Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs

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Tue 15 May 2012 09:09
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - DG--

Hi There!

Bought a car 2 months ago from a decent looking dealership, not a main dealer though.

Paid top price for that make, model, age, mileage - £12k

Car was loosing coolant rapidly, dealer replaced the radiator to his credit, which didn't quite solve the problem, so I took it to VW and had another component replaced after they pressure tested the system and this fixed it.

Have had a worrying knocking/grinding coming from the front now for a while, not noticed on the test drive as it's only under certain conditions. Took it to VW and they've found a grands worth of work that needs doing initially - new CV joint, another suspension component that I didn't quite catch, wishbone or strut perhaps, and the top mounts. All common VW Golf stuff I think at this mileage.

Once that's done they will then need to re-test the steering rack which also seemed to have a knock, and may need to replace it and re-track it, or something similar sounding, again not uncommon on this age of Golf, according to the owners club forums.

That will all come to a shade under 2 grand, which on a car I just bought from a dealer is really disappointing. The dealer sold it to me with a 3 month gearbox and engine warranty.

I know I should probably have given him the chance to rectify these problems, but he would've sent it to his own mechanic who I met, who was a nice chap, but now that I know there is quite a bit of work due on this car, I want it worked on by VW as it's an R32 with complex stuff like 4wd, DSG gearbox etc, and it's obviously been neglected somewhat by it's previous owner. Immaculate interior and bodywork though and the engine seems absolutely sound.

In addition to this, I might have scared myself into it by reading forums, but I'm fairly certain the dual mass flywheel needs changing, which VW quoted £1500 for.

As I already said, I want VW to do this work.

Do I have any comeback on the dealer here to recoup some or all of these costs?

It may be that, just 2 months into ownership, I have to spend £3,500 on the car.

Thanks for any guidance

DG

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Tue 15 May 2012 12:51
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - oldroverboy

What year was it, you say it is an R32.

Paid top price for that make, model, age, mileage - £12k

Was it cheaper than at a vw dealer?

As I already said, I want VW to do this work.

Do I have any comeback on the dealer here to recoup some or all of these costs?

It may be that, just 2 months into ownership, I have to spend £3,500 on the car.

Thanks for any guidance

DG

Edited by OldRoverboy on 15/05/2012 at 12:52

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Tue 15 May 2012 12:57
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - DG--

Hi There

It's a 2006, I wouldn't say it was cheaper than at a main dealer, looking at Autotrader now it looks like 12k is fairly over-priced, even for a main dealer.

There's plenty of that age, mileage and spec a lot cheaper that's for sure, just none within reasonable distance of me.

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Tue 15 May 2012 13:12
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - oldroverboy
Sorry IE( massacred my post,) It certainly is a great car, but if the dealer won't help. and you really really like the car, as i suspect, get the work done at a vag dealer, get the vag warranty on the work and enjoy.! SWMBO does not allow me fun things like that at 61.
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Tue 15 May 2012 13:22
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - gordonbennet

So much for supposed VW durability.

You've had the bad news from the VW dealer, who whilst possibly doing a good job will spend your money like confetti.

I'd ask around for a competent and recommended make specialist indy (i know a highly respected one in Northants if any use), you might already know of one or you might get some suggestions from a make specific forum.

Indies are much better at spending their valued customers money more cost effectively than main dealers, thats been my experience with my MB indy who has saved me thousands over the years by repairing where the main dealer would simply throw new parts at it.

Let a good make specialist indy have a nose round it and see what they say.

Edited by gordonbennet on 15/05/2012 at 13:24

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Tue 15 May 2012 13:32
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - DG--

I do have a good independant nearby, an Audi/VW sports specialist, but they tend to only want to use either VW parts of the higher end Milttek stuff for example.

On the flywheel that VW quoted 1500 for, this garage gave a ballpark of 2 grand

But really I need to spend a bit more time looking around I think. It's at VW now so I'll get this initial batch of work done there, but anything else that needs doing I'm going to try and find another specialist nearby who can perhaps get me a better deal.

I'm near Heathrow so Northants is no good sadly, but thanks!

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Tue 15 May 2012 13:40
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - gordonbennet

I'm near Heathrow so Northants is no good sadly, but thanks!

Fair enough, though my MB indy is in Northants and has a good number of customers who travel up from London to drop their cars off, such is the value placed on quality work fairly priced....similarly i know of people who travel up to a hundred miles or more to use the BMW indy at Chelmsford, and another MB indy at Southampton.

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Tue 15 May 2012 13:17
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - catsdad

I am sorry if you are having problems as it should be good car at that price. However as you recognise yourself you need to give the selling dealer the chance to rectify any outstanding faults. Any work you have had done elsewhere is at your cost and risk. As for the outstanding issues I think you need to distiguish between "faults" and items that may not be faulty but the main dealer is suggesting might be due for replacement. If these items are currently working satisfactorlly then its my understanding that you don't have a case against the supplying dealer for these particular items. Your first step however ought to be to go back to the selling dealer and see what he proposes. The basic lesson here is that if you want a VW dealer to repair the car then you should have bought from a VW dealer - or be prepared to pay them to repair it.

