[airwind]

Hello everyone,

I am a newbie to this forum and for the past 3 months was a mere spectator gaining knowledge from various member posts. So starting with a BIG THANKS to all the members here who helped me with tons of information about the car.


To give a bit of a background, I have never owned any vehicle in my life up until Dec 2015 where after a lot of searching and careful budget considerations, took the plunge to buy a Ford B Max (Automatic Titanium 1.6cc 62 reg plate 44k miles) over the likes of Hyundai ix20s, i30s, Kia vengas, Citroen picassos, Renault meganes and many more from Cargiant.


I went with Cargiant for my first used car (even though this was just outside the 3 year Ford warranty) as I had heard from many of my friends and from the internet about their wonderful reputation and how they provide peace of mind and in addition how good Fords generally were.


It was a perfect purchase as I liked the car a lot for what all it brought for the £7k price. There was just one minor niggle which I found out after a few weeks of my purchase - famous Judder problem. I wasnt overtly concerned by it as I had read from many forums about many B Max owners experiencing this problem and how it would improve once the car understood my driving style or a worse case scenario Ford's extended warranty on clutch pack/ software update resolving this problem.


Having this in mind and with my busy office schedule, I carried on an usual using this happily for my commute purposes. On monday this week though, my car started making loud screeching noises when I was on the lower gears/speeds. Without taking a chance, I quickly brought the car to a halt on the roadside and called my breakdown recovery agency who towed the vehicle to my house. Even after this, I was under the impression that the car had just thrown some minor niggle and could be easily fixed. I called Cargiant to understand their stance on it who advised me to get it diagnosed by Halfords or a VAT registered garage before they could step in. I though did my own research and found that Ford would cover the transmission related problems under their extended warranty as they were aware of the Judder problem with this car.


I got my breakdown recovery agency to tow the car to a TrustFord dealer yesterday and became confident by their assurances as they seemed to be aware of the problem even before I could explain in full.


I called in later yesterday afternoon just to obtain an update and received the dreadful message stating that my gearbox needed replacement and they wouldnt cover it under the extended warranty and I may need to shell out close to £5k for it. I just couldnt believe my ears as it was just 3 months back that I purchased this wonderful car for £7k and now having to shell out an additional £5k. I just couldnt fathom this and contacted Cargiant about it even though I didnt have much hopes.


Fortunately for now, Cargiant have arranged to recover my car from TrustFord on Monday and have it checked by their mechanics after which they would let me know what they intend to do.


Now I am worried over what Cargiant would come back with. Given that Cargiant pride themselves over the amounts of checks they perform before selling a car, I am wondering how an automatic car could breakdown so easily.


Appreciate if anyone could advice what I should be doing in this instance. Whom to catch hold of - Cargiant/Ford and what are my legal rights?


Thanks all for taking the time to read my long post.









Edited by: airwind

 

[jackkook]

Welcome Airwind, have you read all 11 pages of this post ?


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[greekfarmer]

Welcome and sorry to hear about the issues. How are you getting on with Car Giant? I understand they do a lot of checks but I guess they can't really tell if the gearbox is going to need replacing 4 months down the line. Do they provide any kind of warranty with the car at all?

 

[airwind]

Thanks jackkook, I did go through that link you posted.

I spoke to Ford customer services team this morning and was told that even though there is extended warranty on the gearbox, its limited to certain specific parts within it. In my case, even though they did not carry out any detailed diagnosis (as they want me to incur that cost), they have concluded that the gearbox is faulty and needs replacement. I am now left with no choice but rely on Cargiant to own the issue and rectify it given its just over 3 months since I purchased.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[airwind]

@greekfarmer: It's early days to say what Cargiant would do in my case. I am waiting for them to recover my vehicle today and have it inspected. I personally feel that since they pride themselves about the 100 odd checks that they make on each vehicle, the gearbox too could have been diagnosed for any faults beforehand. I believe unlike a manual gearbox which could be worn out by a bad driver, an automatic shouldn't suffer the same fate.

I will update here once I hear from Cargiant.

