https://www.markhopkinscarsales.co.uk/ - Gearbox failure after one year of owning car.

[Morpheus1]

Quote

 

I purchased a Ford kuga automatic from a dealer in Feb 2021. Part debit card part bank transfer. 

I returned the car within the first week as I was concerned about the gearbox. The gear changes were not smooth and there were noises on lower gear changes. The salesman told me it was because it wasn't the sort of gearbox I was used to. So I thought, maybe he's right.  So I kept the car but was still not convinced. I took it back again and the garage, the sales garage that is, had the car a week. The owner and his son drove the car and said they found nothing wrong. It went back a third time where apparently the garage mechanic took me out in the car..however he drove using the S mode of the car rather than the auto. The car was always running when I collected it. About three weeks ago I had a couple of Amber lights relating to the gearbox so I called the garage. Over a phone call the owners son said..its just lights! You haven't broken down. Well last Saturday I had total gearbox failure.  I have sent a letter asking for my money back and Citizens advice said I should be able to get a partial refund. Any advice on this. I do have the diagnostic report from an independent garage and there are faults showing with the abs and steering also. The dealer is part of the AA promise but this doesn't seem to be worth the paper it's written on.

 

 

 

I purchased a Ford kuga automatic from a dealer in Feb 2021. Part debit card part bank transfer. 

I returned the car within the first week as I was concerned about the gearbox.

The gear changes were not smooth and there were noises on lower gear changes. The salesman told me it was because it wasn't the sort of gearbox I was used to. So I thought, maybe he's right. 

So I kept the car but was still not convinced.

I took it back again and the garage, the sales garage that is, had the car a week.

 

The owner and his son drove the car and said they found nothing wrong.

It went back a third time where apparently the garage mechanic took me out in the car..however he drove using the S mode of the car rather than the auto.

 

The car was always running when I collected it.

 

About three weeks ago I had a couple of Amber lights relating to the gearbox so I called the garage.

 

Over a phone call the owners son said..its just lights! You haven't broken down.

 

Well last Saturday I had total gearbox failure. 

 

I have sent a letter asking for my money back and Citizens advice said I should be able to get a partial refund.

 

Any advice on this.

 

I do have the diagnostic report from an independent garage and there are faults showing with the abs and steering also.

 

The dealer is part of the AA promise but this doesn't seem to be worth the paper it's written on.

 

 

Diagnosis machine readout.pdf

[BankFodder]

Please will you tell us who the dealer is. Also can you tell us more about the car – make, model, year, mileage, price paid.

I'm afraid you haven't helped yourself by going along with their stories and excuses and waiting for over a year.

You're quite right that these AA promises et cetera aren't worth anything.

 

[Morpheus1]

It's a Ford Kuga 2014 diesel automatic. I paid £11500. I bought it with 62k on the clock it now has 71k. So 9k miles and a usless car.

[BankFodder]

Dealer??????

[Morpheus1]

The dealer is Mark Hopkins car sales at Fair Oak Eastleigh. Trading as Village Cars.

 

Used cars for sale in Eastleigh & Hampshire: Mark Hopkins Car Sales

WWW.MARKHOPKINSCARSALES.CO.UK

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Used cars for sale in Eastleigh & Hampshire: Mark Hopkins Car Sales: Competitive finance deals, part exchanges welcome, call now!

 

[BankFodder]

Thank you.

As I said, the delay is unhelpful to you. I think you've even exceeded the time for asking the bank for a chargeback – if it came to that.

You notice the problems within the first week or so of ownership and you allowed yourself to be fobbed off.

You've now sent a letter – apparently advised by citizens advice. When did you send the letter?

Maybe you could post up the text of the letter you sent so we can see exactly what you're asking.

It would be quite extraordinary if this dealer – any dealer – agreed to reimburse you after a year and 9000 miles on the clock.

Apart from the report that you have already obtained – which was a good move, have you had any opinions on the gearbox – and the cost of repairing it or replacing it?

The report appears to be undated

[Morpheus1]

In Apr 2021 I had a gearbox oil change by a local garage at a cost of £245.

 

The mechanic who came and collected and delivered my car said he saw what I meant about the gear changes which is another occasion

 

I went back to Mark Hopkins and he said he was so confident there was nothing wrong with the box that I could have quote" have six months, have a year, you know you can bring it back anytime, my phones on 24 7 as my wife has had cancer five time so phones always on" .

 

Of course none of this was in writing which is why I now refuse to speak to him on the phone.

 

Apparently his lawyers are drafting a letter to me.

 

I posted my letter on Tuesday 15th March to them.

 

Letter attached.

 

my complaint letter.pdf

[BankFodder]

On two occasions now.

Please can you present your posts well spaced and punctuated. It's very difficult to read otherwise especially for people who are using small screen such as telephones.

 

Don't worry about the legal letter you may be about to receive. It's probably from a firm called Lawgistics – and they send this stuff out to put the frighteners on people.

