Bought a used car from main dealer, not collected it yet but oy...

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1 Oct 2006
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Be interested to know how the denizens of Motors would handle this.

I purchased an approved used car from a VW main dealer a couple of weeks back, it was "just in" to the dealer so needed preparation before it could be released to me. Namely: a wheel needed a refurb, small scratch needed attention and the sticking point - a recall had to be carried out.

I was assured that all of these things would take a few days, including taking the car to a group service centre to carry out the recall. It's an EV battery related recall, so needed a High Voltage certified Engineer to carry out. I left a small deposit to secure the car, did the deal and went on my way.


The day of collection comes... and goes. At 6:15pm I get a missed call from the sales dude, then an email half an hour later explaining that a part needed for the recall is on backorder with no ETA and "drop me an email, or call to discuss". I replied that night asking:

1) What are my options as you see them?
2) I have signed the finance agreement, what bearing does this delay have on that?
3) Was the delay really down to a £3 clip (they left the backordered part number thread on the email chain).

That was Wednesday, I have now mailed twice (want to keep a paper trail, hence not calling) and nobody has even acknowledged my mail. Second mail had the Sales Manager in CC.


I negotiated pretty hard, and got a good discount, PX for my current car as well as warranty, paint and wheel car, service plan etc. so I'm reluctant to walk away just yet and let all that slide (plus I still really want the car) but at the same time the poor communication and lack of ETA is making me think walking away is probably the better option.

The tinfoil part of my brain thinks the sales dude isn't particularly fussed about this transaction due to the deal done, so he's happy to let me walk away so he can remarket the car. Possibly overthinking that though and attributing to malice what could easily be explained by a poor sales experience.
 
I think you need to work out what YOU want to do first.

Buy the car obviously, but the lack of ETA and communication is leaving my feeling like I should be walking away.

This is only the second car I've purchased from a dealer in my 40 some years, the other was a cash purchase. If that gives any further insight to my position.
 
I wouldn't worry. I know your feeling - as I had a similar situation with a brand new C180 Coupe I was buying from Mercedes. You soon get the car and forget all this. I got a free tank of fuel thrown in to apologise (I asked fro a £500 Becker satnav lol).
 
did the recall have some risk associated with it of significant work ? .. if so, delay could be an opportunity to walk , or not if you have a good deal
(like the ev i-pace battery recall outcome ... you are e:limited on battery capacity you can use until they fix battery pack)

e2: https://www.speakev.com/threads/vw-recall-93p7-hv-battery.177981/

e3: buy car and demand loaner in the meantime .. i already sold my car....
 
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I wouldn't worry. I know your feeling - as I had a similar situation with a brand new C180 Coupe I was buying from Mercedes. You soon get the car and forget all this. I got a free tank of fuel thrown in to apologise (I asked fro a £500 Becker satnav lol).

Oh I'm sure I would forget, it's a massive upgrade from the near 20 year old 118d I'm driving around in at the moment!
 
did the recall have some risk associated with it of significant work ? .. if so, delay could be an opportunity to walk , or not if you have a good deal
(like the ev i-pace battery recall outcome ... you are on battery capacity you can use until they fix battery pack)

Far as I can tell the recall is for the battery tray liner, which I assume means the battery needs to come out - doesn't sound like a small feat. I was bemused after looking up the part number to see it's a £3 fuel rail clip, for which a genuine VW part is readily available from other places online.
 
if it's a recall they are going to have to do it at some point... however can't you say you will take the car and for them to call you when it is in store and they can fit you in?
 
if it's a recall they are going to have to do it at some point... however can't you say you will take the car and for them to call you when it is in store and they can fit you in?

No dice:

If you are selling a vehicle to a consumer you will need to check for outstanding recalls and these safety recalls must be attended to prior to the consumer purchasing the vehicle.

https://assets.publishing.service.g...e-to-safety-recalls-used-vehicle-industry.pdf

Page 4 point 1.
 
MUST be attended to PRIOR to you purchasing. Haven’t you already purchased it if you have signed all the finance paperwork?

Well I guess that would explain the awkward silence. :D

I guess there's some wiggle room in the definition as to my mind they shouldn't have even listed it knowing they couldn't let it go without fixing the recall.

That is a fair point though, I'll keep that one in reserve if they start playing silly.
 
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If the dealer is not bothering to answer emails now, what are they going to be like once have taken the car and have issues...

Fortunately the service plan means I can use any VW dealer, but yep definitely getting that feeling.

Still nothing back from my email sent at 9am this morning.

find the part yourself? drop it off in dealer packing... done?

Tempting, but they'll probably tell me "it's more than just the clip on backorder". Besides, I've already committed to a handsome sum of money and they're the ones on the back foot so I'll be gosh darned if I'm going any further out of my way to resolve their problem for them.
 
I know you want to 'create a paper trail' but sometimes in life, things happen easier if you just get on the phone and talk to someone. I suspect this might be one of those times. You can always follow up with a "to confirm what we just discussed" email.
 
Did you get this sorted?

I waited two weeks from signing the finance agreement and had next to no updates on the progress of the recall, despite being promised regular updates.

Ended up pulling out of the transaction and getting my deposit back. Left it with the dealer that if ever the recall was completed to let me know, but I'm actively looking elsewhere now. I've been checking their site, and the recall checker to see if it's been fixed but far as I can tell it's still in the same position. No parts, no ETA on said parts.

It's a shame as I'm struggling to find a car with that spec at at that price but the search goes on...
 
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I waited two weeks from signing the finance agreement and had next to no updates on the progress of the recall, despite being promised regular updates.

Ended up pulling out of the transaction and getting my deposit back. Left it with the dealer that if ever the recall was completed to let me know, but I'm actively looking elsewhere now. I've been checking their site, and the recall checker to see if it's been fixed but far as I can tell it's still in the same position. No parts, no ETA on said parts.

It's a shame as I'm struggling to find a car with that spec at at that price but the search goes on...
I'd have left the deposit on it whilst still looking tbh it sounds like the car you want at a good deal.

While the communication (or lack of it!) on the part of the dealer is a poor show, I'm not surprised about the parts backlog.

I'm awaiting a part for my truck (Scania is owned by VW) , it's been around 6 weeks so far, apparently VW group as a whole is suffering from huge backlogs, and no doubt plenty of other manufacturers.
 
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