Vauxhall Mokka - 5 months of problems, VX being unhelpful.

[TIG ACM]

My sister is having some problems with a new car she brought nearly a year ago and I need some advice on where to take this now. Its a long read but I have tried to make it as informative and brief as possible.

My sister brought a new Vauxhall Mokka mid last year, 1.7cdti auto diesel.

The car was fine for approx. 5 months and then the gearbox started playing up juddering when pulling away, not changing down gears when slowing, VX had it in and ended up replacing the gearbox (took them 8 weeks).
The car was returned to my sister and was still not right, so went back in the day after.

Since it was returned, 6th Jan, it has been in and out of the garage. Vauxhall dealer refuse to say their is a problem, the field tech from vauxhall said there was nothing wrong with the car, one of the mechanics on a test drive admitted there was a intermittent fault but not denies there is a issue.

We have got the GoPro on the car to record the problem and VX said the video evidence means nothing at all.

Vauxhall have now offered to exchange the car for another one. However what they are offering is very poor. My sisters Mokka is a Exclusive, Auto diesel with options. They have offered a base model second hand Mokka, petrol manual with no options and more importantly no life time warranty that the original car had. The offer is for them to swap the car for a equal model, but they want £3000 to do this.

We have tried to reject the car as not fit for purpose but too much time has passed for VX to accept this.
We have also tried speak to motorcode who haven't been incredibly helpful.

Chased VX head office yesterday and their response is that they are not going to do anything. The dealer has made an offer and VX are happy with that and have closed the case from their end.
Currently trying to get through to GMAC but am not hopeful of any sort of help.

I have also spoken at length to the citizens advice bureau who were extremely helpful in outlining the legal points. I need to speak to them again on Monday for a little more info before I start sending some letters out

So I am stuck on where to go with this, we are left with a car that is dangerous. It bunny hops like a learner driver when pulling away and when braking as it doesn't change down gears you end up two feet on the brake pedal hoping it will stop. The problem is intermittent, but usually happens when he car is cold on cold days.


Any advice or help would be great!

Edited by TIG ACM on Saturday 29th March 13:07

[TIG ACM]

rigga said:

You mention GMAC so assume you purchased on finance? This is the route you must go down

GMAC are very slow and have put it on hold until the exchange has been sorted.

Vladimir said:

We have a database of all press contacts. Happy to provide if needed.

This would be brilliant. I don't think we are quite at this stage yet but are very close. I would rather exhaust the legal route first as wouldn't want something damaging any potential case.

We are trying to get it taken to vx tech centre at the moment. As this was something vx had previously offered prior to the exchange being offered.

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rigga said:

Once you exchange you are stuffed as you have accepted vauxhalls terms and conditions, the last thing you should do.
If car is on finance then glad are the only people who can leaverage vauxhall into making concessions, although as you are probably aware they are part of vauxhall I believe.

I understand once the exchange has taken place hen effectively we have excepted their solution and it's a end to encase.
I meant we are pushing vx and motor bodies for a better solution so we haven't quite given up on coming to a agreement although it is looking highly unlikely. I am working on getting a letter from them stating they are willing to exchange as I am told this is valuable as they are admitting the car is not of satisfactory quality by exchanging he vehicle unless hey state otherwise in their letter

The finance company are owned by GM as is VX so it' is heavily biased in my opinion.

[TIG ACM]

Crafty_ said:

There are a couple of things here that I'm not sure of.

What exactly does "the car is still not right" mean ?
What exactly is the problem ?
Does it happen all the time ?
Why did it have to be videoed, why can't it be demonstrated to a tech ?


Believe it or not manufacturers and dealers don't go around trying to ps off customers intentionally.

The car still doesn't change down gears when braking, and bunny hops when pulling away.
It is intermittent usually happens when the car is cold and the temperature outside is cold. For example Monday evening the car was horrific to drive.

It was videoed as it is not as bad when vx have taken it out and I think they don't believe there is an issue, which if I am honest I can understand. The video enabled us to show that the car did play up.

[TIG ACM]

skelters said:

Get a wrap done for the car with the problems printed on the wrap.

Park it outside the dealers and after that then take it to here...

VAUXHALL HEAD OFFICE
Griffin House, Osborne Rd
Luton, Beds LU1 3YT

http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/about-vauxhall/about-us/...

Park it outside the main entrance.

Video their responses too!

If anything it'll be a laugh.

This is a option I would love to do. Griffin house is 5 minutes from my house and I have a vinyl cutting machine and plent of vinyl. So sign writing the car is definitely a option.

