Going Back To Garage For Fixes - Opinions Needed

[m1tch]

Hi there,

I have had my Fiesta mk6 56 plate 1.4 TDCi for a month or so now, the garage I bought the car from stated that the car has a 6 month warranty on everything eg if i'm not happy I can go back and they will sort it out. I have already gone back once to go through a few bits that I noticed within the first few days of ownership such as a slight oil leak, issue with a front tyre plus the belts being in poor condition (125k mile service life on rubber belts apparently). There were other issues I flagged up such as some broken trim around the 12v socket and a slightly torn door seal, these were just brushed off as 'its an old car though' - which made me rather angry considering my 137k 2003 Clio was in very good condition and my 236k '97 Mercedes is still fine (really don't like new cars!).

Anyway, I have found that the injector seals seem to be leaking/have leaked as I can see burnt on diesel on top of the engine plus a few puddles of diesel, the garage informed me that these were replaced before I bought the car. I gave them a whole week to sort out any issues on the car and give it a service however when I turned to pick the car up a week later it was still being serviced and a lot of minor issues (such as wiper blades) weren't replaced. Due to the build up of burnt on diesel on the top of the engine I am guessing that the seals weren't replaced or were replaced badly - 2 of the injector clips are also damaged but still work luckily.

I am tempted to simply not bother going back to the garage to have anything else 'fixed' as I don't really trust their word anymore so I am tempted to sort out the injector seals myself. I have already paid out to get the cambelt and waterpump done as I wasn't happy with driving the car with the issues outstanding plus I have replaced a few things on the car such as wiperblades.

One of the issues being is that the garage isn't the most local to me and would mean I need to take time off work to go over there to drop it off and wait there for the work to be done.

My question is - should I bother going back to the garage for any further fixes to the car or should I just cut my losses and sort it out myself?

[Preecematt]

First of all when you brought the car was the salesman pushy?? If he was + with the problems you've already had, I'd say go to another garage and say "look I brought a car from such a such, I've had loads of problems with the car and them etc and it's still warrantied would you be able to do anything" that's the angle I'd go from and work it from there really, as the garage you brought the car from obviously doesn't give a monkey's uncle about you/your car. I wouldn't work on it myself though to be honest, especially if it's still warrantied.

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

If it is under warranty you have some legal protection at least, what issues specifically does the warranty cover ? Is it in writing ?

IF your issues are covered by the warranty the seller has no option but to comply with the terms of the warranty, but you must be 100% sure of your position.

Minor items like damaged trim & door seals could well be considered fair wear & tear at that age, major items that detrimentally affect the core function of the car are quite another matter i.m.o.

As above - I'd advise against doing anything yourself until, and if, you decide to abandon the warranty route, as D.I.Y. repairs will almost certainly invalidate any warranty.

[m1tch]

Will give them a ring later to see what they say, its a slight trek to take the car over there and I am honestly not sure if I trust them anymore, the garage themselves are friendly and I do believe they want to get everything right but I have a feeling that they might be overstretched so things are rushed. I will give them a ring to check if they had 100% changed the seals as agreed before getting the car - might be something simple as a slightly leaking fuel line when reassembling but I have a feeling that they just havn't bothered.

If I do it myself I know that its been done correctly with the right parts and I can also give everything a clean and check - cleaning the inlet manifold is one of the things I want to do anyway.