August 2004
An update on my troublesome VW Polo, if anyone remembers some old threads regarding its electrical woes.
Background. Bought new, now 16 months old has had electrical problems from new resulting in 5 long stays in the garage, and 8 breakdowns. The problem was intermittent and hard to pinpoint but resulted in the battery draining down in a matter of hours. Various repairs were tried but none was successful.
When I finally lost all confidence in the vehicle I contacted VW customer services who dismissed my complaint as not severe enough to warrant them taking action.
Then I discovered I had access to a solicitor through my home contents insurance - an idea I picked up on here and threatened legal action against the retailer under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002. They seemed to realise their responsibilities and I'm pleased to say that we settled for a partial refund of 85% of the full purchase price, which I thought was an excellent result.
Lessons learned
1. Manufacturers customer services departments are there for their benefit, not yours. VW's sole aim was to procrastinate and fob me off. They have no power, and you have no contract with them, so don't bother with them.
2. Your legal rights are very strong. If the product has a fault which you can prove, you hold all the cards. If the garage doesn't repair it successfully at the first attempt it is not 'Fit for Purpose' and you can enforce your rights to a replacement or a full or partial refund.
3. Time is on your side. A full-on Rejection may have to take place within a 'reasonable' time, but your rights under the legislation above last 6 years. My initial complaint was made 15 months after I bought the car. If you sue for a partial refund and can prove the car has been faulty, then dollars to doughnuts the retailer will settle to avoid going to court.
During this process I gleaned loads of info from this site, so thanks to you all, and in particular HJ. I have also amassed quite a bit of experience of the various legal issues involved, so if anyone's in a similar situation please feel free to ask any questions and I'll help if I can.
Now I have all the fun of buying a new car again?.
CF.
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Is the much talked about deal with Proton and MG Rover finally bitten the dust? Various sites are reporting that the deal is off.
If it is, then another nail is well and truly hammered into the MGR coffin.
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I don't think it's such a bad thing. In my opinion Proton Gen2, which was picked to become Rover R3 was actually fair step backwards compared to current MG ZR...
i have aquired a 306 non starter the key i have is just a flat cut key ,is it possible the problem is that it should have a transponder key ? or is there a way of by passing the anti theft system? Read more
The Peugeot garage will ask for proof of ownership for the car before giving you the transponder key & code.
Myself and the wife, plus the occupant of another car had a great bit of scadenfradue today. Travelling down our local dual carriageway signs of lane closure in 800m.
I move across as the inside lane was moving, at about 400m traffic comes to standstill as cars pull in.
Car behind me lets in a VW Golf, who duly thanks the driver.
At about 250m to go to the closure an Alfa driven by a woman in her 50s is trying to get to the inside lane - patiently indicating and waiting for a gap. The guy in the VW is so close to me a sheet of newspaper would have filled the space. The Alfa is alongside the VW who is protecting 'his' road.
I see the VW driver gesticulating to the Alfa driver along the lines of 'you aint coming in front of me' and words were exchanged.
Seeing this commotion I slow down to leave a gap in front of me, wind the window down and beckon the Alfa to pull in front of me - the VW driver's face was a picture!
What p'd me and the wife off most was the fact that the VW driver had done what the Alfa was trying to do, but someone had let him in - numpty. Read more
"Firstly how does waiting to the merge point mean less waiting time for everyone?"
Because there is effectively double the space to queue in ie everyone doesn't try to pull in as soon as they realise the lane will end. Resulting in 2 queues where there is no petty 'station holding', no conflict and therefore a genrally smother traffic flow.
The people that need driver education are the ones that feel the need to merge lanes the moment they see a lan restriction. effectively reducing the available amount of road to hold traffic and thus lengthening the wait of time for everyone.
Hi everyone,
Gonna test drive one of these on Wednesday.
Anyone already driven one - perhaps own one.
They look rather appealing at internet prices of £15750 :)
The alternatives don't really appeal. Something about the Honda Civic type R just doesn't appeal. Most other competitors don't have the same power.
Thanks Read more
Last Tuesday, southbound M6 ,about 1730 near Hilton Park.
For some , sadly unintelligible , reason, the M6 is moving well and I am in Lane 3 overtaking , at probably 80mph .
I watch in my rear view mirror a 5-series appear , and close the gap behind me from at least several Hundred meters to about a metre, in less than 10 seconds. he clearly expects me to move over, presumably directly into the vehicle I'm overtaking .
I grit my teeth and get past the vehicle I'm overtaking and when I feel I'm safely ahead of it, move over .
Mr Testosterone then moves up alongsdie of me .In a moment of madness I use 2 fingers to give him a summary of my view of his driving ability and general concern for others. To my amazement he brakes sharply .Do we have a road rage incident ?
Then he looks at me again , fllors the pedal and races off at what must have been weel over the ton, to do the same again to someone ahead of us .