[TIG ACM]

Crafty_ said:

Ok, so you have an intermittent problem that the dealer has not observed, at least not to the fullest extent. I'd suggest finding a good dealer and ask them to look at the fault, possibly leaving the car with them overnight so they can try it on a cool, damp morning?

Of course, as with all manufacturers a good dealer isn't always easy to find, but they are out there..

I will see if I can find out anything about it.

BTW: The reason that I asked what the problem was is that sometimes expectation of what should/shouldn't happen isn't always correct.
A friend has a great example of this, a customer complained that their door lock was broken and it had caused they key to snap off in the lock.
It turned out that on his last car the key would turn 90 degrees to engage the deadlocks. His new car didn't, he wasn't aware of this and expected it to work the same way, so he manhandled the key trying to turn it through 90 degrees, eventually the key gave way and broke in the lock.
No fault, no problem with the vehicle, just an incorrect expectation.

Not saying its the case here but the aforementioned friend now always finds out the details of a problem before looking for a fault!

I completely understand. I will try and get the video uploaded, if you don't know what to look for in the video it doesn't seem that severe as it's difficult to capture. The hanging magic tree gives away the jolting and the revs when braking only go down not back up when it changes down a gear.

I am in the process of trying to get an independent garage to look at the vehicle and arrange a convenient time as my sister does always need a car.

Thank you everyone for your help.

[TIG ACM]

I didnt really have a problem with VX until now. Between my sister and I we have had 13 cars in the past 9 years from the same dealership and sales person and any problems have been sorted without argument.

A employee discount was the main reason for the repeat business.

[TIG ACM]

Spoken to my sister at length tonight about the swap of vehicles. Apparently motorbodies are intending on selling my sisters car after they swap it with one on their forcourt.

[TIG ACM]

lord trumpton said:

OP - it seems (with respect) you are being a bit of a pushover from the post you have made

VX said no...VX said this, VX said that etc. They have a legal responsibility to provide a fault free car and if they cannot do that then its their problem not yours.

Contact a solicitor and get them to take over - you will have a new car in no time.

2 things

1 - It's 'bought' not 'brought'

2 - Is she fit? Any pics of sis - cheeky ones preferred

Cheers

If I am honest I haven't been massively involved in getting this sorted until now.

The problem is getting VX to admit there is an issue and I can believe that when they drive the car it may well drive ok. One of their techs has been in the car with the issue and admitted it was a intermittent problem when out on a test drive in the car with my dad. When they got back to the dealership the same tech denied there was an issue.

The solicitor seems the best option to me as I work 45 miles away from home and am always at work when the dealership is open, with the exception of the weekend when no managers seem to work.

Spelling isn't my strong point. I draw pictures for a living, but I will do my best

[TIG ACM]

Trevelyan said:

Is the dealer in question Motorbodies by any chance? If so then I imagine they're a large part of the problem. They're the most unhelpful dealer I've ever crossed paths with, and I know many people who've used them who feel the same.

Might be worth trying another dealer, I've bought several cars and get my servicing done through Billingtons in Flitwick despite driving past Motorbodies to get there and have always found them to be helpful. I wouldn't go anywhere else these days.

Yes it is Motorbodies opposite IBC.

Their service is terrible. When I have had issues with my car however I have always managed to get them sorted quickly.

Having said that I had a sticky rear calliper that screeched on the motorway,they took the car in and could find no issue. The problem continued so took it into Bristol Street Motors in Northants and they diagnosed the issue and fixed it, also topping my oil up as it showed up as low on their inspection (Motorbodies didnt spot this)

[TIG ACM]

Simond S said:

How did you finance it?
Are you or your sister an employee of Vauxhall?

If you are convinced that you are in the right then get an independent engineers report done, pass it to VX to respond to and give them 30 days before you ask a judge to make a decision. The car isn't too old to be rejected (the record being a AM Vanquish for having a distorted rear window iirc).

I would enjoy reading the letters from VX (or the dealership?) to ascertain exactly what they have agreed, admitted or avoided. I am pretty sure that after you have paid for an expert to ascertain a problem then VX would do the same with their in house tech team, ad at that point you can start to negotiate with somebody with the power to make an offer.

There is a similar Network Q car for £17500, 63 plate, so imo your best option would be to try and get them to accept your car back, replace it with a NQ car and allow the finance to be flipped to the new car on the same terms. I have made assumptions to get to this but if your sister paid cash the outcome would be the same, although I cannot imagine anyone pays cash for a VX anymore.

