SteveArmy90

The first fault happened 9km after purchase. The ECU was completely clean of faults before the purchase km's and there were two or three faults happening. They all happened on the 600km trip home. Bit of a freak thing to have all of them suddenly happen at once just after purchase.. I've calmly asked for my money back multiple times, they refused. From then, the process of repair took three weeks. I was nothing but co-operative and professional to them. All that I have done is sit back, take notes and accept everything they say. I've then passed it all onto my lawyer. I took the car home and my Lawyer sent his letter on the first day that the car could have possibly been fixed. That day was last Tuesday. They lied to me about changing the repair to a significantly cheaper one once they had to pay for it, they tried to whisk the car away to auckland, and the service manager lied over the phone to me on multiple occasions. I had evidence to the contrary of what he was telling me in my hand in one of the calls. I never accused him of lying even then. Even after hearing all of this, the Director used his first email contact with me to accuse me of being extremely uncooperative, with not being happy with the repair and therefore holding the process up substantially. He stood by his lying staff and, in the most professional language, used his email to blame the fiasco on me and deny any responsibility to the laws on the front page of his sales agreement! In light of the above, I think it's actually quite appropriate to question their pre-sale practises. You'll see how I worded it when I post it all at the end. It's in no way worded to provoke a reaction. I'm the first to admit my faults but I actually can't think of a way that I could have done this better. Edits are for readability.

Good on you. Specify it early like you did and keep a record of you saying it somewhere. I've got a 5 page long document now of times and dates and statements from people. Even if my statement quoting someone isn't legally significant, a massive document like this could make them look really bad in front of the tribunal. I'm glad this thread could be of some use!

He was pissed off because my lawyer mentioned selling a faulty car that isn't advertised as faulty under the fair trading act. The word "knowingly" wasn't used in my lawyers email. I did however say in my big email that the faults could have easily been cleared so that the warranty would pay for fixing the fault when it happened in my hands. I haven't received a reply to that comment yet. Think about it though, the dealer could easily identify a problem, clear codes, sell me a warranty, then when the problem reoccurs in my hands the warranty has to wear it and the dealer just pays the excess. Just as @Spudooli mentioned. I think that's insurance fraud to the max. I have no idea how he's going to react

Lawyer sent his email giving the dealer a deadline of 21 September to give me a full refund or it'll end up in MVDT or "Common law" <-- I'm assuming that's court. The director of the company that spans the two dealerships replied and, with a brief message, basically said get f**ked. He believes that two injectors is a minor issue and that they shouldn't have to fork out for a proper repair of a full set. He said that the idea of selling a car with wiped codes and a pre-existing problem is absurd and therefore the fair trading act doesn't apply to them... He linked the AA report as well. He then spewed all of the usual bull about dealerships standing by customers and they stand behind their vehicle 100%. My lawyer told me I could email them back and make a compromise if I like, but be careful not to screw it up. I did so, and told the director that the fact that two injectors is a minor repair in terms of time spent doesn't mean that it's a minor issue. I told them the AA is a visual mechanical inspection and doesn't look at the computer as far as I'm aware. I've had my car all of one day and even that day wasn't trouble free. The dealership lied to me about what was going on, tried to claim against my warranty and failed, and tried to cover up that they changed the repair. They then tried to cheap out on me as much as they could and pull the car out of my sight to do so. That whole fiasco took more than three weeks. I said that clearly doesn't speak to it being a minor issue and the point of a car is to drive it. The fact that I couldn't drive my car that from day two is the definition of it being not fit for purpose and i'm not interested in keeping it. I proposed a compromise. I proposed that I would accept that fix. I said that the terms of this would be that he guarantees the car against any further issues, injectors or otherwise, that affect its usefulness, for the next 30,000km. If there is an issue, he is to without question give me a full refund of the purchase price and finance exit fees. I told him that as he clearly stands by the conduct of his staff and believes with them that two injectors is an appropriate repair, I'm sure he would jump at the opportunity to prove that they have sold me a quality vehicle. I was careful to specify at the end that It's a good-will agreement and that I in no way waive my rights under any consumer law that applies to the purchase. Now, I don't know what kind of freaking Git would accept someone putting more km's and wear on the car, only to risk having to refund it later. I don't think that they'll even think about accepting that, but It should hopefully put a stop to their pride bulls**t. That's what it's intended for. They either stand by their hard line stance that the car's amazing and two injectors is enough, or they don't. If they do accept it, I'd just about take it as a win as it would be peace of mind either way. Hopefully it's enough for him to just say screw you here's your refund. I'm very ready to take them to the cleaners if they say no. Even if I don't win, it'll be a good shake up for them because it's not good enough. I can't believe that even the director of this company is willing to listen to how his staff have acted, and deny someone a refund for what must be a meager loss in terms of a dealership's daily revenue. He must not care much about his companies name...

