Issue with a car dealership.

Pianistinator

Hello everyone.

I bought a used car in July 2021 from a dealership which has a repair centre down the road, it's only for their used cars before sale and after within the warranty period. The car had a 28 day warranty with it. I also got a 3 year RAC warranty through them, the car had issues and a few weeks later I had to get it looked at for:

1. Choppy braking.
   
2. Brakes feeling spongy.
3. Auto-stop not working correctly
4. A scraping / grinding noise coming from one of the wheel areas.
5. Cruise control was surging around 60mph.

Their repair centre took it in on the 2nd August 2021, and they replaced the battery, front disk brakes and what according to the invoice is 1 brake pad only.

When I drove off the car still wasn't feeling right, the brakes were still choppy, and the brakes were still spongy. The cruise control was still surging at 60mph.

I honestly didn't know if it was meant to be like this, it's the newest car I've owned (2016 model) so I thought maybe I'm just being paranoid. Got it checked over by a friend who confirmed a problem. September 29th when I called the dealer back up, I wanted the car to be looked at in their repair centre because the faults that were meant to have been "fixed" were still occuring! I was then told that I had to go through the RAC Warranty as my 28 day warranty had run out and that they might pay for some, all or none of the repairs if the warranty didn't fix it, which at the time I couldn't believe was the legal process but at that time I believed this to be the case. So it was a case of paying out for a diagnostic (fee not covered) or nothing at all. I couldn't do anything about it, even my suggestion of the faults not being fixed and the car needing to be looked at and driven by one of their mechanics at the repair centre was ignored.

I took the car to Halford's around November for a free brake check, because I didn't have £50, or the mental energy to sort this all out through warranties and the processes on top. They came back and said it had adequate braking power and without paying for a diagnostic they couldn't tell me any further.

I'm disabled. I had a period between September and January of going in and out of hospital and it's not easy to deal with these things on your own. I've since been declared unfit for work. Now I'm able to get out more, thankfully, I decided in January to go to a Hyundai dealership to get it properly looked at. The front offside caliper was sticking, they freed it up and noted the brake pad on that side was unevenly worn and on that side the brake disc was heating up a fair amount. I also was told the brake fluid was very low, and after they filled it back up, the brakes didn't feel so spongy! Unfortunately this didn't cure the issue, so I took it back. They freed up the rear drivers side caliper, and after spending £170, not having the issues fully fixed, and explaining what happened before purchase, they informed me:

1. At the time of purchase the car had most likely been stuck for a while and the calipers (quite common apparently) had most likely seized up.
2. I informed them about the "99 point check" that the dealership carried out before I bought it and the response was clear the braking system wasn't checked fully
   
   

They suspect the other 2 calipers have issues, and perhaps the brake discs are warped but I cannot afford this messing around any longer.

Now regarding the 28 day warranty, it was within 6 months that I called on the 29th September, and I stated I was experiencing the same faults only to be told by their staff member that I need to go through the RAC warranty. I was told the same thing in January when I called up again.

I finally just sent a long email to them yesterday and got this reply:

"We would not replace one pad and we have in fact replaced both front pads & discs to which we then road tested with no further faults apparent.

Now we have not refused to assist you but merely require following our procedures, so it was advised to attend a local garage for diagnostics then put a claim through your RAC warranty as this comes into effect after your initial 28 days warranty with us also due to the additional faults being reported outside of the 28 warranty. However, we did advise if there were any repair costs that weren’t covered under your RAC warranty to come back to us with estimate of repairs before any repairs go ahead so we can investigate how we can assist.

I am aware of the consumer rights act however due to them being used vehicles dependant on the fault present and the mileage covered since point of sale we can make a reasonable adjustment to the amount refunded so therefore we require an estimate on headed paper with the exact fault, the repair required, the vehicles current mileage and the full costs. 

Once we have the estimate, we will then conclude on how we can assist."

So to sum it up:

1. They didn't fix the car properly within 28 days, and after 28 days refused to look at it. 

2. They told me I had to use my RAC warranty if it was warranty repairable, even within the 6 months, and if it wasn't then they would refund some, all or none of the costs.

What are my rights? Is a dealer allowed to refuse to look at a vehicle and request you get the faults checked elsewhere, even if their repairs weren't correct to fix the fault? Can they refuse to pay for diagnostic repairs within the 6 months, even if another garage finds a fault? They flatout told me they wouldn't do this anyway. 

Note: The warranty only allows parts to be replaced once, the same parts go wrong again you have to pay extra.

I just think's crazy how that's allowed to occur.

Thanks!

Ant555

Pianistinator said:

Note: The warranty only allows parts to be replaced once, the same parts go wrong again you have to pay extra.

Regarding parts being replaced only once - I believe that is an RAC warranty term and from what I read, you have not yet claimed on the RAC policy?

Have the RAC warranty team been involved at any time up to this point?  Was the original attempt at a repair done by the dealership at their cost and the second £170 repair paid by you but carried out by a different Hyundai dealership?

Ectophile

Third-party car warranties only exist to distract you from your consumer rights with the retailer.  They are not intended to pay out on any likely fault.

Typically, they don't pay out on anything they consider to be a "wear and tear" item.  Or any pre-existing faults when you bought the car.  Or anything that's on their exclusion list.

Pianistinator

Ant555 said:

Pianistinator said:

Note: The warranty only allows parts to be replaced once, the same parts go wrong again you have to pay extra.

Regarding parts being replaced only once - I believe that is an RAC warranty term and from what I read, you have not yet claimed on the RAC policy?

Have the RAC warranty team been involved at any time up to this point?  Was the original attempt at a repair done by the dealership at their cost and the second £170 repair paid by you but carried out by a different Hyundai dealership?

I haven't claimed yet on the warranty, and according to the RAC the parts aren't on their warranty anyway. The dealer told me that if it was RAC warranty repairable, I'd have to get it done through them and if not they might pay all / some / none of the costs. 

The Hyundai dealership repairs were off my own back because I was told by the dealer I bought from that I had to go and get it diagnosed elsewhere, and tbh i thought "Oh I'll pay this to fix the issue", and it turns out it still hasn't fixed it.

I just need to know if they've broken the law.