Vehicle Rejection

jefaz07

Good afternoon all, ill try to make this as brief as possible. 

I purchased an approved used car from a large chain in June 2025 - this came with 1 year manufactures warranty. 

2 weeks in, I had issues with the main media screen not working and a control panel containing a finger print sensor not working. I booked into the garage and the panel was replaced and some updates to the car done. 

Since then, it’s been in multiple times for various issues, some still including the main media screen. 

Christmas Eve the car started being funny again, booked in for 2nd Jan to be looked at, on the way to the dealership the main screen went funny again (to the point it’s unusable) 
I asked for a member of staff to come out and view the screen so they can see what it is doing. 

I received the car back around 6th Jan. 

This morning, the screen went again, so o drove to the dealership as a ‘walk in’
i was told that I’d have to pay for it to be diagnosed as it’s not covered under the warranty (they suspect wiring) 
 

I know the 6 month rule about if there is a fault it was considered present when the car was sold, but after 6 months the onus is on me to prove it was there…I have now just reached 7 months. 

My question is as the fault with the screen was reported 2 weeks after purchase, and they have had the car multiple times since then, would the onus be on me to prove it was there at purchase? 

Or would the time limit not apply for the fault as it’s been reported multiple times in the 6 month since purchase? 

MyRealNameToo

I would say it's technically up to you to prove it but in practice many vendors will deal with it the same and still inspect it themselves rather than having you get someone else to inspect it. 

jefaz07

MyRealNameToo said:

I would say it's technically up to you to prove it but in practice many vendors will deal with it the same and still inspect it themselves rather than having you get someone else to inspect it. 

Thank you for your insight. I was hoping as it’s a recurrent problem starting from 2 weeks after purchase that would be proof enough to suggest it’s been there from purchase. 

Mercedes have had it in for the same issue 4 times. 

visidigi

I think they might be saying you have to pay to determine - not to resolve. If they find the problem is something warranty related then they should not charge, if they find say an animal has chewed the wiring harness this is not covered under warranty.

Garage is merely covering themselves in case the cause is determined to be outside of the warranty coverage. So it doesnt matter if you reported it before, its that they don't want to invest time in it if they won't get paid for it.

Understandable really and other German brands have the same policy...(BMW/VW etc).

born_again

visidigi said:

I think they might be saying you have to pay to determine - not to resolve. If they find the problem is something warranty related then they should not charge, if they find say an animal has chewed the wiring harness this is not covered under warranty.

Garage is merely covering themselves in case the cause is determined to be outside of the warranty coverage. So it doesnt matter if you reported it before, its that they don't want to invest time in it if they won't get paid for it.

Understandable really and other German brands have the same policy...(BMW/VW etc).

Especially if they are a franchise, where manufacture will not pay them at all, unless it is warranty work.

Yet again a car post, but no car details?

Markdavid1962

I had a similar issue with a Mercedes GLC, the screen would go black and sometimes would come back after  24 hours, we ended up having a portable satnav innthe car, it also went in to the dealership multiple times.

Have you checked its not a common issue on the user forum

Aylesbury_Duck

I'm not looking forward to the day when my next used car has one of these screens for media and other controls.  They sound like more trouble than they're worth.

jefaz07

born_again said:

visidigi said:

I think they might be saying you have to pay to determine - not to resolve. If they find the problem is something warranty related then they should not charge, if they find say an animal has chewed the wiring harness this is not covered under warranty.

Garage is merely covering themselves in case the cause is determined to be outside of the warranty coverage. So it doesnt matter if you reported it before, its that they don't want to invest time in it if they won't get paid for it.

Understandable really and other German brands have the same policy...(BMW/VW etc).

Especially if they are a franchise, where manufacture will not pay them at all, unless it is warranty work.

Yet again a car post, but no car details?

Sorry, it’s a Mercedes c300d

jefaz07

visidigi said:

I think they might be saying you have to pay to determine - not to resolve. If they find the problem is something warranty related then they should not charge, if they find say an animal has chewed the wiring harness this is not covered under warranty.

Garage is merely covering themselves in case the cause is determined to be outside of the warranty coverage. So it doesnt matter if you reported it before, its that they don't want to invest time in it if they won't get paid for it.

