CarGiant problem

[Laki]

We have bought a Mazda 6 from Cargiant in December 07. it seemed a bargain, it was almost £1000 cheaper then all the other models, we thought it must be because it had 93000 miles. after only 10 days the timing belt failed and the car stopped completely. We called Cargiant and they have picked the car up from our local garage and said they will fix it. It took 3 weeks for them to fix it and Car Giant claimed it was only a minor problem and they only replaced the timing belt and tensioner and injector number 4, and that we will have a 6 months 6000 mile warranty on these parts. By pure coincidence we found that one of our friends new someone who worked at Cargiant and asked them if they could check on our car as it still wasn't fixed at this time. To our surprise and shock the Cargiant employee told us that the engine was completely damaged and valves and pistons and lots of other parts needed replacing. he suggested it was best that we asked to change the car. When we called Cargiant they denied this and refused to change the car, in the mean time the car is repaired and they want us to pick it up. We will only have a warranty on the timing belt and 1 injector as Cargiant denies that there was any more damage.

I would appreciate any advise, as to what would be the best course of action? This has been going on for over a month now, we had to do without the car. If we take it back Cargiant will not take any responsibility if anything goes wrong with the engine as they calim they have not repaired it. They will not refund nor exchange the car and even if they would the same car now costs £1000 more!

[Bookworm]

It would take too long to type it all, so have a look here:

 

Trading Standards Central - Trading Standards and Consumer Protection information for the UK

 

It tells you pretty much all you need to know and help you decide on your next course of action.

 

Word of advice for the future: If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Next time, ask yourself why this car is £1k cheaper than the others, don't assume it is because of the mileage, ask. If nothing else, if the seller were to lie to you, it would put you in an even stronger position as regards recourse.

[Laki]

Thanks, it is a very usefull website, I have already written to CarGiant and explained my reasons for rejecting the car but they will not take the car back as they say they have spend around £1000 to repair it! But the parts they have told me they have replaced seem to cost a lot less than £1000.

My problem is that I know that they have repaired a lot more but will not admit to it as this would mean they would have to rectify it if it goes wrong again. But this is a very difficult point to prove as it would mean taking the whole engine apart and would be costly. So I gues i will have to claim that the goods where not fit for its purpose or misdescribed under the sale of goods act 1979?

And yes i should have tought trough why the car was cheaper, but it was still sold in good condition with service history and warranted mileage!

[LancerQRL]

how old is the car?

is it petrol or diesel?

does it have main dealer service history?

was the timing belt changed at the correct time?

sorry for the questions but mazdas seem to have fairly strict service intervals and with the mileage of the car it may be the case that the timing belt could have been changed recently enough to ask mazda if the belt failed whilst under warrenty.

[Laki]

It is a 2003 Mazda 6 Diesel, it has been serviced by a Mazda authorized dealer, we have the stamped service book. The timing belt was changed in July 2006 at 72000 miles, and the next change is due at 150000 miles. The car has has 93800 miles (at least that's what the odometer shows) now. The problem now is that CarGiant has fixed it already and want me to pick up the car. They said they have replaced:

1. Timing belt & tensioner

2. Auxilary belt

3. Injector number 4 and seals

4. Sump plug and seal

5. Repaired starter motor

they claim this has cost them £1000 pounds and they will give me a 6 months 6000 mile warranty on these parts only!

I checked today and these parts cost around £400-£500

 

I would have believed that if I haven't heard from their own employee that they spend over £1000 and have changed a lot more parts, the list is 2 pages long and if it was him he would never take the car back, he also hasn't got much confidence in Cargiants own mechanics.

 

Of course he is not prepared to speak up against his company so I can not rely on this as proof.

I have told Cargiant that I am rejecting the car but they will not accept it back.

Do I have enough grounds to reject the car legally? we had it for 12-14 days and covered about 100 miles if that while we had it?

I must say it is a lovely car otherwise if this did not happen!

