The consumer’s issue:
“I have experienced faults with my vehicle since I bought it, and these include issues with the entertainment system, door and several noises coming from the car. The general driveability is now worse, and the noises are becoming more problematic. I am therefore seeking a replacement car or to reject it outright.”
The accredited business’ response:
- We have conducted repairs to the doors and interior trim, as well as to the DAB radio and door handle to alleviate the issues raised by the customer.
- We had an assessor inspect the noise levels and they deemed these to be acceptable and within the recommended tolerances.
- The customer was kept fully mobile during these repairs, and as a gesture of goodwill, we have offered three free services in recognition of the issues that the vehicle owner experienced.
The adjudication outcome:
- The adjudicator found that the faults with the vehicle had been repaired and there was no evidence to suggest that the aforementioned issues were still present.
- The adjudicator accepted the engineer’s findings in that the rattling was as a result of the way the vehicle had been maintained.
- The engineer also had evidence of testing a similar car, which only showed minor differences in noise levels that can be attributed to the age and mileage of the car.
- The adjudicator concluded that the vehicle has had some issues, but these were now resolved.
- The only point of contention was the noise levels, but there was no evidence to suggest that these were in fact excessive.
- The consumer’s complaint was therefore not upheld.
Conclusion:
- The customer and accredited business accepted the outcome as recommended by The Motor Ombudsman adjudicator and the case was closed.
