VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two

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Tue 10 Apr 2012 14:09
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - DG--

Hi There

I bought a car from a dealer just under a month ago, car was priced at full price for that age and spec, no reason to suspect there was anything wrong with it.

Test drive seemed fine, and in fact car drives really well.

My old car was part-ex for about 50% of the cost of the new one, 50% paid in cash.

First issue was that the car was losing/using coolant. He replaced the radiator and all is well now on that front, though obviously it's taken a while to make sure it's still not leaking.

I've been aware of a bit of a rattling sound coming from the underside of the engine once or twice, and now on closer inspection it appears to be all the time at idle, it just depends on whether you're next to a wall etc as to whether you can hear it. If you get down on the floor, you can easily hear it.

Essentially, sounds like the dual mass flywheel is in need of replacing, probably thick end of 2 grand I reckon.

Have sent the guy an email and not had a response yet, but should I be ok to get this problem sorted?

It's been a month since I bought it, and this is the first time I've spoken to him about it, but it seems like a significant and costly problem that needs sorting and would've been present long before I got hold of the car.

Thanks for any advice as to how to approach this and what my consumer "rights" may be. I don't really want shot of the car, I'd rather he fixed it

There was apparently a 3 month warranty with the car for major mechanical issues.

Thanks

DG

Edited by DG-- on 10/04/2012 at 14:10

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Tue 10 Apr 2012 14:18
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - Boss Hog

Take it to another independent garage for diagnosis and see what the problem is. If its serious take it back to where you bought and insist its fixed. If not serious i doubt the seliing dealer will remedy.

Put it in writing to them if it needs to be addressed and get an estimate from an independent.

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Tue 10 Apr 2012 14:21
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - DG--

Cheers for the response, so I guess the timescale isn't an issue?

I suppose if the problem is obviously something that was present when the car was sold, and is sufficiently serious, then he is duty bound to resolve it?

I've no reason to suspect he won't, he seems reasonable enough, I'd just like to be armed with my various rights as a purchaser.

Getting an independant assessment done is a bit of a pain, I'll see if VW can arrange a courtesy car. :)

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Tue 10 Apr 2012 17:40
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - Roly93

If you put the car in gear and just slip the clutch ever so slightly, this should stop the rattle if it is a DMF problem.

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Tue 10 Apr 2012 17:50
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - MikeTorque

With only a 3 month warranty you need to get any problems sorted out as soon as possible. Take the car straight back to the dealer you purchased it from and get them to sort it out for you. As long as the warranty covers the problem it should be rectifed under the warranty.

It's worth checking under the Golf to see if the undertray hasn't come loose, they do tend to come loose all too often and flap about, if not rectified they will eventually fall off.

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Tue 10 Apr 2012 17:59
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - Collos25

The three months is meaningless it is covered by the sales of goods act.

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Tue 10 Apr 2012 21:26
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - DG--

It's a DSG, it disappears as soon as I apply any throttle or pull away. The reason I'm fairly confident it's DMF is I've listened to some vids on Youtube of people who've had it and they say it was DMF. It's quiet to be honest, the engine idles really smooth and you have to get down on hands and knees to hear it properly. It's like a marble in a tin can

Cheers everyone for your responses, I was thinking/hoping the 3 month thing was a misnomer as the goods should be fit for purpose even if the issue only comes to light/is sorted some time later

But I will endeavour to get this resolved pronto, or at least, hope the dealer is prompt about getting back to me

Something I should've noticed on the test drive was a slight knocking at times at low speed from the front, sounds like CV joint to me. Is this something I should hassle him about as well? cost-wise, I just want the DMF sorted (VW quoted £1500) but I'm unsure of whether CV would be seen as a wear and tear problem that I should've noticed.

VW also quoted 300 quid to diagnose for me, so I think I'll give that a miss unless I have to go down the "get it repaired and go to small claims" route, as they deduct that 300 quid from the repair price as the thing is in bits at that point

In case there's anyone who knows about these things.....I asked VW to include a quote for a new clutch whilst the thing was in bits (I'm led to believe it's worth doing this) and they said auto-DSG wouldn't need it?

Edited by DG-- on 10/04/2012 at 21:35

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Tue 10 Apr 2012 22:37
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - pd

All depends on how many miles the car has done really.

A slight noise does not stop a car being "fit for pupose". Fit for purpose is that it starts, goes and stops in vaguely the correct manner as a car.

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Tue 10 Apr 2012 22:48
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - MikeTorque

If it's any comfort to you, I purchased a used Ford Focus that had a couple of issues that didn't come to light whilst test driving the car, the warranty cover did allow them to be fixed even though the car was off the road for a few days whilst Ford sorted them out. Hope you receive similar good service with your VW Golf warranty cover.