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Tue 15 May 2012 13:27
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - DG--

"if you want a VW dealer to repair the car then you should have bought from a VW dealer - or be prepared to pay them to repair it."

Good point, I'd never considered it that way.

Oh well, lesson learnt. Hopefully these will be the end of the problems, they're all stuff that tends to happen to these cars at this age/mileage, especially if you get an early one (which 06 is I believe). I guess the guy who had it before saw these problems approaching and got shot of it, I just assumed at that price from a reputable dealer that his buyer would've checked all these things out. But then seeing the attention they gave to my car that I part-ex'd should've rung alarm bells, they didn't even start it up! though he correctly identified that a Focus ST with the Volvo engine is almost certainly rock solid.

As I said, the engine seems sound and the car is awesome, the exhaust note is stunning and befitting a far more exotic car than a VW hatchback.

I figured it would be a bit of a labour of love when I bought it :(

Thanks for the replies!

DG

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Tue 15 May 2012 14:28
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - oldtoffee

For an independent near you, I can strongly recommend The Auto Pool, Iver, Bucks. not far from M40/M25. They really know their stuff, always busy with Audis and VWs and are refreshingly open and honest with their advice. Not associated just a happy customer.

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Tue 15 May 2012 14:47
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - oldroverboy

For an independent near you, I can strongly recommend The Auto Pool, Iver, Bucks. not far from M40/M25.

Yes, know them too from my days of working in Iver. been there a few years now, Give them a call.

ORB.

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Tue 15 May 2012 14:48
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - DG--

Just got off the phone with Phil at Autopool funnily enough!

Really nice chap and he's going to save me a fortune, I only wish I'd gone there first, but I'll take this one on the chin at VW.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'm going to see him at the end of the week.

Unless his diagnosis is particularly bad I won't try and return the car to get my money back, that might end up being just to much aggravation now if the costs aren't as bad as I initially suspected.

Cheers

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Tue 15 May 2012 14:33
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - bonzo dog

Hi DG, I would have said reject the car & ask for your money back given the extent (number & cost ) of the faults.

Contrary to popular opinion you do not have to gve the selling dealer the opportunity to rectify the faults UNLESS he has stated this at time of purchase.

However, having given him the opportunity to fix the initial problem & knowing that he did so, I suspect that a court would rule that this would have been the best course of action.

Personally I wopuld still go down the rejection route but it ain't my problem.

You could tell the dealer that you wanted a VW franchise to complete the work & ask him to contribute to it.

Either way, good luck

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Tue 15 May 2012 15:48
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - catsdad

Bonzo dog is right to point out some more of the complexities. DG - I have just looked up HJ's FAQ (number 5) and its well worth a read. Interestingly there has been a case where it was seen as OK to use another repairer. But its not all binding and rather than pick snippets from it you need to read the full answer and see how it relates to the sale terms in your case.

Hopefully however the specialist will sort it out and DG can then decide if its worth pursuing further.

Its always a pity if an expensive purchase is tainted by a poor experience and I really hope you get a great car at the end of this.

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Thu 17 May 2012 10:12
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - bananastand

Whoa there, if you can take £3500 on the chin good luck to you, but if you want to save it, try this

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=96005

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Thu 17 May 2012 10:24
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - pd

The problem you have is that a few knocks and noises "which are all common enough on VW Golf's at this mileage" can easily just be argued is a characteristic of the car at whatever mileage it has done. That isn't a "fault" as such, it is signs of wear and tear which from what you say is in line with what you would expect from this model.

Legally the dealer is not obliged to make the car as good as a new one.

The water loss was clearly a fault and unacceptable on a £12k car which the dealer appears to have recognised.

The VW dealer seems to be quoting to replace pretty much everything they can to make the car like new which is what main dealers tend to do.

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Thu 17 May 2012 12:07
Had car 2 months, needs 2 grands worth of repairs - DG--

heh, thanks, 3,500 will certainly be a struggle

I took the 1,000 on the chin at VW, I think there's a fair point in saying that these items are wear and tear stuff that I should've perhaps found through a thorough inspection before buying the car

VW have only issued an advisory on the steering rack knocking (which is pretty quiet), and the VW specialist I was referred to said he wouldn't replace it, he would repair/recondition it for a fraction of the price, but in truth it's only whilst doing certain low speed turns that you hear it

He also took a look at the rattle from the underside, it does seem as though it could be coming from the flywheel area, but gave a rough estimate of 2,000 to get to the bottom of it as "the whole lot needs to come out"

Unecessary I think as the noise is only audible when parked next to a wall, and doesn't seem to be getting worse for now.

I think the DMF will need replacing eventually, but I'm going to have to wait until it becomes clearer/louder that there is a problem. I think spending 2,000 now just to get rid of a noise that you can barely hear when outside at idle and doesn't affect the running of the car would be foolish.

Certainly not something I'm going to be able to get the dealer to sort for me now I don't think, there's no obvious problem for them to fix

The VW work did the trick though, the front suspension/steering is noticeably firmer and smoother with most of the knocking gone now and no noise from the top mounts

Edited by DG-- on 17/05/2012 at 12:09

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