Who do I complain to about a car manufacturer?

[xreyuk]

Hey guys

Having a few problems with my car that is under warranty, but getting absolutely no where with the manufacturer. I'm going to call to complain but wanted advice about who I should complain to if they're still being difficult?

Thanks.

[Roo]

Manufacturer or dealer being difficult?

Your contract is with the supplying dealer, if they're the ones being difficult get the manufacturer involved.

If it's on finance get them involved as it's their car.

[ajb85]

The Mrs?

[Wacky Racer]

PH.

[Ozzie Osmond]

xreyuk said:

Having a few problems with my car that is under warranty,

What sort of problems?

[Superhoop]

When you say 'getting nowhere with the manufacturer' who have you been dealing with?

[xreyuk]

Ozzie Osmond said:

What sort of problems?

Very low power (but no limp mode), reduction in fuel economy and a problem with pulling to the left. It's a bit intermittent in that the power isn't too bad at times, but the rest of the time it's awful. Mpg has dropped about 7mpg per tank (hand calculated of course, and I've kept records as some sort of proof). I suggested maybe a brake was sticking as I had the wheel alignment checked on a 4 wheel hunter alignment and it was fine.

So far when I've gone out on 3 (2 seperate dealers) test drives with them, I"ve been told that they don't think it's pulling to the left that badly, and that they can't see any problem with the car. They stick the diagnostics on it, tell me there is no error code and basically tell me to be on my way. I've been to 2 seperate dealers who have said their prime reason for not investigating further is that it's too difficult to get the money back off the manufacturer, and had the same thing said to me earlier in the year when I had another warranty problem.

I've complained to the manufacturer this evening who said they're going to try and get it sorted and possibly have the garage liase with their technical department for fault finding.

My question was so that if the manufacturer turn around and say they're not willing to investigate further because they don't think there is a fault, who do I complain to about them (or threaten to complain to) to get them to sit up and listen?

Thanks guys

[Roo]

Your complaint is with the dealer you bought the car off.

What have they said about it?

[Camaro]

Hmm, the MPG could be due to the weather, how long have you had the car? I took my car back when just before winter my MPG dropped by about 5 miles. They ran the diagnostics and apart from having an out of date ECU program there was nothing wrong. Then reading up on it, its amazing how much the colder weather effects the computers and makes the car run a lot richer.

The steering could be the actual tyres. I think there was a guy who posted something similar last year, after taking his car back numerous times, it turned out to be the tyres fitted. Even when an alignment tool had been used.

Maybe go back to dealer and ask to try another car of similar build to see if you can pin point it. I think the other chap actually got them to swap the wheels from his car onto another one that he said drove alright and that then drove like crap.

[xreyuk]

Camaro said:

Hmm, the MPG could be due to the weather, how long have you had the car? I took my car back when just before winter my MPG dropped by about 5 miles. They ran the diagnostics and apart from having an out of date ECU program there was nothing wrong. Then reading up on it, its amazing how much the colder weather effects the computers and makes the car run a lot richer.

The steering could be the actual tyres. I think there was a guy who posted something similar last year, after taking his car back numerous times, it turned out to be the tyres fitted. Even when an alignment tool had been used.

Maybe go back to dealer and ask to try another car of similar build to see if you can pin point it. I think the other chap actually got them to swap the wheels from his car onto another one that he said drove alright and that then drove like crap.

This answers your post and the post above, I bought the car last March from a dealer that's now closed down so have obviously had to try other 'local' dealers. They were a good 60 mile drive from my house anyway.

I was expecting an mpg drop for winter, but I wasn't expecting such a decrease in power (which in turn is making the mpg poorer), if anything I was expecting the power to feel a little better.

In regards to tyres, the first thing the guy doing the wheel alignment suggested was swapping the tyres over to the opposite side as it could be tyre pull (the pull had got so bad the front left had more wear than the front right) so I swapped the fronts and the problem remained. I must admit I haven't tried swapping the rears, so might give that a go.

He also suggested it could be the way the car was setup, because the value called 'steer ahead' was close to 0º which he said would make the car more sensitive to the camber of the road, so he said try driving on the opposite side of the road at a quiet time, or try driving on a road sloped to the right, and it should pull right. However when driving on the opposite side of the road, the car stays straight, and to get it to pull to the right, I have to be on quite a severely sloped hill.

The only thing I have noticed is a difference in the way the clutch feels. When the power and mpg feel poor/very poor you can feel feedback through the clutch, almost like vibrations in time with the engine ticking over. When the mpg/power is 'better' or the one time it's been 'normal' since November the clutch has zero feedback, and the only point you can feel is where the bite is.

I might ask them to try another car and see if I can identify it, but from being on the owners club website, no other people have problem with the car pulling left, unless they have an alignment issue.

