Engine 'Blown' - Dealership Issues
Discussion
X7LDA said:
Hoping for some advice - apologies in advance if this is in the wrong section.
I recently purchased a 2014 Maserati Ghibli V6S Petrol from an extremely reputable nationwide dealership located in Nottingham. The car only had 20k on the clock. I took delivery of the car at the start of January and within a week I had asked the dealer to have a look at the car for me as it was making a strange noise from the front (plus a couple of other niggles such as broken headrest, faulty battery etc). I really liked the car and proceeded to change the wheel colour from a dirty grey to a bright silver and also smoke tint the rear three windows given I have a baby in the back. Spent north of £600 all said and done. Add insurance, parking permits, road tax etc for the two months.
Sadly a few weeks later we broke down (start of February) and I was recovered (at my own cost) to the Edinburgh dealership. I took a call last week to say the car would not be returned to me as it had suffered engine failure. There were 'chunks' of metal in the oil pan along with a few other symptoms. The dealership were quick to say the agreement would be unwound and I would be sent a refund, however the sticking point is the £600+ I spent on the vehicle. The other costs are obviously just part and parcel of it. I say sticking point as I asked the dealer to either refund me some of that money or take it off another car they sell me, however they have sent me email saying in fact I should be paying them to undo the alloy wheel refurb and window tints as "I'm not returning the car in the same condition". So "how about we call it quits"....
Spoken to Trading Standards and their view is a) The dealership should put some goodwill forward. If no goodwill, then I should seek compensation as I've actually improved the car and b) I'm not returning it per say, it's faulty and they are the ones unwinding the deal. Therefore they can't refer to the return conditions.
The dealership are not budging however, therefore hoping someone with dealership experience can guide me a little here on the best course of action and, of course, any other thoughts etc welcome on how I move this forward?
I'd just take the hit and move on. If this had happened a year down the line with no warranty you'd be looking at megabucks. Bullet dodged IMO.I recently purchased a 2014 Maserati Ghibli V6S Petrol from an extremely reputable nationwide dealership located in Nottingham. The car only had 20k on the clock. I took delivery of the car at the start of January and within a week I had asked the dealer to have a look at the car for me as it was making a strange noise from the front (plus a couple of other niggles such as broken headrest, faulty battery etc). I really liked the car and proceeded to change the wheel colour from a dirty grey to a bright silver and also smoke tint the rear three windows given I have a baby in the back. Spent north of £600 all said and done. Add insurance, parking permits, road tax etc for the two months.
Sadly a few weeks later we broke down (start of February) and I was recovered (at my own cost) to the Edinburgh dealership. I took a call last week to say the car would not be returned to me as it had suffered engine failure. There were 'chunks' of metal in the oil pan along with a few other symptoms. The dealership were quick to say the agreement would be unwound and I would be sent a refund, however the sticking point is the £600+ I spent on the vehicle. The other costs are obviously just part and parcel of it. I say sticking point as I asked the dealer to either refund me some of that money or take it off another car they sell me, however they have sent me email saying in fact I should be paying them to undo the alloy wheel refurb and window tints as "I'm not returning the car in the same condition". So "how about we call it quits"....
Spoken to Trading Standards and their view is a) The dealership should put some goodwill forward. If no goodwill, then I should seek compensation as I've actually improved the car and b) I'm not returning it per say, it's faulty and they are the ones unwinding the deal. Therefore they can't refer to the return conditions.
The dealership are not budging however, therefore hoping someone with dealership experience can guide me a little here on the best course of action and, of course, any other thoughts etc welcome on how I move this forward?
expect replies shortly telling you its all your fault and suck it up....
I'm no expert, but i'd say getting a full refund is a win.
If you can get some sort of goodwill gesture towards the £600 spent that would be a win too. I doubt the selling dealer has any obligation to cover this unfortunately, as it was money spent on cosmetics to suit your personal preference, not addressing any immediate repairs or issues.
