Cars - a rant.

[chelsea]

I need to vent my frustration!

Does anyone else seem to have constant problems with their car? (please say yes )

Three weeks ago we were coming back from Cornwall and our Freelander starts to pump black smoke from the exhaust.......took it to a local garage and they advise intercooler pump has gone, also needs replacement thermostat and new water pump ...all for the modest sum of £467.00 - we had it done.

Three days later I arrive at work with smoke coming out of the engine, call out Green Flag - they dump me and the car at the same garage leave me to WALK home 3 miles along grass verges. Garage diagnose turbo pipe had now split....KERCHING ££££ another £105.00 to pay.

Two days later, OH jumps in car - all warning lights come on and funny burning smell coming from engine. Little local garage cannot fix it - it has to go to the big cheeses at Landrover.

It's been at Landrover since last Monday and today they ring up to say they need a "top" technician to look at the error codes that are coming off the car's computer to discover what is wrong with the car, technician charges £100 an hour but the car is not safe to drive so we cannot have it back until it is fixed. Bill so far for "investigation" at Landrover is £405.

And I've had to hire a car to get to work.........£263.00

Feeling very depressed.. need cheering up please!

[clootie]

[Chickvic]

I agree with Clootie - that's absolutely shocking. How old is the car?

[chelsea]

7 years, we bought it when it was 6 months old.

[Seagazer]

I'm with Clootie on this one!

I think sometimes you do get a run of problems with cars. I know my friend has with her BMW and its cost her a fortune, typically the dealer's warranty had run out when the problems started.

[chelsea]

We wanted to get rid of it after the first thing went wrong 3 weeks ago, but now it's not able to be driven we can't trade it in.

What is reliable and cheap? or are all cars the same??

[Paddy]

Oh you poor thing - I absolutely hate it when anything happens to cars. It gets me really really stressed!

[WarrensWorld]

Never been impressed with the Freelander, our neighbour Henry as had two, he's now given up on them and bought a Suzukl. If you really want a Landrover you should have bought one of these....



We owned it for 9 years, and never went wrong once. We're still sorry we sold it.....

[bluekarin]

I really do feel your pain. We bought a really nice Seat Alhambra a few years ago and within the three month warranty there was a burning smell and hubby pulled over just in case it was going to go up in smoke - which after all the hassle, we wish it did go up, but the worry would have been would the doors have opened? The garage fixed it by replacing a fuse. Turns out they used a wrong amp fuse so it was well and truely . . . . . After many, many months and us having to buy another car as we couldn't afford to hire one for indefinite, we finally got it fixed and sold it. The garage did absolutely nothing to help us.

So we only had the Espace, but that cost us lots in repairs, which it turns out the garage we'd been using for over 12 years hadn't been doing the work properly So we traded that one in for a brand new Mazda 5 and *touch wood* all seems to be going well. We have only had it 3 months and we are quietly waiting for something to go wrong We lost so much money on the previous two cars and were so badly let down by the garage.

I think that was more the case with us. Awful garages. But I think the problem with cars is they vary so much. You'd think something coming off a production line would be the same, but alas, no. I hope they sort your car out for you pronto considering how much its costing you.

[Snowy]

I feel your pain Chels We have been having problems with our Espace - that is also 7 years old. Had it fixed to the tune of £135 before going to France and had loads of problems there; on our return another £1500 to have all four fuel injectors replaced; 3 weeks after that it goes wrong again OH kicked up a stink at the garage and they have now replaced the air filter. At least they did lend us an old rust bucket to get about in and they haven't charged us for the air filter yet. They said to let them know if it's OK then they will bill us. If it's not, they'll take it back again. Good service, but it's still a pain

[BeckyBoo]

I do think that sometimes the more expensive and modern a car is the more there is to go wrong with it and the more it costs to fix! I don't have old cars by choice, they're old because that's all I can afford - currently pootling about in an M reg Previa which suits us fine as a) it carries hundreds of kids, bikes, dogs, chicken food etc, b) I don't mind if it gets full of biscuit crumbs, dog hair and spilt corn, c) no one will ever steal it and d) my mate across the road can fix most of what goes wrong with by buying the bits from Halfords or the local auto-factors. He doesn't have to plug it in to download a diagnosis of what's wrong with it and apart from the electric windows almost every other operation in it requires me to do something rather than it to decide it needs doing.
There are such things as "Friday cars", some cars are just trouble, doesn't seem to matter what you do which I think is outrageous considering how much we pay for them

Hope you get it sorted soon, I think it's appalling that something that cost you presumably a rather enormous sum of money should, 6 1/2 years later be costing you more than it cost me to buy my car!

BeckyBoo

[Egluntyne]

Sorry to hear it Chels. What a nuisance.

[bluekarin]

I do think that sometimes the more expensive and modern a car is the more there is to go wrong with it and the more it costs to fix! I don't have old cars by choice, they're old because that's all I can afford - currently pootling about in an M reg Previa which suits us fine as a) it carries hundreds of kids, bikes, dogs, chicken food etc, b) I don't mind if it gets full of biscuit crumbs, dog hair and spilt corn, c) no one will ever steal it and d) my mate across the road can fix most of what goes wrong with by buying the bits from Halfords or the local auto-factors. He doesn't have to plug it in to download a diagnosis of what's wrong with it and apart from the electric windows almost every other operation in it requires me to do something rather than it to decide it needs doing.
There are such things as "Friday cars", some cars are just trouble, doesn't seem to matter what you do which I think is outrageous considering how much we pay for them

Hope you get it sorted soon, I think it's appalling that something that cost you presumably a rather enormous sum of money should, 6 1/2 years later be costing you more than it cost me to buy my car!

BeckyBoo

I wanted a Previa originally but we just couldn't find one for sale They have such good reviews and my BIL chap at his local garage said thats was what we should go for (when the head went on the Espace )

I'd heard of the Friday car thing too. Does make sense

[Clur]

I must admit we stick to Japanese cars as they seem far more reliable. Currently driving around in a P reg Mazda that's got 189,000 miles on the clock and it cost us £200 to get it through the last MOT.

Once your flash technician has checked the car out, it might be worth contacting Land Rover UK if you think the car should have been fixed properly in the first place, thus saving you a fair whack. They may be willing to come to some agreement, especially if they know you are looking to do a trade-in.

Hope the technician can get it sorted for you quickly and without too much more expense.

[chelsea]

Thanks for all the replies In a good way it's nice to know we are not alone with stressful car problems!

Funnily enough, there is some silver lining on those dark clouds. Coming from totally nowhere the inlaws have offered to buy us a new car!! ...... (unbelievable isn't it??) I think they could see how much despair these repairs were causing us (on top of other personal problems we've had lately) and they've saved the day.

We still have to get shot of the LandRover though.....