Where do I stand?

[firebirduk]

I bought a used car from a seemingly reputable dealer in December 2019.  It was a 2012 Subaru WRX STI, it was fairly priced and the mileage was low for it's age (52k miles).

 

In early March, driving home, the car started making a funny noise whenever the engine went above 2000 revs.  My brother in law mechanic said that's engine trouble (possibly bottom end or the crankshaft) and to get in touch with the dealer.

 

The car came with a 12 month warranty, and the crankshaft was listed as a covered item.  What I discovered was that there was a limit of £500 per claim under the warranty, which wouldn't cover this (as the part alone cost more that that).  The dealer was unwilling to help, and stopped responding to my emails.  (The excuse was because of lockdown, despite their website saying they were open for servicing and repairs for keyworkers, of which I'm one).

 

I did some googling and contacted the citizens advice bureau.  They advised that as the car was on finance, to go to them and see what they could do to help.

 

The finance company were great, they sent an independent engineer out to inspect the car, who believed that the problem was there when I bought the car (they think the oil pump had a problem and hadn't provided enough oil to the engine).

 

The finance company sided with me and got the dealer to take the car back to look at rectifying the problem.  This was now at the start of June.

 

Around September, they told me they'd found metal filings in the engine and that the car would need a new engine, and wanted me to pay a third of the cost (around £3.5k) - the rest being split between the dealer and the finance company.  After more dealings with the finance company, the garage and the finance company agreed to pay for the work between them.

 

Which brings me to this week, I've finally had a call to say the car is ready to collect.  However, the MoT has now expired on the car and they want me to pay for that.  I asked for this and they refused, advising that I could take the car to another garage for it.  Fair enough, but the Subaru does attract a bit of attention, and driving 3 hours from the garage to one nearer home without an MoT isn't really an attractive option (especially as I work for the police).

 

Do you think I'm being unreasonable in wanting them to provide that for me for free?

 

My grounds being I've owned the car for 12 months, only driven it for 3 of those and it's been at the dealers for 6.5 months.

 

I've incurred extra expenses due to this car being off the road, mainly that I had to buy another car (just so I could continue going to work), and the length of time they've taken to repair the car does seem excessive.

 

The same with the warranty, 6 of the 12 months cover has been useless as the car had been off road and actually with the dealer.

 

Citizens advice mentioned that I might be able to make a claim for consequential losses.  If this is the case, should I collect the car first and then look at doing that?  Or just put it down to experience and move on?

 

Any advice appreciated

[Gick]

I can understand your frustrations at having to wait so long for a resolution of your problem, but I also have to say that I think you have done pretty well out of it. Whilst I am sure that you may be entitled to repayment of some consequential losses/costs, this would be offset against you now having a new or refurbished engine. Normally you cannot expect such betterment without payment. This is what the earlier request of £3.5 K was about and it is pretty amazing that this has been waived..

 

You have not told us what age of Subaru it was, or the price that you paid for it. I would imagine that the dealer now wants to be shot of the deal! I would be wary of having them conduct an MOT as it may be a way for them to recoup some money with repairs that render the vehicle undriveable ie requiring towing to another repairer if you declined their quotation for any repairs.

You are entitled to drive the vehicle to a PRE ARRANGED MoT at your chosen station (there is no requirement for it to be close to the beginning of the journey, but it must be straight there, no deviating for shopping etc)

 

There are many threads on this Forum of difficulties experienced by buyers who have travelled many miles for a second hand vehicle and the logistics that ensue.

 

Maybe time to suck up and move on?

Edited December 16, 2020 by Gick
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[ukshane4life]

scoobys are very known for issues mainly engine failure you want reliable you shouldn't of got one

[firebirduk]

It's my fifth Scooby, so not exactly new to the brand.  The newest I had was three months old, the oldest being this one.   Just wouldn't have expected an engine to go on that low mileage.  My last one had over 110k miles by the time I got rid of it, and was as good on the last day I had it as the first.