Where do I stand?

[Relentless81]

Hey

So i'm absolutley fuming right now and heres why.

First off I had a £3.5k budget but my Dad kindly offered to borrow me £2k to bump my budget up and get a newer car so with my £5.5k budget I bought a 2005 Toyota Corolla T-Sport from a Ford dealer, it has 47K miles and one previous owner I bought this thinking I would be far removed from any potential problems, unfortunately I was wrong

I picked the car up last Friday, drove it home, used it twice on Saturday at which point it didnt get used again for the rest of the of the weekend.

Monday morning, I get in the car to set off to work actually looking forward to the drive for work, car wont start, everything electrical fires up but engine wont turn over and there is a clicking sound, I have to get the bus and I am also late for work. From work I ring the dealer and speak to the general manager and he promptly picks gets the car picked up and takes it to a local Ranault dealer of the same franchise, NOT the dealer I purchased it from, he also explains that they had it for a month and sometimes when cars go back to normal use the battery can fail, hmmmm. I was at the time pleased with how quickly it was picked up so didnt think anything of it and they also said it will get whatever it needs.

Tuesday morning, I ring the local dealer where the car is and ask them for an update and they say its not been looked at yet and that it will be looked at this afternoon so I then ring the dealer I bought it from to ask for a courtesy car because this is obviously going to take longer than I originally thought, they avoided answering the courtesy car question and said they will contact the dealer where the car is and get them to look at the car promptly, I dont hear anything for the rest of the day.

Today, I ring the local dealer where the car is and ask them for an update, guess what, its not been looked at yet, it will be looked at this afternoon, now i'm starting to get annoyed, bussing it to work, soaking wet with the general public isnt my idea of spending £5.5k. I ring the dealer where I bought it from, general manager is on his day off, so I have to explain it all to a different guy and I once again ask for a courtesy at which he once again skillfully avoids he takes my number and states he will call me back "today"

So, am I being unreasonable here? I dont see why I shouldnt have a courtesy car.

Also, I'm worried that a five year old car that has munched on a battery already may possibly continue to do so due to a fault that may continue to drain it, thats even if it is the battery thats at fault as the dealer I bought it from say it has been problem free whilst they have had it

At what point can I ask for my money back? The car only has a one month warranty and if I get back and it does it again i'm going to be stuck a car with problems!? I know i'm jumping the gun a bit but in my experiance a problematic car needs to go ASAP so i'm wondering at what stage is reasonable to ask for my money back

Sorry for the drawn out post, i'm stressed

 

[Firestar_3x]

If the car has been left standing for ages and the battery has gone 100% flat then it won't ever charge back to full capacity again / will become faulty / drain quickly, all they need to do is fit another battery and send you away, you have to give them reasonable chance to fix the fault before you can ask for your money back iirc.

 

[Sirrel Squirrel]

It's not impossible for a battery to drain if it's been sitting untouched for a month so I wouldn't be too worried about that.

If it's taking them that long to look at it I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a courtesy car, as for taking the car back though you don't have much to stand on unless there is a much more serious fault than a dead battery.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Why does it only have 1 month of warranty?

 

[Relentless81]

If the car has been left standing for ages and the battery has gone 100% flat then it won't ever charge back to full capacity again / will become faulty / drain quickly, all they need to do is fit another battery and send you away, you have to give them reasonable chance to fix the fault before you can ask for your money back iirc.

It worked perfectly fine over the weekend though thats what I dont understand

It's not impossible for a battery to drain if it's been sitting untouched for a month so I wouldn't be too worried about that.

That doesnt make sense?

Why does it only have 1 month of warranty?

I have no idea, they said their used cars come with a months warranty

 

[Fr0dders]

it probably only needs a new battery.

Also, the retailer is obliged to offer a repair or refund, as long as they offer one or the other, they are doing all they need to. You're not in a position to demand a refund.

Personally id go down and make a fuss. Make a lot of noise in reception and say you wont leave till somebody does something or at least tries a new battery for you.

I have no idea, they said their used cars come with a months warranty

what a bunch of cowboys.

As a dealer they are covered by the sale of goods act which requires them to sell cars which are fit for purpose and free from defects. Any defects that occur within 6 months, it is up to THEM to proove the fault was not present prior to sale, not you. Most dealers offer at least a 6 month or 12 month warranty as a result.

Sounds like they're trying to shift a lemon and using "its got 1 month warranty" as a get out clause.

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

Why haven't you pushed them to a yes/no response to your demand for a courtesy car? Also, a month's warranty? They're not putting a lot of confidence behind the car, are they?

 

[Relentless81]

it probably only needs a new battery.

