Jonathan K

Refused to help

I saw an ad online for a Passat taken in a p/x deal - it's an 04 plate with high mileage but a full service history and I was looking for a cheap estate to move 'things' around... I went to Blenheim Cars on a wet Saturday morning, the car looked ok but it had no filler cap and the boot wouldn't open (pretty useless on an estate). I agreed to buy if the boot was fixed, a filler cap cover replaced and a new MOT provided. They agreed and the transaction seemed perfectly ok. Mistake no 1 - I didn't actually drive the car but I was assured it was perfectly ok by the pleasant sales guy. I was hoping to pick the car up that week - that didn't happen so the following weekend I had to hire a car to move some things (the very reason I was buying the Passat), mistake no 2 I'm now £60 out of pocket because they failed to get the car ready. It was late the following week when I get a call (having chased almost every day) saying the work was complete - they tried to convince me that it was work I had requested...er, no....it was things required to make the car work! I go to pick the car up, the boot now opens but only with the key (a real pain) no spare tyre, at this point I get told I'm asking for the moon and being unreasonable, the sales guy said he would source one for me and then the owner turned up and got shirty, mistake no 3, I should have just walked away and insisted on my deposit back. I drove off and immediately there is a horrible rumbling from the offside front wheel. Mistake no 4 - I didn't turn around straight away, it was raining, my wife had gone home having dropped me and I thought, having gotten a brand new 12 month MOT that everything must be ok and that something might be stuck in the wheel/brake. I had no need to use the car for the next 6 days. The first time I use the car for a planned journey to Bristol the noise is BAD and it get's worse...so much so that by the time I reached Swindon I stopped and rang my roadside assistance. They immediately diagnosed a dodgy/broken/unsafe wheel bearing - I got shipped home. I had driven less than 30 miles in total since buying the car. The AA guy was staggered that the car had a new MOT, in fact he just could not believe it. The next morning I rang Blenheim - they basically refused to accept any fault/blame/ repair etc and after much arguing they eventually said take it to your local garage to get it fixed (why would they not do it? turns out it's a pig of a job) - there was a discussion about who was paying (they wanted to pay for the part only and not the labour or VAT and I insisted that they were liable for all repair costs) - Why would they not fix it? I live 5 miles from them, they said they knew the garage I was taking it to, it's our local guys who look after our other 2 cars. I insisted that there is no way I should be out of pocket and have to pay out. SO today the car goes in and the garage are shocked by the state of the bearing - NO WAY SHOULD IT HAVE PASSED AN MOT - the work was carried out but Blenheim refused to pay for anything other than the part so I'm £110 out of pocket for what....... buying a dodgy car from a dodgy dealer that's what. I am contacting the RAC as they are supposedly an approved dealer on used cars. I have owned over 20 cars in my life, I'm in my 60's and I have NEVER experienced anything like this. STEER CLEAR - DREADFUL EXPERIENCE. The coda on this is that my garage said I should pursue it as they are legally wrong - I should not be out of pocket. I have tried to find out where the MOT was done, no information available online and Blenheim would not tell me. THIS IS A CLASSIC DODGY CAR DEALER, with ZERO after care, no guilt or interest in putting anything right, their retort was 'we sell dozens of expensive cars' ...er yes, and some cheap trade ins ALL SHOULD WORK AS DESCRIBED - I shall be pushing this as far as I can and that includes local paper/RAC/Citizen Advice etc.... It was a cheap car BUT it should damn well work as sold - the wheel bearing had clearly been bad for a long time. They have chosen to roll over the wrong guy.