Problem with used car we bought

[MassiveJim]

Bought a used car from a local forecourt back in july/August.
VW Tiguan 2010, 2.0 TDI 140bhp 2WD
On viewing the car had a bit of a rattle which went away with the clutch fully down.

Dealer agreed to replace clutch/flywheel.
Was still a bit of noise when we came to pick it up but dealer said the clutch had been replaced we either accept a refund of deposit or take the car as is and if it gets worse he will help out with repair etc.
Note dealer has his own garage/mechanics.
2nd note, this is not my car it is my partners and I rarely drive it.

fast forward to December I take the car to a local remapper and have it remapped which I think took it up to 180/190bhp, and around 45ft/lb extra torque.
When i collect the car the remapper says there was a rattle before we mapped it which is now worse, we think it is the clutch or flywheel.
Driving home it is pretty bad, flooring it at around 1800 - 2500 rpm results in quite bad juddering/noise from the gearbox side of engine bay. But the engine is fine the dyno printout shows a nice smooth curve and the remapper is happy there are no engine problems.
I spoke to my partner about it when I got home and she says "yeh its always done that but its my first diesel so I didn't know if it was normal or not" *facepalm*

Before I go any further with the story (there is quite a bit more to it) I assume at this point any warranty or consumer rights are out of the window at this point ?

also worth mentioning that the original map has been put back on and it still has the problem just not as bad.
i do also need to mention the clutch and flywheel kit fitted to the car came from these guys
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.ncduk.com
which I believe is causing the problem.

 

[MassiveJim]

Whilst you can't sign away your consumer rights and 'sold as seen' isn't a thing for consumer sales like this, buying the vehicle when it still made a noise after a new clutch/flywheel was probably not the cleverest thing to do.

Agreed, however car drove fine and there was an agreement in place that it was likely something minor (wasn't a particularly loud noise by the way) and if it did worsen that the selling garage would carry out further work and we would go 50/50 on a recon gearbox (or whatever was needed) so my thinking that if it does get worse £250 isn't a bad deal to resolve it later.

As an aside, what kind of remapper identifies a noise like that and decides "sod it I'll remap it anyway" rather than phoning you to say the car sounds a bit broken and maybe more torque and power might be best avoided for the time being.

Yeh not sure how bad it was on the rollers, they described it as "a bit of a rattle" but on the road it was pretty bad between 1800 - 2500 rpm, it is also worse in 4th/3rd so maybe wasn't "that bad" on rollers in 5th/6th gear which is what I think they use to remap it, either way I do agree with your point. That being said it is a well respected mapper 4.7 stars on google from 44 reviews. I have had a car mapped there in the past, as well as my current car (Octavia VRS), and my brother had his done there recently also.

If the rattle goes away when you push the pedal I'd say this is input shaft bearing or something gearbox related, not clutch.

A remap is the perfect get out claus for any warranty claim so if you think you may be needing that in future then I'd remove it ASAP.

The OP is an over simplification of events, I am merely at this point trying to get an understanding of how the remap affects my rights, and just for clarification the remap is also off the car now by the way.

 

[MassiveJim]

Look at the reviews of the place the car dealer bought the clutch kit from. (Link in op)
I believe that they have changed the clutch and flywheel, but that the clutch is not a genuine new luk one.
And judging by the reviews of the place, I believe that is where the problem lies.
The car is booked in to have clutch and flywheel replaced with genuine new kit by the way.

I'm just trying to understand where I stand with consumer rights is all, which I think has pretty much been answered.
Seller has been aware of the fault since December by the way.

 

[MassiveJim]

update on this.
clutch was changed by my trusted garage, he said the flywheel should not have the amount of play in it that it has for a flywheel that has done about 3k, and the clutch looked totally wrong, different amount of "fingers" in the centre.
So clutch fitted all issues went away with it that was at the start of april.

yesterday took it back to have the map file put back on and its spot on.

so as suspected the issue was down to an incorrect/poor quality clutch and flywheel being fitted.