[LancerQRL]

so the big question really is would you expect a genuine mazda cambelt to last more than 20k miles, i would certainly expect it to last at least the 72k again wouldn't you?

[Laki]

I sure would. You would think that if it wasn't fitted properly it would have happend sooner not after 20000 but may be there is an explanation?

I have seen a solicitor today and he said that I don't have a case against Cargiant, they have done their bit and fixed the car so I can not cancell the contract. Looks like they will get away with it! I will not have a proper warranty on the engine, only on the timing belt itself, so i will have to hope that they have fixed the car properly. Maybe I should get an extended warranty at my expense (if they are worth anything)?

I would not recomend them if your looking for a second hand car altough they have a great choice of vehicles!

[MARTIN3030]

These days Cambelt changes are shorter.

Tensioners are just as likely to fail as the belt itself-components are not made as good as they used to be.Inspection services usually pickup excess wear although many things can be a factor in cambelt/tensioner failure prematurely outside change intervals.

Its possible that the last one wasnt fitted properly but likely that it would have not ran for long if that had been the case.

1000 quid for the work thats been done sounds about right-luckily the damage was limited to one injector-travelling at speed when the belt failed would have been very serious.

Injectors alone can cost 200 quid-as they have rectified the fault you should be ok.

I am just wondering why after all this they didnt throw a new water pump on.

[mad_customer1]

Never buy from Car Giant, do not give these liars, cheats and charlatans the oxygen of your hard earned cash, they (the company) are vermin who trade off a veneer of legitimacy, please see my own experiences below:

 

I bought a high mileage diesel BMW 1 series from them earlier this year and almost as soon as I drove away from thier site, it was obvious they had lied to be about the so called "50 different mechanical checks" they make before handing it over.

 

I have bought high mileage cars in he past, so I was not expecting miracles here, but almost immediately, the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree, with the brake fluid light being prominent there was obviously some underline problem with the clutch causing it to stick , and the car smelt like a vagrant had been sleeping in it.

 

To date , I have spent £1092.72 to replace the clutch and flywheel mast,

£330 to replace the water pump, (yeah 50 checks, my backside)

 

I take full responsibility for not having the car independently checked (something) I doubt they would allow any way .

 

 

Aside from the blatant disregard of safety and willingness to defraud, I found the whole buying and customer handling experience from them cold and revolting ;

(1)When you walk in, you are confronted by what us usually a young man in his company issued attire , I found his knowledge about the cars very superficial, no care or pride (think of this guy as a shelf stacker type from Tesco's).

 

(2)Once you decide on a car, your ushered to a slimy sales assistant type man who is sitting at a desk, he seems mildly more knowledgeable in cars as the guy before, but what he is most interested in is selling you all kinds of 3ed party cover and insurances and finding out where you heard about them, I had the good sense to resist his advances in all things 3ed party cover which just made him more cold and unhelpful.

 

(3) After you have paid your deposit, you are then advised to return for you car in 3 days time to pick up your car, upon returning I was ushered through the collection process which had the feel and customer service of a local DSS office, you don't see the 2 previous guys you dealt with, you have to wait in line for your name to be called, sign papers and then go to a bullet proofed glass booth and hand your money to a woman, collect your receipt and then wait some more and then finally collect your car.

 

I later tried to raise my concerns and return my car, and it seems the number they give for customer service is a barely manned number, it seemed I faced the prospect taking days and days off work and the added stress to chase these people, in the end , I put it down to experience, but an experience I hope helps others avoid these people, they deserve to be a bankrupt business, in short: STAY WELL CLEAR!

 

 

You might ask why I went to them in the first place, but I'm afraid my first mistake was feeling pressure to buy a replacement car as quick as possible from a trust worthy place, never do this, always take the same approach as you would, were you buying a house, second hand car sales men are slippery as it is, Car giant seems to have industrialised the whole process to levels that even have second had car salesmen aghast.

 

PS: I stand by all the things I have said, and I challenge anyone from Car giant to prove otherwise, I'd gladly defend myself in a libel case.