Now Vauxhall Dealer Never fixed my Car

[zabihjan]

I am very disappointed with Vauxhall Customer Care and the Dealership in Kingston Upon Thames.

 

I am self employed Taxi Driver and I rely on my car to earn a living.

 

Due to incompetency of Vauxhall Kingston I was unable to work for 17 days in total.

 

My car was giving out white smoke in February 2014, I took it to Vauxhall Dealership, after carrying out diagnostic I was told DPF line is split and it is the reason for white smoke. Two days after paying for repair costing more than £750, my car started giving out white smoke again. I took it back to Dealership, after 3-4 days of not being able to find out what is wrong with my car, the dealership had to contact Vauxhall Technicians for help which took some times and I was told that the Cat needs to be changed which was done under warranty after waiting for approval from Vauxhall Warranty.

 

Customer Care called me that my car is fixed and ready for collection. When i went to dealership to collect my car, i was told there is a needle sized hole in my radiator and is not important.

 

As soon as I collected my car and got home, I had the white smoke again. I waited two weeks for my car to get fixed, which was not fixed. I called up Vauxhall Customer Care and told them that my car was not fixed by the dealership, I was told to get independent advice.

 

After researching for few days, I took my car to a local mechanic and they fixed it within 1 day just by replacing my radiator.

 

I contacted Vauxhall Customer Care again and asked for Compensation for keeping my car for so long and not fixing it, I was refereed to Vauxhall Kingston. Vauxhall Kingston Services Manager was not willing to speak to me for few days. I complained to Vauxhall Customer Care and within one day Vauxhall Kingston Services Manager called me and was asking me to bring the car so they take a look at it again. I explained to him that I fixed it independently and the reason for contacting him was to do something about my loss of earning due to his dealerships incompetent mechanics/technicians. He referred me to Vauxhall Customer Care who are not willing to help.

After several email exchanges, they are not willing to compensate me.

[lenn]

I have my doubts that a leaking rad was causing white smoke. White smoke is caused by an internal water leak, not a rad. I guess this is why Vauxhall will not budge. I am not sure you are entitled to compensation for loss of earnings.

 

Being self employed means just that; the buck stops with you. It is your responsibility to keep working. If you were employed then your employer would provide you with a replacement vehicle.

 

You are the employer and as such need a contingency for this kind of thing.

 

I accept you are aggrieved but your loss of earnings are not the responsibility of Vauxhall.

[zabihjan]

I have my doubts that a leaking rad was causing white smoke. White smoke is caused by an internal water leak, not a rad. I guess this is why Vauxhall will not budge. I am not sure you are entitled to compensation for loss of earnings.

 

Being self employed means just that; the buck stops with you. It is your responsibility to keep working. If you were employed then your employer would provide you with a replacement vehicle.

 

You are the employer and as such need a contingency for this kind of thing.

 

I accept you are aggrieved but your loss of earnings are not the responsibility of Vauxhall.

 

the fact of the matter is that first time i paid all that money and car was not fixed. 2nd time i had to wait two weeks and still my car was not fixed.

 

so who is at fault here? why Vauxhall could never figure out what was wrong with my car when they did the diagnostic check? it means that diagnostic charges are just bogus then. if i am not entitled for loss of earning, they should at least refund me what i have paid them.

 

the local mechanic told me the leak in radiator was causing the white smoke only when the engine gets hot the coolant leaks onto exhausts and other part of the engine and this was producing white smoke. if a local mechanic can fix the white smoke in one day then what was Vauxhall doing with my car? did they made up everything about CAT and DPF Line? How on earth they have people working for them that cant figure out how to fix a car with all the training that they have?

[lenn]

Water will only leak internally or onto other parts of the engine if the head is cracked or the head gasket etc. has blown.

 

When the engine is cold you may get white smoke as the exhaust heats up and you get a condensing effect.

 

A leaking rad will not produce white smoke.

 

Diagnostics are carried out by plugging into the cars 'computer', this will read error codes with the cat and other engine components such as oxygen sensors. Diagnostics will NOT identify leaky radiators.

 

I guess Vauxhall are not interested because they do not believe a leaky rad has caused white smoke.

[scaniaman]

So they should refund £750 + any other expenses involved eg Diag tests etc.

[lenn]

So they should refund £750 + any other expenses involved eg Diag tests etc.

 

I don't think they will because you took it elsewhere thus depriving them of the opportunity to put it right.

 

Fault finding is very often a process of elimination.

 

How old is the car anyway?

[zabihjan]

I don't think they will because you took it elsewhere thus depriving them of the opportunity to put it right.

 

Fault finding is very often a process of elimination.

 

How old is the car anyway?

 

 

 

The Car is 60 Plate 2010

 

 

I had to take the car elsewhere because to fix the rad, they were asking £1075. I said no way

 

 

I use the car for Taxi and if I am out of work for more than 3 days it mean I have to live on Credit Cards.

 

 

I already had not worked for more than 2 weeks and I really didn't want another drama from those Incompetent Mechanics at Vauxhall.

 

 

if the fault was not related to radiator than how come now I don't get any smoke.

[sailor sam]

Does the warranty cover taxi use?