The title is describing what happened to my car this evening. Yes, another fail-wagon fail. Well, for a short time at least as I got it fixed quite quickly. Let me explain what happened…

I was on my way home from a friends when I turned a corner as normal. As I went round it felt like the car hit something but I thought nothing of it as the roads around here are terrible as it is. As I carried on up the road I put my foot down a bit to speed up when suddenly there was a loud “pop” followed by a very horrible “exhaust has fallen off” gurgles and rumbling. I noticed the lack of power as the turbo was no longer working and the first words to pop into my head were “FFS, now what”. I pulled over to investigate.

Before I even stop my mind has run over possible things it could be. It’s either exhaust related or it’s the intercooler pipes. It only took my about 10 seconds to realise it was an intercooler pipe that had popped off. Not knowing how to go about putting it back on properly I called the friend I had just left to see if he would come and sort it for me. He agreed. The car was still drive-able but the noise coming from it was pretty damn loud! I decided that since it was almost 11pm to take it very easy and keep the noise down.

10 minutes later, my friend turns up. His first words? “The fail-wagon strikes again!”. Yeah, cheers for that. No need to rub it in anymore than you already have previously! Anyway he gets underneath the car to have a look. Some mumbling could be heard from underneath followed by the odd profanity, until eventually he needed tools. We jacked the car up for better access and armed with a screwdriver he managed to put the hose back on in no time. We still don’t know how it managed to come off in the first place so I guess that mystery will likely go unsolved unless it happens again.

Once he had fixed it we went for a quick test drive with lots of flooring it to make sure it wasn’t going to pop off under pressure again. I booted it down the road several times through several gears and it seemed fine. So this time it wasn’t serious and the car could still be driven in it’s “broken” state, albeit with no turbo. And let me tell you, in a car that big you really do need that turbo to move quickly! Without it, it probably has about 70bhp, with it, that doubles to 140bhp and that makes a massive difference. I wouldn’t like to drive on the motorway like that (already did once when I got limp mode, but that’s another story).

So yes, I continue to own this fail-wagon, but hopefully in a month or two I won’t any longer. The whole situation with returning it is progressing, but slowly.

It’s been almost a month since my last blog and a similar amount of time since I contacted the finance company, so here is an update on what has happened since then. Bare with me, it’s a bit wordy.

I opened a complaint around the same time as my last blog and since then I’ve not had great news. The finance company had contacted the dealer and they refused to fix any issues on the car. This is hardly surprising given the fact that they’re not a very large company. Because of this the finance company was obliged to investigate further. In light of that they arranged for an independent mechanic to come out and assess the car. Basically this involves confirming the faults I have mentioned as actually existing. Of course when he assessed it they all existed without a doubt.

The most annoying part about this so far, is that the mechanic agreed with everything I said. You’d think that would be good, and don’t get me wrong it is. I was happy to hear that he agreed with me, it’s what I expected. Given the history of the faults you can’t deny it. Whilst driving he mentioned the fact that he had owned the same vehicle not long ago and admitted it did not drive properly because of it’s faults. This was great, the finance company can’t say no now.

How wrong I was. When I spoke to him he said the faults were clearly inherent because they occurred such a short time after purchase and that faults keep developing. However when he wrote his report and sent it off to the finance company, he wrote completely the opposite. I have a copy of his report and it says the faults are not inherent. That really pissed me off reading it. He had lied to me, and he has lied to the finance company. I can only imagine he has been paid a bonus to say they weren’t inherent because that’s cheaper than them allowing me to reject the vehicle.

I received the final letter from my finance company who were “not upholding my complaint”. What struck me was the fact that they also noted down the mileage I had done since I got the car. Bearing in mind that I do about 1000 miles a month, of which 95% of it is commuting to work 30 miles a day, I thought it was odd. They had tried to use is as part of the excuse for not upholding the complaint, stating that because I had done around 6,900 miles since purchase the faults are due to normal use and not due to any inherent faults. Hello?! The faults began less than a month into my ownership!!! You obviously have NOT read any of the information I gave you and went on the word of a single person! Absolutely ridiculous.

As you can imagine I was fuming after reading that letter. I was angry for several days and I may have even taken it out on friends/colleagues (sorry by the way!). Thankfully just because they have told me where to shove my complaint it doesn’t mean that’s the last of it. There is a service called the Financial Ombudsman Service that is there to regulate and deal with complaints about businesses who offer finance or other monetary services. I have now opened a complaint with them in the hope that given the evidence I have to support my complaint, that they will over turn their ruling and turn it to my favour. Given the fact that these issues started so early, and so many have developed, I whole heartedly believe they will go in my favour, but given my luck recently I’m not holding my hopes up just yet.

I’ve sent them a full detailed account of everything that has happened between myself, the dealer and the finance company to date and I’m asking for them to uphold my original request for rejection of the car and a full refund of all money paid minus reasonable costs. This means I should get back at least the £2,000 deposit I paid, plus extra for the part exchange, and perhaps some money back from the finance company too.