For a few miles I consider why he braked .Then I think I guess it. I drive an Omega , and I happened to be wearing a shirt very similar in colour to that used my many constabularies !
I really hope I adjusted his disgestive system for those few seconds, and that even now he may be wondering if he's about to get a very unwelcome letter ! Read more
I once came to some roadworks with temporary traffic lights on a main A-road single carriageway. As I approached, the lights changed to amber then red. I had plenty of time to stop, so I did. Beyond the roadworks was a long hill.
I had been followed for some time by a large artic and when I stopped the driver went ballistic with horn, lights and angry shouts out of the cab window. So when the lights changed I floored it up the hill leaving the lumbering artic standing. At the top of the hill I stopped in a convenient layby, pen and paper in hand, waited for the lorry to pass and took its number and the details of the company. When I got home I phoned the company and reported the driver!!!!
I've been a lorry driver myself - I could never imagine myself going off like that at a motorist for doing the correct thing! It wasn't like he'd been tailgating before I stopped, he had been some way behind me.
Cheers, Sofa Spud.
I have finally (I hope)traced the intermittent water leak (sometimes nothing a week, sometimes a litre) from the coolant. It appears that the smallest of leaks is coming from the Core plug on the Off side of the inlet manifold ( I presume that it has a water heated manifold. The pipe work is at best described as confused.)
Has any body got experience of changing this core plug in situ? Access is reasonable, I cannot tell if its leaking from the edges or is perforated with age. Advice would be appreciated. Alternatively what is the effect of removing water flow from the inlet manifold?
pmh (was peter) Read more
Congratulations pmh - I have never before seen a one-man thread that entirely solved the posed problem!
I had been about to post that in my experience core plugs are very easy to replace in situ, as long as there is access to prise them out, and space to swing a hammer to tap them in.
Sound move to replace them all while you were at it.
I wonder if anyone can give me a bit of advice please?
I have a 1990 8v GTi and there's an intermittent fault with the ignition.Every so often when you try to start the car there will be no power getting to the coil,if you feed a live straight from the battery to the coil the car starts up fine then after running for brief period you remove the wire and the car works fine for a while,then without warning,you come to start it again another time and it just sits there turning over but no life at the coil again.
Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.
Many thanks.....Jon Read more
I don't know the car, but if it has a single ignition coil, plus distributer, it seems to me you will have already done the main part of diagnoses. The electronics will most likely (to me) be to the other side of the coil, not the one you are puttng the lead on, as a sort of electronic equivalent of the contact breaker.
Be that as it may, somewhere the feed wire to the coil has an intermittent connection. The problem is to trace the wire going back towards the battery far enough to get back past the break. Then bridge or mend the break. Of course, if it is a switch contact problem, that will have to be repaired or replaced.
You don't really need a test meter for diagnosing this job. In fact test meters can be too sensitive so as to lead to error readings. I would rather use a pair of long leads connected to a 12 volt 5 watt or so bulb. Take one lead to the car body metalwork and the other then becomes a test lead. Thus if you clip that lead on the coil (where your battery lead works) it should light when the car is working and go out when not. Also go out when the ignition is turned off. You can even keep the bulb in the cab, if you wish, so that you can watch it. But be careful, once the lead is connected, not to catch the live lead or live side of the bulb on the bodywork as that constitutes a short on the battery.
Whilst on holiday recently and with nothing else better to do, I pondered over the world's problems and of course Mr Flat Cap came to mind.
I can't pin-point the exact time my Father donned his flat cap and adopted the driving characteristics we all know and love. I do remember in my youth that I was always impressed with his driving, he was certainly no slouch.
But some time after I had fled the nest and his Grandchildren came on the scene, the gradual process took place. I remember towards the end of his life (At only 70), when I was being driven by him, thinking, why is he driving so slowly? On occasions when I took him out in my car, he would often ask what the hurry was!
I believe we all have it in us to become Mr Flat Cap so let's not be too hard on him.
Let's vent our annoyance at the real cause of hold ups and that is the driver behind Mr Flat, who does not take the opportunity to overtake. He often follows so closely that the third driver in the queue now has two cars to overtake and this is how long queues develop.
My point is that we should ease up on the criticism of Mr Flat Cap and come up with a suitable name for the real menace, the lethargic second driver in the queue. Read more
I hope to become Mr Flat Cap one day.
As the process of doing so essentially involves living for a long time, the alternative is far worse.
Went with son yeesterday to see about changing a one year old MG ZR, not a mark on it and tyres barely showing sign of any wear, for something a bit quicker. I lurked in the background and played no part in the proceedings.
Nearly an hour later I asked how did he get on? I was doing OK until the sales manager turned up and said "we're not taking one of those in as a part exchange"
Their slogan is "a customer for life". They have just lost one for the same period! Read more
On the other side of the coin - he chose not to buy your car - you chose not to buy his! Still (just) a free country.
Roger. (in the UK for 3 more weeks and then back to the sun! )
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Interesting image you present...... ;o)