Car rejection nightmare!!

DrEskimo

Boot28 said:

DrEskimo said:

It’s ridiculous you are not getting offered a courtesy car. 

I had an issue (not too dissimilar) with my Zoe that led to it being with the Renault garage for around 5/6 months. This was a 7yr old used car and I was offered a brand new Renault Megane electric that I had as a courtesy car whilst it was repaired. 

I would be pushing hard for one or equivalence from Vauxhall. 

Tell me about it! I have tried hard, it completely ruined our Xmas having no vehicle, Vauxhall customer services would take the call, tell me someone would call me back or to ring the next day as an advisor not available… I’d call the next day and their lines would be closed for the weekend….

RAC said they can’t provide for Vauxhall as it’s down to them, in the end they did try hard and did manage to get some ‘Vauxhall accounts manager’ to authorise it and for it to be dropped off the next morning via something called free2move, son got all exited we could finally do some of our Xmas plans, the next day the car never showed up, called them back and they said there was an issue and will look into it and call back… which they never did.

I had a blood clot in my calf last year and was still recovering from it, I was left stranded in another town after the car was towed back to them the second time and had to walk 4.5 miles before I could find an UBER to get me the rest of the way home, they just didn’t care.

RAC and lease company state it’s the manufacturer to provide, Vauxhall garage said none was available, when one is I’d be charged £18 a day, that then changed to them saying they can’t provide one unless a part is on back order, saying it’s up to my lease company.

Vauxhall customer services said they can’t provide one until the garage has looked at it, then that changed to saying they can’t provide one as there has been no warranty claim submitted from the garage (despite parts being fitted), the garage said they can’t submit a claim as they are waiting for Vauxhall technical to tell them what to try next…. honestly hours and hours getting through to people on hold and I got absolutely no where it was so stressful. The lease company also suggested I should try push vauxhall harder, which I find ridiculous as it’s their car! 
At the beginning of the complaint 17 weeks ago they even described the whole situation as a nightmare in an email, that was before having the car away for 97 days, nearly £3k in hire payments and it breaking down again. 

I just wanted the money I’d lost from having to hire cars, and the lease ending as I genuinely can’t use that vehicle for fear of it cutting out dangerously again.

I can only sympathise...sounds like a complete nightmare.

By Vauxhall garage, I presume you mean whatever local franchise dealership is near you? Only idea I can offer that you aren't already doing/have done is to try a different dealership?

There is massive variation across dealership franchises and even within. I would be tempted to ring another dealership not too far and ask them if they can help - particularly one that has expertise in their EV range.

Might also be worth going to a Vauxhall specific forum to ask for recommendations. Or you can try SpeakEV forum and the specific Vauxhall car section.

Boot28

ontheroad1970 said:

You are paying them to hire their car as it is by definition they should br giving you an alternative since you aren't getting what you are paying for (assuming it is a full lease and not a PCP)

You would of thought so, but this latest breakdown they stated there’s nothing they can do about hiring one for me so said I should sort out another hire vehicle from the same place - £260 costs for 2 weeks plus a £750 deposit… that’s on top of the £2600 the previous hire car cost!

Seasalt3

Might be worth getting in touch with a consumer TV programme such as Rip off Britain to see if they can help

Boot28

DrEskimo said:

Boot28 said:

DrEskimo said:

It’s ridiculous you are not getting offered a courtesy car. 

I had an issue (not too dissimilar) with my Zoe that led to it being with the Renault garage for around 5/6 months. This was a 7yr old used car and I was offered a brand new Renault Megane electric that I had as a courtesy car whilst it was repaired. 

I would be pushing hard for one or equivalence from Vauxhall. 

Tell me about it! I have tried hard, it completely ruined our Xmas having no vehicle, Vauxhall customer services would take the call, tell me someone would call me back or to ring the next day as an advisor not available… I’d call the next day and their lines would be closed for the weekend….

