Rejecting vehicle

Michael_J

Hi all!

After reading this forum for the past 2 hours, I think Ive got a better understanding of how to write about my issue without upseting anybody, so here it goes:

In July 2021 Ive bought a 15 plate RR with 55k on the clock from a main RR dealership. Price, short of 39k. Paid £500 credit card, and the rest via bank transfer. The purpose for those £500 was to be covered under s75, but now iv found out on this forum that it goes just up to 30k. Nevermind..

On 4th October, I had my first issue with it: big red triangle on dashboard saying "restricted performance". The RR lost its power when accelerating and hardly managed to pull over safely into and Aldi carpark. Iv realised that putting into sport mode and using the flaps will help change gears and made it back home.

Called RR recovery and recovery guy said its a fuel sensor that needs replaced. He temporarely fixed it and I booked the RR for repair. I got there, but they just diagnosed it again, admiting the fault, without fixing it. Obviosly, part not on stock, but because RR is now drivable, I can crak on with my life and expect a call when back in stock. It took them 5 weeks and me emailing to the Land Rover HQ to finally fix it.

On 30th January, another issue: this time, one of those two "pistons" that hold and move the tailgate broke down. RR recovery removed it and could not use the tail gate for 2 weeks. Finally got it repaired.

On 2nd April, Ive realised the mirrors are not folding anymore when locking the car and after a quick inspection, it seemed that one of the back door`s lock wasnt working anymore. RR recovery came again but could not fix it, just showed me how to do it manualy. Every time I exist the car now, I have to fiddle with the door`s lock. Booked it in May for repair.

Today, 9th April, the very same fault as in January "restricted performance" appeared again on my dashboard and the car lost its power. Only this time, when switching off the engine from the ON/OFF button, it still runs for another 4-5 seconds, although everything else is off. Called the RR recovery, coming tomorrow morning to have a look.

Bit of background before the question:

I have bought the car from a main RR dealership just because I wanted nothing dodgy, bearing in mind the sum of money involved. The car was presented to me as "sound" and in "mint" condition. Also, for the same reason, I wanted some warranty and they offered 12 months.

Also, I did my reasearch in terms of MOT, HPI and other stuff. Only thing that looked a bit off, was the fact that in the past 12 months the car had done just 5k. But I thought, well, Im doing just about 10k/year myself so no biggie there, maybe and old chap drove it every now and again to Saynsburys and back

And just to avoid the "you wanna get out of this deal" remarks ..I love the car. I can afford it. I can pay for diesel, road tax and insurance.

BUT...

If it follows this path, it looks that something breaks down every 2 months and Im a bit worried now that this might start a domino effect just after the warranty ends in July. I know from other forums that RRs are a 50/50 chance, but I was hoping im not the unlucky one.

Now, questions are...

Could one reject a car for multiple breakdowns?

Or, if the recovery guy says tomorrow that is the same issue that has been fixed in January, does this constitutes enough grounds for rejecting it?

Can I ask for a different car to replace this one?

If not, can I ask for my money back?

What exactly are my options here? If any...

Thanks in advance!

Car_54

That was a lot of money for a Reliant Robin.

Grumpy_chap

£39k is very cheap for a '15 plate Rolls Royce

daveyjp

I'd put it at a 95:5 chance of having to spend money on a 7 year old car not known for reliability.

Stubod

Well, you are obviously well outside the normal rejection period, so I would guess the best you could hope for is to try and negotiate a "deal" with the garage for them to maybe buy it back/exchange it with the value reduced by how long you have had the car / mileage??

Given all the reports of RR reliabilty it is is not a car I would want to purchase unless I could affor to buy new and change every 3 years...but that's just me?

diystarter7

Stubod said:

Well, you are obviously well outside the normal rejection period, so I would guess the best you could hope for is to try and negotiate a "deal" with the garage for them to maybe buy it back/exchange it with the value reduced by how long you have had the car / mileage??

Given all the reports of RR reliabilty it is is not a car I would want to purchase unless I could affor to buy new and change every 3 years...but that's just me?

I've always wanted a big car like a Landrover, Jeep, etc but the reliability especially for the top of the range Landrover cars is not for the faint-hearted. 

There are so many toys in the top of the spec Lanndrovers that they often have faults, minor faults even when new but fixed under warranty and a replacement car is often provided judging by what other marques do.

A couple of people over the years that work with me stepped up to the old Range Rover Sports and they looked like a million dollars but then the MPG was not what they thought and worst of all, the repair bills and both of the guy's sold them within 12 months. I'd love a big, flash car but reading stuff like this wakes me up to the reality of some top-end big cars.

Stubod

I used to work for a company that supplied JLR and had reason to visit their site at Solihull on a regular basis. Always amazed me the amount of brand new cars they had stored "awaiting repair".

As much as I like the looks etc. I would not touch one with a bargepole, and would certainly never buy out of the 3 year factory warranty.

victor2

That sounds pretty typical for RangeRover "reliability". As long as the dealer is honouring the warranty, I don't think there's a lot you can do beyond asking them to offer you something. They'll be used to horror stories much worse than yours, so I wouldn't hold my breath. You are right to be concerned about what will happen beyond the warranty. Is there an option to extend the warranty, or take the hit and part-ex it for another one with a warranty if you love them that much?

shiraz99

Stubod said:

Well, you are obviously well outside the normal rejection period, so I would guess the best you could hope for is to try and negotiate a "deal" with the garage for them to maybe buy it back/exchange it with the value reduced by how long you have had the car / mileage??

Given all the reports of RR reliabilty it is is not a car I would want to purchase unless I could affor to buy new and change every 3 years...but that's just me?

He still has a final right to reject given that the dealer has made a number of attempts at fixing the car, but he's not going to get his money back, if that's what he's thinking. The dealer will be within their rights to deduct a fair amount for the 8 or so months that the OP has owned the vehicle.

Grumpy_chap

The OP may be able to sell the vehicle in the open market and achieve a satisfactory outcome, finance wise even if left with a bad feeling. That will probably require the current fault solved first.

diystarter7

Selling in the "open market" he may get the money back he paid for it months ago as certain cars used values have rocketed.
However, depending on the next car the OP may want to buy, those too may have rocketed.

OP, the money you have to spend on a used car I can only dream of. If I was you I'd buy a brand new or a car that is about two years old and often left with 2 or more years of manufacturer's warranty. 

Check the reliability index of the next car you may want to by and go along with that.