 

[Geriatricus]

Hi,

I would check with a website like HonestJohn or maybe your local trading standards, but as I understand it Cargiant (in this case) have sold you a car with a serious defect and it has become evident within 6 months. Their three months is their voluntary warranty; I believe that SIX months is the legal requirement for them to have to sort it out, or you can reject the car and get your money back.
As I say check it quickly, and make sure that when you have the facts you make them aware of their legal responsibilities and position.

Geri

 

[Kazz]

Ford just called to say they will reset the software my vehicle was due for a recall, as I contacted them to book it in regarding the juddering, the salesman knew nothing about, yeah right! Lets' hope it works, as the car itself I am fond of, bought it used, 3.5 years old, garage said there's 3 years extended warranty, but after that then what? Thanks to those who wrote in, I would not have known otherwise that is was a kind of fault, do people think the juddery auto will wear out the gearbox then?
Edited by: Kazz

 

[OLOSTEVE]

Ford just called to say they will reset the software my vehicle was due for a recall, as I contacted them to book it in regarding the juddering, the salesman knew nothing about, yeah right! Lets' hope it works, as the car itself I am fond of, bought it used, 3.5 years old, garage said there's 3 years extended warranty, but after that then what? Thanks to those who wrote in, I would not have known otherwise that is was a kind of fault, do people think the juddery auto will wear out the gearbox then?

Hopefully reset will sort problem, as it did in my B max.
Bit concerned to hear the way your Ford main dealer is responding, perhaps you could find another?

 

[Kazz]

Ford at Edgware admitted there was a problem in some of them, that's really helpful to let me know the reset worked on yours, great, as pulling away is difficult with the judder!

 

[OLOSTEVE]

Ford at Edgware admitted there was a problem in some of them, that's really helpful to let mIe know the reset worked on yours, great, as pulling away is difficult with the judder!

I bought a car from, Perry, who used to be the Ford Dealer in Edgeware back in the early 80's. They were very good at selling you a car but a nightmare if you had any problems.

 

[Kazz]

I took it in at 9.20am they just called at 3.27pm to say it's just going in now!? Made it sound so simple earlier, that if the update (reset) doesn't work, they will fit a new clutch, the updated ones don't have any problems!? It would be done within 2-3 days, wonder if it's that simple?

 

[airwind]

It's been almost 4 weeks since Cargiant towed away my car to fix it. They have had it looked into by a specialist and have replaced the gearbox with a reconditioned one and additionally further replaced some clutch packs. After having run some tests, they aren't satisfied with the condition of the car post the repair work that they now plan to replace the gearbox entirely.

I have been given a replacement courtesy car (Vauxhall Meriva) to drive till then. Don't like it at all though.

Till about last week they were very prompt in calling and informing me every 3 days but that has now dwindled. Don't know why. As of now, they don't know for sure when my car will be fully functional again.

Don't know what to do?

 

[Kazz]

Just noticed, the juddering is back, may have to book mine for a new clutch, I bought it from ford, they told me the updated gearbox has so far been successful, not sure where car giant would take it for repair? Sorry!

 

[airwind]

Mine is going to be a reconditioned gearbox and so I am not having high hopes from it. Also Cargiant use a company called Stephens engineering for servicing automatic cars.

 

[Kazz]

Ideally you need ford? Not sure what the outcome is for any of us!

 

[Kazz]

If you bought the car used with a 3 month warranty and the car has the judder and is faulty can you ask for your money back!? Bought from Weston Super Mare, delivered to me in London? Thanks

 

[airwind]

I just realised that I never updated this thread after my initial rant.

Cargiant provided me with a replacement car to use while they inspected my car to fix the gearbox issue. After almost 3 weeks they finally called in to say that they had replaced the gearbox (although it wasnt a new one). They have provided me with a 12 months/12k miles (whichever comes first) warranty on it.


Since the time the vehicle has been back I am loving it. It's nippy with none of the judder problems that I had experienced in the past because of which I am extremely happy today.


Sorry I completely forgot to update here about this earlier. Thanks everyone for your support and good luck with your bmax.


Cheers