it was under the approved-used warranty?

The boat has definitely sailed on rejecting it... And, even if they did accept it, they'd be well within their rights to reduce the refund by the depreciation over the year. Just get the rack changed, and vow never to darken that dealer's door with your business in the future.

clive0510

did you not test drive the thing before you bought it. I think I would of. christ knows what a new rack for that would cost.

The_Fat_Controller

"Shakes the steering wheel" and diagnoses the steering rack is knackered, he must be bloody psychic !
I would get a decent second opinion.

PS. Did he shake his head a lot and suck air through his teeth too ?

macman

'They couldn't look at it for two months?' 'The wife was on nightshift so I couldn't take it back'? Is this a wind-up?
Why didn't you simply drive back next day and reject the vehicle, when you had the legal right to do so within 30 days? By waiting over a year, you've blown any chance you had of getting them to contribute to the repair.
Are you in the habit of buying £28K cars without a test drive?
NB: if it was still in manufacturer's warranty when you bought it last July, then any dealer could have fixed it. 

photome

macman said:

'They couldn't look at it for two months?' 'The wife was on nightshift so I couldn't take it back'? Is this a wind-up?
Why didn't you simply drive back next day and reject the vehicle, when you had the legal right to do so within 30 days? By waiting over a year, you've blown any chance you had of getting them to contribute to the repair.
Are you in the habit of buying £28K cars without a test drive?
NB: if it was still in manufacturer's warranty when you bought it last July, then any dealer could have fixed it. 

I thought all of the above!

There is no way I would have accepted “ we can’t look at it for 2 months”