Car broken after 1150 miles, dealer being an arse

Sounds like Citroen is far worse than Vauxhall when it comes to customer care as I'm having a dispute with Vauxhall about my Corsa atm :p

Your car is only 5 weeks old @ 1150 miles, there simply isn't any excuse for a brand new car to break down. I'd request for a full refund immediately as the longer you allow the issue to drag on, the less likely you'll get a reasonable outcome (as advised by Trading Standards). It is also best to put everything in writing and sent by recorded delivery (some dealers can turn round and deny having any form of communication / agreement with you :rolleyes: ).

AFAIK, it is the dealer's full responsibility when it comes down to problems with the vehicle. If the vehicle is under finance, the finance company has joint liability so give the finance department a ring and get them to put some pressure on the dealer. If the dealer won't issue you a courtesy car, make it clear about the inconvenience and if necessary, get them to pay for a car rental if they don't have one available. Don't let them win you over with petty excuses.

Your vehicle fails under "Fit for purpose" and "Satisfactory quality" under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) though before you walk down the path of legal action, make your demands first at the dealer (full refund or brand new replacement, the choice is yours). Refuse to speak to anyone other than the manager or MD as you don't want your complaints being dealt with by a "third party". If they won't give way to your demands, your best bet is to seek Trading Standards and CAB for legal advice and then approach a solicitor to take legal action. Make sure you don't let it drag on for too long :)
 
Go down to the showroom and complain in person. As soon as you begin to shout they'll want to cooperate as you'll be scaring off new customers ;)
 
Just sounds like a normal stealership to me. This is why I'd never buy a car thats in warranty........too tied down by it.

And, after the usual 3 year warranty has expired, most of the niggles and teething problems have been sorted anyway :)
 
Reezer said:
....and being passed back and forth like a mug. She said "I'm sorry Sir I can't help you", So who can?, "I'm sorry Sir I can't help you", So what, I'm stuck without a car and no one at Citroën can do anything about it?, "I'm sorry SIR I can't help you", Fine, thank you VERY much for your help.
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best thing to do in these situations is to ask who can help or go above the persons head. Talk to the phone jockey's manager and start getting things done.

good luck with it mate, totally discusting they way they have treated you, make sure you fill out your bad experiance in every drivers satisfation survey you can!
 
Foul play, 1150 miles on the clock and it's broken down?

If that happened to me I would be asking for the dealer manager and chucking the keys at him and ensuring the car is fixed or replaced.
 
My mother spoke to a woman at the local trading standards office who she deals with quite regularly (so would have given the *best for me* advice) and she said that if you accept repairs to the car you will have a very hard job going down the legal route. Also it couldn't be dealt with in small claims court because of the value and you'd stand to lose a substantial amount in fees if you lost.

The service manager rung me back this afternoon to tell me it won't be ready till tomorrow because they need 5 parts to fix the leak...

I'm not so displeased with him personally, he seems to have done all he can since he got involved and he's been quite open and honest about it. He has also arranged a new courtesy car from a hire company for up to 3 days starting tomorrow so that he can make sure the job is done properly and it comes back in perfect condition.

He said that normally they wouldn't order the parts; they would use the old hose and bend the clips back into place but because the car is so new he personally didn't feel that would be acceptable.

I'm going to wait and see how the car is when it comes back; if it is spotless and in perfect working order I'll probably let it drop as far as the dealer is concerned. I'm still going to complain about Citroen mind...
 
Reezer said:
The service manager rung me back this afternoon to tell me it won't be ready till tomorrow because they need 5 parts to fix the leak...

I'm not so displeased with him personally, he seems to have done all he can since he got involved and he's been quite open and honest about it. He has also arranged a new courtesy car from a hire company for up to 3 days starting tomorrow so that he can make sure the job is done properly and it comes back in perfect condition.

He said that normally they wouldn't order the parts; they would use the old hose and bend the clips back into place but because the car is so new he personally didn't feel that would be acceptable.
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What you need to ask the service manager is "what is classified as acceptable". This word seems to be thrown around a lot with my Vauxhall dealer where anything they deem acceptable (in their opinion) would mean job done, take the car back, there is nothing more we (the dealer) can do. The Vauxhall dealer tested my patience, stepped over the line and now they have Vauxhall Motors UK and GMAC up their backside watching every move they make :D

If Citroen even thinks about using the words "gesture of good will (GOGW)", I'd give you permission (and I'll take liability for it too :p) to slap that manager. If a component is damaged or faulty (assuming it is not your fault), they should be replaced under warranty, it has nothing to do with GOGW. You bought a brand new vehicle, you should accept nothing less, even during repair:

* The work must be carried out with reasonable care and skill.
* If no time is agreed at the outset, the work must be done within a reasonable time.
* The materials used must be of satisfactory quality - essentially the same rights as you have when buying a car.
* The materials must be as described - so new parts must be new and not reconditioned.
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I had a similar problem with a Fiat dealership the action I took was to write to a few motor magazines but before I sent the letters I took them into the dealership and showed them to the general manager and made him aware of the route I was taking. The change in attitude was unreal. But stay very calm and dont show your anger just be very clear with what you expect from the dealership and follow up everything with letters. Good Luck.
 