I fully appreciate £600 is a substantial amount for anyone (unless a powerfully built PH director with a goatee....) to drop through no fault of their own.
If there is no goodwill gesture, you could always try your hand at the small claims court.
in short - bite their hand off for the full refund, then try for your £600 / goodwill to cover your losses.
I'm no expert, but i'd say getting a full refund is a win.
If you can get some sort of goodwill gesture towards the £600 spent that would be a win too. I doubt the selling dealer has any obligation to cover this unfortunately, as it was money spent on cosmetics to suit your personal preference, not addressing any immediate repairs or issues.
I fully appreciate £600 is a substantial amount for anyone (unless a powerfully built PH director with a goatee....) to drop through no fault of their own.
If there is no goodwill gesture, you could always try your hand at the small claims court.
in short - bite their hand off for the full refund, then try for your £600 / goodwill to cover your losses.
PHZero said:
I'd just take the hit and move on. If this had happened a year down the line with no warranty you'd be looking at megabucks. Bullet dodged IMO.
This with bells on. Also I wouldn't play on the "improvements" too much. The dealer could easily turn round and say you've altered the car from the factory specification so here's the bill to put it back how it should beblue_haddock said:
Most contracts dont cover consequential losses such as you paying to have the alloys refurbed etc.
Personally i'd consider it a cheap way out of what could have been a very expensive situation!
Yep. I was expecting to read that they had told you to go do one, leaving you with a dead car. The £600+ is annoying but it could be a lot worse, especially if it had happened just outside of any warranty period.Personally i'd consider it a cheap way out of what could have been a very expensive situation!
Hoofy said:
blue_haddock said:
Most contracts dont cover consequential losses such as you paying to have the alloys refurbed etc.
Personally i'd consider it a cheap way out of what could have been a very expensive situation!
Yep. I was expecting to read that they had told you to go do one, leaving you with a dead car. The £600+ is annoying but it could be a lot worse, especially if it had happened just outside of any warranty period.Personally i'd consider it a cheap way out of what could have been a very expensive situation!
Yes it hurts but not as much as an engine rebuild on a temperamental italian sports car!
PHZero said:
X7LDA said:
Hoping for some advice - apologies in advance if this is in the wrong section.
I recently purchased a 2014 Maserati Ghibli V6S Petrol from an extremely reputable nationwide dealership located in Nottingham. The car only had 20k on the clock. I took delivery of the car at the start of January and within a week I had asked the dealer to have a look at the car for me as it was making a strange noise from the front (plus a couple of other niggles such as broken headrest, faulty battery etc). I really liked the car and proceeded to change the wheel colour from a dirty grey to a bright silver and also smoke tint the rear three windows given I have a baby in the back. Spent north of £600 all said and done. Add insurance, parking permits, road tax etc for the two months.
Sadly a few weeks later we broke down (start of February) and I was recovered (at my own cost) to the Edinburgh dealership. I took a call last week to say the car would not be returned to me as it had suffered engine failure. There were 'chunks' of metal in the oil pan along with a few other symptoms. The dealership were quick to say the agreement would be unwound and I would be sent a refund, however the sticking point is the £600+ I spent on the vehicle. The other costs are obviously just part and parcel of it. I say sticking point as I asked the dealer to either refund me some of that money or take it off another car they sell me, however they have sent me email saying in fact I should be paying them to undo the alloy wheel refurb and window tints as "I'm not returning the car in the same condition". So "how about we call it quits"....
Spoken to Trading Standards and their view is a) The dealership should put some goodwill forward. If no goodwill, then I should seek compensation as I've actually improved the car and b) I'm not returning it per say, it's faulty and they are the ones unwinding the deal. Therefore they can't refer to the return conditions.
The dealership are not budging however, therefore hoping someone with dealership experience can guide me a little here on the best course of action and, of course, any other thoughts etc welcome on how I move this forward?