My Lawyer is Skiing at the moment.. Haha. It should all still unravel this week. I have a really good Document as mentioned above which is just dates and factual bullet points with anything emotive removed. No matter what, I'll post it and the Dealership in question.

The workshop manager at the dealer called and gave me the "good news" that they decided to fix my car. They don't know that I know everything about what's going on. I asked what changed between the quote they rejected and the new one. They explained they got a dealer rate, whereas before they were being charged retail. I then specifically asked them if the work being done is the same and he said "absolutely, 100%". Of course, the quote changed from replacing 6 injectors to 2. So now the workshop has blatantly lied to me. The lawyer has an awesome letter primed to send tomorrow. Hopefully that solves it.

Thanks! It's increasingly looking like it'll end up settled in a courtroom or the MVDT. I'll include their intent to screw the warranty as a part of it.

If they know that's its a pre existing fault then it definitely is insurance fraud, true. Would your view of them including the warranty just to cover themselves be that its insurance fraud?

I'm in the fortunate position that we have a few cars in the family. I'm just driving one of those (yay, triton). ^ Exactly to both. I paid for the warranty and don't get penalized by claiming on it. There is a ceiling on the cost of a claim, but no claim limit with it. I understand and agree that, by principle, the warranty shouldn't have to pay for it and the dealer should front up, but if it means a fix then I'm not that fussed on how it happens. I've talked to my lawyer and made a massive summary document of dates and what happened/what was said. I will also release that once the situation is all done and dusted. I am expecting my lawyer's advice today. The mechanic that it's at apparently got a huge earful from the dealer and were told not to talk with me or share any information with me about what's wrong with the car! Yikes. EDIT: They are, of course, sharing info with me anyway because i'm the freaking customer.

Thanks guys. I'm planning on letting you know who they are once it all ends. That gives them a chance to paint themselves in a good light going forward, however unlikely that looks at the moment.

They claim that the quote from my mechanic in the Wairarapa is too expensive. They, get this, want to transport it to Auckland (from wellington), "fix it", then return it to me. I don't think so. I don't what the hell they're planning if transporting the car that far is cheaper. They've only taken this stance since the warranty refused to pay out. I've sent them a strongly worded email telling them to honor their agreement with me (in which they specified the mechanic they'd be using) , or refund me. I've also made an appointment with my Lawyer on Tuesday so we can go over the legislation and decide what to do. Edit: forgot to say something.

To add, I got a post purchase full inspection at my cost before accepting any repairs.

AA inspection was available but I didn't purchase.

2x injectors as far as I can tell. Unfortunately both in the same bank but the workshop is pushing for full replacement. The dealer was on board with that but I think that will change now that the dealer will have to front up. Like I say, I haven't heard from them. @M3AN, tell me about it mate. The guy from the dealer said that he has the right to remedy it first. I've been that flat out that I haven't had time to look at the legislation to see if that's correct yet.

The workshop called today and informed me that the warranty refused to cover cost as some of the fault codes were logged before I bought it, making it a pre-existing fault. Haven't yet heard from the dealer.

I agree with you. I've only just realized there were two pages and have missed some of the comments. Yes I did my research about the Motor. I respect and appreciate that they are just simple maintenance items and that they will have needed to be replaced at some point. Buying a 50,000km car and having it crap out on you the day after it left the lot does give you cold feet, and that, I guess, is why I pushed so hard to return it. I do realise that having it happen now is a win for me in terms of the dealer fixing it all. The mechanic at the workshop is really switched on and gives me confidence. Getting it in writing from the dealer that they will take it back is enough for me at the moment. Two weeks owning it and driving it three times isn't the best feeling! We'll see what happens at the other side of this repair

I got it in writing from the dealer that if they fix it this time and it causes more trouble, they will refund me the money and take the car back. That's the compromise we ended up reaching. So after limping to Masterton, the car is in the workshop. I received a phone call from the friendly folks at Autosure just before. They want all documentation that I received from the mechanic. They think it was a pre-existing problem. I'll send them the PDF above. Could be quite a fight haha. As for 1000km being too far to be covered by a guarantee - 1000km is pretty achievable by 2 days of driving. I can drive 600km in my 90km/hr Kenworth in my 14hr timeslot easily. It would be pretty nasty to have a guarantee that barely got me home! ?

Wow, that was a read!

