Lichfield Street Motor Company/Close Brothers - car continually going into "limp mode" **RESOLVED BY CLOSE**

[lolerz]

Hi all.

First post here after being an avid reader so here we go.

On 28th April 2023 I purchased a used 2015 Mini Cooper. The car had relatively low mileage and few issues (one of the issues it had they fixed before I accetped the vehicle).

I paid for this vehicle on finance, through what I believe is a Hire Purchase agreement. The creditor is Close Brothers Motor Finance.

In July 2023, The car went in to limp mode with a check engine light illuminated. As such, on 13/07/2023, I made a claim through the AA Warranty that was in place. This claim was accepted and the O2 sensor was replaced. This did not fix the issue.

Ever since, the car has randomly been going in to limp mode with the same fault. "Charge hose has fallen off". This has gotten progressively more frequent.

Today, I noticed that the car was significantly down on power. And on the way back from work the same fault had occurred.

My plan is to contact the finance company regarding this, as it is my understanding that is technically "their car" and as such can/should converse with the dealer on my behalf regarding this. I can prove that this fault occurred within the first 6 months of me/them being sold the car and as such I'm entitled to a repair under the CRA 2015.

I would appreciate some help on formulating a letter I can send to Close Brothers in order to facilitate this.

If I've missed anything, please let me know.

[lolerz]

Thank you for your input DX.

It is the case that this happens on the motorway, it's where 90% of my miles are done and the dealer knows this!

It's still definitely worth keeping the finance company in the loop from the start?

[lolerz]

Hi All.

Thank you for your advice so far. I've done a quick knock up of my letter. I've tried to keep it short and to the point, do you believe that anything is missing or should be omitted?

I aim to send this by email and post today if possible.
 

Quote

 

To Whom it may concern.

On xx/xx/xxxx, I purchased a 2015 Mini Cooper D, Registration Mark XXXX XXX, from yourselves, through a Hire Purchase Agreement with Close Brothers Motor Finance. 

Since that purchase, it has gone into "limp home mode" when reduced power output on numerous occasions.

In the first instance, I used the provided 3 month AA Warranty to claim for a repair. This was accepted by the AA on 13/07/2023.

The issue has not resolved itself, and the AA warranty claim did not fix the issue.

The issue has progressively gotten worse to the point where the car is now permanently down on power and going into "limp home mode" multiple times per week. This is particularly dangerous as you knew that most of my journey would involve motorways at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour, which the car can struggle to do in this mode.

Clearly the car is not a satisfactory quality but in any event, because it is within six months from the date of purchase, I am exercising my rights to a repair under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. If you do not repair or if the repair fails then I shall assert my right to reject the vehicle and receive a refund or else demand the replacement of the vehicle at my option.

As this issue has occurred within the first 6 months of my ownership, it is reasonably assumed that this issue was present at the time of sale, and as such you have a legal duty to put things right.

I'm sure that you understand that this is not a warranty or guarantee matter. This is a matter of your contractual obligations and your statutory duties.

I look forward to your prompt response on this matter.

Kind Regards

 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by BankFodder
Edits in red

[lolerz]

Hi all.

Thank you for your time so far! I'll get this sent off 1st Class Signed for and by email tonight. Glad to see there weren't too many amendments.

 

[lolerz]

Hi All.

Sent the above in an email to both the dealership and the finance company. I'll drop copies in the post tomorrow morning.

Thanks once again for all the help and information so far.

[lolerz]

Hi All.

Had a response from the dealership, it is exactly what I expected.

 

Quote

Good morning xxx

if the car was still faulting why would it have not been brought back to us the day after the repair?

Obviously the car has been in constant use since the repair.

We will not entertain a refund due to no contact from yourselves.

The fault could be completely separate issue after such a long period of time.

What are my next steps?

[lolerz]

Hi Bankfodder.

Thank you for your input,

I ultimately would prefer to keep the vehicle and in all honest don't particularly mind paying for the repair myself should it come to that.

My credit isn't the best at the minute I almost certainly would not get another car on finance and I certainly can't afford to buy one outright.

It's more the principle out of anything that leaves me with a potentially big repair bill.

My main worry was that it was going to be the turbocharger itself that was faulty but if what sniper says is true I'm glad it seems to be a relatively simple fix!

So, I will go with the above letter.

Thank you once again for all your help and assistance, you'll definitely be getting a donation from me once this is all sorted.

 

[lolerz]

I've sent the response to the dealership. I had an auto-response from Close Brothers stating that they'd get back to me within 7 working days so I assume I should probably give them that before sending the second letter in your post?

[lolerz]

Thank you for this! 

In principle, I don't particularly want to take the car back to the dealership should I have to pay.  Is this a requirement or just some sort of weird "good will" thing?  It doesn't have an onsite repair centre anyway and uses the one around the corner.

It's also the better part of 90 minutes away from me so would not be practical, especially with the car being so unpredictable. I do have multiple high quality and insurer/finance company backed repair centres near me that I can use instead.

[lolerz]

Thank you Bankfodder. I'll get on the phone to my local garages (starting with the one that does nearly all of the work to my cars) to get it booked in to be inspected and quoted.

In the meantime, I've had a response to the second email from the dealership.

 

Quote

 

Why did you not return the car the same day?

Your warranty was for 3 months this is a different fault.

We are obliged to no nothing.

Where was the warranty repair carried out?

I would suspect you have 12 months warranty on the repair so if it’s the same fault they will sort.

 

They really don't want anything to do with it, naturally.

 

[lolerz]

Name of the director is Philip Taylor.

[lolerz]

Yes

[lolerz]

Hi All.

Unfortunately I've been away most of last week and ill most of this week, so I unfortunately haven't had much time with work to get the car booked in for diagnostics! The car has otherwise been behaving itself until this morning, where the issue occurred once again. It seems to be more likely to occur while the engine is cold so I try to baby it until it's warm but as you can appreciate that's not always possible in the real world.

Close Brothers tried to call me today, I've requested that they respond via email so that there is clear written communication between both parties. In the email I sent, I have given them until 14/11/2023 to get the car booked in at an authorised repair shop convenient to me. I heavily adapted the letter BankFodder wrote in post 20, as I didn't send that (just got buried with work) at the time.

They seem to now be emailing from "[email protected]" instead of the complaints email so that's likely one to have in the pocket for others.

I'll keep you updated on any response, and look to get the car booked in for diagnostics this weekend.

Just out of interest, is it worth getting a diagnostic from the Mini main dealer near me or would my normal mechanics that normally looks after my cars and the mechanics that carried out the warranty work be fine?

Thanks

[lolerz]

Hi All.

Just a final update.

Close Brothers arranged a diagnostics of the vehicle at a garage local to me. They found it was a clip on the charge pipe that was loose and triggering the sensor and they fixed it there and then, free of charge (just tightened it back up).

Surprisingly, Close Brothers were quite helpful once you got through to a complaints handler. They paid for the diagnostic once I submitted the invoice and were happy with the repair. So safe to say case closed (for now)!

Thank you so much for all your help, it's very much appreciated. Just glad I've got my car back in working order!