Car with selling dealer

Markyst

Hi Forum,

A few weeks ago my 2013 Astra 2.0 cdti would have low oil pressure alarm on starting first time of the day.

After searching online, apparently it's an issue with the oil pick up pipe, and oil draining down overnight. It's a 4.5 hour labour job to get at it.

I bought the car from a dealer less than 6 months ago, with a full main dealer service history (at other end of country), and after speaking to citizen's advice, I contacted the seller, who said to bring the car to him, and he'd get his fitter to change a spring in the oil filter to fix it. I told him I didn't think that was the issue, but he wouldn't see it any other way, so I dropped off my car with him last Friday. He said it would be done on the Monday (3 days ago).

While discussing the right corrective action to be take, I offered to have the oil & filter changed at a Vauxhall main dealer, at my expense, and ask them to inspect the oil filter to confirm if that was the issue. He wasn't having this and said he didn't trust main dealers!

The trouble is, he isn't answering his phone when I call, and he's 60 miles from where I am, and I need the car back for work ASAP. I've been managing so far this week as I'm on nights so me & mrs can both use her car, but I'm on days Friday.

So I have 2 queries, (cannot get citizens advice on phone today, they're not picking up as too busy)
How long is a sensible time for a dealer to keep my car to repair it 
Can I insist on a courtesy car if it goes beyond this time, or hire a car and bill him? 

Thanks in advance.

Herzlos

We're in covid lockdowns so an unprecidented time when it comes to timescales unfortunately.
You can get a courtesy car but I think you'll struggle to get him to reimburse you.
You should be able to rent a car cheaply enough for a day or so to get you to work but if the dealer isn't answering the phone your best option may be to just go and get the car and take it to a main dealer. You've already got no confidence that he'll actually fix it.

couriervanman

60 miles is hardly the other end of the country

k3lvc

couriervanman said:

60 miles is hardly the other end of the country

I had to re-read the original post as I thought the same - I now read it that dealer was 60 miles away but the service history was all from a dealer at the other end of the country 

Markyst

couriervanman said:

60 miles is hardly the other end of the country

Ha, I'm afraid it is in very rural west Wales.

The dealer I guess bought at auction in England (That's where service history is), sold it to me at his dealership Swansea, I live on coast. On train, it's a total at least 2 hour journey.

Herzlos said:

We're in covid lockdowns so an unprecidented time when it comes to timescales unfortunately.
You can get a courtesy car but I think you'll struggle to get him to reimburse you.
You should be able to rent a car cheaply enough for a day or so to get you to work but if the dealer isn't answering the phone your best option may be to just go and get the car and take it to a main dealer. You've already got no confidence that he'll actually fix it.

If I could get in touch, I would go and collect, but I don't want to risk wasting a journey to find the car is elsewhere. Having said that, By tomorrow, I will probably have to and keep my fingers crossed.

It looks like he's avoiding me and keeping the car for as long as possible, knowing the 6 months is running out to his advantage.

AdrianC

Markyst said:

couriervanman said:

60 miles is hardly the other end of the country

Ha, I'm afraid it is in very rural west Wales.

Nearest big shop, isn't it...?

The dealer I guess bought at auction in England (That's where service history is), sold it to me at his dealership Swansea, I live on coast. On train, it's a total at least 2 hour journey.

Ultimately, that's not the supplier's problem - you chose to buy a long way from home. In your circumstance and location, that was undoubtedly because the choice locally was limited... but that doesn't make it his problem...

It looks like he's avoiding me and keeping the car for as long as possible, knowing the 6 months is running out to his advantage.

No, the clock stopped on that when you notified him of the issue. If he takes a year to fix it, it's still within the six months. But he has accepted liability for it - it's now up to him to fix it, replace it, or refund you.

Herzlos

Markyst said:

If I could get in touch, I would go and collect, but I don't want to risk wasting a journey to find the car is elsewhere. Having said that, By tomorrow, I will probably have to and keep my fingers crossed.

It looks like he's avoiding me and keeping the car for as long as possible, knowing the 6 months is running out to his advantage.

It's almost certainly just sat there though if the place is closed (covid and all) then you might not be able to recover it from behind a locked gate. It might be worth calling from a different number or calling a different number to establish that they are open. Ideally if you know anyone locally who can drive by; no point in going if they've shut for a week.

The clock stopped when you notified him of the issue so there's no benefit in stalling.

SteveJW

Low-quality oil filters often have a poorly designed anti-drain back valve that doesn't work properly. The best way to avoid anti-drain back problems is to use a high-quality filter. A good filter usually has a robust anti-drain back valve, designed to protect your engine.

mikrt1

Had the same issue with my insignia. Issue was oil pick up pipe seal, which is in the sump, only happened in cold weather mind.

Markyst

mikrt1 said:

Had the same issue with my insignia. Issue was oil pick up pipe seal, which is in the sump, only happened in cold weather mind.

That's what I told the dealer, but he was insisting it was the oil filter housing spring.

Anyway, I took the train up this morning and took my chances it was there. It was. He hadn't even done the work he said he would! He told me he'd tried to duplicate the error every morning it was parked there (even though I'd told him it was only very cold morning I had issues, and I had sent him a video of it) and that car was fine.

So I've had to bring it home in the same condition it was last month

SteveJW said:

Low-quality oil filters often have a poorly designed anti-drain back valve that doesn't work properly. The best way to avoid anti-drain back problems is to use a high-quality filter. A good filter usually has a robust anti-drain back valve, designed to protect your engine.

The oil filter for my engine has no spring in at all, so in that respect, low-quality oil filter would make no difference there. Before I had it, car was Vauxhall dealer serviced, and since I had it, it had genuine vauxhall filter.

Spring I mentioned is actually in the filter housing, apparantly if this goes, oil pressure is low all the time, not just cold mornings as I'm having.

Looks like I'll have to get job done at my expense, I'll leave it 6 months till next oil change is due.

After buying cars off eBay for years for myself, wife & kids, I thought I'd have some benefit buying from a dealer. I'll think again before doing that.

AdrianC

Markyst said:

He told me he'd tried to duplicate the error every morning it was parked there (even though I'd told him it was only very cold morning I had issues, and I had sent him a video of it) and that car was fine.

He can't make the weather be cold on demand. If he could, he'd be very, VERY rich for making it warm and sunny on demand for people.

It's entirely possible that a transient error won't leave any record, so he'll need to have the diagnostics to hand for when the error does reveal itself, just in case it's not as expected. 4.5hrs of labour, only to get the same error to pop up on the first cold morning...?