Where do I start?

Submitted: Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 12:40

ThreadID: 12453 Views:2169 Replies:8 FollowUps:21

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Jen & Geoff

We have 2yr old small car still under warranty and we have had no end of trouble with it over the last 18 months. It is always at the mechanics with the same problem, always blowing low beam light bulbs after having a major hiccup( goes to stall and then jumps forward) when taking off in heavy city traffic, which looks as though it is a computer or electrical problem. Sometime back we had to come home at night on high beam, when a vehicle approached, went off the road and turned our lights off, so as not to blind the oncomer, took us forever to get home. I am getting fed up with this nonsense of not getting anywhere with the warranty service guys here. We had bought a new car wanting to save time on repairs etc. now hit with a very green lemon, that is turning me sour against the model. Is there some words of advice out there that can get us out of this mess and head us in the right direction for complaints. Jen

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Reply By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 12:55

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 12:55

From my experience you can talk face to face or on the telephone until your blue in the face and it quite often get's you nowehere. If you haven't already, start logging all faults, times it's in the workshop, phone calls etc. Then write a letter, to the dealer and CC it to the manufacture's head office. Make it firm but polite. Don't try and be a smart arse as that won't get you anywhere. But make your points very easy to understand. If that does not work it's time to go to fair trading. I had a similar problem once with a second hand 4by and after I wrote the letter, it was fixed promptly by a local small business (as I complained about the costant travelling) who was in turn paid by the car yard to do the repairs. It was fixed within two days of writing the letter, amazing. Previous to that I had made phone calls, talked to the service staff and everything, and didn't get anywhere.

AnswerID: 56383

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 12:56

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 12:56

Oh yeah address it to the "dealer principle".

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Follow Up By: Jen & Geoff - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 13:47

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 13:47

Thanks Jeff, I will pass this on to my darling placid Geoff who I hope will do something. I am about to go out and I am dead scared that I will be coming home in the dark again with no lights, by myself. It already has one blown light and if the other goes, I am stuffed. I am usually placid also, but someone has to get a bit tough here, as to wake somebody up to the seriousness of this trouble, and it seems to have to be me. Jen

FollowupID: 318115

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 13:50

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 13:50

Jen, you can also mention "duty of care" in the letter somewhere, that normally scares the pants of companies as it makes them think of you taking them to court if you have an accident due to them not fixing your car correctly. Of course they would probally sluaghter you with their high paid laywers, however it's not a bad one to make them think about it a little deeper.

FollowupID: 318116

Follow Up By: GO_OFFROAD - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 16:39

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 16:39

Dont let them scare you off with big lawyers, i sued our local holden dealer, for a $3500 issue that was their fault, cost them 40k, including costs by the time we spent 2 days in court, but we won.

27k of that was the holden dealers barrister and 2 instructors costs, so trying the big guns worked against them in the long run, still makes me smirk when I think about it......;-)

FollowupID: 318144

Follow Up By: Jen & Geoff - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 19:33

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 19:33

We don't want to have to go through courts and crap, besides we haven't got the time. We just somebody do their job well and give us what we paid for in the first place, a trouble free running of a car for 5 years or 120,000klm, after all that is what attracted us in buying the new car, not knowing it would be in there once a month if not twice with unfixable problems. I hope we don't have to go that far. Jen

FollowupID: 318168

Follow Up By: GO_OFFROAD - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 21:59

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 21:59

Of course you dont, and dont have the time, thats what they prey on by pushing you to decide........

Im just saying dont be scared to do so.

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Follow Up By: Jen & Geoff - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 22:06

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 22:06

I know they are the fat controllers and if needs be we will get our solicitor on to it, but will try other avenues first.

FollowupID: 318206

Follow Up By: GO_OFFROAD - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 22:11

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 22:11

Never underestimate the power of a legal letter from your solicitor, they should be the first line of defence, not the last ;-)

FollowupID: 318209

Follow Up By: Jen & Geoff - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 22:24

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 22:24

Are you a lawyer offering free services;>) I cannot see the sense in paying big bucks before we see the reaction we get from the top. Will probably sell or trade it to some poor sucker before the warranty is up anyway. We usually keep all our new cars only for about 3 -4 years. This one tops the cake with problems.

