Brand New CITROEN DS5 with miss-coloured bumper and steering

[mbrad26]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/26371319@ ... 400120115/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;










Hello and thank you for your time

First of all I would like to thank you in advance for your eventual support, advice and your honest opinion. What follows is a true story, my story. This is not an attempt to badmouth Citroen or any other manufacturer. This is about how some car dealers choose to treat their customers, about gross negligence and, why not, fraud. Everything that follows is supported by, I believe, strong evidence - phone conversations recordings, e-mails, pictures and video recordings.

After much consideration and a crazy amount of courage I have decided not to buy a Seat Leon Touring FR but a brand new Citroen DS5 2.0 HDI manual. Very soon this proofed to be a huge mistake.

The car was purchase by finance, PCP. The OTR price of the vehicle was 17000 pounds, heavily discounted from 25000 pounds. This big discount of 8000 pounds made me choose this car. Big mistake. This kind of discounts are not something out of the ordinary in the industry, specially in March.

Also relevant is the fact that this was a distance selling purchase. This vehicle was advertised via AutoTrader home page and all the correspondence between me and the dealer (Sutton Park Motor Company Ltd - Stourbridge) was via phone or email.

Friday (21.03.2014) I took delivery of a brand new Citroen DS5 which I bought with finance by PCP provided by Barclays Partner Finance. As soon as I drove the car from the dealer I've noticed Steering and Braking faults with the car. The most obvious defect was the fact the car suffered from a bad wheel alignment, the steering wheel stayed all the time lean to the left and the car was pulling constantly left, no matter of the camber of the road.

I immediately turned to the dealer to report the issues with the car. The dealer briefly inspected the car and they told me that they used some kind of brake spray to clean the brakes and also test drove the car and informed me that the car is fault free. This seemed very weird to me because no spray cleaner in this world will cure a bad wheel alignment but I was too tired to argue (been travel for 4h by train to reach Dealer's location)

I've set up again on the road and I noticed that nothing has really changed with the car's issues, obviously.

When I arrived home (more than 140 miles away) I have contacted the dealer by phone explaining that none of the problems with the car have been fixed. I've been told that on Monday (24.03.2014) I will be contacted by the Dealer's Service Manager who will discuss with me this matter.

Nobody contacted me and I decided to take the car to an independent tracking specialist. The wheel alignment job print out clearly shows that the car's tracking was off.

This was not the only problem with my brand new car.

Here is full list of faults:

1. Bad wheel alignment and tracking causing the vehicle to constantly pull to the left

2. Steering wheel was off centred, it stays leaned towards passenger side.

3. Steering wheel vibrates at motorways cruise speeds 60 – 70 mph.

4. Steering wheel shakes under braking.

5. The car is very unstable on uneven and slightly bumpy roads, especially when braking, causing the car to change trajectory towards incoming traffic or pavement.

6. The steering wheel is twitching and jerking back and forth every time the front wheel goes over small bumps and cracks on the surface of the road, also causing the car to change trajectory towards incoming traffic or pavement.

7. Miss coloured front bumper – painted in a different shade of grey.

8. Rattling noise coming from the right hand side rear passenger door.



Tuesday ,25.03.2014, morning I've contacted the dealer and told them that I'm willing to return the car to them so they can have a full check of the car. They agreed to bring the back to them, which I did.

When I went back to the dealer (after 2 days) to pick up the car and noticed that there was an improvement to some of the issues but most of them were still not fixed. There was no more steering wheel vibration at motorways cruise but still the steering wheel was shaking under braking sometimes.

The steering shake under braking was pointed out by me to dealer's Service Manager when we test drove the car together but he informed me that this was normal because of the road condition which I strongly rejected. He also tried to convince me that the steering wheel jerking and twitching from left to right was absolutely normal. I've explained to him that maybe this is normal with an used car with many miles on the clock but not with a brand new car with 3 miles on the clock.

Every time my car goes over small bumps and cracks on the road the steering wheel is abruptly twitching and shaking back and forth, making the car to suddenly change direction to the left or right very rapidly. I have tried to explain to the dealer that this is not normal or safe but he disagrees with me.

On 31-03-2014 I phoned the Dealer and Informed him that I want to reject the car. I’ve been informed that they have to speak with Citroen UK. Later that day they come back to me and told me that they opened a case with Citroen and also informed me that I have to book in the car with another Citroen dealer for an independent opinion, if this can be considered independent opinion. I agreed with that and on 01-04-2014 the car was with my local dealer Freeborn Garage Ltd.

One of the mechanics has test drove the car with me and immediately noticed that the car was pulling left in a very strange way. He also noticed that the steering wheel is twitching and jerking every time the front wheels go over small bumps and cracks on the road. He told me that they have to check the air pressure, disk brakes and something like connecting the steering rack to a device that will tell if the wheel alignment of the car changes while driving the vehicle. This part is very technical for me.

Later that day they called me to tell me that I can take the car back. They gave me a job report that says that while the car was pulling left when during the test drive, they couldn't find anything wrong with any of the steering and suspension components so the car is OK at the moment of the testing.

On the evening of 01-04-2014 I emailed a formal Complaint Letter to the Dealer. On 02-04-2014 I have received an email confirming that they have received the letter.

On 03-04-2014 I have noticed that the front bumper is painted in a noticeable different shade of grey then the rest of the car!!!!!

06-04-2014 === Officially rejected the car and returned to the shocked Dealer, who didn't want to touch the keys. I've left them on the reception desk. Also left them a letter explaining them my actions and the reasons behind them. Everything was video recorded by my trusted phone.

=== Later that day I've posted on Citroen’s Facebook pages and on Tweeter.

07-04-2014 === Citroen UK Head Office has been contacted me, aground 11 AM. I've been told they are working on my case.

