On Saturday 12 April I test drove the a Mercedes CLK320 W209 on a 52 plate at an independant dealer called in Enfield
Due to no naming and sharing I have withheld their details for the moment.
No fault of theirs but note that the test drive was on narrow residential roads and traffic clogged A10.
On the test drive I noted clunking from the suspension during general movement and a loud clunking on speed bumps, I commented on both to the manager during the drive but otherwise was impressed the cars condition was generally very good and the history seemed to check out.
The Manager told me the following:
The car had just come in in part-exchange, this was born out by the fact it had not been valeted yet.
The car had been supplied by the dealer to it?s previous owner four years previously and he had now brought it back and traded it in for an E Class
They already knew about the suspension and it would be checked and rectified
The car would be subject to a 144 point check, and would have a new MOT
The car would be given a 6 month warranty
I returned 1 week later to have another look, the car had now been prepared for re-sale, looked stunning, and had just had new front springs fitted for which I was shown the receipt. I placed a deposit on it
A further week later I returned to pay the balance and collect the car
I asked for the details of the 6 month warranty, expecting RAC or something, and was told the warranty was with themselves, and they would handle an issues, backed up by having 2 courtesy cars
I asked for a copy of the PDI (144 point test) and was told they didn?t have that to provide me, but that the car had been to the workshop for a complete checkout
I asked for the tax disk of my Peugeot 406 to allow me to reclaim the remaining road fund tax, and was told it would be posted to me, and it never has been.
At this visit, The Manager now told me that he in fact had not sold the car to it?s previous owner and that he had ?spun a story? ? his words not mine, he mentioned this after I had paid the balance and as we were walking to the car in a response to a comment by me.
Despite reservations about these responses I had now paid the balance on the vehicle and started driving home, again the roads were horrible and terribly terribly congested in the immediate vicinity of the dealer, but by the time I got home I realised the suspension was still knocking during general movement though the loud clunk on speed bumps had been resolved.
I called The Manager immediately and told him, he tried to explain that the new front springs needed to be bedded in, and I should give it a week. Not satisfied with that I drove the car in to Kwik Fit for a check, and within 5 minutes they diagnosed that the anti-link roll bar need replacing. With the car on the ramp, the antilink roll bar could be easily agitate to produce exactly the knocking noise I was observing. With the part available within 24 hrs I had this was done myself at a cost to me of £50, knocking noises immediately sorted!
I had also by this point noticed steering anomalies, the steering wheel pulls left by about 15 degrees, and of course the car pulls left, if the steering is manually centred the car pulls right. I asked Kwik Fits advice, they check the tracking and told me that it was out a little but not enough to cause the problem and that it would need further investigation. So I called the dealer, and was told by The Manager that this was wear and tear and not covered by the warranty and I would have to book it in to be looked at. I called back the next day and insisted it get sorted, the car is now back with the dealer.
Apart from the steering I am really happy with the car, though I have though reported some other (minor) issues to be looked at.
1. Parking brake is ineffectual ? cable probably just needs tightening
2. Electric controls for front passenger seat stopped working and seat doesn?t slide forward when backrest is tilted to get in the rear, in fact the seat base seems jammed in the full forward position, this may have been position there by my daughter who is quite small.
3. Boot handle doesn?t return meaning you cannot open the boot manually ? only by key fob
My issue is not really with the car (which is lovely in general), none of these are show stoppers (CLKs are apparently prone to the steering issue), my issue is with the attitude of the dealer and how he has continued to spin me a line everytime I have had reason to deal with him.
On dropping the car off today, I was told it would be £50 to put it on the Mercedes diagnostic tool to have the passenger seat looked at, presuming it is the switch at fault. I don?t make that presumption myself!
So the car is there now, incidentally the courtesy car is a state, it is 56 Renault Clio, service warning light is on, airbag warning light is on, the vehicle is filthy, with no water in the windscreen washer, and an empty fuel tank.