FollowupID: 318216

Follow Up By: GO_OFFROAD - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 22:41

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 22:41

No lawyer, no, but just like you use an accountant to do tax/books, a lawyer should be used to handle problems, not as a tool only for court.

FollowupID: 318224

Reply By: Vince NSW - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 14:00

Reply By: goingplatinumcomau - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 14:48

Reply By: Willem - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 19:43

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 19:43

Write down all the things that have gone wrong with the car and keep it in a safe place. Park vehicle in driveway away from the house. Light a small fire in the footwell on the passengers side under the dashboard. Close all windows and doors of the car and go out for the evening. Make sure you are seen where you are visiting. Come home late at night to find vehicle totally gutted. Claim on insurance and buy a new car. It was an electrical fault after all............

Alternatively I would suggest that you take the vehicle to an expert Auto-electrician and ask him to replace the loom. Then send the bill to the manufacturer.

AnswerID: 56446

Follow Up By: Jen & Geoff - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 20:13

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 20:13

Willem, I didn't know you were a professional crook, boy! you were very specific and did well in educating me:>)))
Geoff thinks it is the computer and it needs replacing. As well as the lights blowing, the fuel gauge is never right, although the fuel consumption is at its all time best, 15klm per lt, on a trip to Brisbane we got 42mpg. We have had to have the clock replaced since all this trouble, so whatever it is, is stuffing everything up. As you saying take it to an expert Auto electrician, wouldn't that violate the warranty?
We have a good mate who is an Auto elecky so maybe he may be able to diagnose the problem without touching it. It shouldn't have to come to that, if the service depts. were educated properly in their field or the Head Company wasn't so stingy. Jen

FollowupID: 318174

Follow Up By: Willem - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 21:03

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 21:03

Not a crook...just a naughty childhood.

You know, it could be a simple thing as a Fusible Link. These small items in modern vehicles have been known to be the cause of lots of problems. So get you Auto sparky to check the car out! Good luck.

FollowupID: 318186

Follow Up By: Jen & Geoff - Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 21:57

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004 at 21:57

Willem, Geoff said they checked every tit and tail, and in my mind( very suspisious mind I have, I don't trust a soul) I am starting to think they are waiting until the warranty runs out and then hit us up for something major. We have done in excess of 80,000 they have mucked around for 40,000 so far. So I think I will go to the top blokes.

FollowupID: 318199

Follow Up By: ross - Thursday, Apr 29, 2004 at 03:13

Thursday, Apr 29, 2004 at 03:13

Jen and Jeff I would try to find others with similar stories through car forums. Even if you could only find 3-4 others in the same mess you could send out a strong message to head office.
A second opinion from a auto electrician who has specialist training on on board computers would most helpful and neither would it damage the warranty as long as the technician doesnt attempt to fix it.The seller always has 1st option to fix their warranty claims against them.

Maybe have some signs fixed to your car detailing all the problems youve had and park it outside the dealership on the busy days.Completely legal as long as its truthful.

FollowupID: 318246

Follow Up By: Jen & Geoff - Thursday, Apr 29, 2004 at 07:53

Thursday, Apr 29, 2004 at 07:53

Ross, it would be of great interest to see whether any other car owners of the same model have had the same problem. Could you pass on the websites if you know of any? I will be sending a message to head office anyway, and Geoff is going into the service dept. today, to get the headlights fixed a g a i n. At first they were charging us for the bulbs until we found it was happening too often and then we asked for a refund and free replacements since. They are shockers, I think they are trying to put it over us and hiding something. Jen

FollowupID: 318256

Follow Up By: Jen & Geoff - Thursday, Apr 29, 2004 at 11:29

Thursday, Apr 29, 2004 at 11:29

Willem, You might be right, Geoff went into the service dept this morning with a little bit of a hot head for a change. After getting the low beams fixed today, they have made an appointment for an all day session next thursday for a complete rewiring, if there are still problems the Loom will be replaced. This is after a threat of them being involved a web of battle if there is an accident. I rang RACQ they gave me the address of head office and also told me seeing it is a safety issue, it could be reported to the Federal Office of Road Safety, apparently mentioning FROS to them puts a shiver up their spine. So thats the latest, Jen