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Wed 11 Apr 2012 08:52
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - bonzo dog

Hi DG, a few points if I may:

  1. as has been said, the "3 months" is irrelevent except that it can mean the supplier has less to argue against if he wants to avaid responsibility
  2. You don't say but I get the impression that you purchased it from a VW franchise; yes?
  3. You also don't say what the age & mileage was at purchase. What was this, please?
  4. The reason I'm asking the above if that these MAY impact on what rights you have. For example if you bought an Approved Golf from a VW franchise at 42 months & 20,000 miles I would expect a "noise" to be investigated & rectified at the suppliers expence.
  5. If however you bought a 7 year old 80,000 miles golf from a non-franchised site then whilst the dealer would be responsible for a mechanical failure which occurred at such a short time after purchase, he would not be responsible for the costs involved in diagnosing a "noise". That you think it could be the DMF is completely irrelevent.
  6. My advice? Ask the supplier to investigate & rectify the noise at his expence. If he refuses to do both then take it to a VW specialist & pay for a diagnosis.
  7. Inform the supplier of the diagnosis & ask him to repair it or agree to reimburse you the repair costs of the specialist. If he refuses, get the work done & go legal
  8. If the supplier (at pt 6) agrees to rectify the fault but wants you to pay for the investigation (or go halves or whatever), agree but on condition that if a major fault is found, he stands the entire cost

Good luck & MAKE SURE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION IS RECORDED IN WRITING

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Wed 11 Apr 2012 09:14
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - DG--

Thanks for the great advice!

Some answers;

2. No, this was an independant dealer

3. Coming up 6 years old and it's a shade over 60k miles

I agree it's best I just get it back to him to diagnose the problem and resolve it, it's just with a car that's ageing now and one that can cost a lot if the repairs are botched, I'd really rather prefer that VW did all the work on it, but I understand I need to give him the chance to sort it. He also owns a big garage with a few decent mechanics working there.

If he outright refuses, (which I really don't expect him to, with the coolant problem he just said get it back to him and he'll sort any problems) then I'll get VW to sort it and then bill him directly or through the small claims court if required.

With recorded in writing; will email suffice?

It's been email until now as he's been reasonable, but if this is a repair too far then should it all be letters via recorded delivery?

The problem with that of course is time, it seems louder and squeakier after the morning commute today, so I'd want it in a garage today or tomorrow really!

I'm not going to make an issue of the periodic knocking at low speeds as I'm happy to take on the cost of some of the more wear and tear type stuff that I just didn't notice on the test drive. But I will mention it in the context of showing willingness on my part to stick my hand in my pocket.

Edited by DG-- on 11/04/2012 at 09:18

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Wed 11 Apr 2012 09:41
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - pd

I would take some proper legal advice in the event you go all legal. Consumer protection is far less than some would think on a 60k mile a few months after purchase and it might not be as clear cut as you think.

The problem is a bit of noise isn't the same as the car grinding to a halt and the dealer could well argue that a bit of noise on an older car doesn't mean it isn't fit for purpose.

A decent agreement with the dealer, even if it ends up with just a contribution, is far more preferable.

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Wed 11 Apr 2012 11:18
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - DG--

Agreed, I'll see how it goes and report back.

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Mon 16 Apr 2012 12:05
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - DG--

Hi All

An update....

Returned car to the dealers mechanic and would you believe it, could barely hear the noise this time. It's amplified when next to walls, and it just wasn't possible to highlight it as a big problem. "Might be the cats on the way out, but nothing that needs doing now" was his verdict, in fairness he did use his stethoscope on the flywheel/gearbox housing

I'm not convinced though, it does match some classic noise similarities that a failing DMF does, trouble is VW want 300 quid to diagnose it.....

I guess I could get it into the for an hours labour cost for their opinion on what it might be without taking the gearbox out

they could probably eliminate CATS and say "the noise is coming from the flywheel"

Any advice greatfully received :(

If I got it looked at byw VW down the line when the cost wasn't so painful as it would be now, could I hassle the dealer for assistance with the repair cost?

Edited by DG-- on 16/04/2012 at 12:07

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Wed 26 Sep 2012 22:29
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - Delly21

I've had an 07 plate golf 1.9 TDI for 18months from main dealer, has had few issues, the latest being a noise (sounds identical to your issue) the VW garage state is flywheel at £1048. Just spent £500 on cambelt/waterpump/service and only done 64K. I'm in a dilemna as really unhappy that i bought acar albeit 2nd hand that has had so many costly issues in a short space of time, some of which the garage did under warranty (got 12months). Issue i'm having is do I get rid (this was the advice of VW bythe way) or do i pay the bill & hope thats the end of it?

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Thu 27 Sep 2012 11:42
VW Golf - Bought from a dealer and have a problem or two - dieselnut

The car is out of warranty now so why go to the VW dealer.

Phone around a few independant VW specialists or local garages that have a good reputation. I'm sure they will all beat VW by quite a margin.

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