Calling any automotive legal eagles

sammymaguire · June 06, 2010, 11:53:26 AM

my wife drives an X3 2.0d. It packed in last week, 4 years old, 55k miles. Bavarian in Belfast told us its a turbo fault as parts of the engine have been filled with carbon it now needs to be decoked

My argument is that a premium car of this age, mileage, full BMW service history with no prior warning to us should not have this issue and it appears to be more common than it should be on X3's and this has been admitted by them.

well this costs in the region of £3-3.5k and as we have no extended warranty on a 4 year old BMW, they are only prepared to pay for half the parts as an act of good will, we pay for the rest.

As we have the car on HP, I am finding it hard to stomach a bill of this amount for repairs on a car with a fault such as this with a FSH and feel that they take more responsibility over paying for the repairs, as we are paying for a car which is now not fit for the purpose for which we have bought it through no fault of our own. We have another year to pay on the vehicle, which if we cancel will mean we are defaulting on a financial agreement and turning our back on a car whiich would have some equity on it if it was running ok at the moment. They seem unwilling to help us out any further in repairing the vehicle and I see it as them profiteering on a customer's misfortune.

Any advice on this appreciated.

Bud Wiser · June 06, 2010, 01:38:32 PM

I had the same issue with a Landrover so what I did was I made a big poster that said, "WARNING- Do NOT Buy A Landrover Like this, phone 086-******* for more information" I pasted these on the inside and back of the jeep and I parked it outside the Head Office of Landrover, I mean right outside their front door. Then I got a lift home and phoned them and asked could I have the name of a representative from their company who would go on a live national radio show. When they asked about what I said, the Landrover outside your door. They agreed to meet me and then agreed that I take the yoke back to the dealer and it would be fixed under warranty.

So you need to get onto the very top place, like head office, not the dealer and threathen loss of earnings, car hire and say you have been onto a national radio station and you want to know the name of who will go on a live discussion and that generally freaks them out, considering they pay up to £32k for a 25 second add to do the opposite of what they fear you will achieve.

sammymaguire · June 06, 2010, 01:50:38 PM

cheers Bud, it might be difficult considering its not driveable at the moment, but not impossible... you might hear me talking to Joe on liveline this week then, does he care about what happens north of the border?? its pathetic that they expect you to fork out £25k plus for a car and then start telling you stories of washing machines going wrong and the burner on your oil home heating system that gets maintained (for which you would not be paying after its originally bought) also packing in... they just want us to pay through the nose to repair a defective product which they have provided us with

The Real Laoislad · June 06, 2010, 02:12:41 PM

If you had of been a fan of Top Gear and seen the review you would never have bought a BMW X3 in the first place..

sammymaguire · June 06, 2010, 02:25:05 PM

20-20 vision with hindsight, the car was going fine til the engine decided to lose power out of the blue... did they tell viewers the turbo's were faulty after 40k or 50k plus or just a poor BMW to drive and value for money?

Bud Wiser · June 06, 2010, 03:15:49 PM

Quote from: sammymaguire on June 06, 2010, 01:50:38 PM
cheers Bud, it might be difficult considering its not driveable at the moment, but not impossible... you might hear me talking to Joe on liveline this week then, does he care about what happens north of the border?? its pathetic that they expect you to fork out £25k plus for a car and then start telling you stories of washing machines going wrong and the burner on your oil home heating system that gets maintained (for which you would not be paying after its originally bought) also packing in... they just want us to pay through the nose to repair a defective product which they have provided us with

Don't tell them which program, just say two well known radio programs for BBC and RTE. Tell them you would like to forward them a list of five questions for a live interview and give them a weeks notice. If in return they want to ask any questions to you during the live program tell them to send them on but that you are quite prepared without prior notification as your case is crystal clear to the producers already. I bet if you ring up and ask for the head marketing manager they will react.

Cde · June 06, 2010, 03:48:09 PM

I had a X5 and the injectors went in it after 4 years. Took it to the dealer and they told me that I had got dodgy diesel somewhere. I had no way to prove I hadn't so had to pay the costs of the injectors myself. Cost me 4.5K.

Would never buy a BMW again. For then price of them they give a good few problems and everything costs a fortune to fix.

Down South · June 06, 2010, 06:23:11 PM

Quote from: sammymaguire on June 06, 2010, 11:53:26 AM

As we have the car on HP, I am finding it hard to stomach a bill of this amount for repairs on a car with a fault such as this with a FSH and feel that they take more responsibility over paying for the repairs, as we are paying for a car which is now not fit for the purpose for which we have bought it through no fault of our own. We have another year to pay on the vehicle, which if we cancel will mean we are defaulting on a financial agreement and turning our back on a car whiich would have some equity on it if it was running ok at the moment. They seem unwilling to help us out any further in repairing the vehicle and I see it as them profiteering on a customer's misfortune.

