Couple's anger over smoking Jag wrangle

Mark Elliott, landlord at the Dog Inn, Chadderton with his crocked Jaguar

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A COUPLE whose car broke down just three days after buying it from a dealership said they were told "you are not bringing that back here" when they tried to return it to the garage.

Shirley Elliott and her husband Mark, of Oldham, said the lack of interest from car dealers The Car Finance People, Shaw Road, after their recently bought Jaguar S-type billowed smoke having driven only 40 miles after they bought it was disgusting.

They said that when they tried to return the car they were told the garage would not accept it, nor would the garage concede any liability.

Now Shirley and Mark have contacted Consumer Rights in an attempt to resolve the issue.

Warranty

The couple bought the car on July 13 by part exchanging their own car and paying cash. A couple of days before, when looking at the car, they were told it would come with 12 months warranty and RAC cover by the salesman.

However, Shirley said when she went went to pick the car up on the 13th she was told it would not come with the warranty nor would it come with registration documents with it, although it had had an MOT that day.

After raising concerns about how they would tax the vehicle, she was told she could do so at the post office, however she said that was not the case and in the end the dealership got it taxed, although Shirley is unclear how.

"That was the start of the problems." Shirley said. "In the end, I'm not sure what they did, but they got it taxed, they didn't give me the details and I wasn't with them... I think it is a bit dodgy."

They continued with the purchase and three days later Shirley and Mark went on a trip to Wallasey, Wirral.

Shirley said: "After about 40 miles on the motorway the engine started smoking.

"We broke down on the motorway and had to be towed off it and we couldn't get anything done about the car until the next day."

They subsequently rang the garage to arrange bringing the car back but were told 'You are not bringing it back here, what are you bringing it back here for?' Shirley claimed.

"They were not interested," she added.

When the car was brought back to the AA the dealership refused to accept it and so it was left on the nearest street to the garage.

Shirley and Mark have now removed it and said that after a mechanic looked at the engine he said the coolant had been leaking for some time and had rusted parts of the engine and stopped it from cooling.

Shirley said: "The manager was not doing anything for us. We have now managed to bring it back to ours and we had a mechanic look at it and he said it was something to do with the coolant.

"It's been leaking and rusted parts of the engine as well as not cooling the car. We have been in touch with the consumer rights and have now sent a registered letter."

She said: "It's just the fact that they are not interested. At the end of the day you expect some customer service, it is just disgusting."

Liasing
A spokesperson for the Car Finance People said that they were liaising with the couple to try and come up with a solution.

However, Mark said that they were asked to get a diagnostic report, which they did, but since then the company has shown little interest.

He said: "They are just not interested, they are not working with us at all, now they are not even really speaking to us. You ring them and they give all these excuses why they can't talk.

"We have given them evidence, we gave them the diagnostic, we got asked for a mechanics opinion, and we've not heard anything back from them at all."