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

 

[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

 

[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

 

[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

 

[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

 

[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

 

[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

 

[Relentless81]

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

Sorry I missed your post thanks for letting me know but what did it do? Did the interior electrical stuff fire up like the Mondeo as someone explained or was it totally dead?

 

[Relentless81]

Really?



Give them another call after lunch and see what they say then

I'm a noob sorry

I just spoke to them now so I know where I stand again with any potential promises for today and got them to agree a courtesy car if its not sorted by the end of the day

Dealer could have phoned each other?

If the dealer is busy why has it not going back to the dealer you bought it off, or a Ford specialist?

The law pretty much states they can say 52 minute warranty, if something breaks 4 months later they need to either prove you did it through misuse or fix it.

I rang them within minutes of each other

Because the dealer I bought it off is 12 miles away

Thats good to know RE warranty

O Rly...

Like I said, sorry my bad, I fail

 

[Relentless81]

Well that's good news
I guess they will now at least attempt to fix it rather than give you a courtesy car!

Hope so!

I am being deadly serious! The warranty is the only reason to buy from dealers most of the time and you let them con you with only a months worth!

Some of the stuff you come out with really does leave me in amazement sometimes

I'm sure the OP deliberately bought a car from this dealer because they had the crappiest customer service. Or just perhaps they had a car he wanted, they were main dealers and he bought it thinking he would be covered. This is a silly question, you don't get to find out how good customer service is until things go wrong.

Exactly, I was told it only had a month warranty, if it wasnt fit for forecourt it would have gone to auction, dealers dont want to lose money on bad cars, this is all blatently obvious

The same happened to me when I bought my car. The dealer advised me at the time that the car had been sitting for a month or two and if I had any problems to bring it back.

Sure enough a week or so after I had it it wouldn't start (although IIRC interior lights etc. still worked) so they took it back and charged it up. They kept the car for a couple of days to check the battery over, giving me a courtesy car during the time.

They eventually figured out that the battery wouldn't hold its charge and replaced it completely FOC.

TBH I wouldn't have expected anything less.

Thanks for the informative post, hopefully thats all it is and I can get on with my life

 

[Relentless81]

When you take a step back and you read what some people put and how others jump on the band wagon its actually quite amusing

Its a franchised main dealer, its not a small one either its a well know one, so saying they are cowboys knocking out a banger is just scare mongery, its blatently obvious you havent a clue what you're talking about and just enjoying the ride on the band wagon.

I love how some guy is miffed at the fact that they are selling a Toyota at a Ford dealer, its not rocket science, it was a trade in, it was too good for auction so they sold on their forecourt

I actually regret making this thread, not because of reading the comments that I know wont be true because end of the day i'll get the car back and all will be well, i'm just being paranoid as usual, its for that fact that i've only been on here a fairly short time and I knew for a fact that the usual suspects would be out to post doom and gloom and I would read it and start to panic a little even though it was predictable.

However I logged out, had a think about it realised there is no point in panicing which is also thanks to the sensible posts and that all I can do is sit back and wait for my car to fixed and returned to me at which point I can crack on because lets face it, saying things like buying a toyota from a dodgy main ford dealer is just hilarious, especially if you dont even know what franchise it is and have no personal experiance what so ever of the dealer!

 

[Relentless81]

which franchise is it ?

At this point I am not inclined to say. Now let the predictable responses follow

 

[Relentless81]

Hope you get it sorted. Just seems like a duff battery.

Thanks man

 

[Relentless81]

Fine then. Hope all goes well for you.

Thanks, i'm sure it will

 

[Relentless81]

Ok heres an update for the interested, which is interesting, an interesting update for the interested

It was looked at yesterday, its just that guy who I spoke to this morning didnt know this, it was charged overnight and the battery didnt hold its charge, new battery was ordered, supplied and fitted today, the car is ready to be picked up. My paranoid mind tells me if there is an underlying problem then it will drain the new battery and thats when I start to ask for my money back, if that doesnt happen then happy days and may many years of happy motoring follow

Speculation is bad, mmm'kay.

 

[Relentless81]

It will be fine, they sure were slow though, they could have had that back to you within a few hours.

Yes I agree, this is the really bad part, but as long as its fixed and it doesnt do it again i'm happy

 

[Relentless81]

well its no surprise it didnt hold its charge

thats why when you left it over the weekend it went flat and wouldnt start. With any luck a new battery should be all that it needs.

That is the only thing that is throwing me slightly, it was fine on Saturdau when I went gym, it was fine after the gym for driving home

All I can think of was the battery wasnt being charged and it was just using what ever was left until the point where there wasnt enough to kick the starter motor

That can only mean two things, duff alternator or duff battery. They say its the battery and I hope it is, I honestly cant see a 47k mile 5 year old jap car needing an alternator, its not unheard of obviously, its just unlikely

Thanks though, I have my fingers crossed

 

[Relentless81]

Got it back, all seems well, even risked a visit to a pub in the middle of no where, how brave am I.

However

The front splitter has a scrape that wasnt there before! I noticed it as soon as I picked it up but I was fuming and the guy was on the phone so I just left when I should have stayed and pointed it out. Not sure what to do about it now, should I just leave it or chase them to get it sorted?

 

[Relentless81]

You saw it yet... still accepted the car?

Yea good luck.

Trust me, it was walk away or kill someone, there was no way I was keeping my temper in check after the day that I had yesterday

I'm not too bothered, would be nice if they did it, if not there is a web in the paint on the back bumper that I intend to get done and i'll just get the front splitter done at the same time

If the alternator is failing to supply sufficent voltage / current to the battery won't the battery light come on the dash telling you the battery is discharging?

Its either a duff battery or you have an electric drain in the system, something like a broken glovebox switch will do this.

They tested the alternator (apparently)

As for a potential drain, only time will tell

 

[Relentless81]

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