It is finance, VX so far have done everything verbally, this is why I am trying to get them to send letters to drop themselves in it so to speak. Having spoken to Citizens Advice the case for getting a full refund is quite strong. She doesn't want another Mokka and has been looking at alternatives from other manufacturers so a replacement is not what we want. If it is replaced I would imagine it will get sold and replaced with something else.

Wacky Racer said:

Just to show the other side of the coin, since 2009 we have bought new:-

Two Insignias

One Astra VXR

One Zafira.

All have been absolutely faultless, not so much as a squeak on the dashboard....

Dealers first class and extremely helpful.

I have had issues on every single vauxhall I have bought, but given the hefty discount and the fact they were all sorted I didnt have much of an issue buying one.

Corsa 1.4 SE - blower mechanism died after 3 weeks,
Corsa 1.7 Cdti - Rear bearings, door strikers (creaking when going over bumps)
Corsa VXR - Rear bearings, vacuum cannister, ECU (before I collected the car), several limp mode issues in the first month
Corsa 1.7 Cdti - Rear bearings, new front brakes MS and pipes, Gearbox (58k miles)

All sorted under warranty with only the gearbox being a bit of an argue, I think they were trying to get it to roll over its 60k warranty.

[TIG ACM]

oldaudi said:

There's a white one of these things parked in cul-de-sac. Not moved for about 3 weeks, got massive black bumpers all over it. Is it this one?

Edited by oldaudi on Monday 31st March 18:35

No its blue. It is now sat at home.
VX have fully washed their hands of it.
Motorbodies now wont do anything.
GMAC are arranging a independent inspection.

[TIG ACM]

longshot said:

Any update on the inspection?
Did you manage to upload the vid?

GMAC have arranged a independent inspection, although the inspector wants to rent a bay at Motorbodies Luton. I have suggested we refuse that location as it is hardly fully independent. All it would take is one of the guys to mention something to the inspector and decision could be potentially swayed. I am hoping the inspector would be professional enough to take no notice, but its a risk I am not willing to take.


Video is on my sisters laptop. I just need to be in at the same time to get the file and I'll upload it.

Following advice from Citizens Advice a letter has also now been sent by post to GMAC formally requesting either a full refund or a like for like replacement, due to their inability to fix the problem. I am told that GMAC are ultimately responsible as the finance is a Conditional Sale and Loan, which means they own the car.

For anyone else having issues with cars that are financed it is important to ascertain your type of finance policy as it effects who is ultimately liable and the particular piece of legislation that you are claiming under.

[TIG ACM]

Little bit of an update:

GMAC have replied to the letter CAB advised us to send, with a rather generic letter saying they are working with VX to solve the issue.

GMAC have also been trying to organise a independent inspection at a independent location. After them apparently sorting it for two weeks and not getting anywhere, we phoned a garage arranged a date ourselves.

The AA has made its 18th visit this year and the AA tech crawled under it for a good half hour (first one to actually do this) and spotted unusual markings around the front of the engine, which he believed was signs of a boost leak. It went into Motorbodies for this and it was given to a junior tech who looked over the car and said there was nothing wrong. When he was questioned about the thoughts of the unusual markings it transpired he wasn't even told what the AA mechanic had said.

While the car was in it was plugged it and it showed it was overdue a DPF regen. Motorbodies tried to force a regen and the car would not do it. It appears it is 1600miles overdue a regen. The car has been given back to us to use and see if it regens on its own, but Motorbodies want it back in a week or so to investigate further as we have been verbally told they are not sure if or what damage this may have done to the engine or why it is not doing it.

And so the saga continues….

[TIG ACM]

Axeboy said:

Hope it all gets sorted.

Ive had a very similar experience with Jaguar where no matter what chance you give people, they always seem to mess it up. No common sense etc.

Fingers crossed this gets resolved as soon as possible but it still amazes me in this day and age that the big manufacturers let things get to this stage give the communities out there now.

It amazes me they have made it this difficult for themselves. Some of it comes down to blatant lies by employees of both VX and Motorbodies. I have heard through the grape vine that a motor bodies employee has been sacked because of issues with work carried out on this car.

I believe Vauxhall and Motorbodies don't actually know why its not working and the car has had so many hours of work done it must be unprofitable which is why they are so anti doing anything and by burying their head in the sand and being difficult the issue will go away.

We are in a slightly better situation as the car is now no longer in negative equity so we are toying with trading it in at another garage for something that isn't a vauxhall just to get shot of it.