I'd say, "I'll wait right here until I get my car or a replacement thanks", then
I'd hang around the dealership telling everyone who went near the place not to buy one in as loud a voice as was necessary! :)
I'd walk up and down outside with sandwich boards, I'd park my car in thier entranceway (I have use of 3) and generally make a bloody nuisance of myself any and every which way possible to them.
See you next tuesday sonny, the lot of them!
 
TbirdX said:
I'd say, "I'll wait right here until I get my car or a replacement thanks", then
I'd hang around the dealership telling everyone who went near the place not to buy one in as loud a voice as was necessary! :)
I'd walk up and down outside with sandwich boards, I'd park my car in thier entranceway (I have use of 3) and generally make a bloody nuisance of myself any and every which way possible to them.
See you next tuesday sonny, the lot of them!
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You're going there on Tuesday?! :confused:
 
Some funny replies but somehow I don't think most of us are the threatening type and I'm pretty sure that to be able to afford a brand new car the OP has a job to go to so can't dedicate 9 to 5 everyday annoying the dealer / scaring of customers.

I've always been tempted by a new car because of the fact that if anything goes wrong you just take it back and they fix it but from the storys i've heard recently this isn't the case. It seems the best service comes from the nearly new market.

The cheekiest story I've ever heard was when my dad bought his Mondeo (6 months old 9k on the clock) He had it a few days and noticed a scratch in the door that he hadn't seen when he bought it. He took it back and asked if they would fix it to which they replied "Of course sir." Even offered another full Valet even though it had only been done less than a week ago :eek:

Hope you get it all sorted and are back on the road in no time. TBH Citroen sound as bad as Peugeot for main dealer service!
 
Finally got the car back last night... that's 8 days to replace one valve (and fix subsequent damage caused by inept workmen...)

It's got a fair few scratches on it from the "valeting" they did... none of them are through the paint and should polish out but I'm still a bit ****** off.

I didn't want the hassle of trying to get them to fix it so I just took the car - I'll do it myself.

Hopefully this is the end of the ordeal and the car will run fine for a year or two!

Thanks all for the advice


PS: The service manager put some wax on to show the scratches weren't that deep (like that really matters) and I was very impressed with the stuff he used. You didn't have to wait for it to haze - just rub it on (he used his finger) and buff off with a rag. It came up better than the megs NXT Tech wax that I've been using on it and was a piece of cake to use. He said it was made by 3M and only available to the trade (he got it gallon at a time and used a ketchup bottle to dispense it...) Anyone know a wax that works like this?
 
Actually, I've just looked at it in the sun and there are some terrible scratches next to the drivers door. Clearly someone has slid accross the paint trying to get out when parked too close to another car - and given how tight they cram them in down there I'm hardly surprised.

There is one particular one that looks like it was one with a button or something...

What's the point in trying to keep a car looking new when it's just going to get wrecked as soon as it goes into the garage.

****
 
I didnt have much faith in French cars to start with, but without wanting to make broad sweeping statements about one incident, i dont think i will ever consider one.
 
Glad you got your car back dude. Sounds exactly like the hassle I had with the C3, Luckily I got them to buy the car back by threatening them with court action.
Reezer said:
He said it was made by 3M and only available to the trade (he got it gallon at a time and used a ketchup bottle to dispense it...) Anyone know a wax that works like this?
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What he used was (probably) '3M Perfect IT'. It's a fine cutting compound used for the finishing of fresh or oxidised paint. It's NOT a wax and won't offer protection.
 
Sputnik II said:
Glad you got your car back dude. Sounds exactly like the hassle I had with the C3, Luckily I got them to buy the car back by threatening them with court action.
What he used was (probably) '3M Perfect IT'. It's a fine cutting compound used for the finishing of fresh or oxidised paint. It's NOT a wax and won't offer protection.
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He said it was a plain wax and that it was completely non-abrasive. He may have been lying to keep me happy but I wouldn't have thought so.

I need to find some abrasive one to fix some of the scratches and a black scratch repair pen to fix the two that go down to the primer. Damn dealers...
 
Reezer said:
He said it was a plain wax and that it was completely non-abrasive. He may have been lying to keep me happy but I wouldn't have thought so.

I need to find some abrasive one to fix some of the scratches and a black scratch repair pen to fix the two that go down to the primer. Damn dealers...
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You should get the dealer to supply you with a scratch repair pen for free seeing as its their fault it got damaged.
 
In my opinion French dealer service and their cars are appauling, how they are still in business with the likes of Toyota, Nissan, Ford, etc baffles me.
 
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