Thank you so much for those links. I have read from that site but not those exact pages, that's really helpful. I do want to negotiate with them but I'm afraid that it will end up with more problems down the line. I would rather refund it and walk away. They have already offered to fix this and if another problem happens, they will take the car back. I wanted to accept this and asked him for a time frame (EG another problem within how long? A week, A month, Three months?) and he refused to give me one. Based on that I declined. We'll see. Thank you again for the well wishes. If I get rid of this, I will definitely be getting another BMW.

@Olaf, I had a question about CGA if that's alright. I'll update you all first As a recap, I had contacted the dealer earlier in the week about the hard-starting problem. The vehicle had not coded. The dealer had organised an appointment with a mechanic to diagnose. I had that appointment today. I paid the mechanic to also do a thorough inspection of the vehicle separately. The inspection was clear. He checked the wastegates for noise and the boost readings on some back roads. Along with other visual inspections, All was clear. Now to the dealer side of things. With regard to hard starting, the car had logged codes but, in the mechanic's words, "not enough for the car to know which cylinder the problem is in, so it just silently logged a fault without a light". You can find a PDF containing the printout that he gave me attached. He resolved to tell the dealer that the car needed new injectors as the fault codes indicated. On the way home, The car threw a massive fit. I went to overtake a car and it cut power. Since that moment, If you apply more than 1/4 throttle in any situation, it does one of the two following things; It cuts at least 2 cylinders out and throws a CEL, OR it puts the big "half engine power" symbol up, and runs smoothly but with reduced power. I finally got an OBD scanner to work and found the following codes: It was at that point that I got cold feet about the car. I rang the dealer and said that I want to return it. Making a long story short, they want to repair the car. I told them that even if they repair it, I want my money back as it is faulty and I don't trust it any more. I explained that I have only done about 1000km (trip home from auckland and two or 3 60km trips), and that if I am going to return it, it will be now. They then switched from "we will fix it" to, "we won't give you a refund". I have told them nicely that I have the right to a refund and that I don't want the car any more. The dealer said that his manager would be in touch tomorrow. I'm currently trawling through the CGA looking to see if they have the right to refuse a refund. I want to be nice, not nasty, and I don't want to be difficult. I just know what I want and am going to push that way as much as I can. Do you have any suggestions on how to navigate this? IMG.pdf

Thank you for the tags @TermiPeteNZ, I will try to get there this Saturday and will definitely come to the Palliser run. That's a great idea to get it checked independently. The place that's checking my current problems in masterton (this thread) is quite good. I might get them to do just that while they have it. As for the NAV, I asked for them not to do it and I pushed that point with them. I ended up paying half as a compromise.

It's booked in at Masterton on Thursday - time will tell. Without a fault code (unless it silently logged one?), I'm imagining they will just check continuity of coils and maybe test injectors/change plugs maybe. I'm not them, though! It ran sweet as today. Would it throw a light for limp mode, though? It was exactly that scenario. I had been driving a back road with the paddleshift, reasonably lazily, just using the torque. The engine would have definitely been busier than normal but nothing huge. It was 5 min into town after that at the T intersection that it did it. I can't even get my OBD reader to work with it so I'll just have to leave it to the mechanics and wait and see!

? Perfect. Yes, the car came with a 3 year autosure warranty. I'm ringing them today asking for the policy as I only got an A4 piece of paper briefly explaining it.

Thank you for your insight M3an. I send them emails about things and they like to ring me back. I'll make sure to get it in writing, even if I have to directly ask them. I hope it's a quick fix, too! I really appreciate all of your answers.

Here is a youtube Video, hope that Works!. Thank you, that looks like really good advice. At this point I will stick with it. Not for love of the car as much as benefit of the doubt that it's bad luck. I traded my old car, paid a larger deposit to get the difference in equity balanced and some extra to take the repayments down. It's quite a complicated setup and i'm not sure how easy reversing it all is - Do I get my old car back? Do i keep the loan and get another car of equivalent value? etc etc. If I'm still having massive issues affecting it's drivability in a few weeks, I will definitely follow your suggested avenues. Definitely. I understand that. I knew that they had issues, and went into it thinking that something will happen somewhere along the line. I was just surprised that it was this early in KM's, though I suppose 10 years has passed so time could take its toll. I'm definitely not considering it a lemon. At this point I'm happy fixing it, and the point of the post was to show my process in what happened with the car and how the dealer handled it, in hopes of other people's reference in the future. I'll post what happened. As stated above, the dealer contacted me and wants to fix it. He's arranging it so I take it that it'll be on their dime. All is well!!!!