Load of issues on just bought 30k miles A3

[cd1975]

Morning all,

New user here after a bit of advice. Bought an 07 A3 1.6 with only 30k miles on clock from a dealer in the North East. Great car & immaculate & came with dealers '140 point check' plus a 1 year warranty. Full service history which wasn't a great deal given the miles.

After 2 weeks the brakes were grinding. Took it in for a look & they found 1) both back pads almost completely worn 2) broken rear suspension spring and 3) broken rear light. All fixed for free.

6 weeks on & I've developed one reverse light gone off, plus an annoying squeak from the front suspension when going over speedbumps. With me plus 2 passengers it's really noticeable. Plus the brakes still grind, although nowhere near as bad as before.

What's your advice on this? For starters it seems a bit odd that all this happens 6 weeks from sale (and allegedly after a 140 point check). Its under warranty of course but I'd bet at some point the 'wear and tear' argument will come in.

Cheers!

 

[c_w]

Best bet is to get it all sorted now. I'm afraid I don't believe dealers do any kind of thorough checking. Like most they prefer to throw the cars out there and see what comes back in with faults.

I'd suggest checking the car over for faults yourself (or by someone else who can) and take it back to sort it all. Stuff like brakes are pennies to dealers and are often changed on cars they sell, they shouldn't be left on their last few mm anyway!

 

[Ash187]

get a second opinion from an indy (dont get them to actually work on it) and then take that info to the dealer you bought the car from so at least you are armed with the right info on what the state of the car is in.

 

[TDI_TIM]

I agree with Ash - take it to your local garage and ask them to look over it (normally done for free) and then leave with the car and all the info needed. Then head straight to the dealer and ask them to fix it. IF and only IF they refuse then tell them you want your money back and they can have the car back, they normally cave at this point as they don't want to give cash back. If the brakes are still grinding then it might be that they didn't change the discs as well as the pads.

Take it back and get them to sort it.

 

[T8DPR]

3 door or 5?

every 3 door i've ever seen only has one reverse bulb, including mine, just nearside, you should be able to see the offside one has a different colour section of the lens where you'd expect it to be, purely because its not meant to have one

 

[Andy1608]

I'm thinking your 140 point check may have been of the stevie Wonder kind!
Ash has summed it up, get to your local indy garage.

 

[cd1975]

I'm thinking your 140 point check may have been of the stevie Wonder kind!
Ash has summed it up, get to your local indy garage.

Cheers gents. Just been on phone & going in next Friday. They claim that when I was sold the car I was issued with a report on the state of it (I wasn't) and that these should have been flagged (they weren't). I've asked for the full check plus any remedial work & they've agreed for free. Quite clear that they've not done them in first place I reckon.

What is annoying is that they have no ****** courtesy cars so I'm no the bus for that weekend... they're not a small dealer either.

 

[Ash187]

did they give you a fully signed off receipt of the 140 point check?

also regardless of what they claim the condition of the car to be, if the car shows signs of faults within 6 months of purchase then it can be proven that it was not fit for sale at time of sale. there have been numerous threads about this same kind of thing on this forum.

 

[cd1975]

nah, got nothing but the service history, which given its only a 30k car isn't much of a list.

Didn't know about the 6 months bit so cheers for mentioning that. Think you could argue that 2x brake pads & discs, broken suspension spring, broken rear light and (possibly) something up with front suspension are faults that should've been identified.

Actually, I even had to ask for paperwork to be made up from the first time it was in for the discs/pads, spring & light. The customer service dept tried just to hand keys over & had no paperwork. I sat there for 10 mins when they wrote it up.

See what happens next week eh?

 

[Ash187]

just out of interest what dealership is this?

 

[The Governor]

I think I'll just post my usual advice regarding issues like this.

Under the Sale of Goods Act any fault on a car that becomes apparent within the first six months is considered by law to have been present at the time of sale, therefore the dealer must PROVE that it wasn't, if they can't prove it wasn't they are required to fix it.

Don't take any flannel, they have to fix it, they will try to convince you it doesn't apply in this circumstance or other, because it's Uncle Tom Cobblies birthday next Tuesday or some other nonsense, but it does apply.

Just make them fix it.

[ARCHIVED CONTENT] DTI Fact Sheet Car Sales

Frequently Asked Questions | Honest John

Sale of Goods Act Explained

 

[T8DPR]

Didn't know about the 6 months bit so cheers for mentioning that.

its the law, which is why dealers NEVER mention it, because when they sell faulty cars, they hope you never find out about it, or at least not within that magic 6 months

 

[rocketpaul]

I think I'll just post my usual advice regarding issues like this.

Under the Sale of Goods Act any fault on a car that becomes apparent within the first six months is considered by law to have been present at the time of sale, therefore the dealer must PROVE that it wasn't, if they can't prove it wasn't they are required to fix it.

Don't take any flannel, they have to fix it, they will try to convince you it doesn't apply in this circumstance or other, because it's Uncle Tom Cobblies birthday next Tuesday or some other nonsense, but it does apply.

Just make them fix it.

[ARCHIVED CONTENT] DTI Fact Sheet Car Sales

Frequently Asked Questions | Honest John

Sale of Goods Act Explained

Thats interesting. Does this make the three month warranty some dealers offer worthless? Considering we are covered by law for 6 months.

 

[The Governor]

Yep, it's really for their protection rather than yours as it means they don't pay the costs directly, but whether you get a warranty or not makes no difference to your statutory rights...