Evanshalshaw Vauxhall have had my car in awaiting a new engine for nearly 4 Months

fek24

Hi,
I'm having issues with my Vauxhall Zafira Tourer, It has been in the dealership since October 16th 2023 awaiting a new engine which is covered by warranty which I purchased at the time of sale.
I do receive a very brief text message update every so often which reads as follows
Middlesbrough Service: Engine is still on back order, Due to shortage, No dates for part. Sorry for the delay.
The garage it is at is not the branch I purchased from and they have been really nice and always appear to be understanding about my situation however when I have asked about them giving me a courtesy car I am met with the same answer that they don't have any available and that there is a long list of people waiting for one and that my warranty does not cover me for one unless my car is in the garage and being worked on.
I have told them that I require a car as part of my job and I am currently using my partners which is causing her an inconvenience.
I have SORN the car as it cannot move from the garage but I am still fully insured and also maintaining the finance all for something I currently cannot use.
Does anyone have any advice on what I should be doing, I have already looked into rejecting the car as it is no longer fit for purpose and that I have lost complete confidence in it  but I have been told by the finance company that I have to allow them to fix the issue with the car but I am now concerned that I may be waiting for something that is looking likely not to appear.

Any advice or help much appreciated

born_again

fek24 said:

Hi,
I'm having issues with my Vauxhall Zafira Tourer, It has been in the dealership since October 16th 2023 awaiting a new engine which is covered by warranty which I purchased at the time of sale.
I do receive a very brief text message update every so often which reads as follows
Middlesbrough Service: Engine is still on back order, Due to shortage, No dates for part. Sorry for the delay.
The garage it is at is not the branch I purchased from and they have been really nice and always appear to be understanding about my situation however when I have asked about them giving me a courtesy car I am met with the same answer that they don't have any available and that there is a long list of people waiting for one and that my warranty does not cover me for one unless my car is in the garage and being worked on.
I have told them that I require a car as part of my job and I am currently using my partners which is causing her an inconvenience.
I have SORN the car as it cannot move from the garage but I am still fully insured and also maintaining the finance all for something I currently cannot use.
Does anyone have any advice on what I should be doing, I have already looked into rejecting the car as it is no longer fit for purpose and that I have lost complete confidence in it  but I have been told by the finance company that I have to allow them to fix the issue with the car but I am now concerned that I may be waiting for something that is looking likely not to appear.

Any advice or help much appreciated

How old is the car, mileage etc.
Purchased new or 2nd hand, when or finance or funded another way?

ArbitraryRandom

As above, some more detail would help. 

I would be interested in knowing how long ago you tried to reject the car with the finance company and how long it had been since you reported the fault - if it was a while ago it might be worth another attempt as the consumer rights act says any repair must be undertaken within a reasonable time and without undue inconvenience for the customer (paraphrasing - it's 2(a) here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/23).

I'm not sure what would count as 'reasonable time' for these purposes. 

fek24

The car is 2016 plate,
60000 miles,
full Vauxhall service history,
Purchased 2nd Hand,
Garage Finance through Black Horse then refinanced for a better deal on a personal Loan.
I took ownership of the car in May 2023.
Had an initial problem within the first 2 days where the speedometer dropped to zero whilst I was driving so I took it in to get a check and for some unknown reason it reset itself and started to work again. 
In around July/August time I was traveling on the motorway and had to slow down to around 50mph whilst overtaking another vehicle and when I went to accelerate again there was no power speed just maintained at 50 then gradually creeped back up to 70 over about 5 miles, the first time I didn't think to much of it but then it happened again and put me in a dangerous situation so I took the car in to the same garage and they discovered a slipping clutch whilst it was in the garage I also took the opportunity to snag some other issue I had with it rumbling from front driver side, washer jets not working at rear and weak on the front all in all they fix all the issues at the cost of the branch that sold me the car they had my car from around the 5th September until the 3rd of October 2023.
Repairs Done:
New front Discs and Pads / New Flywheel / Jet Washers Front and Rear Fixed & New Clutch

I had the car back for a 12 days and then the Engine went.

I raised the right to cancel almost as soon as they told me the Engine needed replacing so this was around 16th/17th October and in all fairness to the finance company they upheld part of my claim and have given me some compensation for inconvenience but that they would not allow the right to cancel as I had to give the garage the opportunity to fix the problem first which I suppose is fair but that wasn't what I was after all I wanted was a car that allowed me to go about my day to day life and I would have been happy with that and quite happily wait for my car to be fixed.
Again finance company were fairly straight forward and easy to deal with, I did stress about what should I do if the garage has the car for 6 months or and they said get back in touch as they would review the compensation and that was it really which left me feeling like I may be trapped with a car I may never get back.

ArbitraryRandom

I raised the right to cancel almost as soon as they told me the Engine needed replacing 

I would recommend contacting the finance company again and saying that it's now been several months, the garage have been unable/unwilling to give you a deadline for the repair, and they have refused you a courtesy car which means the delay is causing you significant inconvenience; as such you are exercising your right to final refusal under the consumer credit act (Section 24(5)(c)) 

They may come back saying you have to wait longer - at which point I'd think you're in a good position push them to agree a date for the repairs to be complete and to pay for a courtesy car. 

fek24

Thank you born_again & ArbitraryRandom for you responses, I will keep this post updated on any further issues or outcomes hopefully I will get it sorted soon.

timjim

OP says "Garage Finance through Black Horse then refinanced for a better deal on a personal Loan"
so would the finance company have any responsibility?