VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted

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Tue 1 May 2012 11:47
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - stugolf

I have oil issues with my Polo Gti which I purchased from a Volkswagen dealer on 31st May 2011 at just over 6,000miles.

I noticed the car used an excessive amount of oil in the forthcoming miles and in November 2011 I took the car back to dealer and expressed my concern. They then agreed the car was using excessive oil and to book in for the piston rings to be replaced on the vehicle.

I booked the vehicle in November 2011 for the December 2011 work to commence and for the dealer to have the car over the Christmas period. I picked the car back up just after Christmas.

I was asked to keep a close eye on the oil consumption the vehicle for the forthcoming months. After topping the car back up with oil during 3 months I went back to the dealer to express my concern that the repair hadn’t worked as I was using as much (if not more) oil than before, I was booked in March 2012 for work to commence in April 2012.

I was given a courtesy car for a few days while the dealer investigated the oil issue. After 3 days the dealer gave me my car back with an inconclusive report. They acknowledged the car was using too much oil but are awaiting VW getting back to them on a confirmed repair, to quote the Service Manager “could be a week, could be a month could be a year”
I obviously find this unacceptable for a car that is just over a year old which I paid a large deposit to and continue to pay for each month. The dealer has given me an endless supply of oil until the matter is resolved but I do not see this as the solution and I am very reluctant to drive the vehicle at all now.

I have contacted VW Customer Services, VW Finance and the dealer (again) gave them all a version of this response but all of them have said the same thing, namely VW DON’T have a solution!!

I have written up a reasonable timeframe for a repair:

• 1 month from today 10th May 2012 – A resolution sort and my vehicle booked in for repair.
• 2 months from today 10th June 2012 – My vehicle completely fixed.

If this cannot be sorted within this timeframe I will have no choice but to reject the vehicle and request a full refund or exchange the vehicle for another.

On the matter of rejection I have contacted Citizens Advice and Trading Standards and they are in agreement with me that it is unacceptable

I have spoken to the dealer about a possible part exchange on the vehicle as I would be happy with something else but he has basically just tried to rip me off offered me market value for my vehicle and top dollar on any part exchange I choose and I would lose a significant amount of money

So my only option looks like rejection through the Finance Company problem is I but a hefty deposit on the car through the dealer so the total finance doesn’t reflect the total cost of the vehicle

Anyone any thoughts or advice on this?

Thanks in advance
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Tue 1 May 2012 14:33
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - tony g
Hi stu,
I don't believe that you're legally entitled to reject the car ,for two reasons ,one you have owned the car for almost 12 months ,two you have given the dealer the opportunity to repair the car on more than one occasion .

These two reasons mean you cannot simply return the car to the dealer for a full refund .

So you're left with two options ,part exchange the car or sort the fault that's causing the problem .

The first option enevitably means you're going to lose a lot of money ,so a repair looks the best option .

There are reasons why engine oil needs replacing ,the car is burning oil ,it's leaking oil ,or it's simply evaporating .The first two are easy to detect ,are the plugs sooty,burning oil .oil on the drive or around the underside ,it's leaking oil.
Obviously evaporating is the normal way that oil is used .

If you have had no succes with Vw , you need an independent engineer to check and report What the problem is .You need a report from the type of engineer that gives a report on problem cases where court action is contemplated .

Armed with that report you can go back to Vw ,tell them what the fault is ,insist on the repairs being carried out.Failing that you will have the repairs done ,then pursue the dealer through the small claims court .The dealer is responsible not vw .the small claims process is a simple one .

Finally can you determine just how much oil the car is using and how does that compare to the amount the manufacturer says it should use.

Good luck and do let the forum know the outcome .

Regards

Tony g
















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Tue 1 May 2012 14:42
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - stugolf

Thanks for the info Tony

Citizens advice and Trading Standard both agree to reject the vehicle and that I have rights to do this as I have given the dealer “adequate time” to fix the fault on a number of occasions

The car is still under a year old and from when I first reported the problem November 2011 the car was under 6 months old and a year old in its manufacture (December 2010)

The vehicle needs a new engine, they told me a new engine would be fitted but when I went in VW have stopped repairing the car until they found a solid solution to the problem

I don’t think taking it to an independent garage will help as VW as it’s a well-known issue with this engine as many people are having the problem, its a design flaw VW are trying to fix and I believe the bores are "glazed" so will require a new block, so basically a new engine.

The finance company have been quite supportive and have admitted and apologised for the car not working as described but I am at a loss what to do as I am still paying finance on a car I do not drive

Edited by stugolf on 01/05/2012 at 14:52

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Tue 1 May 2012 17:45
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - tony g
(So my only option looks like rejection through the Finance Company problem is I but a hefty deposit on the car through the dealer so the total finance doesn’t reflect the total cost of the vehicle)

Hi stu ,doesn't the above contradict you simply saying that you intend to return your car for a full refund to vw ?

Looking at it dispassionatly ,you have had the use of the car for a year , although its been a difficult year with the car ,how likely are vw to simply refund the original purchase price of the car ,plus the additional costs incurred by financing the car ? .not very .

From experience ,I would be wary of trading standards advice ,they're often wrong and tend to be ineffective in dealing with problem car dealers .

I guess ,as you say ,you would have to put a time limited ultimatum to vw ,then decide how much further you want to pursue the issue .My guess is they will want to negotiate a much lower figure than a full refund .

Regards

Tony g


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Wed 2 May 2012 10:08
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - stugolf

Thanks for the advice Tony

I’m pursuing that with VW now

On a side note I believe that the previous owner may have had the same problem with the car, sold it back to the dealer who then sold it to me, if the car had a fault and I wasn’t informed, is that illegal?

