Car issues.. What can I do?

fatalll

Hi,
I bought a new car in Jan.
Ive had issues with the electrics that occur a few times since.
It sorts itself after driving for a while but its annoying as wipers wont work at interval speed or normal.
Ive dropped to garage a couple of times but its still not resolved.

Can I get a new car or what it the situation??/
as its not fixed or do they have multiple times to fix it.
Its obviously still in warranty

bucketybuck

Do you mean a brand new car from a dealer, or a 2nd hand car that is new to you?

fatalll

brand new

dudara

Moved to the Motors forum as I feel it's better suited there.

dudara

fatalll

sorry Dudara, wasnt sure where to put

martinr5232

Its near impossible to get a new car from a manufacturer.

Is it only an intermittent problem if it is they can be very hard to diagnose best bet is bring it into the garage get a car from them and tell them you are not taking it back till its fixed.

What make of car is it by the way ??

fatalll

Ford

bucketybuck

fatalll wrote: »

Hi,
I bought a new car in Jan.
Ive had issues with the electrics that occur a few times since.
It sorts itself after driving for a while but its annoying as wipers wont work at interval speed or normal.
Ive dropped to garage a couple of times but its still not resolved.

Can I get a new car or what it the situation??/
as its not fixed or do they have multiple times to fix it.
Its obviously still in warranty

Firstly, no, you will not get a new car. There is no legal standard that says after x number of problems you get to have the car replaced, instead the requirement is for the dealer to make every reasonable attempt to repair the faults, and what this involves will vary massively depending on the fault itself. Even if they fail this reasonableness test you will still only be compensated to the value of your actual loss, and because of the figures involved in replacing the car it is incredibly unlikely to apply to the vast majority of cases.

You haven't given much info about what the fault is, is it just a wiper fault or something more serious that is also affecting the wipers?

fatalll

wipers,lights

bucketybuck

fatalll wrote: »

wipers,lights

What about them?

fatalll

they stop working for a period of time

Toyotafanboi

Jaysis, it's like a riddle. boards doesn't charge users per word, give us a sentence or two and we may be able to offer something useful.

wipers and lights aren't working? did you turn the switch? is the car turned on? was it dark at the time?

fatalll

when you start the car the odd time the wipers/head lights will not work, can be anytime.
The issue usually sorts itself but can take 1 min or 20 minutes
thats the shortest/longest time period out so far.

biko

fatalll, please explain better/more. If you force people to ask a million questions they will stop asking and you will not get help.

I assume it is a 152 and under warranty so keep bringing it back until issues are resolved. It could be anything but the dealer is responsible to fix it.

bucketybuck

fatalll wrote: »

they stop working for a period of time

I hope you are communicating better with the garage than you are with us.

In terms of your original question, you need to understand how the garages actions are viewed. If you are going in and just saying "the wipers aren't working", they check the wipers and they are working, so don't do anything.

Next time you go in and just say the lights aren't working, they change a fuse and away you go. Then the next time you go in and say the wipers aren't working, they check them again and they are fine so off you go, straight to boards.ie to say that the garage has had multiple chances to fix this but still haven't and you want a new car.

But the garage has done nothing wrong, it has acted reasonably every time. The devil is in the detail, you need to show that they aren't acting correctly.

bucketybuck

fatalll wrote: »

when you start the car the odd time the wipers/head lights will not work, can be anytime.
The issue usually sorts itself but can take 1 min or 20 minutes
thats the shortest/longest time period out so far.

How many times has the car been in a garage for this fault and what chances have they had to fix it?

cadaliac

fatalll wrote: »

they stop working for a period of time

For how long? Are they the only (two) items that didn't work? You say thatthere were electrical issues in the past - were these connected, the same?

Were there different electrical issues?

How many times were you back to the dealer?

Lights switching themselves off is obviously dangerous for you and otherroad users. In fact the car is un roadworthy in that state and you should atthe very least be provided with a replacement until they can guarantee roadworthiness.

Youngblood.III

"Goods not fit for purpose"
Imo...

punisher5112

Is it auto wiper/lights?

