thank you. I got the car in August 2020 from Arnold Clark Preston where the car had 38,000 miles. I had the car approx 16 months in January 2022 when the car went into the Arnold Clark Bolton garage with a break fault and at this point the car had 46,000 miles so I hadn’t even done 10,000 miles in it. My finance company is PSA finance - they’ve said basically if i’d had the car for more than 12 months there’s not much they can do.

I am looking for help as a final resort to resolve a matter that has been ongoing since 09.01.22. On 09.01.22 my car went into the Arnold Clark Bolton garage due to the brakes being unresponsive and not working, once this had been looked at by Arnold Clark Bolton, they informed me that it was the brake pump and would cost £290 to fix. Despite me paying extra on top of my car finance every month for a service and maintenance plan, they told me that this cost wouldn’t be covered as I hadn’t had my service done by Arnold Clark. I had informed them that I tried booking in the service with Arnold Clark when it was due, but I was told it was nearly a 2 month wait for a service appointment which would’ve taken me past January 2022 when this incident occurred. After A LOT of back and forth phone calls with Arnold Clark over a couple of weeks (90% of the calls were from my end) I agreed to pay the £290 as I just needed my car back at this time I also asked for them to carry out the service which they agreed to do. Fast forward around a week and I was told my car was able to be collected. I am from Preston, so I needed to arrange a lift to Bolton to collect the car which was a challenge in itself but I managed to do it. On the day I was due to pick the car back up I called to check on a time, to be told that the car wasn’t ready and will be ready tomorrow. This happened on Tuesday 8th February and was told another 2 times it would be ready the next day to then be told that they have found another fault with the car and the final cost will actually be £900!! another load of back & forth phone calls (again from my end as no one rings back) trying to settle a lower price as they have been nothing but difficult with me from the start and the faults really should be covered by the maintenance & service package I am paying for. After this we managed to lower the cost to £700 which I have paid for. Fast forward to Thursday 11th March and at this point they have had my car well over 2 months and I was finally due to pick it up. I get a phone call to say that the car is now just not starting so I’ll receive a call in regard to getting a courtesy car. On Tuesday 16th March I was trying to contact them non-stop to get this sorted but was constantly being passed from person to person, after weeks of ringing and being completely messed around I was told I could go to Arnold Clark Bolton to collect a courtesy car on Monday 18th April 2022. I even rang back the day before to confirm that I was able to collect this courtesy car. I arrived at Arnold Clark and spoke to the front desk to be told that the service manager (who I had been speaking with throughout this whole situation) had left the company on Friday 15th April which I was not made aware of. To top it all off, I was told that there was not a courtesy car available for me after about 1 hour of waiting around, I was given the old service managers company car that he had left (which was almost 1000 miles past due a service & had its service light on – which is the reason my service and maintenance package was void - according to them). Before I left Arnold Clark that day, I was told that this situation had been extremely poorly handled and messed up by the previous service manager and it is going to be investigated and I will be receiving a call to explain what is happening with my Ford Focus. Fast forward to 18th May 2022 when I receive a call from Arnold Clark Bolton to say that they have done a diagnostic on the car and the engine needs to be replaced directly due to missing a service, so the charge of £2800 will be passed over to me. Please take note that when my car went into the garage at Arnold Clark on 9th January 2022 for a simple brake failure, I have been constantly asking them to complete a service whilst they had it in which they ensured me they will do as I am paying for a service & maintenance package! I have been paying for my finance agreement, car insurance, car tax, my maintenance & service package and taxis/buses & trains for transport for nearly 8 months without access to my vehicle due to the negligence of Arnold Clark. I have also been charged massive amounts as I have had to use my work van out of hours, and I get charged per mile. Since my car went into Arnold Clark Bolton in January 2022, I have paid £1505 in car finance payment and not had access to the car. I have also paid Arnold Clark £700 for repairs back in February 2022. All of this is putting me at a major financial loss. Arnold Clark Bolton has collected the courtesy car on Wednesday 29th June 2022 so I am now back without a vehicle. This whole situation has had an overwhelming negative impact on my mental health and wellbeing, and I am completely drained from it. I have not even done 10,000 miles since I got the car 23 months ago. I have complained to Arnold Clark who have said they won’t deal directly with me but only with my finance company my finance company has said there is nothing they can do. I am currently complaining to the financial ombudsman. Grateful for any suggestions on what I can do as it’s almost September and I’ve not had my car since January.