CarCraft/Advantage - Engine/turbo blown after 7mts ownership - help **RESOLVED**

[Peter_S]

Hi,

 

I recently purchased a 2nd hand diesel car with 50k miles on the clock on finance from CarCraft Chertsey on 27th April 2014,

 

 

got it MOT'd by CarCraft on 18th November (as they were unable to do service at the same time), and

then serviced after 6 months / 6k miles as per the warranty requirements by CarCraft Chertsey

(25th November 2014 earliest appointment that CarCraft had when called in September), and

 

 

now after 7 months the car has had "catastrophic" engine failure to the point it is unusable on the road, no power, plumes of white smoke pouring out the back..

 

I contacted the warranty department and they advised to book the car in for investigation,

I did this at Halfords Auto Centre (as advised by customer services that this is one of the approved centres

they use that deal directly with CarCraft) ,

 

 

they had the vehicle for 3 days before diagnosing it was beyond their technical abilities,

to progress this issue, I had the car taken back to CarCraft Chertsey where I purchased it

and they have set about trying to get it repaired in their service area under the warranty,

 

 

however they keep telling me they are snowed under with work and can only work on it for an hour or two a day.

 

The CarCraft Chertsey have been in contact with the warranty company

and advised that the engine has a major fault that would require a full strip down to diagnose,

the diagnostics is going to take 10-20 hours work at £78 per hour.

The warranty company have set a maximum payment for the diagnostics and repairs of £1,000.

 

The servicing department, a great guy called Paul who is trying to be as helpful as possible,

has advised both myself and the warranty company that the quickest and more economical solution

is to replace the engine and that is still going to cost in excess of £1,600 if there is a cheap engine available for replacement.

 

The warranty that came with the fact they still need the engine stripped down to find which component failed!

 

Where do I stand?

 

 

I am now looking at taking the vehicle back for a refund because of the amount of time this is taking,

I have looked at the Citizens advice page and I believe that under sales of goods act it is not of "satisfactory condition"

as in at least the sub section referring to "Last for a reasonable length of time in a reasonable condition",

I do understand there is no guideline for how long a car should last

but when it is still under 60k miles for a diesel car, this is incredibly low.

 

The car failed on the 23rd of December and I have been without a car to take my kids to and from school, gym, swimming etc.

 

I can understand I may have rambled a little so if you need any clarification please ask.

 

Pete

[dx100uk]

get the finance company involved too

 

 

you been sold a pup

 

 

the whole deal inc the finance should now be cancelled.

 

 

yes SOGA

but don't forget

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/35/crossheading/provisions-relating-to-the-united-kingdom?view=plain

 

 

applies to cars.

 

 

however I think these are not now relevant to your situation

the whole lot should be torn up as said

 

 

i'll alert our carcraft rep for you

linzi is very good.

[Guest Carcraft Customer Service Manager]

Morning Peter

 

So sorry to hear about the issues above, we are looking into this now and will get back to you as soon as possible.

 

Thanks

Linzi

[Conniff]

The servicing department, a great guy called Paul who is trying to be as helpful as possible,

has advised both myself and the warranty company that the quickest and more economical solution

is to replace the engine and that is still going to cost in excess of £1,600 if there is a cheap engine available for replacement.

I do understand there is no guideline for how long a car should last

but when it is still under 60k miles for a diesel car, this is incredibly low.

 

 

Is the service being as helpful as possible or is he just saying things he thinks you want to hear?

 

 

If an engine is found to replace yours, will it be of as low a mileage as your present one, (if the mileage is correctly recorded that is), or will it have covered in excess of 100,000 or more miles, will you be given a guarantee of mileage if another engine is fitted?

 

 

60k is certainly very low, barely run in. MY Volvo has in excess of 285,000 and has never had a problem.

 

 

As the purchase was less than 6 months ago, it is up to Carcraft to show that this fault was not there at the time of purchase, something they are very unlikely to be able to do seeing as they don't have fully indentured mechanics working on it.

You are within time and you have the full weight of the Sale of Goods Act behind you should you wish to cancel the agreement and return the car for a full refund.

 

 

If the finance is Hire Purchase, this is not a problem you should be involved in, the car belongs to the finance company, it was the finance company that bought the car and you should contact them and 'not' the seller with your complaint and it is them you should send your letter of rejection to.

