Morning all

I'm seeking some advice, from both a consumer perspecive, and a mechanical one.

Last October my 55 plate VW Passat was written off in an accident. I used the insurance settlement to buy a used 06 plate Passat TDi (170HP 2.0 litre engine), which had 95000 miles on the clock. Purchase price was £6995.

After just 12 days, and 800 miles, the car broke down. I contacted the dealer, and they initially didn't want to know. Twice their call centre staff put the phone down on me when I mentioned the Sale of Goods Act. After writing to them stating that they either repair the car, or I reject it, they informed me that it was covered by a warranty, and would be repaired at no cost to me.

I was without the car for 11 days, as Nationwide Autocare couldn't determine what the fault was until they got a specialist in. The number 3 injector was replaced, and Nationwide advised that the other 3 also be replaced, but the warranty company would not cover that cost. I ended up paying the £150 for the "specialist" diagnostics, as that was also not covered by the warranty company.

Two weeks ago, the car broke down again, just 10 weeks and 6000 miles having been driven since purchase. It just cut out as I was in lane 3 of the M60, and I luckily managed to coast to the hard shoulder. This time the number 2 injector was at fault. Dealer is refusing to cover the £900 cost of the repair, saying that they only provide a 2 month warranty, and that I was 15 days out of warranty. Again, the garage is recommending that the remaining 2 injectors be replaced, but they have quoted the parts at £500 per injector. The car is very rough when idling, which is what it was doing before the no 2 injector failed.

The car was returned to me last Monday, but I had a Ford S-Max on demo last week, so didn't drive my own car for 6 days. When I tried to start it yesterday the battery was dead. Jumped the car, went for a ride to charge it, but it was dead again this morning, which suggests to me that there is a short somewhere.


So to my questions.

1) I've been reading up on consumer law, and am wondering if 10 weeks/6000 miles would prevent me from rejecting the vehicle.

2) The Sale of Goods Act gives me protection in the first 6 months of buying a used car, in the form of the dealer having to prove that the fault wasn't present when the car was sold. Do injectors breakdown suddenly, or do they degrade over a period of time?

3) The dealer/warranty companies approved repairer recommended after the first breakdown that all injectors be replaced (it's stated on the invoice), but the warranty company refused to pay for that. Do I have grounds to claim that they didn't resolve the issue the first time around? They are still recommending the other 2 be replaced too. Is it common practice to replace all at the same time?

4) If the dealer doesn't play ball, I'm considering making a claim against my credit card company, using section 75 of the Credit Consumer Act, but I'd imagine that will depend on whether it can be proved, or otherwise, that the fault was not present at the time of purchase. I guess the answer to the question about injectors failing suddenly or over time will determine whether this is a viable route to go down, as it helps in deciding the probability of the fault being present at purchase.

5) The battery going flat after 6 days, is that just indicative of a battery at the end of it's life, or could there be a wider issue which is related to the injectors failing? When I bought the car I had to contact VW to get the radio unlock code, which indicates that it's been flat before.

Finally

6) Nationwide Autocare have quoted £500 per injector. Reconditioned injectors can be had for a lot less than that. Would I be wise going down that route?

Basically, I just want to know your thoughts on my best course of action. As I said, I've discovered that this seems to be a common fault, so my questions are more in relation to the recourse I have agains the dealer who sold me the car just 12 days before the first breakdown, and 10 weeks to the 2nd.

My accident, and subsequent requirement to get a replacement car, was pretty badly timed, as I took on a job in December which includes a company car, but I won't take delivery of it until May at the earliest, as I've only just handed back the last demo vehicle this morning. I'm going with the Audi A4 Avant.


Cheers

Will