TL;DR

1. Car had no spare though stated on invoice it would have - got a kit instead. Where do I stand?
   
   
2. Exhaust was added to a clutch bill without calling and it was conveniently "scrapped" so I couldn't take a look
   
   
3. Engine light was supposed to be fixed and has been diagnosed and "deleted" 3 times now can I reject the car?
   
   
4. Mechanic took car for an 80 mile road trip over the weekend and had to put "petrol in" though I ended up with less than a quarter of what fuel was originally in the car. - Surely this is not normal?

Thanks

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Hi all,

Hope someone can help me out as Im getting frustrated now.

I have recently bought a 1.6 Zafira for just over £2k. I had read reviews and looked at likely things needing to be replaced and I decided to go halves and have the cambelt done for peace of mind. At the time the gear change was a bit stiff but the dealer said that was normal in the colder weather (this was back a couple of months ago).

The advert said it came with Alloy wheels - the car itself did not. I asked and the dealer said he had a disclaimer on his website saying not every car is as stated and should be inspected before purchase. I said I am bringing it up before purchase and he said well this car comes with no alloys...no offer to reduce price when asked (cheeky maybe but thought I would ask).

I also asked about lack of spare wheel, they looked underneath and the salesperson said it WOULD have one when I came back to pay off the final sum...this was also written on the invoice. Went back and no spare just a kit they said this model doesnt have one but you can buy one for an extra £100?

The Service light and then the engine light came on intermittently on test driving and I addressed this. They said they would have it fixed by the time I came back and although it wasnt present when I drove home a day later it came back.

I called the garage and they told me to go through warranty wise which I had paid for which is what they were going to do anyway...I was angry because they said they would fix it BEFORE purchase and all they did was hae it deleted with the diagnostics machine.

I went to THEIR choice of mechanic who then wiped it off and said its probably just not deleted properly. Halfway home it came back on again (I live 30miles from the garage)

They told me to bring it in and I couldnt because my partner was about to give birth any day and we needed the car (they said it would be fine to drive on so I did - though as little as possible).

Then the day after my son was born the clutch pedal had a weird click when starting to depress (the mechanic has since said this is just a spring and tough luck if it annoys me).

Then a day later the power was lost when engaging the clutch and I could barely get it moving. (Clutch slipping).

I spoke to the trader and he said its tough luck really as its wear and tear...Ive had the car just under three months and although I know its down to my own wear and tear I was disappointed.

So I took it to the garage of the traders choice again and they said the clutch bearing had gone and it would cost me a new clutch (£450) I told them I had warranty wise and also mentioned the engine light issues still needed resolving.

He went through warranty wise and got £200 knocked off it but apparently when doing the clutch part of the exhaust was eroded so they replaced that at a cost of £80 to me...without even calling to ask if it was okay or even just give me a heads up on the cost when I came to collect.

Next up I went to collect the car after being without it for 5 days (the garage said it would be done next day / 2 days at most. I paid over £500 got my car and started to drive home after him showing me what looked like a "prop clutch" with damage to show what they had replaced...the exhaust had been "scrapped" though. I asked about the engine management lights and they said it was all sorted and they had replaced a "valve" at the traders cost.

I got the keys and turned the engine on...I had put half a tank in when I went to the mechanics (on the way there) and when I reached the mechanics I noted in myhead that the fuel was halfway. However the "Range - Refuel" message appeared. I thought it may be due to the hill it was parked on so gave it a few miles to sort itself out...it never did.

Then the engine light came on and the clutch clicking was still present. I turned around and went back..

The mechanic said "when did the light come back on what did you do?" I told him I had driven about 10 miles and it came back on so I turned around.

They told me that he didnt feel anything in the clutch when testing the clutch so he said it was probably the pedal spring and a bit of tough luck. Then I asked if the valve had something to do with the fuel gauge as I had barely any fuel left and I had left it half way when dropping it off.

He said that he had "not noticed anything about the clutch clicking when testing it out" and he had "noticed the range - refuel message when he was driving it about. It didnt go off and I drove it a good 70-80 miles, yeah about 80 miles and had to put 20 quid of petrol in it and the message stayed on"

I asked him why he had took the car 80 miles and he said "to give it a good run and test the clutch"

Now Im not a mechanic but I would have thought if a mechanic was worth his salt he would have faith in his workmanship and that a quick 5 mile round-trip / 15 minute runaround would be suffice to test all of the gears?

The car is now back with them as they try and see whats up with the engine management light and Im left with a family of 6 and a very poorly looked after courtesy car of theirs...a C1 no less!!

When speaking to the trader he was really arrogant and told me if anything wasnt covered on warranty it would be tough luck...luckily he decided to stump up for the engine management lights issue so far but if its a bigger job I can see him trying to do me out of more money.

Ive heard about the right to reject a car up to 6mths with genuine faults and this is driving me mad now. I have had to hire a car which cost me an arm and a leg, now Im in a tiny courtesy car and lost a full 2 days working time to sort this out which still isnt sorted.

Any advice would be helpful and I apologise for the length of the message.

Many thanks,

Ron