[Peter_S]

Hi,

 

Just to update here as I have noticed that people post issues and never state how they are doing with them,

 

 

I have been contacted by CarCraft the gentleman's name slips my mind but he did call while I was walking into work,

and they are moving my car from their Chertsey branch to the West Midlands one,

and at no cost to myself as they can then look at it quicker and get a report back,

which is good, however I didn't get an answer to "who pays for it to be fixed".

 

As to Conniff's comment;

The replacement engine that Paul at Chertsey had found had approx 30k miles on it

and included all the parts such as turbo etc so the exchange would have been quickly done,

and I had the car 7 3/4 months before it died not under 6, 27th April till 23rd December.

 

I have contacted the Finance company and they are happy to assist in a Sales of Goods act refund

if that is what I wish to go ahead with, and sort out a full refund.

 

All I really want is to keep my wife happy and give her back a car that she loves to drive

and can get the kids around in and with the car we purchased she loved from the moment she sat in it.

 

Pete

[Conniff]

Have you asked for a courtesy car so you have something to use while this is being done Pete ?

[Peter_S]

Hi Conniff,

 

As the car is in my wifes name and she has been doing most of the talking to customer services until she was getting frustrated over it, she told me she did ask but was told no as its not part of the warranty to give one.

 

I did go through the warranty book and there is nothing that states anything about being given a courtesy car either.

[Conniff]

The warranty is a useless piece of paper and nothing to do with the seller unless they are underwriting it. Anything you try and claim on the warranty will be dismissed as wear and tear. If they sold you the warranty rather than you ask for it, then you should ask for a refund of the premium.

 

 

If they claim the replacement engine is 30k, make sure you get that in writing.

 

 

Call the finance company, tell them what is happening and 'tell' them that you need a courtesy car. Don't take no as the final answer, tell them in that case you will hire one and bill them.

 

 

Remember this has nothing to do with you and the dealer, it is between the dealer and the finance company.

[Peter_S]

Thanks for the info Conniff,

 

Spoke with Advantage Finance,

got put through to Sarah in customer services / enquiries

who advised that they are a "Finance" company and don't supply courtesy cars,

there is no contractual obligation to supply one,

 

 

I did point out that it is a "Hire Purchase" agreement

and she advised that it would be down to CarCraft to supply a courtesy car while the car is in for investigation/repair

 

I also was advised by her as the car is over 7 months from purchase that "I" need to prove that the car was faulty at time of purchase

to go ahead with a refund, even though when I spoke to Rob on Friday he seemed happy to go ahead

and follow down the "Sales of Goods Act" but nothing has been logged on the system to say this.

 

Advantage Finance made me feel that they were just shrug their shoulders and bounce it back to myself as,

"Your car, Your problem!", even though I did state that the car belongs to them until the finance is paid off.

 

They did however want to know how long the investigation would take and what the outcome of CarCraft's investigation is

and how much CarCraft were going to pay to cover the difference between the warranty limit and the actual repair.

[Conniff]

They should not be asking you and details of anything, it is up to them to contact Carcraft direct and get the information.

 

 

You can tell Carcraft you want a courtesy car and if they refuse, then let both them and the finance company know in writing that you are going to hire a car and will be billing them. You can also mention that if they refuse a refund of the hire charge, you will take it through the small claims and name them both.

[Peter_S]

Maybe Linzi here would like to answer that one on behalf of CarCraft ?

I have some driving to do now as just finishing work a little early, to go and run my kids around for Gym/Amateur Dramatics.

[dx100uk]

and finance are the pits anyway

 

 

as a side note

 

 

what insurances and other extras did they fleece you for?

 

 

dx

[Peter_S]

They gave me the 7 day drive home insurance, and I got a few calls trying to sell insurance after that.

 

They also tried to "sell" me a 3 year warranty package,

I only know this as I received the paperwork through the post for the finance for it,

and looked at it and thought WTF is this!

 

 

got straight on the phone and told them NO! didnt sign up for it so not accepting it

also followed up with 3 emails and a letter and a few calls to Chertsey's in house finance team,

that quickly got the message through.

 

Haven't heard anything since last post..

. guess its a call tomorrow and see what happens,

after I get kids up for school, and run the wife to work in the morning.

[Conniff]

Do you know, your the second thread that has Halfords admitting they are crap.

 

 

It could be mis-advertising, they should make it clear that it is only minor repairs and servicing they can do.

