June 2010
Driving my daughter to school the other morning. Driving around a right hand bend that straightens out on approach to a turning on the left.
A motorcyclist approaching the give way line at speed from this turning, looks at me approaching, does not attempt to slow down and crosses into my path.... Read more
Dear Honest John.
I bought a 2001 VW Passat 3 weeks ago from a reputable second hand car dealer Beck Evans ( not a main dealer),
dealing with high end Porches and BMW's. They had taken the Passat as a part exchange. I paid £4200 for the car with 58,000 miles and a full VW service history. The car was offered with a 3 month warranty from Autoguard .
I took the car for a test drive, but did not check the Infra Red remote locking. Driving home from buying the car i realised the remote locking was not working properly, needing 10 - 15 clicks to open or shut the doors , andvsometimes not working at all, nor were the electric windows working. I rang the dealer who said bring it back, and we will fix it. When i picked the car up, the windows were working but still not the remote locking, and on the drive home the windows stopped working.
Beck Evans the dealer said they had done what they could and advised me to take it to a VW specialist and claim on the insurance. I took the car to a VW main dealer who ran a diagnostic and said it was a common problem with the passat, water leaking in between the windscreen soaks a reciever unit responsible for the windows and remote central locking.I have spent £60 on the diagnostic and the VW dealer have advised me that the next step is £350 worth of further diagnostics, possibly a new control unit at £250 plus labour at £100 an hour, plus hours of electrical fault finding. I could easily be looking at £1300 or more.
The adviser at Autoguard ( who happens to be an Ex VW engineer ) has told me the insurance policy does not cover water damage or electrical problems, so the electrical fault finding and possible new receiver unit are not covered.
I find it hard to believe that the dealer did'nt know there was a problem with the remote locking as they had had it for 10 days before i bought it, checked it over and had it valeted.
Is the dealer liable for the costs incurred in rectifying this problem,?
Regards
Rob
Read more
I wish to report a very positive recent experience with Beck Evans. About 2 months ago I purchased a 2005 BMW 325i estate. After driving it for a week or so, it became clear that the car was burning far too much oil, and subsequent tests confirmed this and suggested some sort of engine wear problem. So I contacted Beck Evans and asked for my money back: after running their own tests, they took the car back and gave me a full refund. Can't say fairer than that! [And I should point out that it's perfectly possible that they weren't aware of the problem when they sold me the car, since it only becomes apparent after you've driven a couple of hundred miles.]
Hi, I need some advice.. I recently purchased a second hand car that apparently had a valid MOT certificate and "drives like new" and also had "remote central locking".
When I handed the money to the seller, he then told me... "the front steering brushes/bushels (??) need replaced and would cost about £30", he also told me to get the wheels balanced.... Read more
Cheers for all your advice guys, just to keep you all updated... The dealer now wont answer his phone to me, but my dad phoned him and he answered straight away.
He is sticking by the fact that the car was "sold as seen" and that I got a good deal. He claims that any issues regarding the car are not his problem now. He has completely ruled out taking the car back or doing any repair work on the car to get it up to standard that is to be expected (ie: the brakes, tyres, front lower arm, fob all in working and legal condition).
I really dont know where to go with this, the guy is being very stubborn, and like I say, he wont answer the phone to me.
Hi I am not sure if you can help me, but I have been having a few problems with my Skoda Fabia VRs. I have had the car from new (June 2005) and it has always been serviced at a main dealer and has now covered nearly 60,000 miles. It has now got to the point where my car has been off the road for over 180 days since August 2009 and is still not fixed. I am also faced with a bill for new ECU which is not guaranteed to cure the problem. Skoda have offered to pay 50% but I still need to pay over £525+vat for something which I feel should not fail after 4 years. Below is a list of the events so far, the latest being that the car requires a new radiator before I can collect it from the garage. I apologise for the length of this e-mail but I have just been writing things down as they happen.
Thanking you in anticipation... Read more
Hi Elana, a number of points, if I may:
- When giving a long list of events, try to use number or bullet points; it makes it far easier to read & digest
- When in a dispute, write rather than telephone. That's why God invented e-mail, for such neccesities
- Only ever pay what has been previously agreed ie if you are quoted £35 for diagnostics & are given a bill for £70, pay £35
- 50% contribution after 4 1/2 years / 60k is reasonable - it's your car not Skoda's
- The motor trade has made a rod for it's own back by dishing out courtesy cars willy-nilly; people expect them as a right. Farmers were under no obligation to loan you one but did so - yes you should be grateful. That said it is disgraceful they gave you one with no tax on it!
- If it were me I would write to Skoda (copying Farmers) saying that their offer is fair & ask them to stand the cost in full & that subject to this curing the fault you will be happy to re-imburse them the 50%
Good luck
Hi, wondering if anyone has had this problem and know of a cure?
when i apply brakes they work great but i have a air hissing sound coming from the brake booster under dash on passenger side, wondering if this is just a seal that needs replacing or is the unit kaput?? any help would be nice , thanks in advance , 1997 3.3 petrol. Read more
I do not see how the reseating the dislodged bellows will stop the leak. It stop you from hearing it though. Here is the test. Run the engine for 1 minute , turn off and leave for 1 hour. Retrun to the car, do not start it and operate the foot brake, it should feel normal, then operate it several time and the pedal should become hard. You can usually leave a car overnight and this will be the case. If there is no assistance available, i.e. it goes hard straight away then the servo is leaking. Regards Peter
Hello everyone
My 1999 V-reg Fiesta has been suffering from the dreaded idling & running problems and I've been following the usual advice.... Read more
Thanks for replying.
...
<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->
Peter Howarth... Read more
There is a company on Elland trading estate who have every possible piece of test equipment I would suggest you take it there or a similar specialist.A normal garage cannot set up a turbo correctly they do not have the skill or the equipment.In your case it looks like the actuator is not set up and is causing the turbo to fail but it could be many thinks.
My Colt CZ1 1.1 3dr is perfect except for a few vibrations in the cabin and one problem I've had for a long time, the clutch. Ever since the first service at 1 year old (6k miles) I've had clutch judder, some times on a mild day it seems fine and crisp but most of the time even after warming up its bad,especially in damp conditions.
The cars now done 48k and is 4 years old and I've still got the problem. The only thing that changed perhaps from supplied spec at the first service was the engine oil to 10w40.... Read more
I've got a 2010 Colt two weeks out of warranty with 16,000 miles on the clock and the clutch just failed with no warning. Mitsubishi claim its out of warranty and wear and tear so not offering any goodwill at all. I think I may pursue this under the sale of goods act as no clutch should pack in at this age or mileage. By the way, I'm in my eighties and have probably never had the car above sixty miles an hour. Anybody had similar issues with Mitsubishi?
Hi, whilst driving in to work today, my 'VSA' light, warning triangle and engine light came on. I have been told it could be the modulator.
Has any body faced this issue? Was wondering if it could be anything else and what to check for as Honda are quoting £900 just for the part and then £200 labour.... Read more
My Honda was diagnosed as having the same VSA plus triangle on facia lit up.
ie Fault was Yaw sensor and VSA cluster needs replacing. Quoted about £1000 +...
In the CBCB about the Toyota Avensis, HJ mentions that earlier models had a problem with high oil consumption due to a bore liner problem and/or being fitted with slightly undersize pistons.
Do any one know from which Model Year this problem was fully resolved?... Read more
I've read somewhere here or on the Toyota Owners Forum that they solved the problem by 04-05...?
Browse
I agree - this thread has run it`s course.
thread locked...