In terms of what I’ve sent them, almost everything I said to the dealer is in e-mails as that was how we communicated most of the time. I also had phone call recordings from the dealer but these didn’t have any useful information in them (yes, the dealer was aware I was recording calls as I did ask for his permission. I did white lie saying that it was for other reasons but he still agreed). Given everything that has happened, including the dates they happened of which most were in the first 3 months, I can’t see how they can turn around and say the faults are not inherent.

The only thing that concerns me now is that if they turn around and say no, I’m stuck. I can’t do anything with the car until I pay the finance off, of which there is around 18 months left, or if the finance company agrees I can sell it on and keep paying the finance (unlikely). Slap that on top of the repairs needed to keep the car on the road (most likely the clutch/dual mass flywheel which costs £1000 on it’s own), we’re looking at a minimum of £1000 and up to silly money if I need to go as far as gearbox replacement/rebuild, diagnostics of the electronics to find the fault with that, and diagnostic of the air intake or whatever it is causing the air noise. Keeping the car at this point isn’t really worth it. I’ve invested in this car on the understanding that it was in good condition. On the outside it certainly looks it but under the bonnet and underneath it certainly is not.

I wish I had researched this model of car more before I jumped in and bought it. I wish I had test driven a few more other cars rather than jumping in and saying “I want X car and nothing else”. I do blame myself partly, but at the end of the day these faults weren’t my fault. My faithful old little Peugeot 306, RIP =(, never had anywhere near the problems this car has had in its entire life. As they say, they don’t make them like they used to…

I’ll keep the blog updated when I hear back from the Ombudsman, but in the mean time please keep your fingers crossed for me so I can get rid of this God awful car and get something worth my investment.

Remember the car I bought back in March this year? The very same one that broke down twice within 2 weeks of getting it? Well it’s come to the point where I just can’t stand the damn thing any more. Let me explain…

Ever since I got it I’ve had nothing but trouble. First it was the parking brake (electronic, don’t ask why they did it that way), then the emissions light and injector failure. I thought I had the problems ironed out pretty quickly as they were both common faults that would be resolved easily by a trip to VW and a new button. Oh how wrong I was. Each month there was a new problem. First it was the clutch giving me problems that resulted in it being difficult to change into first and reverse gears, then the gearbox started to whine whilst decelerating in 5th gear. The next month the mass air flow sensor packed in, and the list goes on. Suffice to say since I got the car it’s had 13 faults. 13… In the entire time I owned a Peugeot 306 I never had that many problems.

To be honest I only have myself to blame. Before I got the car, I knew I wanted a Passat for some very good reasons. Firstly 2 of my friends had 2 different older models and they never had trouble with them. Secondly I test drove it and I loved the way it handled and drove (and I still do, sadly). However it wasn’t until after I bought it that I started looking into it’s common faults, and that took me by surprise.

The most common complaints were the electronic parking brake failing and the injectors failing randomly. I thought I’d had these resolved (and I have so far, touch wood). But other less common complaints were still “common”, if you get what I mean. Lots of people talking about similar issues but none of them quite the same as the others. The car was in good condition and looked like it had been well treated and maintained – it was one of the strong points I took on board when buying. However the big let down was that it’s modern, electronic, and a lot can go wrong. When they do go wrong, it’s all £££ to fix – sorry, ££££, since a lot of things are 4 figures to fix it seems.

Obviously this isn’t the sort of investment I would have made given I knew about this before hand, and it’s my fault I didn’t research the history of these models. That said, and the trouble I’m having I decided it wasn’t right that I continue to own it. I didn’t know early on that I had rights under the Sales of Goods act and that I could reject the vehicle because it was sold to me unjustly. I.E. it had inherent problems right from the date of purchase which can be proven in the number of faults it’s had since that time.

I contacted my finance company a few weeks ago who are currently investigating the sale and the condition of the vehicle (they’re yet to send a mechanic to look at it). The place I bought it (naming no names) has been given a short time to correct ALL faults on the vehicle free of charge. If they don’t come through then the finance company will look into the issue and make a decision from there. Given that the problems present are pretty significant (dodgy clutch, engine warning light, etc) I am confident that they will go in my favour. If this is the case I’ve been told by friends and family that I’ll get the full £2k deposit back that I paid, and I’ll be free from the finance agreement. The finance company will repossess the car and then deal with the dealer I bought it from directly. That’s then the last I should hear of that car.

So what am I going to go with next? Well I was thinking of going with a Ford Mondeo. They’re nice cars and my friends Dad has one. That same friend also has a Mondeo Estate. The problem is all cars are going to have common faults and will go wrong in some way, so it’s impossible to escape. I just wished I hadn’t got rid of the Peugeot 306. Sure it cost me a little money but it never ONCE let me down. Not once. It always started first time and it always got me home. Of all the times it did break it did it at home or was an issue that could be taken care of in a short time with no damage done. And best of all, that car was fully mechanical – nothing electronic on the engine to go wrong, it just worked. I’ll miss that car. Sadly I discovered it was recently involved in an accident with it’s new owner, so it’s likely in scrap yard now rotting away…

Still, life goes on. These things are here to test us, and test me it has. Now it’s time to move on and get something new. New heights, new challenges, and plenty of anger to go with it. Sounds like the perfect recipe for life.