RAC said they can’t provide for Vauxhall as it’s down to them, in the end they did try hard and did manage to get some ‘Vauxhall accounts manager’ to authorise it and for it to be dropped off the next morning via something called free2move, son got all exited we could finally do some of our Xmas plans, the next day the car never showed up, called them back and they said there was an issue and will look into it and call back… which they never did.

I had a blood clot in my calf last year and was still recovering from it, I was left stranded in another town after the car was towed back to them the second time and had to walk 4.5 miles before I could find an UBER to get me the rest of the way home, they just didn’t care.

RAC and lease company state it’s the manufacturer to provide, Vauxhall garage said none was available, when one is I’d be charged £18 a day, that then changed to them saying they can’t provide one unless a part is on back order, saying it’s up to my lease company.

Vauxhall customer services said they can’t provide one until the garage has looked at it, then that changed to saying they can’t provide one as there has been no warranty claim submitted from the garage (despite parts being fitted), the garage said they can’t submit a claim as they are waiting for Vauxhall technical to tell them what to try next…. honestly hours and hours getting through to people on hold and I got absolutely no where it was so stressful. The lease company also suggested I should try push vauxhall harder, which I find ridiculous as it’s their car! 
At the beginning of the complaint 17 weeks ago they even described the whole situation as a nightmare in an email, that was before having the car away for 97 days, nearly £3k in hire payments and it breaking down again. 

I just wanted the money I’d lost from having to hire cars, and the lease ending as I genuinely can’t use that vehicle for fear of it cutting out dangerously again.

I can only sympathise...sounds like a complete nightmare.

By Vauxhall garage, I presume you mean whatever local franchise dealership is near you? Only idea I can offer that you aren't already doing/have done is to try a different dealership?

There is massive variation across dealership franchises and even within. I would be tempted to ring another dealership not too far and ask them if they can help - particularly one that has expertise in their EV range.

Might also be worth going to a Vauxhall specific forum to ask for recommendations. Or you can try SpeakEV forum and the specific Vauxhall car section.

Thank you, it’s absolutely a nightmare! 

Yes the dealership franchise, however it’s not the local one, it was just the one who had the least wait time. I think your just treated like rubbish by them as I didn’t buy the car from them with it being a lease.

Thank you for the suggestions, though I was told last week after the last breakdown that a Dekra inspection would be happening at my home address so it’s currently sat in my parking space. I can’t ever use that vehicle again it’s awful when it cuts out without warning and leaves you stranded for hours causing traffic, and it’s happened multiple times. If Vauxhall technical after 97 days can’t fix it then I’ve no hope or faith in any other repairs.

Boot28

Seasalt3 said:

Might be worth getting in touch with a consumer TV programme such as Rip off Britain to see if they can help

That’s actually a really good idea, I’ll look into that thank you! I may also try the local MP, Hopefully a big company causing financial distress and breaching consumer rights would grab their attention? 

photome

Is this a full lease car or a PCP

if its a full lease who is it leased from ?  If it is then they should be sorting it and winding back the contract IMO

if is a PCP then the finance company needs to get involved 

Boot28

photome said:

Is this a full lease car or a PCP

if its a full lease who is it leased from ?  If it is then they should be sorting it and winding back the contract IMO

if is a PCP then the finance company needs to get involved 

It’s a full lease - PCH over 3 years

The company and contract/ payments go to Drivalia - I told them 17 weeks ago (after the 3rd breakdown), again 9 weeks ago when they finally contacted me about the complaint and in further emails that I refuse the vehicle, but they waited until the car was fixed after 97 days to say Vauxhall have refused the refusal, and I need to pick the car up or I could be charged storage fees by the garage.

WellKnownSid

paul_c123 said:

Its an electric. No wonder RAC are unable to diagnose, simply plugging in and printing off the results of a diagnostic scan by the sounds of it.

And it sounds like the local Vauxhall dealer are clueless too.

There's a few electric specialists around, but at that age of car, and with a lease, you're better off out. Lease company should fully unwind the lease given the time the first instance of the fault occurred and the failure to resolve. But it looks like you might need to go down the complaint route, wait 8 weeks then get the Financial Ombudsman involved.

