I bought a brand new i10 on the 1 September. Since buying it we have noticed that the car occasionally the appears to be ?Dropping out? of 4th gear. It has been doing this since the first day of delivery, although on the first couple of days we put it down to not being accustomed to the new car. I have today spoken to the garage and booked it in for an inspection next week .In the conversation they implied it could be something very simple, or could require a gearbox rebuild/repair. Clearly I am disappointed that the car is only a matter of days old, and is already going back to the dealer for repair. While I have no issue with them doing minor adjustements I would be extremely concerned if their investigations revealed the need to complete significant rework/repairs to the gearbox in order to rectify the problem. The question is if this proves to be the case can I reject the vehicle as being not of merchantable quality under the sale of goods act and ask for a new replacement?
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www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/faq.htm?id=43.
I think you have to give the supplier 3 attempts to rectify any fault(s) before you can reject a car. It is somewhere in the text to which that link takes you. A new gearbox under warranty would probably be regarded as an acceptable outcome, by a court if not by you!
Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 05/09/2009 at 12:29
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no
unless you want to spend thousands on men in wigs
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I'm not sure what Englebert does in the privacy of his own home is any of our business.....oh, oh I see :-)
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I think you'll have to give them the chance to rectify/make good initially - although I do know how you feel inasmuchas it reduces your confidence in the car & considerably reduces its appeal.
For rejection & return of money or replacement, you need to show that the car is intrinsically unsound & not of merchantable quality (nor likely to be, despite reapirs).
Give them a chance & press for a courtesy car (but you shouldn't really need to press..),
make a judgement after their repairs - keep assiduous records/notes of the process in the meantime.
The above is my interpretation of Sale of Goods legislation only - not legal advice.
I'd check out the ConsumerDirect website for a step-by-step approach. You can also ring them - they're very helpful (or have been to me in the past..).
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I bought a brand new i10 on the 1 September. Since buying it we have noticed that the car occasionally the appears to be “Dropping out” of 4th gear. It has been doing this since the first day of delivery
Minor annoyance, I would think easily solved
While I have no issue with them doing minor adjustements
Quite right
>>I would be extremely concerned if their investigations revealedthe need to complete significant rework/repairs to the gearbox in order to rectify the problem.
Why on earth would you feel like that, a gearbox is a modular component it a new one could simply and easily be fitted. Life isn't perfect and you just might have a faulty gearbox...pink fluffy dice happens
The question is if this proves to be the case can I reject the vehicle as being not of merchantable quality under the sale of goods act and ask for a new replacement?
Sounds like you don't really like the car, because it does not seem reasonable that you would want to reject it for this problem, before even giving them a chance to sort it out.....good job you didn't buy a french car then ;-)
No swearing means just that
Edited by Webmaster on 05/09/2009 at 20:04
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Minor annoyance I would think easily solved
I think you're being a bit harsh. To some people, me included, buying a brand new car is an exciting(/rare) event, and to find out that it has a major fault such as dropping out of gear (hardly a minor annoyance) can be quite upsetting.
Logically I think you're right - 'just' swap the gearbox and you should be left with the car as it should have been in the first place. But it's perfectly understandable that the OP currently wants to see the back of it.
Perhaps a little more sympathy might help him see that it's a problem that can be fixed relatively easily, and that after it's been sorted and he's been driving it for a few months he'll forget all about it.
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>> Minor annoyance I would think easily solved I think you're being a bit harsh. To some people me included buying a brand new car is an exciting(/rare) event and to find out that it has a major fault such as dropping out of gear (hardly a minor annoyance) can be quite upsetting.
I don't mean to be harsh, just trying to put the thing in perspective and really a worst case scenario is replace gear box, probably something in the linkage needs adjusting. Remember he said occasionally dropping out of 4th, so 5th and all the other gears are still OK, when it goes into the Garage (presumably ASAP) a courtesy car will be provided.......so no real problem.
The fact of a fault being upsetting is only if people allow it to be so, best to take a deep breath relax and don't stress too much about it. Things usually go a lot smoother that way. I think people who go through life getting stressed out because sometimes things are not perfect (it's not a perfect world), just create more stress for themselves. Going onto forums and getting well meaning support and advice to go down much more legal routes is unwarranted in most situations and usually creates more stress for the poster....it's just a car at the end of the day.
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I rejected my brand new Ford Fiesta Zetec in 2002 (at the time, the 'new' model) and within 100 miles due to an apparent gearbox fault. It kept grinding the gears when selecting reverse (I was left even checking the driver's mat was down fully) unless it was cold. Then I also rejected the replacement because it wouldn't start if left standing a time (say 45 min whilst parked at Tesco) but alarmingly it was several shades of silver, coupled with a defect in the lacquer on the bonnet and a 'mottled' or 'cloudy' paint finish on the bumper. RAC inspection later confirmed the car was several different shades of silver, none of the paint densities matching.
The dealer I bought from apparently had received customer service awards some time before, but was extremely stubborn, trying to argue "you cannot expect perfection in any mass produced product". I argued back a Wetherspoons meal is mass produced and I expect mine hot, or with his example of a BIC pen, I'd expect it to write. End result? Full refund. But it took time.
