willhitt97

The previous owner was apparently an older fellow so I imagine he didn't stretch the car as much as it would have liked. I think he barely drove it in all those 9 years of owning it. The car is in immaculate condition apart from the EGR valve! Thanks for your suggestions and advice Bertie, it's really appreciated! And thanks mrgf, hopefully those extra key words will help my case! And I did wonder if perhaps my driving has just done the car over, I really have no clue! I've tried to stretch it here and there and not accelerate / rev too hard but boy the car likes / wants to FLY!

Thanks so much guys, I initially thought it would be a waste of time contacting the private dealer as I'd have "bought the car as seen", if you know what I mean. I just got off the phone with him and he was very sympathetic about the situation and he knows I really do love the car / want to keep it. He's told me he's going to get in touch with the AA about it and see if they will agree to help out and he'll get back to me. If he calls me back saying there's nothing he can do (which I'm expecting to be honest), I'm going to then argue (as nicely as I can) that this is an unexpected issue and makes the car unfit for purpose because I can't guarantee it's going to work for me on any given day, and ask if I'm still within my warranty period with his dealership. I worry he'll argue it's just a "wear and tear" issue which could very well be true. How would I get around this point? The garage told me that they found the fault code for "EGR Valve - Faulty operation", so perhaps I could say that the word faulty makes me believe it's not wear and tear, more that the part itself isn't up to scratch? The car honestly ran fine for a whole month after I bought it and boom, this issue out of nowhere. I am sure he had no idea about the issue when selling me the car, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is just how it is and I've got to suck it up. I really appreciate your advice lads, honestly. Worst case I'll just have to pay it all myself but it is going to hurt! Even if the AA agreed to cover the £300 of it, that'd almost half the bill.

Yep, unfortunately that's what is being quoted! I trust the garage, and the fella on the customer service line even said he'd thought it'd cost more! So I did get a 3-month warranty with the purchase of this car but believe it or not, AA will not cover the cost of this repair as the warranty doesn't cover it. Frustrating! Is it possible the battery is causing this issue then? Is that why you're suggesting I make sure it's fully charged? And I was thinking about contacting the seller but figured I bought it as seen if you know what I mean? I imagine all they'll say is "Look, you've bought it, it's now your responsibility". I would give replacing it myself a crack but it appears to be tucked around the backside of the engine, so I'm not touching that job with a 10 foot pole. I'm no mechanic and really wouldn't forgive myself if I buggered it up. Cheers for your reply, mate

Hey guys, I recently bought a wonderful Skoda Fabia 2011 1.6 Diesel (35k miles) from a private dealer back in June 2020. It was fine for a month and then the below issue started to occur. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0oydS6vvJo&feature=youtu.be I've been quoted £780 to fix it, most of that being labour. It is what is it, I get it. However, I do worry that perhaps this EGR issue could be related to an emissions recall back in 2016? The vehicle has indeed had the service action "Diesel EA189". As I have noted in my video's description, this faulty engine starting happens between 1 to 2 times NORMALLY, but the other day it happened at least 5 times before I could actually get driving. It's ridiculous, I shouldn't have to pray that my car starts when I need it to, especially after the money I've forked out for a quality car in such great shape. What do you suggest? Is it worth getting this booked into a Skoda approved retailer for the relevant diagnostics? I've spoken to their customer service line and they said that's what would need to happen but there's no guarantee they will cover any costs, etc. Or is it just not worth it? Should I just suck it up and pay the £780 at my local garage that I trust very much? It could very well be that the EGR valve does indeed need repairing after a good 35k miles, but it's a huge repair after just one month of ownership. And money is not abundant after such an investment and during a pandemic! Thoughts?