Something strange going on?

Melion

I agreed to buy a BMW 318i last Saturday, went in and paid the deposit to hold the car first thing Monday morning. The thing is, i still have no car. The airbag light was turned on, on the dash. Ive been getting told for the last 3 days that it has to go to Tipperary(BMW dealer) to have it turned off.

I rang the guy in the garage yesterday, he said its going down in the morning(today). It could be a 1 or 2 hour job but could possibly be 2 or 3 days if they have to order parts. What parts would they need to hook the car up to the computer and turn off the light?

Busta Hyman

you could have put a deposit on a car with bigger problems

Melion

Im thinking it has bigger problems they're not telling me about

EPM

You *could* ring the garage in Tip and pretend to be someone from the crowd you're buying off and see what they say...I'd chance it...

Gumbo

alot of these cases involved the car having a frontal smack and the airbag going off!

then when the car is fixed back together the fixer either doesnt fit an airbag back in or does it but doesnt get the airbag system reset.

i think its a case of the airbag system getting set up, and all the seat belt tensioners being set up too.

robtri

EPM wrote: »

You *could* ring the garage in Tip and pretend to be someone from the crowd you're buying off and see what they say...I'd chance it...

+1 on that one....

mickdw

If they cannot get it fixed very quickly at the dealer, I would look for deposit back.
I wouldnt be surprised if they come back to you with some story about how it will take 2 weeks etc to get a new part and then try to get you to take the car now and take it back in when they have this part. Do not do this. Get deposit back.

Darragh29

Why did you put a deposit on a car with a known problem??? My view of this is that cars on forecourts for sale, should have no fault lights on, should be NCT'd, basically in a saleable condition, someone said it above, next thing you'll be asked to take the car as it is until some part arrives and then it never gets sorted out.

There is no obvious reason I can think of why a car would have to be shunted across the country to have an airbag fault diagnosed.

Anan1

Darragh29 wrote: »

Why did you put a deposit on a car with a known problem??? My view of this is that cars on forecourts for sale, should have no fault lights on, should be NCT'd, basically in a saleable condition.

Lonely out here, isn't it?:)

unkel

Melion wrote: »

What parts would they need to hook the car up to the computer and turn off the light?

It's not just a matter of turning off the light. The car needs to be diagnosed to see what caused the problem. It could be anything really.

I'd give them an ultimatum of a few days at the end of which you'd want the deposit back.

WillieCocker

What possesed you to put a deposit on it?
And i'm basing that on it being a fully functional 318.........

i noticed you said "I agreed to...."
Someone coax you into it?

Anan1

WillieCocker wrote: »

What possesed you to put a deposit on it?
And i'm basing that on it being a fully functional 318.........

Because different cars suit different people?

WillieCocker wrote: »

i noticed you said "I agreed to...."
Someone coax you into it?

I think you may be reading a little too much into that.;)

In any case, let's try to keep this on-topic.

WillieCocker

Anan1 wrote: »

Because different cars suit different people?

Huh?
Point was why put a deposit on a car that can be got anywhere cheap now.

I think you may be reading a little too much into that.;)

In any case, let's try to keep this on-topic.

Asking questions about his problem is going off topic?

I give up.

Owen

Airbag lights on BMWs can be caused by a number of things. I've seen them caused by :

The wiring going from the floor up into the seat because people are too violent moving seats back and forward.
People shampooing seats and destroying the occupancy mat in there
The airbag being fault
The airbag control unit being fault.
The passenger airbag deactivation switch being faulty
And the weirdest one of all was the main battery cable running from the boot to the engine bay causing an airbag fault.

Thats why it needs to go for diagnosis - most decent garages worth their salt can reset an airbag light - you can buy the tool on eBay to do it for 100 Euro - but it's identifying the cause so it won't reoccur which some places either don't know how to do, or aren't willing to do.

Darragh29

OP just get a date from them that the car will be ready for you, in saleable condition. Say you need the car for work and that you can't go past that date with regard to taking custody of the car. If they can't deliver the car on the agreed date, you'll just have to insist on your deposit back.

DON'T TAKE THIS CAR ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED AND WILL BE RESOLVED AT SOME FUTURE DATE, PENDING ARRIVAL OF PARTS, ETC!!!

And learn the lesson from this, a car on a forecourt with a fault light I don't think is indiciative of a professional operation.

Melion

I got a phone call about an hour ago saying the light is off at the minute but parts have been ordered. He gave me the option of taking the car tomorrow and giving it to him for a day next week or else leaving it with him until its sorted.
Oh by the way, the car passed the NCT last month until 04-11(i think thats the date, its definitely 2011 though).

Opinions?
Any chance of me giving him 4k tomorrow, taking the car and paying the rest when he fits the parts?