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Wed 2 May 2012 17:11
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - tony g
( if the car had a fault and I wasn’t informed, is that illegal?)

Hi stu ,it's an interesting point .I believe that under the sale of goods act a dealer is obliged to disclose anything that's material to the contract between them and a private buyer .

So if they did know ,and didn't disclose that the car had a serious fault ,they would be in breach of SOGA ,

A good example of how disclosure works now compared to previously ,is that a dealer didn't have to disclose that a car had been written off ,unless a customer spefically asked that question .Today a dealer must tell a customer that the car is a write off for a contract to be valid .

Perhaps the previous owner will confirm the problem was present ,in addition vw customer services will usually give a list of all warranty claims on a car ,but only to a current owner .

Regards

Tony g
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Sat 5 May 2012 20:47
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - bonzo dog

( if the car had a fault and I wasn’t informed, is that illegal?)

Hi stu ,it's an interesting point .I believe that under the sale of goods act a dealer is obliged to disclose anything that's material to the contract between them and a private buyer .

So if they did know ,and didn't disclose that the car had a serious fault ,they would be in breach of SOGA

I'm not aware that faults have to be disclosed, otherwise a dealer would have to point out every stone-chip, the degree of tyre wear & petrol & oil consumption that varied negatively from the norm.

In the case of a serious (ie potential accident causing) defect, this would need to be put right, not simply pointed out. But I'm not 100% sure of the law in this respect

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Fri 4 May 2012 06:38
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - Shabba0070

Hi Stuegolf,

I have a 2010 Seat Ibiza Cupra Bocanegra 1.4TSi ( AKA Polo GTi)

I first noticed excesive oil useage about 4k miles in and reported this to my local SEAT Dealership they booked the car in for investigation. They did a oil comsuption test which it failed.

They then booked it in for some more tests i camera into the engine i seem to remember took photos and sent them off to SEAT in Milton Keynes ( aka VW UK Head office) and gave me my car back while they heard back and told me to keep an eye on the oil useage.

By now it was using over 1L every 500miles ... Anyway about 2 weeks later SEAT advised the dealership to strip the engine down this they did and found no 3& 4 cylinder's badly scored and 3 pistons damaged... This on an engine that had done less that 8k

They sent the finding back down to MK who at first wanted to re-bore and fit new pistons and rings and a new head... However as you could imagine i was non too pleased at this so stood my ground and demanded a whole brand new replacement engine... They fought me for a day or too but then gave in and autorised the dealership to fit a engine.... This was ordered direct from Germany and fitted.

New engine fitted at 8,000miles and car has now done 21,000 and yes it does use a bit of oil but all moden VW engines do but no where near what it did before, 1L has lasted me at least 9,000miles

I was in my Local SEAT dealership only last week having a look around and got talking to the Service manager who i must say have been fantiasic all the way though my issus and he happend to say i was lucky to get a new engine as apprently VW / SEAT / AUDI have advised ALL DEALERSHIPS to only fit new pistons and a new head and to give FREE OIL to any owner with this issue.

Don't forget Ibiza Cupra , Skoda VRS , Polo GTi & Audi A1 are all the same car.

Hope this helps

Chris

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Fri 4 May 2012 14:59
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - stugolf

Thanks for information Chris

Very interesting and disappointing at the same time, just seems I’m stuck with mine at the moment with no sign of a resolution soon, I feel VW Finance are fobbing me off, each time I ring there looking into my claim etc etc but ever actually get back to me, I always have to call them

Vw Customer Care keep stating a resolution is on its way but have no timescales yet

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Fri 4 May 2012 19:12
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - Shabba0070

Have you by chance spoken to another dealership ?

Not sure were you are located but as your more than aware some dealers are better than others.

I live near barnsley and our local VW dealership is very good have bought a number of cars from them over the years and there customer service has been outstanding

Chris

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Fri 4 May 2012 18:49
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - big7
Contact Consumer direct for sound advice
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Sat 5 May 2012 08:49
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - thunderbird

Beware of consumer direct, their advice can be very patchy. If you are lucky you will get an adviser who gives good advice, other times its total nonsense.

When I enquired about returning an SDS drill that became faulty under warranty (the well known DIY chain the sold it to refused to honour the warranty) I was told by the consumer direct adviser that she had never heard of the sale of goods act. After taking to her boss she said it did not apply to DIY stores. I knew this was total b******s thus I went back to store and demanded to see the manager, he apologised and arranged an immediate return, it was repaired and is still working perfectly, said he would be speaking to the assistant I saw originally.

The girl on the returns desk appeared on the desk at the local sports centre a few weeks later, he had obviously spoken to her and said goodbye.

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Sat 5 May 2012 14:12
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - stugolf
Managed to speak to the previous owner today, he has confirmed that he gave the car back because of oil consumption

Must be some weight to this as they sold it to me knowing it had a adult as I have the service history

Misadvertising springs to mind
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Sat 5 May 2012 20:50
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - tony g
Hi stu,
I'm not sure that misadvertising is the issue ,unfair contract is the most likely .
If you can prove that the dealer had prior knowledge of the problem ,possibly because of warranty claims and complaints .

You could have the contract set aside and recover what you paid for the car .






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Sat 5 May 2012 21:00
VW Polo Gti 2010 - Rejecting my car, liability admitted - stugolf
Again thanks Tony

Do you think, on this basis, it's foreseeable to claim a full refund?

I can prove the rejection from the previous owner and he is willing to be a witness on why he rejected it plus has sent me some email confirmation on rejecting the car before I bought it
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