Like I say, I've spoken to SEAT about the dealers' reluctancy to want to actually do any fault finding, and they're going to call the dealers tomorrow and then call me asking to book it in at one of them. They said they'd then get one of their techs from the head office to liase with them over the phone and try and pinpoint the problem.

Thanks for the responses

[jimbob82]

xreyuk said:

Hey guys

Having a few problems with my car that is under warranty, but getting absolutely no where with the manufacturer. I'm going to call to complain but wanted advice about who I should complain to if they're still being difficult?

Thanks.

OMG you're not here aswell? I'm leaving...

• EDIT* on topic, regarding the dealer's comment about it being difficult to get the money off the manufacturer...that's not your problem. The car has a fault, they should fix it. I did like the comment about it "not pulling THAT BADLY", made me lol

Edited by jimbob82 on Wednesday 20th February 21:12

[ging84]

Wacky Racer said:

PH.

I was going to say that

[Buff Mchugelarge]

Sounds like a sticky brake caliper..?

.. Just a thought

[XG332]

Buff Mchugelarge said:

Sounds like a sticky brake caliper..?

.. Just a thought

Easy to check, is the wheel hotter than the other side after driving with little braking

[xreyuk]

XG332 said:

Easy to check, is the wheel hotter than the other side after driving with little braking

Yes.

Apparently that's not 'enough evidence' to get the manufacturer to pay for a warranty fix. They will want pictures showing disc discolouration.

[Upatdawn]

I bought a brand new Citroen (go on, laugh) and it had "periods", every month it needed attention, it spent so much time on RAC recovery trucks i got invites to staff xmas dinners

ok it was a LWB van but that matters not

Citroen customer service are rubbish, after halfway through the HP payments I chucked it back under a clause

All they have to do is keep fixing it till the warranty expires

[xreyuk]

I've had the manufacturer customer service onto me again today saying they're awaiting the reports from the 2 dealers I visited.

They said they're probably going to get me back in for another diagnostics, but I said that I'm not returning to a dealership for them to just stick the computer on again and tell me the same thing, they actually need to do some fault finding.

Another big problem is so far I've taken it in I've had to take a day off. I use my car for my job and because I'm only 22, they won't give me a courtesy car because they require you to be 25 for their insurance. Even if I offer to get the courtesy car covered on my insurance they say no.

Hopefully they'll get me back in an actually do a proper job.

[aw51 121565]

xreyuk said:

XG332 said:

Easy to check, is the wheel hotter than the other side after driving with little braking

Yes.

Apparently that's not 'enough evidence' to get the manufacturer to pay for a warranty fix. They will want pictures showing disc discolouration.

Race cars have "liquid crystal" thermometers (basically, you know the "Is your house warm enough?" strip thermometers issued to the elderly? Or fish tank thermometers which change colour to show the temperature? an adapted version of them), which would be usefully applied to the various parts on both sides of your car, then photographed to show varying temperatures .

Or you could just have the car put on a set of MoT rollers .

"They will want pictures of discolouration"? "They" are having a larrf... Was this car brand new when aquired? Or secondhand, and you're dealing with a warranty company?

Putting it in simple terms and ignoring the above (why jump through hoops at this stage?), a member of garage staff will - you will assert - hold his/her/its hands near both front wheels and get a 'feel' for the temperature of both front brakes and the wheels, then go out with you and then repeat the hand holding exercise to assess the difference in temperature ...

[xreyuk]

aw51 121565 said:

Race cars have "liquid crystal" thermometers (basically, you know the "Is your house warm enough?" strip thermometers issued to the elderly? Or fish tank thermometers which change colour to show the temperature? an adapted version of them), which would be usefully applied to the various parts on both sides of your car, then photographed to show varying temperatures .

Or you could just have the car put on a set of MoT rollers .

"They will want pictures of discolouration"? "They" are having a larrf... Was this car brand new when aquired? Or secondhand, and you're dealing with a warranty company?

Putting it in simple terms and ignoring the above (why jump through hoops at this stage?), a member of garage staff will - you will assert - hold his/her/its hands near both front wheels and get a 'feel' for the temperature of both front brakes and the wheels, then go out with you and then repeat the hand holding exercise to assess the difference in temperature ...

Its second hand, but still under warranty when bought, and still under warranty now until next month with the manufacturer (it's a 2010 plate)

I've tried having the car put on a set of MOT rollers, but all the garages local to me have refused to because they don't want to touch a car under warranty. Why they've refused a simple brake test I don't know. It's a long drive to one of the SEAT garages that does MOTs, so if I go there I'll be asking them to stick it on.

Have you got a link to any of these thermometer thingies? Sounds like a good idea that.

Only thing is, like I say, they agreed the rear left was getting hotter, but told me that the manufacturer would not accept this as proof of a brake problem.

[s3fella]

What car? Age, miLes etc