Darragh29

Melion wrote: »

I got a phone call about an hour ago saying the light is off at the minute but parts have been ordered. He gave me the option of taking the car tomorrow and giving it to him for a day next week or else leaving it with him until its sorted.
Oh by the way, the car passed the NCT last month until 04-11(i think thats the date, its definitely 2011 though).

Opinions?
Any chance of me giving him 4k tomorrow, taking the car and paying the rest when he fits the parts?

Refer to my last post! My very bst advice to you is don't take the car until it is in salable condition, which means no fault lights, valeted, ready to go.

Because what often happens is that you bring the car back next week, then you're without the car for another day, then low and behold you get a phone call to tell you that the part that has come in is wrong, off you go again, more inconvenience, it's another fortnight/month now and the second (correct) part has arrived, at this stage you've gotten used to the fault light being on all the time...

I doubt very much that they will let you take the car without paying for it in full...

Melion

Thats the thing, i need to have a car this weekend as herself is due on Sunday. I cant be without a car because i work half an hour away from the house and couldnt be relying on other people for a lift(salesman doesnt know this).

The reason i have to wait until tomorrow is that it has to be valeted, also there were no centre caps on the alloys. I insisted on them so apparently he had to order them in, they came in today.

TBH, im surprised by the lack of professionalism in such a big name garage, not too sure if i can name them though.

Santa Claus

If I was the OP I'd ask for my deposit back and walk away....especially with a junior Melion coming along then you don't want to take chances with a safety feature in the car possibly not working.

Having said that, if the light was on when you paid the deposit I don't know what footing you have for asking for your deposit back....maybe contact citizens information or ask over in the legal or consumer rights forii !

EPM

Melion wrote: »

Thats the thing, i need to have a car this weekend as herself is due on Sunday. I cant be without a car because i work half an hour away from the house and couldnt be relying on other people for a lift(salesman doesnt know this).

If the salesman is any good, explain this to him he'll more than likely give you a loan of a car until the problem is sorted rather than lose a sale. Please listen to what Darragh29 is telling you - don't hand any more cash over

Anan1

You could ask them for a loan car until the BMW is ready for collection.

Edit: EPM beat me to it!

Darragh29

I have to make the point again that in a seriously messed up vehicle sales market, you have to ask what is going on with what would appear to be a poorly prepared car out on a forecourt apparently ready for sale, not valeted, fault light on and caps missing from wheels. I know a good few car sales lads and generally they would not as a matter of housekeeping or best practice let a customer even test drive a car that had a fault light on or was not valeted, because they have the view that it makes them look unprofessional and unprepared, and on that basis are on the back foot straight away trying to get a customer to buy the car.

You would think people would be raising their game a bit now at this stage...

Melion

Thats what i meant earlier. I was shocked because it is probably the best known garage in Limerick. Strange behaviour.

One more thing, how did the car pass the NCT with the fault light on?

Darragh29

Melion wrote: »

Thats what i meant earlier. I was shocked because it is probably the best known garage in Limerick. Strange behaviour.

One more thing, how did the car pass the NCT with the fault light on?

I know until recently that the airbag light being on didn't cause a fail. I never agreed with this because it doesn't make one bit of sense.

I think though that this is going to change or may have changed already....

-Chris-

I'm with Darragh and the rest on this one - as long as the car's with them you can cancel and that'll put pressure on them to get the problem fixed asap.

If you take the car away, all of a sudden the need for urgency is lost and you might get jerked around.
Also, in the hypothetical that the problem repeats, is unrepairable or is a symptom of a major problem, if you've taken it away and driven it it's really hard to give the car back. But if they still have the car then all you're doing is saying "This car isn't as good as I thought. Give me my deposit back please."

Take the car and lose control.

Use a hire car if you need it on Sunday.

unkel

-Chris- wrote: »

Use a hire car if you need it on Sunday.

You have no children then Chris, do ya?

-Chris-

None that I know of!

Seriously though, I'd rather pay the (few) hundred quid or so and stay mobile than take a "faulty" car home and then be stuck with it.

Or as the lads said above - get a loan car. You're in the position to expect one - they're jerking you around.

mickdw

Seriously, if you take this car away, its more or less your problem then. You really will have no power to get anything done about it. Yes the garage will probably take it in and turn off the light, what happens if it starts coming on again & again? They will only turn it off Id say twice before they say f*ck off and wont have any interest in finding the true cause of the fault.
Dont do it, after all, we did say earlier in this thread that they will probably try to get you to take the car and have it repaired later. This is a classis tactic and can only end badly for you.

unkel

-Chris- wrote: »

None that I know of!

I asked an Italian friend once how many children he had and he looked at me like he was never asked that question before. After thinking for a while he looked pretty serious when he told me he doesn't know but that he does know he has 2 children by his wife

@OP - it's obviously your first. The baby is most likely NOT going to be born on Sunday. Make sure you have a car you can use from now on.

-Chris-

OK Unkel, for you...

-Chris- wrote: »

Use a hire car if you need it on Sunday "Sunday".