I'm really glad I have found this forums, as I am so angry with Huttons.
At the end of March I bought a Punto dynamic 1.2 8v from them. It was an '05 reg with only 2000 miles on the clock. I thought it was bound to be ok and payed them over £7,000 for it.............how badly mistaken I was!!!
Two days later, my partner and I got to go away for the weekend. I started to get messages flashing up on the dash and the car cut out. It happened a few times on the way to Gloucester and I was really cheesed off. On the way back it was ok, but I really wasn't happy with the performance. It was changing up the gears very slowly (I was driving in auto), in fact at one point, it was showing me in 1st gear at 65 mpg. When I came back, I went straight back to Huttons and said I wasn't happy with the car. I said I wanted to reject it. They asked for one opportunity to correct the problem, which I gave them.
I had to wait two weeks for them to have the car in and during that time the car cut out in traffic another three times....once in quite a dangerous position. The car finally went in and they apparently reset parameters on the ECU and said it would be fine.........haha.
Within three weeks the fault started to return, and after contacting trading standards, I wrote my first letter, again rejecting the car....and there the fun began.
Having received no reply to my letter, I went in to discuss the problem. The DP of the company(whatever that means) had no intention of listening to the problems. He insisted that the fault was through driver error! My partner was also with me and tried to explain that he had also had the same problems. He was also told he wasn't driving the car correctly. I fail to see how using the accelerator to pull away from traffic lights can be incorrect, or why the car would insist that I 'push the break' whilst driving along in traffic.
During the meeting, I witnessed the most arrogant display of rudeness. The man spent half the time singing his own praises as an honest business man, and the other half telling me I was causing the fault errors.
Well, so as not to make this post too long,I will explain the rest of the sorry saga briefly.
Trading standards said if I were rejecting the vehicle, I should no longer drive it. So for two months, I have not had a vehicle on the road. I would point out here that I have two disabled children and a business to run. Would I be stupid enough to leave my car on the drive if it were not faulty? I tried to compromise by saying I would accept a replacement vehicle...that wasn't acceptable to him either.
Three weeks ago, trading standards suggested that I allow him to have the vehicle and do his tests. He had said that if the tests proved the vehicle faulty, he would refund my money, as he wasn't a stubborn man! I allowed him to take the vehicle for tests, while still making it clear that I was rejecting it.
Low and behold, with no consultation with me, he changed the ECU!!! Victory you would think.....an admission of the fault!! Oh no. He is adamant that although my car was perfect, in consultation with Fiat, they decided to change the ECU just in case. Yes, dozens of people have also laughed at the stupidity of the statement. Unfortunately, after contacting Fiat, I realised that this person has also duped them into believing that the car was not faulty.
A number of letters have gone back and forth. I have had my honesty questioned and have now been offered what amounts to driving lessons from one of his mechanics! He has said in letters that he acts on behalf of the police in court cases, that he has taken advice from barristers, no less. He also said he would allow his 84 year old mother to drive the car on one of her visits to family, 165 miles each way. I refused to even take my Mum as a passenger in the car due to it's unreliability.
I have had the misfortune to meet some dodgy business men in my time, but this one takes the biscuit. Although I have no doubt that the vehicle was originally sold to me in good faith, it appears that car salesmen seem to think they are exempt from the sale of goods act. Do they not understand that 'of satisfactory quality', means that the car should actually get from A to B without breaking down.
I have been told that the diagnostic tests on the ECU show no fault errors. Maybe that should prove that the unit is faulty. Call me suspicious but, if you clear the fault records on the ECU an then run the diagnostic tests again you would end up with clear tests I assume. Useful if it ends up in court.
I have bought three vehicles from this garage, but would never use them again and neither would the dozens of people who have watched this unfold.
Sorry this has been so long, but if you have got to the end, any ideas gratefully accepted as the car is still sat on his forecourt.
At the end of March I bought a Punto dynamic 1.2 8v from them. It was an '05 reg with only 2000 miles on the clock. I thought it was bound to be ok and payed them over £7,000 for it.............how badly mistaken I was!!!
Two days later, my partner and I got to go away for the weekend. I started to get messages flashing up on the dash and the car cut out. It happened a few times on the way to Gloucester and I was really cheesed off. On the way back it was ok, but I really wasn't happy with the performance. It was changing up the gears very slowly (I was driving in auto), in fact at one point, it was showing me in 1st gear at 65 mpg. When I came back, I went straight back to Huttons and said I wasn't happy with the car. I said I wanted to reject it. They asked for one opportunity to correct the problem, which I gave them.
I had to wait two weeks for them to have the car in and during that time the car cut out in traffic another three times....once in quite a dangerous position. The car finally went in and they apparently reset parameters on the ECU and said it would be fine.........haha.
Within three weeks the fault started to return, and after contacting trading standards, I wrote my first letter, again rejecting the car....and there the fun began.
Having received no reply to my letter, I went in to discuss the problem. The DP of the company(whatever that means) had no intention of listening to the problems. He insisted that the fault was through driver error! My partner was also with me and tried to explain that he had also had the same problems. He was also told he wasn't driving the car correctly. I fail to see how using the accelerator to pull away from traffic lights can be incorrect, or why the car would insist that I 'push the break' whilst driving along in traffic.
During the meeting, I witnessed the most arrogant display of rudeness. The man spent half the time singing his own praises as an honest business man, and the other half telling me I was causing the fault errors.
Well, so as not to make this post too long,I will explain the rest of the sorry saga briefly.
Trading standards said if I were rejecting the vehicle, I should no longer drive it. So for two months, I have not had a vehicle on the road. I would point out here that I have two disabled children and a business to run. Would I be stupid enough to leave my car on the drive if it were not faulty? I tried to compromise by saying I would accept a replacement vehicle...that wasn't acceptable to him either.
Three weeks ago, trading standards suggested that I allow him to have the vehicle and do his tests. He had said that if the tests proved the vehicle faulty, he would refund my money, as he wasn't a stubborn man! I allowed him to take the vehicle for tests, while still making it clear that I was rejecting it.
Low and behold, with no consultation with me, he changed the ECU!!! Victory you would think.....an admission of the fault!! Oh no. He is adamant that although my car was perfect, in consultation with Fiat, they decided to change the ECU just in case. Yes, dozens of people have also laughed at the stupidity of the statement. Unfortunately, after contacting Fiat, I realised that this person has also duped them into believing that the car was not faulty.
A number of letters have gone back and forth. I have had my honesty questioned and have now been offered what amounts to driving lessons from one of his mechanics! He has said in letters that he acts on behalf of the police in court cases, that he has taken advice from barristers, no less. He also said he would allow his 84 year old mother to drive the car on one of her visits to family, 165 miles each way. I refused to even take my Mum as a passenger in the car due to it's unreliability.
I have had the misfortune to meet some dodgy business men in my time, but this one takes the biscuit. Although I have no doubt that the vehicle was originally sold to me in good faith, it appears that car salesmen seem to think they are exempt from the sale of goods act. Do they not understand that 'of satisfactory quality', means that the car should actually get from A to B without breaking down.
I have been told that the diagnostic tests on the ECU show no fault errors. Maybe that should prove that the unit is faulty. Call me suspicious but, if you clear the fault records on the ECU an then run the diagnostic tests again you would end up with clear tests I assume. Useful if it ends up in court.
I have bought three vehicles from this garage, but would never use them again and neither would the dozens of people who have watched this unfold.
Sorry this has been so long, but if you have got to the end, any ideas gratefully accepted as the car is still sat on his forecourt.