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Approved Car Finance
Topic Started: Aug 3 2006, 12:38 PM (109 Views)
Rosie
Unregistered


Wish I had never set eyes on this company. Purchased an X reg A class
Mercedes Benz 190 3 days ago. Noticed a judder on the steering on the
way
home. That night, the car alarm went off every 10 minutes if the car
was
locked, so after 6 such episodes I had to unlock the car & sit up all
night
to watch the car as it was not then secure. I rang ACF first thing,
who
said to take it into an independant dealer to get an estimate, which
was
faxed to them.

I did this: they found the wheels needed balancing & tracking as the
front
tyres had both been 'feathered' at the edges, one tyre more so than the
other (which was considered to be an MOT failure by the garage I went
to).

I asked the garage to do a quick visual inspection of the car to ensure
there were no more nasty surprises in store for me. They stated that
the
tyre needed replacing, the engine oil level was low, and that the
number
plates were in such a state as to be illegal & should not have passed
the
MOT.

ACF approved the cost of wheel-balancing & tracking & replacement of a
switch on the rear boot, which cleared the false-activation of the
alarm.

I picked the car up from the garage yesterday lunch time (2nd August
2006).
Upon driving it to the shops, I noticed 2 warning lights flash up on
the
dash. Upon refering to these in the handbook, I was horrified to see
that
both warning were to do with the brake system - fault with ABS & EPR
(?),
which also resulted in a concomitant loss of engine power.

I immediately took the vehicle back to the garage & begged the owner to
do a
quick visual check to see if anything could be immediately found to
explain
the warning lights. He was not very happy to comply, but did so at my
insistence.

To my absolute horror, he found that the brake caliper had a securing
bolt
missing, thus meaning that the vehicle was no roadworthy at the time of
my
purchase, and that at any time, with reasonable braking, the brake
assembly
could have slipped & brakes thus failing!

The missing bolt was found to be due to a stripped part of bolt left in
situ. The garage owner said I had had a very lucky escape. Had I
ignored
the warning lights or not noticed them, I could have been dead, along
with
my 3 children.

So much for the much vaunted 136 point inspection. I am now awaiting
contact from Rachel at ACF as it was too late to ring the 'Mechanical
Faults' department last night. I also contact Customer Services from
the
garage to state what had happened, and they were less than helpful. I
requested that they send a fax to Rachel on her direct fax number on my
behalf & had to virtually force them to do this.

I really don't know where to go from here. I fear that the car may
have
other faults and/or 'bodge' jobs done on it, which will appear in time.
I
feel like taking the car back & requesting compensation for all the
time &
trouble it has caused me. I work unsociable shifts in a location not
frequently covered by public transport (expecially when I am working
till
0200hrs in the morning).

I cannot continue with normal life without a car.

Please give me your suggestions as to my next step.

Desperately yours,

Rosie

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tortle

Silver Member
Ring your local trading standards, goods fit for there purpose etc
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Steve_G
'Gold' Member
'Gold' Member
yup, I would contact trading standards, I would also let the garage know what you intend doing should the issue/s not be rectified

if the car requires to be in a garage for a few days insist on a courtesy car

also question the MOT & safety check

good luck
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