Any advice on this appreciated.

Firstly this has nothing to do with the HP company. They lent you money to buy the car and this is where their interest ends. If you were to crash the car on the way home from the garage after buying it you would still owe the money, this is no different.
How long have you had it?
If you end up having to pay for it yourself do not go to the main dealer. Try your local mechanic or an independent BMW specialist.

Hardy · June 06, 2010, 06:52:33 PM

Bud, I love your style.

Tyrones own · June 06, 2010, 07:07:40 PM

Quote from: Cde on June 06, 2010, 03:48:09 PM
I had a X5 and the injectors went in it after 4 years. Took it to the dealer and they told me that I had got dodgy diesel somewhere. I had no way to prove I hadn't so had to pay the costs of the injectors myself. Cost me 4.5K.

Would never buy a BMW again. For then price of them they give a good few problems and everything costs a fortune to fix.

WTF...are they Platinum plated or what? I'd like to see the break down of that bill

mylestheslasher · June 06, 2010, 07:35:52 PM

In fairness BMW are pretty decent at doing good will deals on cars that are out of warranty. Try bringing your car back to Mercedes in the same circumstances and they won't pay a penny towards it.

sammymaguire · June 06, 2010, 09:30:59 PM

Down South, we have had it over 2 years, about 10 months left to pay to BMW financial services, if it was roadworthy, we could hand it back and that would be the end of the matter but its not and the bill to repair it means we are in negative equity on it.

the point that gets me is that its a four and a half year old car with 55k miles, as a premium car manufacturer that they are supposed to be, BMW have provided us with a vehicle which is not fit for the purpose it was bought for and they are happy to profit more by the fact it has gone wrong

Down South · June 06, 2010, 11:32:56 PM

You have had it 2 years, it was fit for purpose during those 2 years until now so you dont really have a leg to stand on. If this happened during the first few months of ownership you would get a replacement vehicle or your money back, but not after 2 years. BMW ar being pretty decent by offering too pay some of the costs though that still leaves you with a pretty hefty bill.
Get a second opinion, dont take the dealers word as gospel, quite often they want to replace parts when there is a cheaper/easier option.

Your car may only be 4.5 years old with 55k but that does not tell the whole story. How is it driven, has it been properly/fully serviced, these long life/2 year services are a joke, no matter what the dealer tells you. Have you allowed the turbo to cool down properly before switching the car off, are you using good diesel? There are so many contributing factors to a modern car going wrong, most of them beyond the manufacturers control. Sometimes though, things just break and we have to put our hands in our pockets and pay up, it is not always someone elses fault.

gallsman · June 07, 2010, 01:29:16 AM

Family member drives a four year old BMW as a company car. Sent it in to get serviced a few months ago and they came back to him telling him the turbo was gone and they'd be billing him for both the part and the labour. As it was a company car, Bavarian gets an awful lot of business from them so when he rang up he essentially told him that there was no way in hell a turbo blown on a car with feck all mileage that is usually driven around the city was the drivers responsibility and under no circumstances whatsoever he be paying for any turbo-related repairs. The manager rang back the following day fawning all over the place and scrapped the entire service bill because of the unfortunate events that had been caused by an "administrative error."

Have heard a few other stories about the place related to Bavarian in Belfast - they appear to be an absolute shower of scumbags.

sammymaguire · June 07, 2010, 09:42:13 AM

Quote from: hardstation on June 07, 2010, 02:04:20 AM
Quote from: gallsman on June 07, 2010, 01:29:16 AM
Family member drives a four year old BMW as a company car. Sent it in to get serviced a few months ago and they came back to him telling him the turbo was gone and they'd be billing him for both the part and the labour. As it was a company car, Bavarian gets an awful lot of business from them so when he rang up he essentially told him that there was no way in hell a turbo blown on a car with feck all mileage that is usually driven around the city was the drivers responsibility and under no circumstances whatsoever he be paying for any turbo-related repairs. The manager rang back the following day fawning all over the place and scrapped the entire service bill because of the unfortunate events that had been caused by an "administrative error."

Have heard a few other stories about the place related to Bavarian in Belfast - they appear to be an absolute shower of scumbags.
Interestingly, the same happened to someone I know. Exact same problem with the car, if I remember right. They were looking to charge him thousands after an apparent trial and error service to the car. He went down, with the spare key and and after a massive row with them, decided to steal his own car using the spare key. A big kerfuffle. Next thing they were able to fix the car within 24 hours.

Bavarian in Belfast are the biggest con merchants about.

this is ridiculous!!! BEWARE OF BMW! LESSON BEING LEARNT