What do we do about new car?

born_again

Dot2dot2 said:

Thanks again for the help. On the basis of talking through the advice here we’re going to buy the car and put some of the balloon payment on a 0% credit card so as not to drain our savings completely. We can then pay that off whilst reducing our monthly payments a lot and not wasting any money on interest.

Check that you can do that. As many finance co's will not take credit card payments. 👍

Dot2dot2

Thanks @born_again I didn’t know that.

Sure enough as soon as we’d made our decision to keep it, the car has developed an exhaust leak. It’s in the garage now and we’re questioning ourselves again!

ian16527

Dot2dot2 said:

Thanks @born_again I didn’t know that.

Sure enough as soon as we’d made our decision to keep it, the car has developed an exhaust leak. It’s in the garage now and we’re questioning ourselves again!

That's normal wear and tear so wouldn't hold that against it.

Dot2dot2

It’s not the exhaust. It’s a (potentially serious) engine problem. You couldn’t make this up! It’s only done 25,000 and is 4 years old. I’m beyond stressed now. This shouldn’t happen right? Worried it will cost thousands to fix. Absolutely panicking. Do we have a leg to stand on if it does turn out to be serious?

[Deleted User]

What engine is it and what's the potentially serious problem?

Grumpy_chap

Dot2dot2 said:

Sure enough as soon as we’d made our decision to keep it, the car has developed an exhaust leak. It’s in the garage now and we’re questioning ourselves again!

Dot2dot2 said:

It’s not the exhaust. It’s a (potentially serious) engine problem. You couldn’t make this up! It’s only done 25,000 and is 4 years old. I’m beyond stressed now. This shouldn’t happen right? Worried it will cost thousands to fix. Absolutely panicking. Do we have a leg to stand on if it does turn out to be serious?

You described the issue as an exhaust leak, but now an engine problem.  Which is it?

As for seriousness, this can be interpreted in different ways.  If you had an exhaust leak and that meant fumes likely to get drawn into the cabin and poison you, that would be potentially serious (in terms of outcome) but might still be relatively low cost to fix.

So, in what way is the engine problem "potentially serious"?  

You are worried it will cost thousands to fix.  What has the garage indicated it will cost to fix?

As for whether you have a leg to stand on, the car is 25k miles 4yo, what was the original manufacturer's warranty?  Was the car fully serviced at main dealer?  These factors will be the greatest influence on whether or not there is anything likely to be done by way of support from VW.

First, though, try not to panic until you know what the issue actually is.

Dot2dot2

Sorry - I meant we’ve just found out it’s not the exhaust as we suspected but the engine. VW couldn’t fit us in until next week so we took it to the garage round the corner for a quick assessment and that’s what they’ve said. They’ve not done anything to it as they recommended VW should do all the work so we can’t know the exact nature of the problem until we get it over there.

It has a full service history and has always been serviced at the dealer that we bought it from. The warranty is three years, hence the feelings of panic! We’re still paying for the car until July when we have to pay the balloon payment.

chrisw

Depending on what the garage say, you need to be pushing for a goodwill repair. Try and get the garage to push for it with VW, but if you get no joy, get on to VW customer services. Your killer point is that it has a full VW service history.

My dealership convinced Volvo to pay for a new engine and clutch in my Volvo at 5 years old (no they don't go on for ever!) on the basis it had a full Volvo service history.

ontheroad1970

Dot2dot2 said:

Sorry - I meant we’ve just found out it’s not the exhaust as we suspected but the engine. VW couldn’t fit us in until next week so we took it to the garage round the corner for a quick assessment and that’s what they’ve said. They’ve not done anything to it as they recommended VW should do all the work so we can’t know the exact nature of the problem until we get it over there.

It has a full service history and has always been serviced at the dealer that we bought it from. The warranty is three years, hence the feelings of panic! We’re still paying for the car until July when we have to pay the balloon payment.

Since you have kept the servicing with main dealer you have a fair chance of a goodwill contribution, provided you ahem kept within the timelines as well as the mileage requirements. 

iwb100

I had an engine failure on a VW Golf where it continually went into limp mode. This was after 4 years and out of warranty. VW did full diagnosis and fix for free as a goodwill gesture. It had always been serviced by them.

Did take two weeks mind but still, didn’t have to pay. So good chance they will do the same for you. But you need to go to your VW dealer, explain the situation and be nice.