Bloody dealers - one month ago i bought a lovely 2.0 Sport from a Honda main dealer. The car had come into them with a misfire. Whilst they were finding the fault the owner decided to buy a new Honda. I bought the MX-5 after they had fixed the fault (a duff spark plug!).
Within a week i had an engine management light come on, so back to the dealers to be told it was because the mixture is too rich after the cat. Told to take it away, drive it for a week and if it comes back on to book the car back in. Needless to say it came back on.
Took the car back, the mechanic diagnosed a faulty cat due to the original misfire allowing unburnt fuel into the exhaust. A few of the mechanics had all agreed it definitely doesnt smell right. They would order a new cat and be in touch when it arrived within a few days. Its maybe worth noting that their mechanics are Mazda trained and they also service Mazda’s and add any services they do to the Mazda database.
Two weeks passed and they havent been in touch so i rang them yesterday. The manager rang me back and then explained that my 3 month warranty doesnt cover the cat! (No wonder they didnt rang me back!) I told him i wasnt impressed as the fault with the cat is due to the original misfire and they only sold me the car on the condition that they could fix the original fault. He agreed and wants the car in for 3 days so they can remove and deep clean the cat (wtf?!). If that doesnt work then he says he’ll be onto the car sales manager for the money for a new cat.
What you think? Do i have any rights other than to sit back and let them try bodging it??
Have a look at the ‘Honest John’ website. There is a lot of information about this type of problem. Off the top of my head I think that if a fault develops within six months then it is deemed to have been present when the car was purchased. But check at www.honestjohn.co.uk
They sold it agreeing to fix the fault. How they do that is up to them, and best left to them as it may or may not be the cat anyway, so no need for you to insist on any particular part, just that it’s fixed
Actually it is far more generous than that…but also far more vague. It must last a ‘reasonable time’ according to a ‘reasonable person’. For a car, this is far longer than a few weeks or months and indeed judges have backed people years after the sale.
In the end, just mention sale of goods act and they will probably give up.
Cheers guys - i personally think they are trying to get by and hope i’ll not be back when it goes into fault again, but as pointed out it needs to be fit for purpose, i didnt buy a car with only 7,000 miles on it to have bodges done on it.
I will ring them Monday and mention the sales of good act and the fact the car needs to be fit for purpose, a cat should be servicable for tens of thousands of miles.
Yes indeed…and don’t get fobbed off. The length of any warranty is utterly irrelevant to the sale of goods, regardless of what length it was, it was additional to your rights under the act, not instead of.
Just as some others have said above, the Sale of Goods Act says that any item must be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. With a car, age and mileage are taken into account. The Honda dealer would have to prove that the fault was NOT present at time of purchase for them to wriggle out of any responsibility regardless of what the warranty covers.
As the fault was in fact present, you have a fairly watertight case if it comes to it. However, I think to protect their reputation, the dealer will fit a new cat for you. If not, then it’s a small claims court claim, costs about £300, can be done online, and it’s very likely you would win. Good luck for next week.
I own a garage and they are fobbing you off in the hope you will go away. We sell used cars and any fault in the first month we fix off our own back never mind what extended warranty you have. We are also in a " Motor Trade Partnership" with trading standards and follow a strict code of condutct. You are well within your right’s to have the car repaired at no cost to you. Be firm but polite and do give them the oppertunity to carry out the repair, it might not be as simple as swapping a cat. I’m Sure in the end they will fix it for you, as they will be well aware of their obligation’s under the law.
Just spoken to the dealers - they plan to remove the cat and soak it in some caustic substance for 24hrs, then refit and go from there.
I explained my concerns re: fit for purpose and it having to be of satisfactory quality and they agree completely, however the service department are saying their hands are tied a.t.m. and have to follow the most cost worthy route as its not their money that they are spending.
If this does not work then i have been told not to worry as they will most definitley be speaking to the sales manager for him to put his hand in his pocket.
I am logging all the events as i’ve been here in the past and its easy to lose track of what and when things happen. I am presuming that its the first cat which is part of the manifold and so that isnt going to be a cheap replacement!
Thanks to everyone who has advised me so far, it really is appreciated!
Are they not all part of the same dealership sales/service seems a bit strange. I would be demanding to speak to the princible Director of that group before they start messing around anymore. I think they are taking the ‘puss’.
The Sales and Service departments will have different budgets and cost centres, and I understand it is not unusual for these internal squabbles to happen. However, that’s not the owner’s concern, who just wants his car put right!
Sounds like they are committed to putting it right though.
I think they are commited to putting it right - they have been chasing for a francise from Mazda, who stopped short and gave them Mazda servicing rights, and so i dont think they need any bad publicity. They are a big player in Honda’s from what i can make out,with serveral locations.
My main concern is damage to the car whilst with them, i’ll be leaving them some gaffer tape so they can tape up the paint work under the bonnet before removing the manifold. Last thing i need is them rattling it around and scratching everything under there.
And of course theres the longevity of the fix, typically i was due for a week long tour of Europe at the end of the month but have cancelled that to attend the TT races instead. Would have been a nice little test that one.
Having worked in a dealership, I can confirm the above. The sales department will have to pay for it, the cost will come out of the profit on the sale of the car, and the salesman’s commission or bonus. So, however much the service department wants to help, the sales department is their customer, and they call the shots. If it isn’t resolved, you need to speak to the dealer principal, who should be unbiased, although most originate from the sales side and can lean a bit in favour of the sales department. I wouldn’t approach Trading Standards until you’ve given the dealer a fair chance to sort it, it isn’t fair. Should you need to take it further, it would be Honda you need to speak to, not Mazda, as they operate a Honda franchise, and Honda would be the company the dealer needs to impress!