Possible faulty sensor

fatalll

Maybe im obviously not explaining properly.
Apologies

eg of what happens
I start the car in the morning and sometimes the wipers and headlights will not work as well as the window washer. After driving like this for a while if i keep checking the wipers and/or headlights they will eventually work fine.
ie. it sorts itself out

it may not happen again for days or weeks but i do not check the lights/wipers very time i get into the car

I took it to garage and they say they can find nothing wrong which is fair enough cos obviously it is working when they get it, also i understand electrical issues are hard to diagnose

fatalll

ive ben back to the garage 3 times with it but its happened more than 3 times

bucketybuck

cadaliac wrote: »

Lights switching themselves off is obviously dangerous for you and otherroad users. In fact the car is un roadworthy in that state and you should atthe very least be provided with a replacement until they can guarantee roadworthiness.

He did not say they were switching themselves off.

fatalll

they said sensors were ok

punisher5112

Take a video of fault when it occurs

R.O.R

New Mondeo by any chance?

We had a driver who's Mondeo flicked the wipers on his first turn left every morning, but not after that.

Took a few trips back to the garage before it was diagnosed, but turned out to be a kinked wire under the steering column. Wire unkinked and not heard anything for the past 2 weeks.

Might not be the same thing, but worth mentioning next time it goes in.

Kimbot

fatalll wrote: »

Maybe im obviously not explaining properly.
Apologies

eg of what happens
I start the car in the morning and sometimes the wipers and headlights will not work as well as the window washer. After driving like this for a while if i keep checking the wipers and/or headlights they will eventually work fine.
ie. it sorts itself out

it may not happen again for days or weeks but i do not check the lights/wipers very time i get into the car

I took it to garage and they say they can find nothing wrong which is fair enough cos obviously it is working when they get it, also i understand electrical issues are hard to diagnose

Ok, when this happens again then take your phone out and record the issue so you can show the garage whats going on.

punisher5112

fatalll wrote: »

they said sensors were ok

So do you use manual settings or sensor(auto)

It may be a simple stalk fault and sensor

Alanstrainor

Are they auto lights/wipers? Or do you manually turn the switch to turn them on?

I'd bring it back and tell them I wasn't taking it back until the issue was resolved. That is taking the piss on a brand new car.

fatalll

manual settings

fatalll

i have to swith them on manually no auto rain sensors

Kimbot

Either bring it to an auto electrician who can probably find a fault in the wiring or take the video of it happening and bring it back to the garage.

biko

It's going to be a pain but if you don't get it fixed keep escalating to managers.

Keep a running record of every time the fault occurs and every time it's at the garage.
Dealers have an obligation to "repair or replace" but it's unlikely they will replace car with another for some small issue like wipers.

Keep at it, be a pain to the dealer and they will sort it

Cupra280

fatalll wrote: »

it may not happen again for days or weeks but i do not check the lights/wipers very time i get into the car

This makes me a little uneasy....especially given the current weather conditions and also given that the problem can take up to 20 minutes to rectify itself.

If I was you fatall, I would be checking the wipers and lights as soon as the car is started, before moving off.

bucketybuck

fatalll wrote: »

ive ben back to the garage 3 times with it but its happened more than 3 times

This is the relevant part to your question in the OP, and what your expectations should be.

You have been 3 times to the workshop and I assume every time you went there the lights were working fine. From the garage point of view have they acted reasonably? They could easily argue that they have, because they cannot fix what isn't broken. So from a legal point of view you don't have a case, you need to engage further with the dealer.

Electrical faults like that are a nightmare to fix, especially with Ford who as a manufacturer will not allow the garage to just replace parts until the fault goes away. Consider their position, they would change the wiper/light stalk tomorrow but how do they know it has fixed the problem? Lights were working before, lights were working after, whats the difference? The ecu, a wiring harness, a switch somewhere, if there is no visible effect how do you know what has worked and what hasn't? I would have changed a few things by now, but Ford? They are awful in this regard and it isn't the dealers fault.

All you can do is clearly state your problems to the service manager and allow them a reasonable chance to fix the fault, which may include giving them the car for 3/4 days plus. (If it only happens from cold then they will want to leave it overnight and check it every morning as part of the fault finding). But as to the question of a new car, from my experience that simply will not happen in your case.

fatalll

i do most times in fairness.
But if its raining or dark you will obviously check them anyway :-)

fatalll

thanks everyone for replies

colm_mcm

I would escalate it to ford Ireland, wipers and lights are essentials, this is a safety issue.

martinr5232

Op can you pm what dealer you had this with ?