My son bought a car from a garage in Ipswich (Strattons) liked what he saw, had a quick driver etc, and bought it, it was a BIG jump up from his Vectra (to a TT) Car had a service/MOT and cambelt change and all was well.

had to take it back after acouple of weeks, due to Engine Management light on, Garge did a quick look, could see no obvious fault and reset, all fine for a few weeks, came on again, back to garage, reset, and a new sensor ordered, as it kept saying 'camshaft fault' or similar, nothing was heard for weeks, and after a few weeks he gave up 'chasing'

It came up again a few trimes, but he had baought a reset tool, and based on the garages statement simply reset, rather then keep driving over to Ipswich.

He took it to the TT shop in Bedford for some cosmetic work, they noticed the light on, and did a test, it still said Cam prob, they had quick look, and found the belt had been replaced in the wrong position, this annew one was fitted together with the tensioner, and also the water pump was about to fail, 3 weeks later the steering rack failed, but that is another story!

We hav been back to the Garage who deny all wrong doing with the fault light, (and the rack ) and that my son should have taken it back....... he did !

They now say that the TT shop were simply saying it was a cambelt fault, and it's nothing to do with Strattons.

Although it's weird the light has not come back since the work was 'rectfied'

The original garage is not willing to pay anything towards the costs, he was only asking for a contribution!

With regards to the steerring rack, the garage said it was 100% when they sold it, and it must have failed in the 4000 miles since

where do w e stand pleas eanyone ??

swills:

where do w e stand pleas eanyone ??

Your son should have got the AA or RAC to provide an independent report when the problems occured and then asked Stratton to rectify or refund money paid for car and report.

Now I presume he has had the work done elsewhere and is looking to claim some money back. He will find this difficult as I believe the consumer laws that apply are a bit weak regarding used cars.

I can only suggest that your son contacts Consumer Direct for advice about whether he has any likelyhood of being able to use consumer protection laws. See http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/before_you_buy/thinking_about/cars/dealer

The alternative is to ask any professional body that Strattons are a member of to look into the complaint. See the RMIF site http://www.rmif.co.uk/consumers.aspx?id=0.

Also your son could look into taking Strattons to the small claims court. See http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_rights/legal_system/small_claims.htm

I have a feeling this may be a long process, so your son should prepare himself for a struggle.

Huckster

Thanks for the reply 'huckster' I just wondered how we stood, seems Strattons do not stand by their work or admit errors!

I was just hoping that we could make the Garage say, yes we made an error there, and say offer a couple of hundered quid towards the £800 all told that was paid out!

Not sure I can see him going via the Courts though, he may just write it off, and tell people not to buy from them, when they ask where he got he car from !