New car electrical failure

knobblyned

Morning all,

We bought a brand new car in November last year from a main dealer, so approximately 4 months old. It has only done a few hundred miles. My wife was driving it on Sunday when it suffered a complete electrical failure. Power steering shut off, engine shut off and there was a horrible grinding noise from somewhere as it came to a halt.

Luckily this happened on small residential road not far from the house so was manageable. Had it happened on the motorway, pulling out at a junction or going round a roundabout etc it could have been quite dangerous.

The car then seemed to reset itself and she was able to bring the car home.  We are now obviously worried about driving it again and want whatever fault it has remedied.  And to find out what the grinding noise was and whether any damage was caused.

Just before I approach the dealer I wanted to check my rights under the CRA and what I should expect them to do, and if there is anything I need to say along those lines. Ie if they offer me a repair under warranty do I need to make it clear that I am asking for a repair as my right under the CRA rather than a warranty repair?

I’m just conscious of the fact that electrical faults can be difficult to diagnose, and should they fail to repair, or it happens again, would I then have the right to reject?

thanks!

fatbelly

At this point assume the dealer will sort it out rather than asserting your rights.

However, within 6 months it is the seller's responsibility should there be a dispute, to prove that the vehicle was fit for purpose, as described and of satisfactory quality

Alderbank

As above, see what the dealer says.
They should be able to get information about what happened from the car's computer.

If you share make and model with us we might be able to give more specific help.

m0bov

Get it recovered and booked in ASAP before you start asserting rights to the dealer. You want the dealer onside. Do you have dash cam footage or anything? Its up to the dealer to prove there is no fault, rather than you proving the fault.