Purchased – low mileage +2 petrol Auto 4WD 23 miles 1+ year old

I bought a 2013 (13 Plate) Nissan Qashqai+2 (J10E) Petrol CVT on Wed 30/07/2014. It had 23 miles on the clock when it took possession. The story was that the vehicle had been ordered for a Motability and registered to a customer local to the dealer. But the client did not take delivery, and the dealership was unable to get DVLA to cancel the registration completed on Tue 28/05/2013 to the customer, and eventually registered it in the dealership’s name on Fri 20/06/2014.

“The reason that the car is that age with that mileage is due to a customer cancelling a car that we had effectively registered for them. We tried to get the car de-registered through the DVLA, but this was a somewhat lengthy process that in the end we couldn’t do.

We then decided to use the car as our 'showroom' car so it has been in our showroom most of this time. Now the new Qashqai is out we now have the vehicle on the forecourt and up for sale.”

The test drive was fine, aside from the indicator being a bit quiet. The car was priced at £20,650 on 28/07/2014, but we managed a small reduction to £20,000 and purchased the vehicle on 29/07/2014 for £20,265 including 12 months road tax. This included an HPI check.

Vehicle pickup was delayed as they discovered the EML light on - a sensor fail with error P031. AF (air fuel?) sensor was replaced.

AA callout on way home after pickup

On the way home after picking up the vehicle we need fuel – but the petrol flap would not open. The dealership had closed. The AA guy could not fix it, but worked around it by using a pen to pry the flap open. It was permanently unlocked – just lacked the spring to pop it out. I called the vendor who assured me I could take the vehicle to any Nissan dealership for a warranty repair.

Services

The service & warranty book says the vehicle had 3 year / 60K miles warranty (whichever is sooner) i.e. to 28/05/2017 / 60,000 miles. [provided the car is maintained according to the manufacturer’s recommended service schedule].

I cannot find anywhere that states the manufacturer’s service schedule.

When the vehicle showed service due in the dashboard I booked in a service. Not at the dealer that we purchased from as that was about 100 miles away, but our local Nissan dealership

Date

Odometer

Event

Tue 28/05/2013

23

Service – Nissan

Thu 07/08/2014

23

Service - warranty EML light. Repair Nissan

Thu 21/04/2016

20,833

Major Service – Nissan

Wed 26/07/2017

34,573

Minor Service – Nissan

Though the service booklet carries a stamp that the car had a service on Tue 28/05/2013 at 23 miles, I’m convinced this either happened later or did not happen at all, because the car was advertised/test driven at 19 miles on the odometer on 28th August 2014.

Noisy engine at 20K service

At the first service after purchase, 21/04/2016, I asked Nissan to check the engine carefully for noise. I complained it was noisy, poor fuel economy, and fix the fuel flap. The fuel flap was not fixed, as the part was not in stock, but the engine was given an extra “flush” – no problems noted, and job-card states customer advised to monitor – though I cannot remember that advice.

Condemned engine at 34K miles

At the recent service, I again complained about the engine being noisy, more noticeable when the engine was cold. After service, I had a call from the dealer saying there was no problem, but to be completely sure the engineer wanted to listen to the engine cold and advised keeping it overnight. The next day I was advised the engine had been condemned with piston slap.

Nissan Offered 75% of the parts cost

Nisan offered to cover most of the parts cost, leaving me with an engine replacement estimate of about £2,800 for 25% of the new engine and labour.

Nissan claim I failed to maintain the car according to their recommended schedule

Maintenance schedule

The “Warranty Booklet and Maintenance Record", but it appears to be 12months / 18,000 Miles (whichever is the sooner) judging from the fixed price service contract offered on Thu 21/04/2016:

Fixed Price Service Plan
S1 - Service 3 Minor 54k/Apr 2017
S2 - Service 4 Major 72K / April 2018
S3 - Service 5 Minor 90k / Apr 2019
31 payments of 16.33 until 4/Nov/2018

I would argue that the car was “Nissan Cared 4” with 23 miles on the clock. No service interval can be found on the paperwork provided. The car was serviced when service flagged on the dashboard, and flagged to the dealer while the vehicle was still within warranty, but engine slap was not properly diagnosed at that 20K service.

Questions:

1. Is there any hope of reducing that £2,800 bill for a replacement engine?

2. Am I better off selling the vehicle?