So advice from the forum members would be much appreciated as to what my rights are here and what my reasonable expectations should be
Guy
Edited by Webmaster on 09/06/2008 at 14:14
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6 minutes after posting this, i tried to edit it to remove the one remaining reference to the dealer name (in line with no naming and shaming), but the forum would not accept my edit. So apologies for the one reference to the dealer name above that slipped through.
Guy
Now removed
Edited by Webmaster on 09/06/2008 at 14:15
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Do you really expect anything else from a UK motor trader the only thing they will have done to it is clean it ,144 point check don't make me laugh.Go back ask them for the so called 144 point check list if they cannot produce the work sheet then ask them to do it again with you watching ask for the £50 you spent at quik fit.I personally would have the vehicle checked by the AA or RAC and get a proper report if you do not get it correct know then your bank balance is going to suffer in the future big time.
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The x point checks are often nonsense. When I bought my former Mondeo (from a well established independent retailer), it was supposed to have undergone one of these, yet I picked it up with one headlight "bouncing" over bumps (broken adjuster mechanism) and a 600 RPM warm idle which would cause the air-con compressor to disengage. Got them fixed without hassle, and the car went on to provide me with 50,000 miles of great service, but that's not the point.
Under British law, if you buy a car from a dealer, any fault within the first six months is deemed to have been present when you bought the car, and the dealer is obliged to put it right. Get a proper inspection as AB suggests, and don't be fobbed off.
Cheers
DP
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"Under British law, if you buy a car from a dealer, any fault within the first six months is deemed to have been present when you bought the car, and the dealer is obliged to put it right. "
Where can I find that state, I was wondering if anyone in the forum could point me towards something like that, I have also been told there is a legal obligation to provide a 3 month warranty, so anything that I can be pointed too would really assist.
Thanks
Guy
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All explained here:
www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/calitem.cgi?fi...t
The relevant part is:
"The onus is normally on you rather than the trader to prove a claim, i.e. that the car is defective in some way. However, the law now states that if you are claiming replacement, repair, full or partial refund within the first six months of ownership, the onus is on the trader to prove that the goods were acceptable when they were sold. This is called the ?reversed burden of proof?."
And it is of course almost impossible for a trader to prove a fault was not there when he sold you the car.
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 09/06/2008 at 14:44
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Where can I find that state, I was wondering if anyone in the forum could point me towards something like that
1. Start with HJ's FAQ. It is all there in one FAQ, including the very latest new consumer protection law introduced just last month..
2. Do a search of the forum, you will find that this topic comes up numerous times. The forum search function is in the "log in - log out" box . Here is the link if you can't find that. www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/search.htm
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" Got them fixed without hassle"
thats the point, I am not unduly worried about the experiences with the car itself, in the most part it is fine, more than fine, lovely, it is just the hassle I am getting from the dealer that is leaving a really bad taste in the mouth.
Spin after Spin... anything apart from actually honouring their own words and standing behind the warranty they gave me.
Guy
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I would be genuinely worried about the car with these faults and a supposed service history.
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Update...
Thanks for all thje advice. I remain in general NOT worried about the car, of the four things being looked at..
1. the steering, this is quite common on a CLK of this age and should be able to be rectified
2. The passenger seat, it is possible my daughter broke it
3. The hand brake, what hand brake cable doesn't need adjusting from time to time
4. Boot lid catch, not a bother really, be nice to have it fixed but no big deal
The worry has been more about the dealer attitude. So here';s what I did today...
When I booked the car in I asked "out of interest where will you send it", the chap said "paul Evans Mercedes"... so this afternoon I googled exactly that, found an independant Merc specialist called Paul Evans in Harlow and called him.
First I am pleased to say he has my car... very professionally he went through each point in detail. I asked him about the dealer and he told me he has done work for them for years and generally they are fine, but "typical car salesmen". He seemed happy to deal with me directly.
I explained that all I wanted was for the dealer to stand behind the warranty.
So thats progress of a sort.
he hadn't looked at the car much yet, but told me he would hopefully have it finished by tomorrow.
Guy
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