5 weeks ago I bought a Volkswagen Golf IV 2.0 GTI, first registered in 2002, from a used car dealer. The car has 74k miles on the clock, 1 previous owner, and a full service history.

Two days after I bought it a yellow light came on on the dashboard. I understand this to be the emission filter light. I returned it to the garage who explained the filters need cleaning. They did this, the light went off, and off I went.

The light was back on within 2 days. The garage took it back and explained it was the front lambda sensor. They replaced this. However, the light was back on after a couple of days. This time they said it was the catalytic converter. They replaced this, and the car seemed fine for a week. The light then came back on again, and this time they replaced the rear lambda sensor. The light came back on 2 days later.

At this point I rang the garage again who said they didn't know what it was, so I put it into Volkswagen to undergo a full diagnostic test. The results showed that the cat was faulty i.e not effective enough, and that it needed to be replaced. They said it wasn't a VW cat, and that really it should be as using a non VW cat could potentially cause damage to other parts.

They also said a fault had been found in the convenience system central control unit, but that until the problem with the cat was resolved, they couldn't find out anymore on this. They further told me the breaks were 85% worn, and the disks corroded, and that it was likely they would need replacing within the next 3 months.

So, any advice/points to note on 2 issues:

1) The issue with the cat, should I give them another chance to replace it, but am I still going to be left with problems (they told me I had a 3 month warranty from when I bought the car - I'm worried the 3 months will run out and I will be left to pay to sort this out). I have also found the fuel consumption to be absolutely huge and it's costing me a fortune in petrol. I understood it wouldn't be overly efficient, but am I right to think (hope!) this might improve once this problem is sorted?

2) Do I have any rights on the other 2 issues found with the car?

Many thanks in advance for any hints/tips.

Edited by Gordon83 on 24/04/2010 at 13:58