ripped off by dealership.... help!?

hi... i bought a renault megane cabriolet 1.6 dynamique on June 25th from a dealership in speke, liverpool.

on 3rd september, the enging management light came on, and flashed intermittently, my car lost power, was shuddering and making spluttering noises.
according to the manual,this is the warning light for exhaust emissions.

when i bought the car, i was told it had full service history, and had been inspected before sale, and they gave me 6 months warranty cover with a third party warranty company.

i took it to the recommended garage, a nationwide autocentre garage, who told me that the coil packs had failed, but when they had contacted the warranty company, they were told my warranty was invalid as i hadnt had it serviced within 6000 miles... ( i am a sales rep and i do a lot of miles, but who buys a car with full service history and then has it serviced!?)

when i called the dealership they said that they were unaware of this clause, and they would cover the cost of repairing the coils. all great you say?? well...

the garage that did the repairs called me to say that my car had last had a service stamped in the book in october 2005!!! a bit strange seeing as it was supposed to have fsh...

after the repairs, on 21st september, i took it to my nearest renault main dealer for a service, and was told that there was £1200 worth of work that needed doing!!! when i explained to them that id only bought it a few months earlier etc, i was told that there was no way that this car had been serviced before sale, and no way that the things that were wrong with it would have happened within the last 3 months - the renault main dealer said it was more like 18-24 months worth of wear and tear, and that i should contact the garage that sold it to me. i did so, and was told that the renault main dealer was 'probably exaggerating what needed doing, as thats what main dealers do' but that they would look at the car if i took it into them.

since then i have started back at uni, and havent had chance to get into the garage. on friday night, the 9th october, the same light came on, same symptoms, everything. I pulled over and called the RAC patrol, who came and inspected my car, and said it wasnt the coils, it wasnt the spark plugs, it was probably a fuel injection problem.

my main issue now, (and im sorry for the length of this post!!) is that i bought the car on the belief (as advertised) that it had full service history, and had been inspected before sale... this is OBVIOUSLY not the case.

i have a renault main dealer service report, i have two nationwide autocentre reports, and now another garage (its booked in for repairs tomorrow) bill to repair stuff that shouldnt be going wrong with the car - ive only had it three months, and ive had all this trouble!!

i have been told that i should be able to take all these reports back to the dealership i bought it from, and they should reimburse me for the repairs i have had to pay for, and put right all the stuff on the service report for free, because had they serviced it before selling it, i wouldnt have had all these problems...

do i have a leg to stand on?????? any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

do i have to pay for the repairs or do they have to fix it for free? im a bit miffed at the idea of having to pay all this money, just 3 months after paying £3k for the car....

yes, ive seen it... the car obviously wasnt as described, it doesnt have full service history and it couldnt have been inspected before sale... their website claims:
"OUR ETHOS
Uehicle Preparation for our customers
All vehicles identified or selected for our customers are carefully appraised, paying particular attention to documented service history, mileage verification, and the usual but important HPI checks. This verification may include contacting the main dealer where the vehicle was previously serviced if inconsistencies are discovered.

Having passed an inspection a vehicle is then prepared, which often includes a service as required by the service log. Finally the vehicle is professionally valeted to restore it's near new look. Only then is the vehicle offered for retail sale or supplied directly to our waiting customer.By using third parties throughout the preparation stage we aim to boost our customer's confidence in the vehicle they are purchasing."


this has obviously not been done to my car.

am i right in thinking that they have to do ALL the repairs, including the ones that the service flagged up, not just the breakdown ones?

im really stuck. im going to call consumer direct in the morning, but do i take it to the garage its booked into?? ive been told not to drive it any distance, but the dealership is 27 miles away from my home... dont know what to do!?!?!

ok, will do... ill let you all know how i get on!
xx

right, ive called the dealership and he's said that if i get it to them theyll look at it for me. the problem is, they wont come and pick it up, and the rac have told me not to drive it any distance. the garage is 27 miles away.

hes told me that its my own fault for not buying a car from a garage closer to home, and its up to me to get it to them, and they dont provide courtesy cars as they are not a main dealer.

so im stuck. if i take the car to them theyll look at it, but ive got no way of getting the car to them, and im going to be without a car while they fix it - ive got uni tomorrow, and work!!! argh!?!

any advice?

ive just called consumer direct, and theyre telling me that there is no law that says the dealer has to give me a courtesy car?!?

ive got rac PERSONAL ROADSIDE AND RECOVERY, but i dont know whether it includes towing - every time ive ever needed them to tow me theyve said that they have to tow me to the nearest garage....

ive also looked at trading standards and they say that if the fault was present when i bought the car then the dealer has to fix it. the dealer is trying to say that because i do a lot of miles, its my own fault, but the renault garage up the road have said that this is 2yrs worth of wear and tear and would have been present when i bought the car.... im on the phone with them now trying to get them to put this in writing, because they told me that a renault garage would never have sold the car in this condition.

the dealer has said that the earliest they can look at it is wednesday morning... which means ive got no car for uni or work tomorrow or wednesday, and because two other garages have looked at it and cant find out whats wrong, its probably not going to be a quick fix...

which still leaves me without a car, which they say they havent got one to give me, and they dont have to anyway.

?!?!?!?

renault have said that they cant put anything in writing as the car is not deemed dangerous to drive....

trading standards say that all consumer enquiries are dealt with by consumer direct, and they told me that the garage doesnt have to give me a car!?

my mate has agreed to lend me a car, but i have to put it on my insurance - which is going to cost me. plus, she lives miles away, so im going to have to get to her, which is going to cost me also...

it just seems like im having to pay out all this money, and ive got little or no chance of getting it back.

plus, the garage are saying that because i do a lot of miles (15k in three months) with my job, ive caused all these problems myself, but renault say that these problems are not consistent with even a years mileage, and would have been present before i bought the car, but because it isnt dangerous to drive, they wont put it in writing...

trading standards website says:
"If you have a problem with a used car, you have a short time after buying it to reject the car. If the fault was present when you bought the car, you do have other remedies such as repair or replacement."

but im assuming the onus is on me to prove that they were present when i bought the car, but the renault garage wont put it in writing.... catch 22 situation!?!?

ok, so ive managed to get the car to the dealership, the mechanic looked at it and said theres definately a problem with it. (er... yeah, i know!)
he says hes going to have a good look at it and give me a call when he knows whats wrong with it.

ive managed to borrow a car from my mate, and its cost me £13 to put it on my insurance for the week... not much, but still. i shouldnt have had to do it.

my question now, is when he rings me and says hes only going to fix certain parts of it, and get it running properly, and then potentially try and charge me what do i do??

i dont feel that he should only have to fix the things he wants to fix... i feel that i am within my rights to expect him to fix all the things he finds wrong with it, not just the ones preventing it from running properly?

also, how do i handle it if he tries to charge me for the work?? i have a feeling this may get ugly... there is NO WAY i am paying for them to fix it - it shouldnt have broken. they should have worked on it properly before they sold it...

anyone got any advice on how to proceed??

x

ok... all sorted.

hes fixed everything that was wrong with the car, FOC, apart from a thermostat housing which is a consumable item, and its wear and tear. everything else has been fixed, and he's frixing the thermostat housing for me at trade price, so im a happy bunny.

also, my warranty is still valid!!!

glad thats sorted... picking it up friday.