Car purchased 1 week, engine light issue. How best to approach it

peannoir

Hello all.

Always see and get good advice on boards so thought I would jump on here.

Briefly, bought a 'new' car and picked up last week. 2020 plate and the guts of 20000. (not blowing, more nearly crying). Outrageously overpriced but we all know that. Legit dealer so no major concerns on that front…I hope!

Anyway, all going ok, everything new to me on it so just starting to get comfortable and lo and behold this evening, amber engine light pops up. Unfortunately I dont have an OBD scanner available at the minute so no idea what might be going on.

Obviously I will be calling dealer first thing on Monday morning, but I am just wondering what is the best way to approach this. There is of course a warranty on the car but I have a feeling the issue might be battery related. I had a look at the battery this evening and it looks like original battery which according to all reports I have read, is very likely at the maximum life expectancy.

Most of these warranties dont cover 'wear and tear' of batteries etc, but I cant really be accused of having put much 'wear and tear' on it after a week and I would expect that I would not be having to deal with something like this so soon.

In a weird way I kind of hope it is something as simple as a battery replacement but at the same time I am pretty peeved. Even having to go back to the dealer is a major inconvenience due to personal circumstances, so should I meet any resistance and/or cost to resolving the issue, I'm not sure I will be able to remain polite…

So my question (finally) is, do any of you here have any experience of something like this? Advice etc. If it does turn out to be in need of a battery replacement, does anyone know for sure if they would be responsible for this given the problem has occured so soon? I mean, it has just done an NCT (for what that is worth) and was supposed to have gone through the full AA check etc.

Prior to me picking the car up, they had made me aware of a particular sensor issue which was causing the engine light to come on but it was to be fixed before I collected it and I assumed it was.

There might be no issue what so ever with them fixing it but just in case I have to throw out the old 'Sale of Goods and Supply of Services'….

TIA

greasepalm

What type of car and does it have stop / start built in and those batteries are expensive.

peannoir

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123710223#Comment_123710223

Hi there. Focus ST Line. Yes to the Start/Stop and yes, I've been looking at prices. Really not keen on forking out another maybe 200 or close, a week after leaving forecourt.

deandean

Put a battery charger on it overnight, see it the problem goes away.

greasepalm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123710278#Comment_123710278

Tell them it should be covered under warranty as only bought it or you want your money back.

Possibly needs a bit of stripping stuff out to your battery removal and then diagnostics run to say new battery fitted which adds more to a bill. Go onto a motor factors and fill in details for car as will give you an idea of a price and 23% vat on top.

I would say stand your ground as you have not got a chance to wear anything out and maybe fault codes were removed previously. 5 years is about the life of these batteries before issues.

peannoir

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123710332#Comment_123710332

Thanks Grease. Yeah, counting the hours till Monday morning now. Sickened with it.

peannoir

Unfortunately Dean, I have none of that equipment to hand at the moment. Just have to wait and see until Monday at least. Definitely not what I was expecting 1 week in. Sigh

greasepalm

Modern electronics in cars have more to go wrong and are costly to maintain , putting a battery on charge wont help it .

bazz26

Your overthinking this imo. Ring the dealer on Monday and let them book the car in, diagnose the problem and take it from there. If it is the battery then I'd expect them to replace it under warranty as you only bought the car last week.

watchclocker

Agree with Bazz

Let them figure out and fix, don't mention what you think it is they might try shut you down straight away

I've been unlucky with cars, have had 3 over the years that had to go back to dealer soon after purchase, most recently a 2 year old Audi from main dealer with sensor issue

Very frustrating so I understand, but they all got fixed quickly in the end

whelan2

We bought a new to us car 4 weeks ago, we brought it back last week with a sensor issue and left it back yesterday again as there was 7 warning lights coming on when we started the car. Does it not say what the issue is when the engine light comes on?

CalamariFritti

Just because it's the original battery to be thinking 'battery' is nothing more than reading tea leaves. My previous cars' first battery lastet 13 years. That was before the start/stop nonsense but still…

It's easy to assume the worst when you just drove way from the dealer and you'd be thinking 'here we go'. May well be but probably not. For now dont overthink this, just bring it back.

User1998

Just call the dealer and tell them your engine light is on. You have no mechanical knowledge or equipment so stop trying to diagnose an issue you know nothing about

KaneToad

Agree with most others here. Bring back, tell them about issue, allow them to fix it. They will likely want to sort it for you. Issues happen with vehicles all the time - not every car sale is an attempt to con us!

9935452

Agree with bazz . Back to dealer. Let them figure it out.

Without reading the fault you don't know what the problem is

My money is it's the same sensor that they told you about is throwing the fault.

They most likely just reset the faults and didn't replace it .

Regarding the battery and stop start system. Is the stop start system working?

If it is ' probably not the battery

peannoir

Thanks to everyone for your responses, advice and opinions. I really do appreciate them all.

Yeah I know I am probably overthinking it. Thats been said to me a few times closer to home, but I dont think its over the top to be a bit peeved given that I have it only a week and it apparently went through every conceivable test. I've no concerns about dealer. They are perfectly legit and I hope that the problem can be resolved. Its just a worry and a significant inconvenience.

Just re a few comments. Im not completely a dunce with regards mechanics etc. My belief that the battery 'might' be the issue was not just based on imagination.

Once again folks, thanks to all for your input. I appreciate it.

Killer K

Did you get sorted today?

OmegaGene

so what happened op ?

goochy

Edge of seat stuff

peannoir

Ha, goochy, you would not get this suspense with Mrs. Browns Boys….

So folks, once again thanks to all for your advice. Yes I was a bit perturbed and 'slightly' anxious, and sure here is cheaper than therapy.

Anyway brought car back. They ran the diagnostics of course and a few issues popped up. Mainly around the Catalytic sensors. Cleaned them off, one was blocked with soot apparently and replaced another. Possibility that issue might recur and require software upgrade or another replacement.

Battery is getting near its retirement but not quite yet. It is conserving energy a bit more than a new one would but hopefully will get a few months out of it at least.

I hope ye all have your phones set to get alerts on this!!!

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123715177#Comment_123715177

Wrong time of year for a battery to be getting near retirement! I hope it lasts the winter.

bcklschaps

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123715177#Comment_123715177

Soo, is the car a diesel? this kinda sounds like the dreaded DPF clogging issue that lots of diesels experience. It's only a 5 yro car with presumably less than 100k kms soo unless its only been used for pottering around the shops etc. in the last few months, this shouldn't really be occurring.

If it's a petrol, well it's still only a 5 yro car with presumably less than 100k kms, bit soon to be having sensor failures.... was this the problem they highlighted to you before the sale? but anyway, they have fixed it now.... soo fingers crossed.

Also on a related point, I wouldn't be too happy to hear from my garage "problem might return" on a car that I have just spent €20k on.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123715221#Comment_123715221

How have you came to the conclusion that its the DPF? A bit ridiculous considering there is no loss of power, no DPF warning light, and no DPF error message, and no obvious driving symptoms. I’d love to know what made you think its the DPF

OmegaGene

scaremongering me thinks

trixiebust

I had a similar situation recently a new to me car, 2018 with 85km cost 15k from a dealer.After a few weeks of owning, some mornings wasn't starting on the first try & two front headlights were letting in some moisture.

Came with a 12 month warranty, rang the garage they ended up replacing with a new battery & two front headlights. OP I'd push again with your garage, that's a lot of money to hand over & have worries about in such a short space of time. Good luck