I raised an issue with my car 1 week after buying - but its been 9 months what are my rights?

neilmcl

Ibrahim5 said:

Has the software guy got writers block? It doesn't take years to tweak software. If they can't do it in a reasonable time they should replace the hardware. Whatever it takes to get the car working. If a car has an infotainment system it should work.

It might not physically take "years" but updates have to be planned, they're not going to fix a software issue for one individual customer. Yes the OP has been fobbed off but the point I was making is that it's likely coming from the manufacturer themselves, rather than the inability of the dealership to resolve the issue.

AbiHope22

To answer some questions:

Due to the pandemic and not using the car much from January to April - I’ve used the car for 6,000 miles so far. 

It’s not a phone issue as I’ve tried 4 phones - a mix of apple and android.
I went through SKODA to ask for a replacement as they didn’t have a scale of when it would be fixed (I asked about it in October when I noticed the issue, and because I wasn’t driving long distances during lockdown - it was something I thought I’d give them time to come up with an update.

There are instances of other users having the same issue from the same batch of cars that mine is from. The difference is that those users noticed it once when going long distance because they’re short distance commuters. When out of lockdown, there are some weeks I can do 1000 miles in a week - hence why it’s such a nightmare.

Finally, is it so unreasonable for me to want the car to work after spending a decent amount of money? I was very clear with my needs and what I needed the car to do.

AbiHope22

Grumpy_chap said.

Would you prefer it if the garage said they'd give you a full refund but charge you 15 pence per mile (top end for PCP excess mileage) for the beneficial use?  Over 20k miles, that would be £3k.  What extra should you pay for the time of ownership - use?

More than happy with this - I don’t expect to get the full £2,800 back as I’ve had use of the car - but I hoped the dealership would offer a meet in the middle alternative.

I can sell the car through we buy any car and make 18kish back - this is the route I probably will go down. I hoped if WBAC would buy back for 18kish, then the dealership would be able to do more since I raised the issue right at the beginning of owning the car.

AdrianC

AbiHope22 said:

To answer some questions:

Due to the pandemic and not using the car much from January to April - I’ve used the car for 6,000 miles so far. 

So we're talking about £2,800 for 6k and nine months of use.

That seems very reasonable to me. I'd suspect the difference in pricing between two cars with that time/mileage difference would be around that.

AbiHope22 said:

There are instances of other users having the same issue from the same batch of cars that mine is from.

Which supports the "software issue" theory. Remember that VW do not manufacture the head unit hardware, and do not write the software. The software will almost certainly involve third-party providers for the various connectivity libraries. Integration with the car networking will almost certainly involve other third parties.

So the supply chain involved in getting a fix is (at a minimum)...
Dealer <-> VW UK <-> VW Germany <-> Head unit manufacturer(s) <-> Software provider(s).

You can bet it all worked in pre-release testing, so this is some kind of weird edge-case in actual use. They're the hardest things to resolve, not least because the actual cause can take substantial diagnosis.

[Deleted User]

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jimjames

[DELETED USER] said:

A great example of why buying used cars from random dealers is such a risk. The dealer probably knew the car was a dud here, and soon another dealer will buy it from auction and doubtless not notice the Bluetooth issue.

If a Skoda dealer is random, what's a non random dealer? This is a 69 plate car

AdrianC

jimjames said:

[DELETED USER] said:

A great example of why buying used cars from random dealers is such a risk. The dealer probably knew the car was a dud here, and soon another dealer will buy it from auction and doubtless not notice the Bluetooth issue.

If a Skoda dealer is random, what's a non random dealer? This is a 69 plate car

It was a used car when you bought it in October 2020.
69 was Sept 2019 to Feb 2020.

I presume it was bought through the Skoda Approved Used scheme? So why not simply exchange it in the first month, if this showstopper was first apparent within a week?

Ibrahim5

Skoda should be sorting the problem out. The lemon shouldn't be passed from owner to owner like this. I would contact Skoda and give them a month to sort it and then contact every newspaper and motoring journalist you can find to run this story of shocking customer service. This forum is so bad at helping people. The fault lies with Skoda not the OP.

neilmcl

Ibrahim5 said:

Skoda should be sorting the problem out. The lemon shouldn't be passed from owner to owner like this. I would contact Skoda and give them a month to sort it and then contact every newspaper and motoring journalist you can find to run this story of shocking customer service. This forum is so bad at helping people. The fault lies with Skoda not the OP.

The OP asked specifically about their rights and they've been given the most appropriate replies. Any liability lies with the seller, not Skoda and they've acted within the law..

Ibrahim5

The car is almost brand new and it doesn't work. The dealer hasn't a clue. They say it needs a software update. Who is going to do that? Skoda. This is why a lot of other states and countries have lemon laws. These lemons need fixing, not being passed between multiple owners all losing out through the manufacturers incompetence.