As you have sent a letter on 15 March, I think it is reasonable to wait a little while longer.

However you have given a 14 day deadline to respond – what we are proposing to do after then? There's no point in giving deadlines if you don't have a plan and I suspect that you don't.

I suggest that the best idea is to get a proper assessment of the cost of addressing all the defects on the car so that we can see how much money you are looking for if you have to keep the car – as you most likely will.

 

Also, you should start investigating this firm. Did they sell you the car as simply a trading partnership or as a limited ability company?

You need to identify assets. Stop looking at companies house to see how long they've been in existence – but the most important thing for the moment is the inspection and quotation for the work

[Morpheus1]

Thank you.  I am in the process of getting cost for gearbox replacement. Ford has quoted €4788. From another company, I can get a reconditioned gearbox for £2200 fitted and 2 year warranty.

 

The garage that did the diagnostic report are getting a price for repair on Monday. 

 

I have been quoted £4000 to scrap the car.

 

I would accept £9000 from the garage if they were to take the car back. That means I have lost £2500. Which I think us acceptable for a years use of the car. Mark Hopkins have been in  business for over 35 year apparently. 

 

The car is critical for my work as I am a service engineer and drive around doing fault calls. So, ideally I would like the car repaired as it is a nice looking car and I desperately need transport. Not sure what my employer will have to say. I have been off all this week since the car packed up but back tomorrow.

 

If I get it repaired can I claim repair costs?

[BankFodder]

I think that you should abandon the idea of getting £9000 from the garage.
You had a years use from the car and you have to mitigate your loss.

The reconditioned gearbox seems to be the best route – but even then, you have to think about the mileage of the car and the use you have had from it on top of that.

In other words what I'm saying is that if it went to court, it's extremely unlikely that you would be able to get the complete cost of the reconditioned gearbox. You would get a proportion of it. You bought a used car with a used gearbox and I don't think you would have much of a chance of forcing the dealer to pay for a brand-new reconditioned box.
You would have to have the value of a box which was in broadly the same condition that you could reasonably expect for a car of that age, for a car of that value, for a car that mileage.
This is something you need to calculate.

I'm not suggesting that you don't try to get the full cost of the reconditioned gearbox that you want to have a realistic view of your fallback position.

In other words, if you think that you bought a car which had already used up half the expected life of its gearbox, then you would not be entitled to have it fitted with a new gearbox. You would probably only be entitled to recover half the value of the new gearbox.
Here you talking about a reconditioned gearbox and so you could probably expect better than half of the value – but maybe not more than two thirds.

This is all guesswork and speculation that am trying to explain the principles to you so that your expectations are realistic.

Get the quotation firmed up. Get quotes for having look at all the other defects because as you are probably going to get into conflict with this dealer, you may as well do it all at once

[Morpheus1]

This was interesting on Trust Pilot about Mark Hopkins Car Sales. Very similar issue to mine.

 

Great service until something goes wrong.

I purchased a lovely Ford Focus in December 2020. Just 4 days after buying it the engine management light came on. Due to it being the day before Xmas Eve, Mark was really great and offered a courtesy car over Xmas if the car became un-driveable.

 

Unfortunately the intermittent issue with the light has been an issue for 3 months now (meaning I am now outside of my warranty). I contacted them at least 6 times with this fault and took my car back to the garage 3 times. They even had my car for a month but strangely the light never came on once!

 

All i kept being told was to drive it on the motorway more in low gears - its just a sensor - 'keep an eye on it'. In the end I told them it had come back on again but I didn't see the point in taking the car back as they clearly had no interest in sorting the problem out.

 

After requesting a refund, I was directed to the legal team who were shocking and I now cannot get any response direct from the garage!

 

I am a single women travelling a lot of the time on my own, so whether this is just a sensor or something potentially more serious, I expected the garage to take it more seriously and make more effort to get it resolved.

 

Now I have been left with a car with a faulty engine light which I am going to have to pay out for myself to get fixed, or take my complaint further.
 

I was also told by the legal team to 'take it to a proper garage and get a proper diagnostic report' which again, I would have had to pay for - and they should have done this under the warranty!
 

Not a great experience at all, especially with their complaints process! Shocking.

 

[BankFodder]

I'm a bit surprised that you think that there is a "complaints process". You really are treating them as a responsible organisation with proper processes and procedures in place.
Bless!


 

[Hammy1962]

If you hadn't redacted the VIN on the diagnostic report those who are interested (me) could find out which gearbox you have and offer an explanation. My wild guess, completely plucked out of thin air and with no other clue apart from experience, is that its a PowerShift box. These need their gearbox oil and filter changing regularly at 36K. Your Car should have had two.

 

It's expensive and if its not done then unfortunately at this mileage the gearbox is toast.

 

H

[Morpheus1]

I had a gearbox oil change done about 8k ago. 

[Hammy1962]

Well, that was a good guess. 

 

H

[Morpheus1]

The AA has advised me not to repair the vehicle until inget a reply from the garage I bought it from.