Intermittent starting problem, only had car few weeks.

dal

dal

dal

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Hi all, So as the title says we bought a car (2nd hand from a franchise dealer), about 2 1/2 weeks later the car wont start but then started shortly after without us even doing anything to it, we didn't worry too much about it, then within the next 2 weeks it happened 2 more times.
We sent the car back to them & we got a courtesy car. They have now had the car 2 weeks and haven't been able to find anything wrong with it or reproduce the problem so I went and saw them today & said if they can't sort it soon we either want our money back or another car of similar value, their response was they couldn't just do a straight swap but would part exchange the car, I said I wasn't happy with that as the part ex price will be a lot less than what we have paid for it.
Anyway we agreed they could have it for 1 more week to find the problem. I'm fairly sure they wont be able to find out whats wrong with it. I'm not going to part exchange the car because we have only had the car 6 weeks (of which they have had it 2 ) so why should I loose about £1000 because they can't sort the problem out. I am aware that intermittent problems are the worst to sort out but it's not our fault.
So where would I stand with trading standards ? Any recommended courses of action ?

Regards
 
Has the dealer tested the battery/starter motor - do they have the facilities to test these or are they purely there to sell the cars.
 
If it is not battery / starter related, which should be fairly easy to test, it could be 3 other things.

1) Faulty fuel pump. I had one fail in an e46 330d and it caused an intermittent starting issue. The car would crank but not much else, in most cases you will be able to listen for the fuel pump priming when you turn the ignition on. No whirr, no fuel.

2) Faulty grounding strap. I had an issue in a v10 TDI touareg where one of the grounding straps had almost burnt itself out. This caused a very difficult to diagnose issue as it would sometimes start first time but other times I would have to press the start button 5-10 times before it actually started. You could hear it attempt to crank and it sounded very similar to having a battery issue.

3) If it happens mainly while hot it could be the crankshaft position sensor. I had this problem in an r230 sl500 where it would start fine when cold, but if I drove somewhere, got out the car and tried to restart it, it would crank but again not start.

Good luck
 
Hi is a citreon c4, 2012 with about 55k on the clock & is automatic.
Fairly sure it isn't starter / battery, when it doesn't start it doesn't even turn over, no clicking, nothing. Like I said they have had it 2 weeks amd they can't find anything wrong with it. I'd say it was probably some cut off switch/ sensor to stop you starting it in gear or without the brake pedal being pressed which is faulty but then again with modern electronics it could be a few things.
 
When you say above that it later started, is that with you doing nothing at all but simply waiting?

If so it could be as pointed above bad grounding or bad battery terminal connections?
 
Realistically it could be many things.

If I was betting I would say a starter motor or solenoid issue. It isn't going to be a fuel/ignition issue because the car hasn't even got as far as cranking.

Either way, definitely stand your ground. The notion that if they take the car back they'll take it back as a part ex is absolutely hilarious - you are entitled to your money back, perhaps minus a very small amount for the 6 weeks of usage you've had out of it. Realistically though, you would hope that a main dealer would absorb this small amount as way of an apology and to secure you buying another car from them.
 
IAmATeaf said:
When you say above that it later started, is that with you doing nothing at all but simply waiting?
If so it could be as pointed above bad grounding or bad battery terminal connections?
Click to expand...

Yes didn't do anything just waited , less than 10 minutes then it started immediately.
I don't really want to start fault finding myself as we have had it such little time just want my money back or another car from them.
 
Gaygle said:
Either way, definitely stand your ground. The notion that if they take the car back they'll take it back as a part ex is absolutely hilarious - you are entitled to your money back, perhaps minus a very small amount for the 6 weeks of usage you've had out of it. Realistically though, you would hope that a main dealer would absorb this small amount as way of an apology and to secure you buying another car from them.
Click to expand...

So if they don't want to give me my money back I'll go to trading standards.
 
flooded ? are you driving short distances and then re-starting, engine is full of fuel and might re-start after extended tries at turning it over ?
have seen this with petrol 2014 yaris and e46 bm's , family member called the AA out at home for it.
have never researched if a particular engine part might be responsible/failing.

... I think flooding is just par for the course.

edit not cranking so not that
 
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I'd say it's the starter control lead for the solenoid that has rusted, or the solenoid itself is on it's last legs.

I have the same issue with my golf, most of the time it starts fine, then once in a blue moon it'll not crank. If I keep on trying it'll eventually start, say within 20 turns of the key or so, and that's after I've had the terminals cleaned and silicon greased to stop water ingress - for instance it's been fine since the summer. Sometimes it won't happen for months so I can see that the dealer might not reproduce the problem.

If you are worried about getting stranded then get a refund, but as with my car now that I know what the issue is, and as it's soo infrequent, I live with it and it's never not started eventually. If it's a rare car, or one you otherwise love, then get them to clean the solenoid terminal and silicone grease it and take your chances - you could get them to replace the connector as well for extra security.
 
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