Astra 55 Plate... Dead End/Duff Car .. Advice please

All_eBayed_Out

:mad:

I am at the point of boiling about this issue which has gone on so long with Vauxhall and a close relative.

My relation has owned an Astra since it was about 4/6 months old. He originally wanted new, but was persuaded by the salesman in the direction of having a reps demo car. What a horrendous mistake!!!!

Every couple/few months or so since then it has had to be taken to vauxhall for the following; breaking down, kangarooing randomly and then engine cutting out, engine cutting out on roundabouts and on various roads. Everything (so they have told us) has been replaced on it and the final thing to be replaced was the petrol tank. Today it has gone wrong again and my relation is having a hip operation in a couple of weeks time (he is 70yrs old), so the car needs sorting out.

In the short term...he does't want this car! He has been too easy with the garage, not strict enough and its time for others to step in and try and sort this out.

Long term...is there any way of getting a breakdown (no pun) of the cars history and how many times it has been to the garage& parts replaced, from Vauxhall?(freedom of information act?). He has not kept accurate record of this. My prediction is that Vauxhall will give him a NAFF deal now the car is older if he says he wants to get another one and the fact he has let this go on for sooo long. So, jumping the gun a bit, perhaps legal action would be an option?

Any suggestions people can offer? Thanks.

hartcjhart

Vauxhall will be able to give you a print out of all the work done BUT they may try and make a charge to put you off,Im not really sure how you will stand on a refund after the ammount of time BUT ask them to give him a refund. If they say no then suggest to them that you are going to the local press and raise peoples awareness of the shoddy customer care that they have shown to an old man that is having a hip op and needs a reliable car

vansboy

You do need to have the info, to state your case accuratly & the repairing dealer ought to be willing to provide this, swiftly & without charge.

You do need to have a proper discussion with the dealer - it'll help if it was the same one repairing it, that sold it to your relation & even better if they supplied it originally.

You'll then be in a better position to access any faults/rectification work carried out BEFORE you owned it. If there is some previous problems, similar to what is being experienced now, then this is excellent ammunition to go for being sold a vehicle 'not of merchantable quality'.

If they claim not to have carried out any prior work, get them to give this to you in writing. If they didn't supply originally, check with previous owner on the V5 registration document. Ask them. Chances are it'll be GMAC - Vauxhalls finace company - & you won't get anywhere, although, again, they should supply you with written confirmation of any work they had done & the vehicles reported faults.

Do talk to the dealer formally, make an appointment to see the sales manager & give them your views. See what they come up with, but don't readily expect what you paid for it back, see if they'll offer an acceptable allowance against another car. This'll be the quickest solution for everyone.

VB

jeannieblue

Its under warranty still. If the dealer is not sorting out the problem then I recommend you contact Vauxhall direct. They may suggest you go to another dealer for a second opinion.

I wrote to the manufacturers of a previous car I had - for two years it never got sorted and the warranty was about to run out - I wrote and said that their dealerships were letting them down. Told them the problems I was having, I got my colleagues to diagnose the problem in the end and I paid for the replacement part myself.

The manufacturers were brilliant and refunded me the money and couldn't apologise enough.

I'm not suggesting this route for you - but strongly recommend you contact Vauxhall - google them and find their customer relations telephone number and write to them too. Good luck.

deltic_2

jeannieblue wrote: »

Its under warranty still. If the dealer is not sorting out the problem then I recommend you contact Vauxhall direct. They may suggest you go to another dealer for a second opinion.

I wrote to the manufacturers of a previous car I had - for two years it never got sorted and the warranty was about to run out - I wrote and said that their dealerships were letting them down. Told them the problems I was having, I got my colleagues to diagnose the problem in the end and I paid for the replacement part myself.

The manufacturers were brilliant and refunded me the money and couldn't apologise enough.

I'm not suggesting this route for you - but strongly recommend you contact Vauxhall - google them and find their customer relations telephone number and write to them too. Good luck.

Good advice. Also ask Vauxhall if they have a 'Service Engineer' of their own who can come and work with the dealer to fix it. Many larger manufacturers have people specially employed to work with dealers on difficult to fix cars.

jeannieblue

deltic wrote: »

Good advice. Also ask Vauxhall if they have a 'Service Engineer' of their own who can come and work with the dealer to fix it. Many larger manufacturers have people specially employed to work with dealers on difficult to fix cars.

Brilliant idea - regret didn't think of it myself!