Also, the retailer is obliged to offer a repair or refund, as long as they offer one or the other, they are doing all they need to. You're not in a position to demand a refund.

Personally id go down and make a fuss. Make a lot of noise in reception and say you wont leave till somebody does something or at least tries a new battery for you.

I understand i'm not in a position to demand a refund now, I dont really want one I want the car fixed and live happily ever after but i'm wondering at what point will I be in a position to demand a refund? IE if I get it back working and it does it again

Making a fuss in my experiance is a bad move, it really gets you no where

 

[Sirrel Squirrel]

That doesnt make sense?

It makes perfect sense, a battery can drain over a month, it's probably at a point where it won't hold a charge any more and you used the remainder of the juice. The dealer just needs to replace the battery.

 

[lordrobs]

Nothing too out of the ordinary here with regards to a battery going belly up after being sat on the forecourt

I'd wait for them to call and if it gets to within an hour of them closing and you haven't heard back phone them up and push the courtesy car issue.

 

[Fr0dders]

It makes perfect sense, a battery can drain over a month, it's probably at a point where it won't hold a charge any more and you used the remainder of the juice. The dealer just needs to replace the battery.

this

batteries fade over time. They get to a point where they cant hold charge for more than a day or two towards the end of their life.

I understand i'm not in a position to demand a refund now, I dont really want one I want the car fixed and live happily ever after but i'm wondering at what point will I be in a position to demand a refund? IE if I get it back working and it does it again

Making a fuss in my experiance is a bad move, it really gets you no where

Waiting for callbacks isnt getting you anywhere either though is it ?

They will be more inclined to swap a battery to get rid of a vocal customer in reception, than they will somebody who rings up for a few minutes every morning. You dont have to shout and be abusive, just not go whispering in a corner. People dont need you to shout to overhear your conversation.

 

[Relentless81]

Sounds like they're trying to shift a lemon and using "its got 1 month warranty" as a get out clause.

Its obvious its not a lemon just by looking at the car and looking at its full history with one previous, sweeping generalisations like that are just uncalled for, its a nice car with a problem thats either going to get sorted or will be a major issue that could potentially expand out of the warranty period and thats what i'm worried about

 

[Steedie]

My cars battery died a few days after getting it. It's not uncommon, especially if it's been sat doing nothing for a while

 

[[TW]Fox]

Why do people buy from dealers like this?

 

[Relentless81]

It makes perfect sense, a battery can drain over a month, it's probably at a point where it won't hold a charge any more and you used the remainder of the juice. The dealer just needs to replace the battery.

You said its NOT possible. Thats why it didnt make sense

If it is just a bad battery then great happy days, what I dont understand is (baring in mind i've said three times now) it was fine over the weekend and whilst the dealer had it, shifted it around, MOT'd it etc etc

 

[Fr0dders]

Its obvious its not a lemon just by looking at the car and looking at its full history with one previous, sweeping generalisations like that are just uncalled for, its a nice car with a problem thats either going to get sorted or will be a major issue that could potentially expand out of the warranty period and thats what i'm worried about

nothing obvious to us as we havent even seen the car.

But only offering 1 month warranty is highly unusual for a main franchised dealer. Sale of goods act means they are effectively obliged to fix things for up to 6 months. Why are they trying to worm out of this ?

 

[Relentless81]

Why do people buy from dealers like this?

Are you being serious? Its main dealer, there is no dealer back ground check to pursue its a main Ford agent

 

[matt_fsr]

everything electrical fires up but engine wont turn over and there is a clicking sound

Had this about a month ago with our W plate Mondeo - the starter motor is stuck. A good bump-start cleared it, and it hasnt had a problem since.

Could try asking the garage to bump-start the car, then try starting it off the starter motor again?

 

[Peerzy]

I personally I wouldn't be buying the "We've not had time to look at it". I recon they'll have looked it at, not been able to fix or figure out the problem and buying themselves some time. It doesn't take nearly 3 days to check if a battery is holding its charge and change it over.

 

[Relentless81]

I personally I wouldn't be buying the "We've not had time to look at it". I recon they'll have looked it at, not been able to fix or figure out the problem and buying themselves some time. It doesn't take nearly 3 days to check if a battery is holding its charge and change it over.

I thought exactly the same so I just played both dealers off against each other and they both came back with exactly the same story of which there is no way they could have they could have collaborated. Apparently this dealer is very very busy at the moment.

Also, its been escalated to an area manager or so they say and the one month warranty is the franchise company policy on all used cars no matter what type of car it is, if they decide its good for the forecourt, its used, its gets a one month warranty with an option to upgrade it