Fair Wear & Tear........or not?

[alx5877]

Hi,

I am in a bit of a long running situation and would really appreciate some advice.

My situation is an extremely long running affair and I will try and summarise where possible in order to get to the point.

 

I bought a 2.0D Nissan Qashqai with extended warranty for £9500.

The car was 4 years old and had only done 32000 miles.

11 months after buying the car and only doing 6000 miles in it, it broke down.

 

We returned the car to Stratstone Honda where we had bought the vehicle from,

they spent 5 weeks attempting to diagnose the issue by replacing several parts in the vehicle linked to the fuel system.

They could still not get the car to work when they gave up and sent it to a Nissan dealership.

 

The Nissan dealership also struggled to diagnose the issue and presented a quote for £11,500 to fix the car.

This was rejected by me and they requoted for £1200 to attempt to diagnose the issue (with no guarantees).

 

I rejected this and at this point we found that there was a potential mileage discrepancy on the car.

This was investigated by Trading Standards who have effectively put it down to a previous admin error

and advised that I should pursue the garage for the standard of the vehicle as they thought I would have more luck.

 

At this point the Citizens Advice Bureau advised I should get an independent engineer out to provide a report.

This has now been done and below are the observations and conclusions that I would really appreciate your input on.

 

In my opinion (and I know I have blinkers on at this stage) I do not feel that such a failure can be considered fair wear and tear

on a vehicle this old and only done 6000 miles from when I purchased it.

 

Do I have a leg to stand on.

 

Thank you

 

Observations:

As instructed, inspection was carried out in order to establish the cause of the engine not

starting and check for possible diesel fuel contamination of the injector wiring.

 

I would confirm the engine would not start. Diagnostic fault codes found by the current

 

repairer, "Bristol Street Nissan", indicated electrical circuit failure to all 4 fuel injectors as being

 

the cause.

 

Initial inspection of the engine found no visible cause or evidence of fuel leakage. The repairer

 

then removed the bolt on injector cover from the cylinder head. This exposed the fuel injectors

 

and wiring. The entire surface of the cylinder head under the cover was heavily coated in

 

carbon and diesel fuel leakage.

 

Heat from the engine had baked the fuel leakage turning it into a solid crust of carbon and tar

 

deposits - see attached images.

 

The fuel leakage had also contaminated the wiring connectors to the injectors which would

 

explain the diagnostic fault codes found.

Conclusion / Opinion:

Having inspected the vehicle in respect of the reported concerns I would advise;

 

The cause of engine non-starting was fuel and carbon contamination of the injector wiring.

 

The extensive presence of burnt on fuel, carbon and tar deposits indicated that fuel leakage

 

had been occuring for a considerable period of time prior to final electrical failure.

 

The area of leakage was enclosed under the bolted and sealed injector cover. There would

 

have been no visibly detectable evidence of leakage.

 

If it was present at purchase it would not have been noticed during normal pre-sales checks

 

and servicing as the area is hidden without dismantling. It would not have been noticed during

 

any possible MoT test done.

 

It was not possible to be specific as to when the fuel leakage first started. However, evidence

 

was conlusive that it must have been present for some considerable period of time, as stated

 

above. It was not a recent or sudden failure.

[rebel11]

Hi alx5877

 

Welcome to CAG

 

How did you pay for it? I take it that you want to reject the car?

 

The OFT's Gudance for second hand car dealers.

 

It does sound like the fault per-existed your purchase.

 

Guidance for second hand car dealers - Office of Fair Trad

[alx5877]

Although I'm kicking myself now, we paid on debit card!

 

I just want the situation resolved and not be out of pocket unfairly. If that's rejecting it, having it fixed or having a replacement I don't mind.

 

My issue is the statment from the engineer cannot define exactly when the issue occurred, therfore is there room for Stratstone to get out of it?

 

Thanks

[rebel11]

When did you buy it?

 

Although I'm kicking myself now, we paid on debit card!

[alx5877]

It was April 2013 when purchased. It broke down in March 2014 and the situation has now dragged on for 3 months!

[Conniff]

The Nissan dealership also struggled to diagnose the issue and presented a quote for £11,500 to fix the car. This was rejected by me and they requoted for £1200 to attempt to diagnose the issue (with no guarantees).

 

 

How can you give a quote to fix a problem when you don't know what that problem is and admit that you don't know what the problem is by giving a quote to find out the problem.

 

 

Was your report done by a reputable engineering company ??

[alx5877]

How can you give a quote to fix a problem when you don't know what that problem is and admit that you don't know what the problem is by giving a quote to find out the problem.

 

Was your report done by a reputable engineering company ??

 

- I think they quoted to rip everything out and replace with new. They were so stumped as to the issue that I think they quoted something extortionate to get it off their hands. When I told them I wasn't accepting that, they quoted the £1200 to carry on diagnostics.

- The AA but the report has come from Dekra. So yes!

[rebel11]

Well, considering the dealer couldn't find the fault, they wouldn't have known it was there from before the sale, so I don't think they are in a particularly strong position if you reject the vehicle.

 

Have a read of page 24 in the link provided.

[alx5877]

Based on pg 24 I think it's clear that the onus would be Stratstone. I have a funnt feeling they may see it differently as they have been incredibly awkward all the way.

 

If I need to take this to legal do you or anybody else know any good lawyers that specialise in this?

 

Thanks again , I really appreciate the quick responses.

[rebel11]

The first thing to do, is 'reject' the car, send the 'template' (amended) Recorded Delivery.

 

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/action/how-to-complain-about-a-second-hand-car-to-a-dealer

 

That will clarify the dealers position and help move matters forward.

 

It depends on the amount your seeking to claim, if it's below £10,000 then you could opt to do it yourself, through the small claims court.

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/law_w/law_legal_system_e/law_taking_legal_action_e/small_claims.htm

 

You could wait for some more input from the guys here.

 

[scaniaman]

Ask your debit card provider to to "Chargeback" for you. If card is Visa, then dispute phone number is 0845 600 6000.If with TSB go to http://www.tsb.co.uk/chargeback.

[Conniff]

Any progress Alx ??

[raydetinu]

I don't see any reason to reject the car, now you know the fault.

Just get the dealer to repair it, the fault was there before you bought it.

If they wont, get it repaired where you want, then send the bill to them; if they still wont pay send them a letter before action and give them 7 days, take them to small claims court for the repair.

[rebel11]

The garage couldn't diagnose the problem even after inspecting it for 5 weeks, they had to send the car away, the OP has ground's to reject the car as their is a 'latent' fault. I doubt the OP has any confidence whatsoever in the car or any future problems that might arise, so why would he want to keep it?

 

I don't see any reason to reject the car, now you know the fault.

Just get the dealer to repair it, the fault was there before you bought it.

If they wont, get it repaired where you want, then send the bill to them; if they still wont pay send them a letter before action and give them 7 days, take them to small claims court for the repair.

[raydetinu]

I think that the they had it for 11 months before it developed a fault, and done 6k in it? may prove difficult to gat all the money back! they would have to accept some reduction for benefit of use!

IMHO claiming for the repair would be easier.