car advice

antwilson

Hi all,

This is really really long so i really really really apologise!

I bought a peugeot 307 in July, on a 53 plate. I got 1 years warranty FOC from the garage, and purchased another year on top at half the RRP.

Ever since I bought the car I have had numerous problems. Yes i know its french but still....:j

The day I got the car, the horn wasnt working. I took the car straight back to the sales person who sold it me and when he got in it was working. So drove back home. The next day it did it again, then 10 minutes later it worked, then 10 minutes later it didnt! So i booked the car in to be looked at a week later. They diagnosed the fault as the horn, so ordered one in for me, and fitted it two weeks later. A few days after it started doing the same thing, so I booked it back in with the garage and they said It would have to go to peugeot main dealer.

Booked in at peugeot dealer, and it was the com2000 (electrical unit) which was faulty, and so was replaced (2 months later!)

In october the car started juddering when I was setting off from a standstill. After trawling google, I was convinced it was a faulty clutch. So i booked the car in, and they had a look and couldnt find anything wrong, so referred me to peugeot as they are a ford main dealer and dont have diagnostic equipment.

Took the car in 2 weeks later to peugeot and had a diagnostic check @ £70 cost to me (wasnt covered under warranty). By this time the car was lacking acceleration, was feeling really sluggish.

Peugeot said they had downloaded some new software to the ECU and updated it. If it continued happening, I was told it would require new valves and cam followers. These werent covered under warranty as they were classed as "sticking valves", and would cost me £800-900

After complaining to the garage i purchased the vehicle from about this, they contacted peugeot themselves, and only then were told there was a cheaper alternative - which required the valves to be fluhsed with synthetic oil, and the oil changing to synthetic oil.

This seemed to cure the problem for approx a week. When I told the garage about this, I was told they would pay £200 towards the cost of repair, but other than that I would have to cover the rest myself.

I then contacted a legal advice line I get through work, who told me to get opinions from 3 different garages about what peugeot had said, and if they all said that it shouldnt happen, the original garage would have to prove the car wasnt like that when I bought it under the sale of goods act. from the 4 i contacted, they all said that modern day engines shouldnt get sticking valves, and they had never ever seen such a thing in the many years of mechanics they had being in.

So i wrote a complaint into the garage detailing everything, and saying they had to prove the car was ok when i bought it. They got back to me saying they were looking into it and would get back to me.

A week later, the car is making a grinding noise from within the engine. I took it straight to the garage, who said it was a leaking water pump, and they said it wasnt safe to drive so gave me a courtesy car there and then. The next day, they said they had looked at it and it was in fact the head gasket leaking. After checking google - this would cause misfires (the juddering i had experienced) and loss of power. Yay i thought, problem solved as its covered under warranty.

The car was in 2 weeks, as the engine had to come out, and the head was skimmed, and replaced. They replaced timing belt at same time due to the engine being out.

The day I got it back, the cars clutch felt really stiff, and when I was pushing on it, it was making a grinding noise. I phoned the garage, and booked it back in (was told it maybe was something which just needs adjusting) and that it would be ok for now. 2 days later, and the noise was getting worse, and was doing it whether the clutch was down or up. I was stood at traffic lights and the noise suddenly stopped, and i pressed accelerator down, and nothing, then I set off and there was an awful squealing sound from then on. I was on the way home (2/3 mile) and within 1/2 a mile of this happening, i got a very strong smell of burning. I drove the car straight to the garage, as the smell was coming from the front of the car.

Left the car with them, and they diagnosed it as the clutch release bearing. They got the warranty company to come and assess, and they said the clutch needed replacing. as a goodwill gesture they agreed to pay half the price of the clutch (as this is a consumable item) and they would pay alll labour. This left me with a price of £100 to pay. The garage agreed to pay this after the complaint i sent in, and as i had already paid £70 to have the car diag checked.

Got the car back a few days later.

This was last month when the headgasket went, and clutch was repaired.

Then 2 weeks ago, I was driving along a road approaching a roundabout, and was changing gear as i was slowing down. the car was making another grinding noise, so i let go of clutch, and then changed to second as i was now at the rounadbout. I pressed on the accelerator to get across the roundabout (thank god no-one was coming!) but there was nothing there. All i could do was roll to a stop (in the middle of the busy rounadbout blocking one of the roads coming onto it! I had to put hazards on and push the car onto the side of the road.
Phoned the breakdown company and they said whoever had fitted the timing belt "needed shooting" as the timing belt had being overtightened and the timing belt pulley had broke through the casing on the engine.
the car was then towed away to the garage. the garage have had it since then, and have diagnosed it as the auxiliary belt pulley. I was told they had not touched this.
the day after i phoned back and was told they were going to replace the auxiliary belt pulley but the "bolt wouldnt come out, so it was tested and seemed ok" The warranty company are therefore refusing to pay for any repair to the car as they have already paid for this job to be done.

The garage are agreeing they are paying for the car to be fixed. They have had the head off the engine, and all 16 valves "are imdented into where the pistons should be and the pistons are all bent"

They are scrapping the engine, and replacing with a new one as it has being deemed to be too expensive to repair.

Now my question is, what would you do if you were me? The garage have always being friendly and helpful, and given me a courtesy car every time, even when i have turned up out of the blue.
I have being told that the mileometer maybe reset to 0, so any potential buyer later on would want to know why a 5 year old + car has extremely low mileage.
Someone else said that this would also go on the logbook so I would have to tell the buyer.

Could this affect future sale value? if so, would it be worthwhile asking for some sort of money back from the value of the car ( I paid £5500)
Also, the car has now being off the road for 6 weeks in just 2 months. Should I also be asking for a proportion of monthly tax/loan for the car amount/insurance back?

I would like to tell them to keep the car and give me everything back or give me something else but Im guessing its too late for that?

Thanks for reading!

goldspanners

you were right,that is a long post,i think i remember you posting about this before?

anyway,the garage do seem to be fair enough with you fixing it everytime,or trying to!
sounds good that you are getting a new engine but i dont understand why your mileage will be reset to 0?
the memory for the mileage will be either stored in the dash board unit or in the main ECU.so why will it be reset? and if it is reset the mileage can be changed to whatever you like as it can be changed via the manufacturers diagnostic software (or any other after market software) so this really shouldnt be a problem.
personally speaking if i was going to buy a car and there was something suspisious about the mileage regardless of what the V5 or the seller says i wouldn't touch it .

hartcjhart

IF they put a brand new engine in the car it would have a small beneficial effect on the value of the car,

I would ask them to reset to zero and write it on the receipt for the engine,keep a copy,and show this to any prospective buyers

as for claiming about tax etc,
They have given you a courtesy car everytime so although not driving your own vehicle you have the use of a car so it negates any loss and in fact saves extra wear and tear on yours so be happy

harveybobbles

Peugeot Comm2000's are prone to packing up. They can be fully repaired (by me) for 50quid.

But Peugeot with a faulty horn is usually the metal contacts on the back of the airbag with need a blob of solder on...

antwilson

Thanks for the replies. I think ill just leave it and hope its good as new then! :beer: