4th fault with car in 4 months

[bora-gav]

Hi folks, trying to get some thought around this or some ideas.

Bought a car at the end of sept 20, each month of ownership the car has been back with dealer to get something fixed.

1st was emissions control unit
2nd was clutch and flywheel
3rd was AdBlue malfunction
4th is now rear parking sensors have failed

Now don't get me wrong, the minute we have rang the dealer to let them no that there is a fault it has been booked in very promptly and taken care of. I have to stress the After sales so far has been excellent.

Where do we stand now with this car? There just seems to be too many gremlins with it. None of this was present or noticeable when buying the car.
The wife drives the car 95% of the time and she is just now completely fed up with the hassel it is causing and dreads driving it for fear of something else going wrong.

For us this one is the most expensive car yet.

Do we just continue as is (warranty isn't up until sept 21) everything fixed so far has been free of charge.
Surely this car is now costing the company money to keep fixing a different problem each month.

Its going in the morning to get the sensors fixed.

In abit of a pickle here

 

[salster]

to be fair that is not a bad list with a modern car and it sounds like the dealer has been very good. there are too many gadgets and sensors on modern cars, they are sh**e.

 

[pablo]

maybe ask them about a favourable trade on another car?

 

[bora-gav]

@pablo
That had crossed my mind, they don't have anything currently that suits or ticks the boxes. Would there be a chance of being low balled in value of my own car?

Dont want to loose much money with only 4months of ownership

 

[bora-gav]

The embarrassment of each fault is getting to us to be honest. Only on Sunday the father in law made a passing comment that the car has been going well for us this last few weeks, next morning the sensors failed

 

[pablo]

@pablo
That had crossed my mind, they don't have anything currently that suits or ticks the boxes. Would there be a chance of being low balled in value of my own car?

You would hope they would look after you. Maybe in their interests also.

 

[bora-gav]

I'm not a confrontational person and don't go anywhere all guns blazing type of thing. But I'd like to have a chat with someone regarding the car and what the options would be when we collect it after getting this fault fixed.

Not sure where to start or what to even say.
Its only now that the wife is getting rattled with it and disheartened that I feel enough is enough

 

[Cooper]

Yep lift the phone, tell them the whole story - if it was me, trying to be as reasonable as possible in the hope you get the same response. Changing a car for something else they have now/may get in is a good shout if similar money and you like it.

 

[Deleted member 13907]

Completely understand your feelings re hassle, embarrassment - have been there myself more times than I care to remember.
The other way of looking at it though, you're basically getting a lot of the more common faults sorted free of charge.
Hopefully after this teething period you could have years of trouble-free motoring.

But would do no harm having a chat with them I suppose - especially if you and/or your wife have lost heart in it.

 

[bora-gav]

Cheers folks

@wonka These are pretty common faults with any car arnt they?
Like I said, all of them have been covered under warranty with no questions asked. After sales has been excellent up to date.

The last fault occurred the day before it was due to be mot'd. We explained the frustration to the dealer at missing this and being out of pocket. (I no its only 30quid) They wwnt and booked an mot for us at the earliest date.

I don't want to loose faith in it. Its the nicest car we have ever owned and I'd be happy to keep it if the gremlins would just bugger off. Whats keeping us in any sort of hope is the after sales to be brutally honest. But if it was going to be the same thing month after month I don't think mentally we could live with that.

 

[Antoin]

There is the temptation to send a problem car up the road despite having rectified the faults. You have had faults fixed at no cost to you so in all probability you "should" have trouble free motoring.
There is every chance you change and the next car is worse, better the devil you know

 

[bora-gav]

Very valid point @Antoin

 

[colin84]

The aftercare is excellent, I've had cars over the years were I contacted the dealer to be told "what do you expect us to do about it?"

You can't have that many more issues, it's just been bad luck. It's unfortunate that it's happened to a new purchase, but that's used cars for you, I'd stick with it if it was me.

 

[southsky sunrise]

If you do keep it ask for an extended warranty atleast bud

 

[neil-c]

Id be inclined to keep it, especially if you’re getting good after sales care and they’re fixing everything without question. Cars break down and you could be buying someone else’s problems if you change again. But it’s definitely frustrating when things need fixed all the time - I feel like I’m in a never ending cycle of car maintenance costs at the moment, and the hassle does get annoying.

 

[Mr.Mint]

It can happen @bora-gav.

I would just have the chat with the dealer and with the prices that cars are making at the moment, I think your own car will be worth quite a bit and it might not cost you that much to change.

From what you have said, there aftersales and customer service has been very good indeed, so I would aim to stick with them if you do decide to change. There are very few dealers that will give you that level of service nowadays.

As for the actual faults, they can happen to any car and none of them have been really serious, but I do understand where your Mrs is coming from and for peace, not peace of mind, change it and keep her happy. That's the most important thing...

 

[bora-gav]

Cheers folks.
Heading over here this morning to drop it off. See if I can get a chat with someone regarding it and our options.

She has been up most of the night looking at consumer rights etc. Just the fact its been getting to her.
I tried to talk her round this morning regarding our after care and some valid points yous have made.

She has said she loves the car and to be honest if we where to change it we would love something identical. Its a 2015 A6 black edition and its just a beautiful car

 

[Lyons]

How many miles are on it?

 

[bora-gav]

Think its 72k now @Lyons

 

[lackingBHP]

We had the exact same problem with a car we bought in September 20!

Like you said it was the wife's car and she got completely fed up and worried about driving it.

We spoke to the dealer and explained that we didn't want to go through any legal issues but we're not happy with the car.

He agreed to buy it back from us with a £500 deduction as we had put a couple of thousand miles on it.

Tbh I was happy enough with the result as I just wanted shot of the car.

Mind you its now back on their website for £800 more than I paid for it in September!

 

[bora-gav]

Just back there. Got talking to used car sales manager.

He did discuss that he would entertain a trade back deal of some sort if we seen something we liked (nothing unfortunately in our budget bar a c-class merc across the way) or an extended warranty of some sort.
He did say what has already been mentioned before in this thread that we could trade it in against something that could cause hassel down the line also and that the car we have has had a few big things already fixed.

We got timing belt and that done as part of the purchase deal then the clutch and flywheel has been replace under warranty with a few other things.

Sticky one this.
If we could get a 12mnth extended warranty i think that would ease my peace of mind, not sure about the wife's tho lol

They have been excellent with us to date

 

[PDK]

Who is the dealer?

They sound great to deal with.
I’d extend the warranty and keep it. Although you’ll probably pay to extend it and then it will be trouble free

 

[colin84]

You have to think realistically what other issues that could still arise. I'm not aware of any major issues with that model, and the fact that it's low mileage and had the typical clutch & DMF sorted is a bonus.

 

[Deleted member 13907]

With a car of that sort of value I'd probably be looking at buying a warranty anyway to be honest - the negative to having a nicer, more expensive car is that fixes don't come cheap, so I'd rather know that I have some sort of backup.
In saying that, most warranty providers wouldn't entertain the issues you've had anyway (clutch, etc. would be deemed wear and tear).

 

[Nickyyy]

The embarrassment of each fault is getting to us to be honest. Only on Sunday the father in law made a passing comment that the car has been going well for us this last few weeks, next morning the sensors failed

**** me, if that's getting your knickers in a twist you need to have a good long look at yourself in the mirror lol, who gives two ****s, its a car. Sounds like the dealer is fixing issues with no hassle, that's their obligation. I doubt very much that you have a leg to stand on with regards of a refund or exchange.