Long story short: I contacted RAC legal team for advice, spoke to someone helpful and she told me how to word my letters. On her advice I continued to pay "under protest" for the car (was on Ford Finance). I'm not read up on this area nowadays but have a feeling the law changed in the favour of the consumer: I think the onus is now on the dealer to prove the fault wasn't there on collection, rather than the owner having to prove that it was. On the plus side, a replacement gearbox should be easier to live with than a bad paint job?
... By the by, I still won't contemplate another silver Ford. A Vauxhall worker based at Ellsmere Port may have given me the answer; apparently Vauxhall spray the whole car, then separate the components and put them back together on the same car. It seems Ford might spray things separately, possibly accounting for the different shading. I've certainly noticed loads when sat in traffic around me that appear not to match. Hired a 150 mile old silver Mondeo Zetec estate car the other week, and guess what?! And the Mondeo isn't exactly a cheap car new, is it? RAC concluded the 2nd of my Fiesta's had it's body shell sprayed so many times it should not have left the factory. Engineer himself surprised by his micrometer readings, felt the car had perhaps been repainted after a chemical spill or something.
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The OP will find out how good his/her dealer really is.
Not just can they fix it, but I'd be looking for a bit of customer service in terms of: ''We'll come and get it and drop off a loan car."
Some comforting words wouldn't go amiss, even if they are largely flannel.
No need to go too far, but how about a service discount/fuel discount voucher or similar?
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The OP will find out how good his/her dealer really is. Not just can they fix it but I'd be looking for a bit of customer service in terms of: ''We'll come and get it and drop off a loan car." Some comforting words wouldn't go amiss even if they are largely flannel.
Ifithelps is right.
This problem is probably easily remedied (worst case is replace the gearbox), but the garage doesn't seem to have appreciated that even though they may shift dozens of new cars every month, it's different for the buyer. For most people a new car is a big purchase (the biggest tangible purchase apart from their house), and it's distressing for them to think that they have put a lot of money into a bag of trouble.
It's quite natural for someone in that situation to need some reassurance that a) the problem can be genuinely fixed; b) it will be fixed as speedily as possible, and with minimum disruption to the purchaser; c) that the seller understands the buyer's disappointment.
There's no magic in any of this. It's just basic customer service, and it's sad that in the midst of a recession, a dealer isn't taking care of its customers. OTOH, the recession may not apply in this case. Since the last few weeks have apparently been the busiest time ever for the UK's Hyundai dealers, it may simply be that they are too tired and overstretched.
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>>>This problem is probably easily remedied (worst case is replace the gearbox)<<<
Worst case is that they try to rebuild the gearbox - I would much rather have a factory replacement box, than a spotty yoof, on work experience, dismantle and rebuild the box.
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Consumer law goes by the three R's. First the dealer is only obliged to repair, then replace, and finally refund. Anything above that is down to the goodwill of the dealership. Consumer advice are hopeless, and will take the dealers side. I've had recent experience of both (see Sedona sharp dealer practice post)
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>>Consumer law goes by the three R's. First the dealer is only obliged to repair, then >>replace, and finally refund. Anything above that is down to the goodwill of the dealership.
I can't see anything 'above' that actually - and as long as they abide by consumer law
that's all you need. No goodwill needed.
Consumer advice are hopeless, and will take the dealers side.
Why on earth would they? In my experience they're a good first stop & can advise on processes like this well - after all, they get similar calls all the time.
The ConsumerDirect website has a nice clear, logical step-by-step guide on the ins & outs of SoGa & consumer law in general.
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Different circumstances but I successfully rejected a brand new Audi A4 which I had ordered to my spec as a factory build due to a blemish in the paintwork.
The dealers position was "we can respray it for you" but I didn't feel that was an acceptable position to be in so I refused.
Audi UK Head Office tried their hardest to resist cancelling the order of course, but it helped that the fault was apparent before I'd driven it away from the dealer and therefore the money was still in my pocket. I think once you hand over the payment and accept delivery of a vehicle, your options are somewhat reduced and you need to let the dealer attempt to rectify the problem before talking about rejection.
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Just a thought, but I once took delivery of a brand new cavalier sri
which had a similar problem in 2nd.
Stripped of a bit of trim and found a piece of protective foam sticking out of the gearbox gate.
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Most likely you have a faulty synchromesh. Once it is replaced under warranty, it should be fine.
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can I reject the vehicle as being not of merchantable quality under the sale of goods act and ask for a new replacement? >>
Possibly. But if all that's wrong with your current car is a fault which can be put right to your satisfaction, do you really want to have it replaced with another car with maybe a different fault or faults which you then have to start arguing about?
I sympathise with you feeling brassed off, I'd feel the same. But give the dealer a chance before going for the nuclear option.
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What a good idea to check the car before paying the balance. Usually the same routine with me, choose the car after a test drive then wait a while , turn up with the balance and pay up and then drive off. Result, the dealer has the aces. What would happen if before you paid the balance you discovered something you were not happy with and refused to pay until it was put right to your satisfaction, very intriguing.
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The last four new cars I have bought have all had a deposit of up to £500 paid by credit card (giving some protection under Section 75 of the CCA) and I have paid the balance by debit card at the time of collection. Three of the cars came from the same dealer who actually said if the car's not as it should be and you're not happy, don't pay.
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