Car/garage advice please

beckstrous

Am really hoping someone can give me some quick advice. Usually I ask my dad (ex-mechanic) about cars but he is currently in a plane somewhere.

Two months ago I bought a 2003 Polo, ploughing £4500 into it. That was every penny of my ISA bar £9 so basically ALL of my savings. I needed it to be perfect; I had saved since before Christmas.

I went with a garage approved by Trading Standards. As soon as I got home the car had various problems with the central locking, radio and EPC/Exhaust Emission warning light. The central locking and radio are fixed but the warning lights keep coming on. I got the car back from its fourth trip to the garage yesterday. It had been in the garage 2 weeks. They replaced the throttle body and said it had been road tested and the light had not come back on. But as soon as I started it up this morning it came on again. Yesterday they were saying they'd replaced so many things, and the light was coming on only intermittently (and not at all for them - they said they had driven it 300 miles and it had not come on). So they said if it came on again, they would just disconnect the light and not attempt to repair.

I do appreciate that whatever part they last got was expensive (I have not paid for any of the repairs done) but disconnecting the light is not fixing it...I am not sure this is acceptable and actually wish that I had not bought the car.

I am waiting for the garage to phone me but would really appreciate any advice as I am not confident about cars, and whilst they seem nice enough I am worried they may bamboozle me into accepting a non-repair. I don't even know if I want this car anymore; I wish I had not bought it.

tomstickland

Have they changed the Lambda sensor (exhaust gas sensor)?
It's not acceptable to just disconnect the light.
How about getting a main dealer to run their diagnostics over it?

cyclonebri1

Hi, I take it from what you say that this is the engine management warning light?

That last thing you want is for the garage to "disconnect" this as it gives warning of many potentialy disasterous engine issues. Ensure when you get the car back that the check light comes on with the ignition and that they have not already overridden it.

Do not accept anything less than a full repair or replacement IMHO:money:

beckstrous

Thanks guys for the replies. Yes, they have already replaced a sensor - I don't know if this is the lambda sensor or not. It is the engine management warning light yep.

They did say they were going to send it to VW (there is a main dealer quite close to where they are) but I don't know if they ever did.

I am glad you have said that disconnecting the light is not acceptable as (being a girl without the backup of my dad by my side!) I might have just mumbled and said OK.

I don't know where I stand re: getting a different car altogether since this was a used car. I did actually trade in my old car ... it was a rubbishy old 306 with a big scratch down the side but I do wish that I had it back now. I'm so disappointed really. What I don't understand is how the light comes on and off for me all the time and they say it doesn't for them. I have been in and out of there countless times since March and I once sat in their waiting room for 2 hours whilst they did something - have had to leave work early on several occasions - my boss has been very patient - and I am now thoroughly fed up.

robnye

might be worth contacting your local trading standards to sound out your options

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

The first thing you need to do is get the ECU codes read. There will be an OBDII socket on the car, buy a suitable OBDII code reader from Ebay or similar (they don't cost much) and reset all codes. Then when the light re-appears, read the codes once more.


A VW forum will be able to advise you on a basic code reader that is suitable for your Polo.

Have you noticed a drop in fuel economy recently?

AdrianHi

I would be surprised if the garage you are dealing with are not already doing this but...
They should have the right diagnostics equipment to be able to connect up to the cars computer (ECU) and get back any logged fault codes which is usually enough to tell them what is wrong. The fact that they are not a VW dealer is not a problem, anyone can get the necessary equipment and computer software for doing this for most cars. Same equipment works for many different cars from many different manufacturers.
If they need to send to a VW dealer to fix it push them to do this as their last change to fix the fault(s) or reverse the deal and get your old car back (if possible) or at least get all your money back.
Disconnecting the warning light is not acceptable!!!!!

If you do end up looking for a different car, the Polo is not a bad choice, holds it's value well, but you might want to consider a Skoda Fabia, similar to the Polo, cheaper, arguably more reliable and it holds it's value just as well as a Polo.

beckstrous

Thanks for the advice on code readers folks. They are using one of these and actually showed me how they do it (not that the code meant anything to me). They say each time they read the code, it tells them something different is wrong. If they can't fix it this time I think I will ask for my money back. Hopefully when my dad is back next week I can take him in to the garage for moral support! Actually they seem like nice enough people but I just don't feel that I have the nous to talk / debate cars with people. So your responses are appreciated...

beckstrous

I thought I would resurrect this thread for more advice if someone can help. I finally got my car back on Saturday after the garage had done another 500 miles in it. They were confident the light would not come back on, but it has, and I have only had it for 3 days. I was driving about 30mph at the time. When I last took it away the garage said if it happened again we would have to talk about some sort of 'resolution' as it was not fair on me - I am not sure what they mean but assume maybe giving up on the car as far as i am concerned.

This is what I now want to do...I've had it for 2 months and it has been in and out of the garage constantly. I do have some worries, though. Firstly, I have lost money doing this (the cash I paid was in my ISA and would have been earning about £30 a month; I had to pay a charge to change my car insurance; I also bought an adaptor for the Polo's radio to use with my MP3 player - only £15, but still). If they offer another car I will have to presumably pay another insurance fee but I don't feel I should incur that cost. I think the garage (who, I believe, are trying to be reasonable) might ask me what I want to do so would appreciate some advice on what people might suggest.

Ideally I would like them to find me another car! I love Polos (and they do have one on their forecourt at the moment) but my confidence has wavered a bit after this...

AdrianHi

Usually it is best to leave the professionals to diagnose and fix problems like this.
However as this is beating them it's time to engage the power of the internet and possible VW car owners forums to see if anyone else is experiencing problems with this EPC warning light.
From a quick search and read it seems to be a common problem . Replacing the O2 (or lambda) sensor and / or getting a software update seem to be popular cures.
These lambda sensors (may be more than one on the car) is part of the emissions monitoring and control system. They are sometimes referred to as a lambda probes.
Have a look for yourself:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=Exhaust+Emission+warning+light+vw+polo&btnG=Search&meta=
Perhaps have a read of these and ask the garage about it.

beckstrous

Very helpful, thank you!