Understandable really and other German brands have the same policy...(BMW/VW etc).

I suppose what I’m wondering is the 6 month to reject the car still valid, even though I’ve had the car nearly 7. 

I have read that the time essentially stops when they have the car to stop a dealership stringing it out to go over the 6 months. 

The screen issues were reported after 2 weeks. And has been in multiple times to ‘fix’ it. The same fault as in week 2 still exists. 

Now they have said about the diagnostic charge and if it’s wiring then I will have to pay. So I’m going to attempt to reject the car, via finance company that the fault was there after 2 weeks, I have made it viable to be repaired and after a few attempts this hasn’t happened. 

Strange how they have never told me it’s not covered/diagnostic charges the other times it’s been in. 

visidigi

jefaz07 said:

visidigi said:

I think they might be saying you have to pay to determine - not to resolve. If they find the problem is something warranty related then they should not charge, if they find say an animal has chewed the wiring harness this is not covered under warranty.

Garage is merely covering themselves in case the cause is determined to be outside of the warranty coverage. So it doesnt matter if you reported it before, its that they don't want to invest time in it if they won't get paid for it.

Understandable really and other German brands have the same policy...(BMW/VW etc).

I suppose what I’m wondering is the 6 month to reject the car still valid, even though I’ve had the car nearly 7. 

I have read that the time essentially stops when they have the car to stop a dealership stringing it out to go over the 6 months. 

The screen issues were reported after 2 weeks. And has been in multiple times to ‘fix’ it. The same fault as in week 2 still exists. 

Now they have said about the diagnostic charge and if it’s wiring then I will have to pay. So I’m going to attempt to reject the car, via finance company that the fault was there after 2 weeks, I have made it viable to be repaired and after a few attempts this hasn’t happened. 

Strange how they have never told me it’s not covered/diagnostic charges the other times it’s been in. 

Most likely because replacing the electronic parts is covered by warranty and there is low risk to them being paid. Now I guess they have replaced all those parts and as such are left with the high likelihood its wiring (on the basis everything else has been tried).

So its a C300D, age? mileage? There is of course the issue that although this happened within the first weeks if its chewed wiring then its not going to be grounds for rejection.

jefaz07

visidigi said:

jefaz07 said:

visidigi said:

I think they might be saying you have to pay to determine - not to resolve. If they find the problem is something warranty related then they should not charge, if they find say an animal has chewed the wiring harness this is not covered under warranty.

Garage is merely covering themselves in case the cause is determined to be outside of the warranty coverage. So it doesnt matter if you reported it before, its that they don't want to invest time in it if they won't get paid for it.

Understandable really and other German brands have the same policy...(BMW/VW etc).

I suppose what I’m wondering is the 6 month to reject the car still valid, even though I’ve had the car nearly 7. 

I have read that the time essentially stops when they have the car to stop a dealership stringing it out to go over the 6 months. 

The screen issues were reported after 2 weeks. And has been in multiple times to ‘fix’ it. The same fault as in week 2 still exists. 

Now they have said about the diagnostic charge and if it’s wiring then I will have to pay. So I’m going to attempt to reject the car, via finance company that the fault was there after 2 weeks, I have made it viable to be repaired and after a few attempts this hasn’t happened. 

Strange how they have never told me it’s not covered/diagnostic charges the other times it’s been in. 

Most likely because replacing the electronic parts is covered by warranty and there is low risk to them being paid. Now I guess they have replaced all those parts and as such are left with the high likelihood its wiring (on the basis everything else has been tried).

So it’s a C300D, age? mileage? There is of course the issue that although this happened within the first weeks if its chewed wiring then its not going to be grounds for rejection.

Thanks again for your reply. It’s 2022 and 30,000 miles currently. 

Looking back on emails that I have had to send to the finance company, it was 6 days before I emailed them describing the problems and attaching videos and images of the issues. 

If the same fault exists from day 6 then they haven’t fixed it, I also got the warranty cards and about £800 has been spent on this issue so far. But essentially no change. 

I’d expect an issue like this, that has had 4 visits to the dealership to have been diagnosed. Surely checking the wiring is a fundamental investigation of any piece of hardware not working?

And please don’t get too hung up on the word ‘wiring’
They had just stated that if it is that, it’s chargeable, not that it was that at fault.