Bryan H

tenpin

In Feb. 2016 after seeing an advert for a 54reg Honda Jazz on Autotrader for Benedicks I spoke with the sales manager & agreed to giving a deposit to hold this car. I was told verbally that the car was one owner with 22000 miles with full service history & they would give a comprehensive warranty + a RAC breakdown cover for 3 months this all seemed ok so I arrnged to travel up on the 9th Feb. I was met by Bob the sales manager at the station with the car & was taken to the office , here I had a quick look through the car history & took the car for a short test drive it seemed ok [ only a couple of miles ] . Back at the office went through the paperwork for the sale , I was asked if I wanted the extended warranty I declined & said I was OK with there warranty & breakdown Insurance, problem Bob denied all knowledge of this, I decided I would not press this & completed the sale. I left to drive the 125 miles home & all seeded OK untill I tried to pull away at traffic light near my home [ slight incline ] the car SHUDDERED [ like driving over rumble strips ] I drive around again & repeated the procedure , same. Went home telephoned Bob & the only response was IT WAS FINE WHEN YOU LEFT. Before I phoned I checked the Automatic gearbox oil it was very dark brown [ bad news ] I also went through the service records thre was no evidence of any service on the gearbox according to the HONDA service manual this was due at 4yrs, 7yrs, 9yrs, I told Bob all this but he did not offer any advice other than IF YOU DONT LIKE THE car BRING IT BACK , not very helpfull. The following day I took it to a main Honda dealer who confirmed my worst thoughts the gearbox start clutch was very badly worn/ contaminated , they would flush the old oil out & refill cost £ 150. it may help. I phoned Benedicks & Bob said they would pay half or I could return the car for a refund. I liked the car so I reluctantly agreed . A couple of hours later the car was done but within a couple of miles as bad as before. Honda said the gearbox was very bad and it was due to the lack of service & would have been like this for some months or longer & would get worse & the only way was to replace the clutch cost £850. I decided to return the car [ had the car for less than 1 week ] I phoned Bob who said OK but the return costs would be for me to pay. I believe the fault was known before I purchased it , there is no way a competent mechanic would have missed it . At this I decided to return