[Peter_S]

Well,

they admitted they didn't have the tool to redo the timing chain on the car,

I can't see what is so special about a hyundai's timing chain to all others,

but they said that Hyundai wouldn't sell them one either

so it was not possible for them to continue.

BUT they didn't charge me for any investigation work as they couldn't perform any!

so that is a +1 for Halfords in one way.

 

Mind you saying that

when I was in there getting my wiper blades done on my company van

they did admit the engineer that they had working on my car was no longer with them

as he had made a "few" mistakes,

much like not tightening the injectors down on my car,

as I was told by CarCraft after they started looking at it :/

 

Haven't had any updates from CarCraft,

don't even know if my car has been moved,

I did try and get hold of Chertsey to check it had left

but I was pushed for time last week,

 

 

I'll see if I can contact them on Monday and get an update.

 

(just wondering how much CarCraft are going to blame Halfords now

for not putting the car back together properly so they can check it..)

[Peter_S]

An update:

 

I called Chertsey this morning and spoke to the service manager there,

 

 

he informed me that the car was picked up on Thursday and he would be calling West Midlands,

seems they have quite a few work bays up there (30+) unlike the 3 or 4 that Chertsey have,

and the car would be looked at quickly, and he'd be calling them Wednesday evening / Thursday morning for an update.

 

Then... around 3pm I got a call from James in customer services, and

he did say the car was being worked on and was quite a way in being stripped down but they needed to go further,

and he should have some news tomorrow on what is going on.

 

Damn this deep in the engine,

must have been faulty at time of purchase and just my luck for it to break when I have it...

 

 

As I was dealing with things I couldn't really stop to chat with him and try and push for courtesy car,

and if they can get it fixed and back to me by the weekend I will be jumping for joy!!

 

I'll keep the thread updated as I get updates.

[Peter_S]

Well its been another week and no car,

 

So update..

. car was picked up after speaking to James and was sent to West Midlands,

they spent a couple of days stripping down the engine..

no one has told me what failed yet.

.. however good news I think on the horizon..

 

 

. parts have been ordered, and car should be fixed by the end of this coming week,

and should be back at the Chertsey branch early next week...

 

 

... now if parts have been ordered does that mean they have found the fault, and there is no bill to myself??

or does it mean we're going to fix it and btw heres the bill..

 

 

. I am going to hope its the former as no one has contacted me to confirm go ahead with the repairs

after all if its so deep in the engine it took 3 days to diagnose

then I am 100% certain its not something I've done and its not "wear and tear".

 

I'll update when I have more news... but thought people would like to know what is going on here.

[Conniff]

Don't wait for them to say, ask them what the problem is.

[Peter_S]

The fault has been diagnosed as a cracked piston... so they are replacing the engine..

warranty company have agreed to pay "maximum" amount of £1,000...

but there is no price given for the repairs at this time..

 

 

got a call today while I was at work, really inconvenient time but wanted to get an update..

 

If CarCraft think I'm paying for it then they can think again..

 

 

. I'm not impressed, they aren't even sure if I will get the car back next week according to James at CarCraft..

[Peter_S]

Update...

Call received from CarCraft on Friday from James,

 

 

must admit he is doing his best to keep me informed even if he does ramble on at times..

 

 

the car has had a replacement engine put in, and is awaiting its final road tests

 

Also been told that CarCraft Servicing Chertsey are covering the rest of the bill so no cost to me.

 

 

Just got to wait and get it back now, hopefully should hear something Monday or Tuesday.

 

It can't take that long to road test the car and get it back to me.

[Peter_S]

GOOD NEWS!

 

We finally have the car back... bad news... air-con doesn't work! I think that it hasn't been re-gassed since the engine change, but at least we have a car back and it does appear to drive well.

 

So YAY Thanks for the support here, Now do I go through the agro of telling them that the air-con isn't working or do I just go to ATS Euromaster and get it re-gassed for £30?

[Conniff]

You should ask if they can book you in to a specialist at the earliest opportunity for the work to be done while you wait and at CC expense.

 

 

Congrats on getting the car back, lets hope it stays that way. I bet you'll miss the bus ride though

[Peter_S]

Ok going to update this for a final time,

 

EVERYTHING IS GOOD!! Thank you for all your support and assistance in this, and thank you car craft customer services for actually helping out (eventually)

 

Again I can't say thanks enough!

 

Pete.