The issue is that not every tech in a main dealer will have the qualifications to even touch a full hybrid or EV let alone diagnose it.

My son told me of a car he was working on some months ago - recovered in with 10 miles on the clock.  Similar story "it just cut out" which it did 20-30 times trying to get the thing into the workshop.  He found the grounding stud had been threaded when the -ve battery lead had been attached to the chassis at the factory - it just spun around and didn't clamp anything.  That car would have cost over £50k.

I wasn't sure that a lease car would come under the exact same consumer rights as an outright purchase but a bit of Googling confirms that is definitely the case.

Boot28

WellKnownSid said:

paul_c123 said:

Its an electric. No wonder RAC are unable to diagnose, simply plugging in and printing off the results of a diagnostic scan by the sounds of it.

And it sounds like the local Vauxhall dealer are clueless too.

There's a few electric specialists around, but at that age of car, and with a lease, you're better off out. Lease company should fully unwind the lease given the time the first instance of the fault occurred and the failure to resolve. But it looks like you might need to go down the complaint route, wait 8 weeks then get the Financial Ombudsman involved.

The issue is that not every tech in a main dealer will have the qualifications to even touch a full hybrid or EV let alone diagnose it.

My son told me of a car he was working on some months ago - recovered in with 10 miles on the clock.  Similar story "it just cut out" which it did 20-30 times trying to get the thing into the workshop.  He found the grounding stud had been threaded when the -ve battery lead had been attached to the chassis at the factory - it just spun around and didn't clamp anything.  That car would have cost over £50k.

I wasn't sure that a lease car would come under the exact same consumer rights as an outright purchase but a bit of Googling confirms that is definitely the case.

Yes I completely agree, it just seems wrong they can sell so many electric cars but not have the capacity to repair them, initially they wanted me to wait something like 6 weeks until looking at the vehicle, that’s why I chose a different garage further away as it was closer.

Wow it’s shocking that faults like that happen straight from the factory. The RAC bloke struggled to enter my mileage into his tablet as it was so low and it wouldn’t accept it!

it’s slightly different but the same consumer rights apply about it being roadworthy, fault free and satisfactory etc (broke down after just 13 days from new)

it’s also concerning that they said I couldn’t reject the car because Vauxhall said no - despite my contract being with them and not Vauxhall 

baser999

Seems dealers don’t want to know nowadays. My son bought a new Citroen 7-seater four years ago and had a few initial issues - tailgate and sliding electric doors intermittent faults, seats not sliding as they should, seatbelts, which the dealer dealt with. Past three years he’s had no end of adblue problems - warning lights on and limp mode kicks in. He’s a freelance (mainly with the BBC) and travels around between various sporting venues, may be Murrayfield for rugby then MOTD in Salford the next day so a reliable vehicles essential. The vehicle’s broken down between sites, whilst family (4 children under 12) have been in Europe, visiting family in Ireland and local journeys such as school runs, shopping. Dealers take it back for several weeks and either say there’s nothing wrong, or it’s been repaired only for it to break down again a few days later. Dealers had it over Christmas on the understanding he needed to get to Ireland on 28th, it was returned on 27th and yes broke down getting off the ferry. Dealers in Ireland looked at it in the NY, effected a repair to get them back home to the dealers. It languished there for six weeks. Nothing wrong sir, yet broke down days later on the north circular. Never ever been offered a courtesy car, seems they don’t have a 7-seater. He’s spent £££ on hiring cars, lost work that he can’t risk taking. Nightmare. Finance company offered him 3 months refund of his PCP costs. Dealers not bothered, customer care department (whoever gave them that name 😂) of no real assistance. Now his 4 year contract is up he’s been asked to pay a lump sum and take on the car or return it. He’s refused to pay the lump sum, why would he want to take on the car, and as the cars presently with the dealers they’ll no doubt say there’s nothing wrong with it and assume he’s given it up. 

In the meantime he’s had to go and buy a replacement family car.
Angry doesn’t describe how he feels. Incident has pretty much destroyed him and his family emotionally and financially