Errors with used electric VW from Big Motoring World Peterborough bought 3rd February 2024

[YodaFerrari]

Hello,

we bought a used VW ID3 from Big Motoring World, Peterborough on the 3rd February. Registered December 2020 so just out of VW warranty. 

Were given a three month Big Motoring World Warranty that only covers £500

We took it for a 5 minute test drive and everything seemed fine.

We were offered a rubbish price for our VW Golf, but as we had driven two hours from Great Yarmouth, and needed to change the car before its next MOT in March, we agreed a deal in which they 'threw in' a fancy paintwork protection supposedly worth £700.

We paid for the car by debit card £18600 after deduction of a £99 reservation fee and including a £300? admin fee. This figure included £1500 which they gave us for our VW Golf (although I've just noticed it says £2500 on the order form and doesn't even mentioned the paint guard.)

After they'd taken the money they showed us through to a handover area where we were then told it had an outstanding recall on it. I had called them the day before we went to check if the car had any recalls and was told it had not.

I called our local VW dealer on the 5th February 2024 to book it in for the recall to be actioned on 13th February 2024 to be told it actually has three outstanding - not one, and that they would all be looked at.

Meanwhile, 5 days after purchase on the 9th February 2024 some errors appeared on the display saying

• 'Electronic Engine Sound Module error' and
• further displays of 'right turn indicator error,
• 'left turn indicator error',
• 'dynamic cornering light' error,
• no dipped headlights available
• plus we couldn't get the lights to switch off and had to leave them on all night.

The next day we emailed BMW to highlight this issue and mentioned we were considering returning the car for a full refund under our consumer rights. 

They took 3 days to respond and on the 16th February replied saying they would look into it and get back to us within 5 working days.

On the 21st February they emailed my husband who is the owner of the car (I am a named driver) requesting authorisation to deal with myself if need be , which he replied to giving me authorisation if required.

He also stated that the Engine Sound Module being defective is a safety concern because it is now law for electric cars to make a sound when travelling below 12mph, and that if the indicators and lights are not functioning correctly it is also a safety risk. While investigating the recalls our VW garage also quoted for repairs to the Engine Sound Module coming in at £1200 approx.

He asked for BMW to accept a repair quotation from VW and to pay for the full cost of getting the error rectified at our local VW dealership. If they were not prepared to pay for the repairs we wanted a full refund under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Big Motoring World replied 22nd February and asked for a report of the outstanding recalls, claiming ignorance of them due to the government website not being up to date. They also said with regards to us getting a local VW garage to fix the errors 'we would not look to assist with these costs from a local garage and therefore request for the vehicle to return to one of our Big Assist Service Centres. In line with the Terms and Conditions of the warranty we have the right to examine/inspect the vehicle which is why we require the vehicle to return to our Centre'. 

They also went on to say that within 6 months of purchase they have a right to repair the car at one of their service centres who will diagnose it and rectify the error. And they adhere to the Consumer Rights Act of 2015 ... without there being a genuine, confirmed fault, they would be unable to accept our request for refund. They also asked for the report from VW detailing the faults and findings,  but this would cost us £240.

We have taken photo evidence of the errors being displayed and video evidence with the error on the screen, getting out of the car and recording the number plate to link the video to the car.

They confirmed they've booked our car into the closest Big Motoring World service centre at Fengate in Peterborough 16th April 2024! This is a 2.5 hour round trip for us with a one and half month wait for something that is a safety concern! And they cannot provide a courtesy vehicle so my husband would have no car to get to work in.

We emailed our reply to this on the same day questioning how they would be able to diagnose something that is specific to the VW ID3 and would need specialist VW diagnostic equipment in order to do so, and also highlighting the fact that its a 2.5 hour journey for us. We asked - again - if they would authorise our local VW dealership to diagnose and fix the fault, and BMW would pay for it. We are awaiting their response.

However - on the 24th February 2024 another error appeared on the screen with an amber warning light - Electronic Drive Not Working Correctly - take to nearest VW Service Centre.

My husband therefore emailed them immediately again with details of this new error and demanding they collect the car and refund us in full for it having only bought it on the 3rd February and incurring so many faults with it.
At Again we took photographic evidence of the fault on the dash, and the number plate.

We told them they cannot insist on their company diagnosing the errors, and have rejected their appointment of the 16th April 2024 at their Fengate service centre due to it not being within a timely manner, along with the distance we would have to travel.

We have offered them the option to allow our local VW service centre to diagnose it and repair it at BMW's expense as an alternative outcome to this matter, and asked for a manager to phone us today (26th February) and put anything agreed by phone into writing as confirmation.

We would like to know:

Is it their responsibility to collect the car if we decide to reject it?

Can they deduct mileage for the amount of miles we have used the car for as its within 30 days of purchase? We've done 850 miles in it and 110 was the drive back to our home after purchasing it. Some websites say then can and others say they can't within the 30 day rule.

Can they insist on inspecting and diagnosing the errors if we have provided photographic evidence of the errors?

Should we literally just drive it back to Peterborough and leave it there seeing as the 30 day period ends after this weekend or does the fact we have stated our intentions within 30 days buy us more time?

I think, at this point, we would like to return the car and start to look for a different one due to the number of problems we are having with this particular vehicle.

[YodaFerrari]

Sorry, I didn't consider people trying to read my lengthy report on a mobile! 

We have a 'Customer Checklist' which my husband signed whereby the tick box for the three month warranty is ticked as 'taken' and the Gard X £700 is ticked as 'taken'.

Gard X is the paint protection. We opted to take this as it made the deal they were offering slightly better seeing as they were not going to budge on the trade in value they had given for our car.

[YodaFerrari]

Thank you for your advice. I did take a look at the reviews on their website, which were mostly glowing reports of satisfied customers, as I'm normally suspicious of anything and everything. I didn't think to just 'Google' the company as it would have thrown back many reports of their bad service. The car we bought is difficult to find in that model hence the distance but we will never do that again. We haven't driven it since Saturday, when the latest error was reported.Its stored on our drive.

They called us today in response to our request for a phone call and have taken our request to reject the car. We have received an email from them confirming this along with another asking for photographic evidence of the mileage as at today which we have supplied. We will now put this into writing and post it to them by Special Delivery along with the points you have included.

We have a VW diagnostic inspection booked for this Thursday 29th Feb but BMW may reply to us before then with their refusal to accept our rejection without certain terms being met - we are bracing ourselves. I will post any further updates as soon as I hear.

[YodaFerrari]

I’m just wondering, as they asked us for a photo of the mileage and told us not to drive it anymore, how do we take it for a diagnostic inspection? Will we need to get it towed? 

[YodaFerrari]

We have a positive update.

I was overjoyed to receive an email today from Big Motoring World accepting our rejection of the car and saying they will collect it and refund our money.

The agreement states we will have to pay £250 prior to collection which will be refunded as soon as they get the car back.

We have not needed to proceed with a diagnostic test, it seems our photos were enough proof of all the electrical failures.

It seems that remaining calm and providing plenty of evidence does work!