Advice on my rights?
Discussion
Not really sure whether advice on my rights is the correct way of wording what im after, but i'll explain the situation and hopefully someone can help.
I've got a 62 plate Volvo S60 which i've had since new on a 3 year lease with Volvo Car Leasing. Last September i noticed that the Start/Stop system fitted to the car was misbehaving, very erractic, sometimes it would work other times it wouldnt. Car had been in for its first service and i reported it to the dealer just after, they told me to monitor it. As the weather got colder the problem got worse to the point where pretty much all autumn/winter it just hasn't worked.
Around the middle of October the dealer phoned me and said they now had a number of cars with the same issue and could i bring it in as Volvo have supplied new software for their diagnostics. After having the car for 24 hours they reported that it was the same issue as the other cars and Volvo had been informed, they were waiting for a response.
Basically during the service they updated the engine management software and a piece of it is corrupt, when its cold on a morning the PTC heater helps things get warmed up, it would appear that the software is not turning the PTC off and this is having a knock on effect with the battery & aux battery for the start/stop system. In a nutshell its drawing too much current.
I spoke to the dealer again in January and they were still waiting for Volvo, engineers are coming over from Sweden to investigate as we're the only country (apparently) suffering with the issue.
Now in all of the this the dealer has been fine, i have no argument with them however i decided to phone Volvo UK customer service last month to get their take on it. Typically the first line response was taking my details, never heard of this issue before, we'll get the dealer to contact you.
Dealer came back to me last week saying they'd heard from Volvo and they've "estimated" a fix will be available in Week 40!!!! which is the end of September, early October. Service Manager is just as annoyed about this as i am. He's also been told they absolutely cannot roll back the software to the version that worked either (apparently there's only 3 engineers in the country that can do this anyway).
Where do i stand on all of this? Week 40 will be over a year since i reported the problem, it also means 1/3 of the total car lease will have been spent without the car working correctly. Do i get back in touch with Volvo again, is it worth getting the lease company involved since they've got a financial interest in the car?
Thanks in advance.
I've got a 62 plate Volvo S60 which i've had since new on a 3 year lease with Volvo Car Leasing. Last September i noticed that the Start/Stop system fitted to the car was misbehaving, very erractic, sometimes it would work other times it wouldnt. Car had been in for its first service and i reported it to the dealer just after, they told me to monitor it. As the weather got colder the problem got worse to the point where pretty much all autumn/winter it just hasn't worked.
Around the middle of October the dealer phoned me and said they now had a number of cars with the same issue and could i bring it in as Volvo have supplied new software for their diagnostics. After having the car for 24 hours they reported that it was the same issue as the other cars and Volvo had been informed, they were waiting for a response.
Basically during the service they updated the engine management software and a piece of it is corrupt, when its cold on a morning the PTC heater helps things get warmed up, it would appear that the software is not turning the PTC off and this is having a knock on effect with the battery & aux battery for the start/stop system. In a nutshell its drawing too much current.
I spoke to the dealer again in January and they were still waiting for Volvo, engineers are coming over from Sweden to investigate as we're the only country (apparently) suffering with the issue.
Now in all of the this the dealer has been fine, i have no argument with them however i decided to phone Volvo UK customer service last month to get their take on it. Typically the first line response was taking my details, never heard of this issue before, we'll get the dealer to contact you.
Dealer came back to me last week saying they'd heard from Volvo and they've "estimated" a fix will be available in Week 40!!!! which is the end of September, early October. Service Manager is just as annoyed about this as i am. He's also been told they absolutely cannot roll back the software to the version that worked either (apparently there's only 3 engineers in the country that can do this anyway).
Where do i stand on all of this? Week 40 will be over a year since i reported the problem, it also means 1/3 of the total car lease will have been spent without the car working correctly. Do i get back in touch with Volvo again, is it worth getting the lease company involved since they've got a financial interest in the car?
Thanks in advance.
you have no hope of terminating the lease IMO
The start-stop feature (if not stopping but allowing the car to be driven) is not essential for it's operation and does not detract from the safety of the vehicle, whilst the dealer has advised of a fix and likely timescale.
Push for some goodwill - free service maybe? but you have no hope of returning the car.
The start-stop feature (if not stopping but allowing the car to be driven) is not essential for it's operation and does not detract from the safety of the vehicle, whilst the dealer has advised of a fix and likely timescale.
Push for some goodwill - free service maybe? but you have no hope of returning the car.
Oh sorry if it came across that I wanted to terminate the lease, I don't. I actually really like the car but I do a lot of in town driving so the start/stop is invaluable to me. Also in these "must increase fuel economy" times that we live in, it's a fairly major selling point of the D2 engine.
Might go back to Volvo CS & tell them I want compensating
Might go back to Volvo CS & tell them I want compensating
RebelBlue said:
Oh sorry if it came across that I wanted to terminate the lease, I don't. I actually really like the car but I do a lot of in town driving so the start/stop is invaluable to me. Also in these "must increase fuel economy" times that we live in, it's a fairly major selling point of the D2 engine.
Might go back to Volvo CS & tell them I want compensating
Apologies if I mis-interpretedMight go back to Volvo CS & tell them I want compensating
Indeed, the delay isn't exactly ideal but pushing towards a little compensation/free servicing in a friendly manner would be the way to go IMO
Engineer1 said:
Stop start playing up can be a safety issue if the car decides to not re-start as promptly as normal leaving you with the engine off as traffic starts moving.
eh?Give us an example then. One that doesn't involve you having to race to get through the light that's about to change from Amber to Red
As suggested above, goodwill gift would be the best way to approach. The Stop-start system on my Mini is fairly erratic but
1. It only works above a certain outside temperature.
2. It never works in the first few miles.
3. I do a lot of short journeys (back and forth to work) - 2miles and so the system never fully charges.
4. It definitely works after a long journey and for a week or so after.
TBH it does not really bother me and I think this is normal.
1. It only works above a certain outside temperature.
2. It never works in the first few miles.
3. I do a lot of short journeys (back and forth to work) - 2miles and so the system never fully charges.
4. It definitely works after a long journey and for a week or so after.
TBH it does not really bother me and I think this is normal.
It worked fine for the first year at temperatures right down to 0 then it stops working. Now it doesn't work if the temperature is under 9 degrees, even if the system status says available, if you let it engage it'll stop then immediately restart. The status says "Battery Charging - Unavailable" and that's the way it stays for the rest of the day, doesn't matter how many miles you do or how long it sits in a carpark. It doesn't reset until it's sat overnight. 9 times out of 10 the next day the same thing happens
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