Car Purchased - broken, warranty inadequate
Discussion
Hello everyone, some advice would be great.
2 weeks ago the company I work for purchased a used 2021 Volvo XC90 diesel from a small dealer, 86k miles, I think they paid approx £28k.
It was driven immediately to Poland, a journey of 1000 miles. 950 miles in it started to overheat, coolant low etc. It was left out there for diagnosis, went to a volvo dealer / specialist. they have said head gasket / cylinder head problem, needs tearing down, cost of between $4-8k US.
I assumed we should just get it delivered back to the UK (At our cost, probably £2-3K) and then let the warranty company deal. Having spoken to the warranty company not only is their labour rate capped at £60 / hr but the maximum warranty payout is £1500. This will obviously not cover the cost of the repair.
What would be the best course of action? Should we get it sent back and then let the warranty company / dealer go through the motions? I can't see how someone could but a used car for nearly £30k and get a few days out of it and be left in the lurch.
2 weeks ago the company I work for purchased a used 2021 Volvo XC90 diesel from a small dealer, 86k miles, I think they paid approx £28k.
It was driven immediately to Poland, a journey of 1000 miles. 950 miles in it started to overheat, coolant low etc. It was left out there for diagnosis, went to a volvo dealer / specialist. they have said head gasket / cylinder head problem, needs tearing down, cost of between $4-8k US.
I assumed we should just get it delivered back to the UK (At our cost, probably £2-3K) and then let the warranty company deal. Having spoken to the warranty company not only is their labour rate capped at £60 / hr but the maximum warranty payout is £1500. This will obviously not cover the cost of the repair.
What would be the best course of action? Should we get it sent back and then let the warranty company / dealer go through the motions? I can't see how someone could but a used car for nearly £30k and get a few days out of it and be left in the lurch.
It's nothing to do with any warranty they may have given you, the fault was present at the time of sale having broken so soon.
You need to get it back to the dealer and demand a refund, or repair, as it's not fit for purpose.
If not forthcoming, it'll be court action required.
Did the company take finance on the car at all? (hope so)
You need to get it back to the dealer and demand a refund, or repair, as it's not fit for purpose.
If not forthcoming, it'll be court action required.
Did the company take finance on the car at all? (hope so)
After purchasing a car a few years ago with a warranty I can honestly say, if my experience is anything to go by I would be looking into the cost of a replacement engine and just getting on with it locally or get it recovered & likely still expect to have to do the same.
The warranty I had had a maximum 1 hour/£50 to use for diagnosis & then a £50/hour cap on labour and maximum £1500 payout.
Obviously none of the above is ever going to do what you (and I) need it to do.
On top of that car garages do NOT want to deal with these companies as they are just so picky/hard to deal with.
With the issue on mine that was within warranty period it was an injector, it was diagnosed (which cost over £100) then they ummed/ahhed for so long that I had to get the car back from the garage whilst still not fixed for over a week before they told me they weren't covering it & the maximum payout for a (£350 injector) was just £50.
The warranty I had had a maximum 1 hour/£50 to use for diagnosis & then a £50/hour cap on labour and maximum £1500 payout.
Obviously none of the above is ever going to do what you (and I) need it to do.
On top of that car garages do NOT want to deal with these companies as they are just so picky/hard to deal with.
With the issue on mine that was within warranty period it was an injector, it was diagnosed (which cost over £100) then they ummed/ahhed for so long that I had to get the car back from the garage whilst still not fixed for over a week before they told me they weren't covering it & the maximum payout for a (£350 injector) was just £50.
Trevor555 said:
It's nothing to do with any warranty they may have given you, the fault was present at the time of sale having broken so soon.
You need to get it back to the dealer and demand a refund, or repair, as it's not fit for purpose.
If not forthcoming, it'll be court action required.
Did the company take finance on the car at all? (hope so)
Yes, this is the answer.You need to get it back to the dealer and demand a refund, or repair, as it's not fit for purpose.
If not forthcoming, it'll be court action required.
Did the company take finance on the car at all? (hope so)
It is not the dealers problem that it is now in Poland, but keep the dealer informed as to what you are going to do.
Bring the car back from Poland, unfortunately at your expense, and deliver it back to the dealer.
Boobonman said:
No finance on the car, I think we're going to have to try and reject it. Get it delivered back to the dealer from Poland I guess?
Yes, you'll have to get it back to England at least.Shame about not buying on finance, make sure the business takes finance on the next 28K used car purchase, it makes it so much easier to sort if things like this happen.
What has the dealer said so far?
If they're saying "claim on the warranty" tell them nothing to do with any warranty, the fault was obviously present at the time of purchase.
Boobonman said:
In what respect?
I'm on to another job so I'm only helping out as a courtesy, I assume we should go down the 30 day right to reject path with it? Does that just entail getting it delivered back to the supplying dealer and formally rejecting it with a letter or is there another way?
The 30 day right to reject is the CRA2015 which applies to consumers.I'm on to another job so I'm only helping out as a courtesy, I assume we should go down the 30 day right to reject path with it? Does that just entail getting it delivered back to the supplying dealer and formally rejecting it with a letter or is there another way?