I'd just take the hit and move on. If this had happened a year down the line with no warranty you'd be looking at megabucks. Bullet dodged IMO.I recently purchased a 2014 Maserati Ghibli V6S Petrol from an extremely reputable nationwide dealership located in Nottingham. The car only had 20k on the clock. I took delivery of the car at the start of January and within a week I had asked the dealer to have a look at the car for me as it was making a strange noise from the front (plus a couple of other niggles such as broken headrest, faulty battery etc). I really liked the car and proceeded to change the wheel colour from a dirty grey to a bright silver and also smoke tint the rear three windows given I have a baby in the back. Spent north of £600 all said and done. Add insurance, parking permits, road tax etc for the two months.
Sadly a few weeks later we broke down (start of February) and I was recovered (at my own cost) to the Edinburgh dealership. I took a call last week to say the car would not be returned to me as it had suffered engine failure. There were 'chunks' of metal in the oil pan along with a few other symptoms. The dealership were quick to say the agreement would be unwound and I would be sent a refund, however the sticking point is the £600+ I spent on the vehicle. The other costs are obviously just part and parcel of it. I say sticking point as I asked the dealer to either refund me some of that money or take it off another car they sell me, however they have sent me email saying in fact I should be paying them to undo the alloy wheel refurb and window tints as "I'm not returning the car in the same condition". So "how about we call it quits"....
Spoken to Trading Standards and their view is a) The dealership should put some goodwill forward. If no goodwill, then I should seek compensation as I've actually improved the car and b) I'm not returning it per say, it's faulty and they are the ones unwinding the deal. Therefore they can't refer to the return conditions.
The dealership are not budging however, therefore hoping someone with dealership experience can guide me a little here on the best course of action and, of course, any other thoughts etc welcome on how I move this forward?
I wonder what the dealer will do. Is a new (or rebuilt) engine more than the cost of the car? Maybe he wants to drop a second hand engine into the car.
lord trumpton said:
Blimey I think the dealership have been fair so far,
Your choice to modify and therefore your loss I'm afraid.
You could try asking for a refund on any air fresheners you bought and perhaps have them syphon off the remaining fuel? Especially if the expensive V Power stuff!
Now now, that's a bit mean, however if a £600 spend with not much to show for it would cause anyone anguish financially, then I would suggest that buying and running an aging Maserati is not going to end well at all for them.Your choice to modify and therefore your loss I'm afraid.
You could try asking for a refund on any air fresheners you bought and perhaps have them syphon off the remaining fuel? Especially if the expensive V Power stuff!
Sheepshanks said:
I find things like this annoying - never mind the £600, there’s all the other expense you’ve had, and no doubt some stress and hassle but the dealer thinks they’re doing you a favour when in reality they’re just walking away from it.
I'd be annoyed too, but stuff like this happens all the time. I note that the OP has deleted his original post, but what's to say that he wasn't repeatedly thrashing the car without letting it warm up etc.I'd say that the dealer has been pretty fair in offering a full refund. If the OP had paid for paint correction and detailing and ceramic wax etc, would he be within his rights to get those monies back too? I don't think so.
Not an ideal situation but from my perspective it's a great outcome.
Sheepshanks said:
I find things like this annoying - never mind the £600, there’s all the other expense you’ve had, and no doubt some stress and hassle but the dealer thinks they’re doing you a favour when in reality they’re just walking away from it.
Waking away by giving a full refund you mean?I have a Ghibli myself so it’s sobering, there are quite a few of them on a high mileage, but also quite a few of the early ones that have suffered a big failure, but usually in the original warranty period. I don’t really know what causes this or what was corrected in later cars.
I think that’s a great result for you. A crap alternative would be having the car off the road for months whilst they rebuilt the engine or sourced a used one.
I know the expenses around this are annoying, but you got some miles out of it too.
I think that’s a great result for you. A crap alternative would be having the car off the road for months whilst they rebuilt the engine or sourced a used one.
I know the expenses around this are annoying, but you got some miles out of it too.
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