10-04-2014 === Citroen UK called to informed that they’ve been in contact with the Dealer. The Dealer’s legal team are preparing an answer for me and I should receive it today or tomorrow.
=== Received a response letter from the Dealer that is arguing that I have no grounds to reject the car .
=== Barclays Partner Finance contacted my wife to tell her that they have no responsibility on this issue and everything is between us and the Dealer.

15-04-2014 === Today I have received two emails and one phone call from Citroen UK.

22-04-2014 === called BPF to ask them to reconsider their position from 10-04-2014; They denied.
=== filed a complained to FOS.


Here are some pictures and videos :

https://www.flickr.com/photos/26371319@ ... 400120115/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;











This is the story so far.


Thank you

[Lighty]

Sorry to hear your story, I think you are going to have problems with this situation.
Looking at the pictures f the car it has clearly had some body repairs at the front end, maybe this is why the car was so heavily discounted. Under the distance sellers laws, you an reject a vehicle immediately, and I am sure you wish you had at the time. It is easy to say that, but we can easily get taken along with the situation at the time due to excitement about the new car.
I wish you well with the refund, and would imagine that the dealer will have to reimburse you eventually.

[myglaren]

My first reaction on seeing the photo's of the mismatched bumper and description of the defects is that is has been involved in a collision that has put the front suspension geometry and steering out of tolerance.

My personal approach would be, seeing as you have given the vendor adequate opportunity to investigate and rectify the problems would be to engage a solicitor and also an independent engineer to examine the car and provide documentation to support your rejection of the car.

Your insurance policy may have the option of legal cover that you can use, also if you are a member of the AA or RAC, they can provide independent engineers reports and also in some cases have legal cover that may be applicable to your circumstances.

A proper tale of woe certainly.

[demag]

I had some recent issues with a blown turbo on a Berlingo with 12 months warranty. Citroen didn't want to honour the warranty and quoted £1300 to do the repair. I spoke to Citizens Advice who were very helpful and gave me lots of free information. You might like to get in touch with them. In my case the turbo was replaced free of charge.

[myglaren]

^Excellent suggestion and simple + free.

[mbrad26]

Hi guys

Thanks for advice. Already phoned CAB and been told to talk with the Finance Company which I did. The FC declined any responsibility, arguing that this is between me and the Dealer.

[oldchap]

Did you use a credit card for ANY part of the transaction?? if you did they are also jointly responsable

[mbrad26]

Yes I did. The deposit was paid entirely with my credit card.

I purchased the car through a Conditional Sale Agreement Contract, regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 - this is written with capital letters on the first page of the credit agreement.

The same legislation applies to credit cards and condional sale agreements.

Cheers

[mbrad26]

Hi guys

Bad news for me.

Citron UK called to ask me what exactly is it that I want: refund, replacement...

I've been told that Citroen UK is siding with his Dealer with regards to the steering and suspension issues as there wasn't any faults found during the vehicle inspection.

Also they sent out a Citroen paint specialist (:)) to check the front bumper and the conclusion is that the miss-colour issue is due to the nature of the different materials: front bumper made from plastic and the body panels are being made from metal. Obviously I have protested against this statement. I asked why the rear bumper doesn't have the same issue as is also made from plastic - I didn't get an answer to this question.

They will call me back later today... I don't know why they even bother.

Cheers

[vborovic]

You can check on any other DS5 that (if normal) no miss-coloration should be possible on a high-class product (or at least that's how they advertise it - matching price tag as well), front, rear or any other plastic part matches the metal body in at least 99% color tone ... do they have a log showing that their tests really showed no faults during vehicle inspection? Sadly, that can easily be modified, but that would mean more than one person/company is involved in the process, which means they would try to cover up this mess ...

[Stickyfinger]

Phone the BBC.....

Really, phone them local, talk to the News/Local features Editor....they LOVE this type of stuff as it is easy to do a 5 min "feature", it is very "visual" subject and they get a chance to kick a Car Dealership....then tell your dealer you have arranged for the BBC to visit.

[Xaccers]

Definitely call the BBC. Local radio often have consumer champion spots.
Surely this comes under the sale of goods acts (forget warranty - they should be banned in the UK as they are used to convince consumers nothing can be done) which also covers the aesthetics of a product so if it doesn't look like it should or discolours unacceptably.
Finance companies are usually the first call because its their money so if you fail to pay they do not want to be stuck with a dog of a car they can't sell to recoup their money.
Trading standards may be worth contacting, as may be the AA or RAC to ask their opinion and have an assessment done.

[Mandrake]

Oh dear. Best of luck getting this sorted out!

These sort of things really shouldn't be able to happen in the first place - you pay for a new car from an authorised dealer, (discounted or not is irrelevant) the car is not as advertised (mismatched bumper colours on their own is enough to prove that the car is not "as new") as well as other mechanical faults that have been observed by 3rd parties - surely that warrants a full refund at the very least ? I fail to understand how the dealer can get away with not refunding the car...why are the consumer protection laws so toothless in this country ?

[Xaccers]

Consumer protection law in the UK is one of the best/strongest in the world. The problem is very few people know about it and believe warranties are there to protect you. They aren't. A warranty is between the retailer and the manufacturer, it has nothing to do with you the consumer (and in my opinion should be banned) as you are covered by the law.
Any goods bought new should be as described, fit for purpose and last a reasonable time. If it falls short of this it is up to the retailer (not manufacturer) to either repair, replace or offer refund.

[mbrad26]

Hi again.

Good news for me

What a day!!! It seems there may be a positive outcome for me.

At this moment in time I can't give any details about this as I'm still waiting for more details myself.

Thanks for support and for making this happening.

I will be back as soon as I have more details.

THANK YOU ALL