Evans Halshaw/Halifax car finance - car purchased Apr 22 engine replaced Nov22 Faulty Turbo ***Resolved with Compensation from Finance Company***

[Martin244]

Hi

I purchased a Vauxhall Astra in April 2022 from Evans Halshaw using Halifax car finance. The car had 6500 miles on the clock and was first registered from new 31.01.2020 so still had 7 months manufactured warranty. 

In September 2022 I had issues occasionally getting the car into first and second gear, booked car into Evans Halshaw on the 14th October 2022, they contacted me on the 16th saying it needed a new engine, they replaced it with a new one. I picked the car back up in November 2022 - the car had only done 10,500 miles at this point.

last weekend I was driving on a motorway when a fault popped up saying engine power is reduced, i pulled off at services, switched on and off and engine management light appeared.

I drove home and took the car to a local garage for a diagnostic test as warranty now expired. The fault couldn’t be diagnosed by them as main dealer code so had to take back to Evans Halshaw again.

They had the car for 3 days before they checked it and rang me saying it needs new turbo at a cost of £2500 and are not prepared to cover any of this.

I complained as the car has only now done 15800 miles surely it is not fit for purpose having needed a new engine and now a new turbo in such a short space of time , given such low mileage.

I’ve complained to Evans Halshaw and to my finance company.

What else should I do?

Thank you

[dx100uk]

forget warranties they mean nothing.

under your consumer laws like the consumer rights act , as its outside 6mts you would need to provide a report that concludes the turbo was faulty upon purchase. i suspect if this were the case, as its already been in for an engine replacement, the turbo would have proved faulty then.

 

dx

 

[BankFodder]

In addition to the above, you are entitled to have a vehicle which is of satisfactory quality and remains satisfactory for a reasonable period of time .

Clearly for a turbo to pack up so early in the life of the vehicle indicates very strongly that they can't was not satisfactory quality when you purchased it.

It will be helpful to get a second opinion from an independent garage including a comment relating to the life expectancy of a turbo which was in satisfactory condition.

I'm sure this would be at least 100,000 miles.

Get this opinion and then we will help you begin your claim.

 

[Martin244]

Morning, thank you for your reply. I'm going to ring a garage today to try and get a second opinion and the comment ref life expectancy of turbo.

I don't drive on a motorway often and mostly just commute to work which is a 8 mile round trip, the journey i was on was the longest trip the car had been on since the new engine but was only a 2 hour trip - 2 hours there and 2 hours back. I drove there fine stayed over night and the error came on, on my way home. 

iI'll update once i have had a garage look at the car. 

Thank you 

[theberengersniper]

Some further thoughts:

Modern vehicles are very sensitive to the quality of oil used and adherence to specified service intervals. Although your vehicle is low mileage, it is over 3 years old, which would mean it should have been serviced several times by now. Does your service documentation include stamps to indicate this has been done? If not, that's all the garage will need to avoid this claim.

Something doesn't quite make sense to me here. I don't understand why a car having trouble engaging 1st or 2nd gear would need a new engine. Trouble engaging gears would normally indicate either a clutch or gearbox issue, not an engine issue. Is the OP certain the engine was replaced, and not the clutch or gearbox? I think that needs confirmed.

Also, if the engine was replaced, I would doubt the turbocharger was. When engines are replaced they're normally replaced as 'tall' or 'short' engines, which means they include the block and cylinder head (tall) or just the block (short). In either case, the accessories and ancillaries, like the turbo, alternator etc, would not be included and would be reused from the old engine. So even if the engine was new, the turbo would likely still be 3 years old. Still too young to have failed though, assuming all servicing was done properly.

[Martin244]

Hi

Didnt buy the car until April last year and when I took the car home, noticed the car hadn’t been serviced according to the service book since 2020 - can’t remember exact date as my car is now in a local garage. I rang evans Halshaw to ask for the car to be serviced as they sold with full service history, they booked this in and serviced the car May 2022 service book stamped. I had the car serviced myself May 2023.

The engine invoice dated 28.10.22 states investigate unable to select first gear intermittently due to clutch pedal sticking down. Carried out investigation, confirmed customer fault, clutch pedal sticking down. Checked for leaks, non present, checked TSBs, found TSB 21-E-3665 for this issue. Carried out checks for end float on engine as stated in TSB, found excessive end float in crank causing loss of clutch due to excessive crank movement. Vehicle requires engine. 

[theberengersniper]

Ah, so there's a known fault with this engine (indicated by the Technical Service Bulletin [TSB]) that causes excessive back and forth movement of the crankshaft (end float), which was causing clutch problems, and so you needed the new engine to resolve the end float problem, which in so-doing would resolve the clutch issue. Got it.

However, I still think the lack of proper servicing, or at least the lack of evidence of it, is going to be a problem. It would be worth checking whether their systems have evidence of the car being serviced, hence the full history on the advert, and it's not just the book that hasn't been stamped. It might be worth calling in to Evans Halshaw and asking them if they have any service history on file for the car.

[Martin244]

Hi just to update, I took my car to an independent garage today who ran tests and took the car on a run. They removed the engine management light and it hasn’t come back on. 
I don’t know why Evans Halshaw would say the car needs a new turbo? 

[BankFodder]

So does this mean that there is no fault and no more issue?

