Car rights

Vik91

Hi looking for some advice.
I have an electric corsa bought new 1 yr old on a pcp.
I took it for a service at Arnold Clark and they have given me a courtesy car stating that when they were doing a software update (car was recalled for software update ) the car would not start and they would need to call Vauxhall company.
I don’t have much faith in my corsa and not sure of my rights with regards to giving up the car and handing the keys back and I am aware I am not half way through my pcp

Ayr_Rage

Your reaction seems a little OTT, I am sure they will be able to flash the software and get it working.

If that is the only issue why do you have little faith in your car ?

You cannot walk away from a PCP half way through, you need to have paid 50% of the total cost, including the balloon/MGFV before you can do that.

Keep_pedalling

You are way past the time where you could reject the car. Apart from the software issue, have you had any other issues with the car? These software glitches seem to be all too common with modern cars which seem to have become computers with a motor or engine attached.

Bigwheels1111

As a 1 off issue I would think you are stuck with it for now.

My dad had a motobility Merc 3 or so years back.

It went back to merc over 20 times, 11 on a tow truch from memory.

2 or 3 new auto boxes, 4 new comps, New radio and front clocks, discs and pads all round, new rear handbrake and a few other thing.

All before the car was 14 months old.

Motobility made them take the car back.

Now he has a Focus estate and no problems.

baser999

Friend had issues with his Merc many years ago, constantly back and forth to the dealer with little problems.He maintained that although it was supposedly a premium brand the models at the bottom end of the range were no better that the more popular brands. If you wanted to experience the true premium quality you certainly had to buy the more expensive models

Goudy

At this moment in time, you have little rights to hand the keys back and walk away.

You can voluntary terminate a PCP contract once you have paid off 50% of the total.
That total includes the balloon payment and all the interest on that finance.

So you could pay a lump sump now to get to that 50%, then hand the keys back and walk away, but it's not really financially viable. 

But it's not all bad news as you have rights with regards to the warranty.
The vehicle is still in it's manufacturers warranty and as it's appears an obvious manufacturers fault, they are responsible for all the parts and labour to fix that even if that means ripping the guts out of the bodyshell and replacing everything within it.
That might not be the case if it was outside it's warranty, no matter how much you still owed on it.

They have also been good enough to loan you a car, they don't really have to do that.
It is accepted practise these days to loan out cars for work like this but I doubt you'll find anything written in any warranty or contract that a loan car is guaranteed. 

Unfortunately these types of things happen more often than you realises, but it's hasn't left you out of pocket really, the situation could have been far worse if it was out of warranty, even if you thought the problem was the dealers fault, you aren't really in a position to prove it.

Hopefully they are waiting on a Vauxhall tech to either visit or give them advise, then there will be the usual procrastinating about what's needed and who pays for it.
So sit back and enjoy piling miles on the loan car rather than your own as you are actually in a better position than you think.

DullGreyGuy

baser999 said:

Friend had issues with his Merc many years ago, constantly back and forth to the dealer with little problems.He maintained that although it was supposedly a premium brand the models at the bottom end of the range were no better that the more popular brands. If you wanted to experience the true premium quality you certainly had to buy the more expensive models

There was always the urban myth that the bottom end cars were built under license rather than by Merc but no idea if that was ever true and when it stopped if it was. 

It's been a while since I've done it but if you try and match a Ford Focus to an A class in terms engine size, interior materials etc the price difference isnt vast. Knock off the cost of nicer show rooms etc and so not much to play with when it comes to more durable materials or more man hours in checking for issues etc. 

Personally with my Mercedes the only two issues we had were seatbelts jamming and having to be replaced and alloys delaminating but I suspect the later was caused by damage when changing tyres (not that I told them that)

Goudy

It might be better to match a Mercedes A class to a Renault or Nissan.

The petrol 1332cc A Class engine, the M282 is the same as the Renault H5Ht and the Nissan HR13DDT, it was designed under a Renault/Nissan/Mitsubishi alliance which Mercedes collaborated on.

7 speed dual clutch gearbox is the same 7DCT300 gearbox you find in Renaults and a few other manufacturers vehicles and is made by Getrag.

The Mercedes 1.5 diesel OM608 engine is another Renault/Nissan/Mitsubishi alliance product but a bought in one, there was no collaboration by Mercedes, though they did fit it with their own ECU and stop/start system.

You'd think Mercedes might have gotten hold of the Renault E Tech Hybrid system for the A Class as they share so much under the bonnet but Mercedes weren't part of development for that.

Nissan wasn't either but they have realigned their partnership and managed to get hold of it for some of their models.