As it's a business purchase you'll have to go with "not for for purpose"
Although I have known some business's claim they're consumers, as they're not in the motor trade. Perhaps an expert in law will be along soon to confirm.
Anyhow, either way, it's clearly not fit for purpose as it no longer works.
So to answer your question, yes. Get it back to the dealer and ask for a refund with a 14 days deadline.
Edited by Trevor555 on Friday 26th June 12:09
Magic919 said:
Be sure you note that a company buying a vehicle doesn t have the same rights as an individual.
Yes, the 30 right to reject doesn t apply - the C in CRA means Consumer. For a business it becomes a matter of contract.I would think a significant issue is going to be that car did 950 miles without a problem so it could be seen as not faulty at the point of delivery.
Do many people drive across Europe without any recovery package in place?
Edited by Sheepshanks on Friday 26th June 12:25
Trevor555 said:
Then the "not of satisfactory quality"
Or "Durable"
I didn't say it was insurmountable. Those are tremendously iffy terms though as there's nothing to say that an item shouldn't need repairing during its life. They really apply best if an item can't be repaired so is considered end-of-life.Or "Durable"
Sheepshanks said:
Trevor555 said:
Then the "not of satisfactory quality"
Or "Durable"
I didn't say it was insurmountable. Those are tremendously iffy terms though as there's nothing to say that an item shouldn't need repairing during its life. They really apply best if an item can't be repaired so is considered end-of-life.Or "Durable"
A £28,000 car that's failed within it's first journey upon leaving the dealership?
Pretty dumb to buy a high mileage car and drive it 950 miles without checking the coolant.
It's not outrageously rare for head gaskets to fail on cars over 80k miles, for sure it's much less common than it used to be, but it still happens.
However, there is always a possibility that the head gasket did not just fail in the old fashioned way, there may be some other root cause.
I would think the simplest and cheapest solution would be to get it fixed close to where it is?
People in mainland Europe do actually have mechanics etc!
It's a lot of company man hours faffing with it.
OTOH, bringing it home may be covered by breakdown insurance?
The last car I had which was diagnosed as 'head gasket failure' turned out to need a new cylinder block. The head gasket had indeed failed, but it was not the root cause.
Is there no Volvo warranty?
It's not outrageously rare for head gaskets to fail on cars over 80k miles, for sure it's much less common than it used to be, but it still happens.
However, there is always a possibility that the head gasket did not just fail in the old fashioned way, there may be some other root cause.
I would think the simplest and cheapest solution would be to get it fixed close to where it is?
People in mainland Europe do actually have mechanics etc!
It's a lot of company man hours faffing with it.
OTOH, bringing it home may be covered by breakdown insurance?
The last car I had which was diagnosed as 'head gasket failure' turned out to need a new cylinder block. The head gasket had indeed failed, but it was not the root cause.
Is there no Volvo warranty?
OutInTheShed said:
Pretty dumb to buy a high mileage car and drive it 950 miles without checking the coolant.
It had just been serviced, obviously all the levels were checked.
It's not outrageously rare for head gaskets to fail on cars over 80k miles, for sure it's much less common than it used to be, but it still happens.
However, there is always a possibility that the head gasket did not just fail in the old fashioned way, there may be some other root cause.
Don't really care what the root cause is, the car has dramatically failed on it's maiden voyage, a week after being bought for nearly £30k, it's not a sub £1k snotter.
I would think the simplest and cheapest solution would be to get it fixed close to where it is?
People in mainland Europe do actually have mechanics etc!
Polish Volvo have quoted $4k - $8k, possibly loads more if it is faulty cylinder head.
It's a lot of company man hours faffing with it.
OTOH, bringing it home may be covered by breakdown insurance?
The last car I had which was diagnosed as 'head gasket failure' turned out to need a new cylinder block. The head gasket had indeed failed, but it was not the root cause.
Is there no Volvo warranty?
It's 5yrs old and out of Manufacturers warranty.
It had just been serviced, obviously all the levels were checked.
It's not outrageously rare for head gaskets to fail on cars over 80k miles, for sure it's much less common than it used to be, but it still happens.
However, there is always a possibility that the head gasket did not just fail in the old fashioned way, there may be some other root cause.
Don't really care what the root cause is, the car has dramatically failed on it's maiden voyage, a week after being bought for nearly £30k, it's not a sub £1k snotter.
I would think the simplest and cheapest solution would be to get it fixed close to where it is?
People in mainland Europe do actually have mechanics etc!
Polish Volvo have quoted $4k - $8k, possibly loads more if it is faulty cylinder head.
It's a lot of company man hours faffing with it.
OTOH, bringing it home may be covered by breakdown insurance?
The last car I had which was diagnosed as 'head gasket failure' turned out to need a new cylinder block. The head gasket had indeed failed, but it was not the root cause.
Is there no Volvo warranty?
It's 5yrs old and out of Manufacturers warranty.
Boobonman said:
I've emailed the supplying dealer telling them our intention is to have it transported back to them and returned as not fit for purpose, we'll see what they say if anything.
Worst case I guess I'll just WBAC it.
That seems a strange course of action. The drop in value from WBAC'ing a XC90 with a blown engine must be huge. Surely the business you work for would be better off getting it fixed and having the utility of the car?Worst case I guess I'll just WBAC it.
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