[Martin244]

Yes it looks that way, do I close the post, remove the post? 
Evans Halshaw told me it needed new turbo, I was advised to get an independent test which I have and the fault has gone.

[BankFodder]

I'm glad it seems to be resolved but keep an eye on it and come back here if you get any more problems.

 

[dx100uk]

urm..doesn't really mean the issue is resolved though.

it's classic for a failing turbo to do it only under motorway conditions/revs/speeds

id go take it for a good burn out down a quiet country road see if you get any whitish smoke out the back.

if the turbo is failing then it will dump oil into the inlets and then the exhaust = white smoke ....but only when its had a good trashing. 

get some kitchen roll or white cotton rag and see if it spits out drops of oil from the exhaust when you static rev it after a trash.

you don't want a fruked DPF filter.....

 

[theberengersniper]

I would be amazed if you're that lucky. ECU fault codes have criteria that must be met before the code is recorded, and criteria that must be met before the ECU fault light will illuminate.

For example, in most cases the engine's ECU must experience a fault several times across several drive cycles before the light will come on. That happens to guard against a transient problem causing the light to come on. 

I suspect you'll find over the next few days that light will come right back. 

[Martin244]

Hi you were all correct.

It’s gone again, re appeared today

The reduced engine power warning light came back on today with the engine management light, I took your advice and took it for a good run and this was the result.

I’m not sure where to go from here other then just pay the money to get the turbo replaced but i really don’t think the car has been fit for purpose.

I’ve done less than 10,000 miles in the car since I bought it in April last year and had the car serviced twice since I’ve owned it.

In the first 6 months of me owning the car it had a new engine under warranty and now according to evans Halshaw needs a new turbo - at a cost to me.

I cannot afford not to have a car or buy another one as my car is on finance.

I need a car to get to work and get my children to school.

[dx100uk]

did you try the exhaust blow out test.?

you should not have to pay anything here.

the car is on finance so its not yours, i think its time you involved the finance company.

 

dx

 

dx

[BankFodder]

In your first post on this thread you say that you complained to the finance company.

Has there been any response?

[Martin244]

Hi

the only response I have had from the finance company (Halifax ) is that it can take 8 weeks for them to fully investigate to their conclusion/ outcome.

I have sent them proof of the engine replacement (the invoice from evans Halshaw dated 31st oct 2022) plus an email from last Friday from evans Halshaw stating the car needs a new turbo and vac pump at a cost of £2400 +.

I raised the complaint with them last Friday and haven’t had any response yet other then them telling me the 8 weeks and asking me what outcome I would like ideally and I said rejection of the car.

I have really lost all confidence in the car given the engine replacement and the turbo issue.

When the engine light came back on this morning I did try ringing the finance company again for an update but their lines were closed despite their website saying they were open until lunch time. I will try them again on Monday. 
 

I didn’t try the exhaust blow out test as I really don’t know how to do this, I know you said about kitchen roll or rags but what do I do with them - bung them in the exhaust? 
 

thanks again everyone 

[BankFodder]

Maybe you have already told us, but could you then say again whether you are still driving the vehicle.

[Martin244]

I wasn’t until I took it to the 2nd garage for a second opinion an independent garage as advised to do so on Monday who advised the car was fine.  Should I not be driving the car? The fault only came back on today.

I don’t see how I cannot drive the car. I’ve got two kids who go to different schools needing dropping off at breakfast clubs in order for me to get to work which is 5 miles away from my home, I need to work in order to pay the car finance . 

[BankFodder]

I haven't made any comment as to whether or not you should be driving the car. I only ask what the position was.

However if you are advised by an expert not to drive the car then this is probably the advice that you should follow

 

I also realise that you haven't told us anything about how much you paid for the car. I think it will be helpful to know this.

I understand that a repair to the car will cost about 2 1/2 thousand pounds. Is that right?

Would you be able to afford to get the car repaired and recover the money later?

[Martin244]

I paid £14,500 for the car in April last year.

I could pay the £2500 to have the car repaired but I’m a little reluctant to do so with no guarantee of getting this back - I’d have to pay this on a credit card. 

thanks again for your help

[dx100uk]

halifax finance should not, as the owner of the car, be treating this as a 'complaint' thus using the 8 weeks rule.

they are equally liable under a section 75 claim being the financier under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

if its relevant ...you simply hold a kitchen towel close to the exhaust pipe and rev the engine, though it's better to do this after a good thrashing to prove the turbo is blown and letting oil through ...black oil spots...

[BankFodder]

7 hours ago, dx100uk said:

halifax finance should not, as the owner of the car, be treating this as a 'complaint' thus using the 8 weeks rule.

This is a great point. I had never thought about it but now that my site team colleague has highlighted it, it is clear that he is absolutely right.

The liabilities are clear – it is the finance company under section 75.
The question now is what action to take about it

[BankFodder]

Obviously the car has been running well for some time. Please could you tell us how long have you been using the car without any difficulty in the year and two months which you have owned it.

It is important to know this because if eventually you are given some kind of award/damages, then it is likely that there will be a deduction for the time that you have had the use of the vehicle without problems.

We need to know exactly the value of the dispute

[BankFodder]

Also, you bought a second-hand car and it has since been fitted with a new engine. Presumably this is a car that you would rather keep – especially if it is then fitted with a new turbo.