So i bought my 2012 monte carlo 1.6 about 4 months back from evans halshaw in banbury (citroen dealer) with all of the warrenties i could get - my luck with cars is comically bad. I went fabia as i was needing something reliable and also fun to drive, and it was ideal considering im only 20. 

 

A few weeks after the buy, when i turned the ignition on the glow plug light kept flashing, which continued when the engine was on. The car was in full limp mode, and the eml was lit also. This only happened once, then not for another couple months. But recently, every couple of days i am in the same position. Ive noticed turning off then on within about a second will clear the lights, and give power back. Sometimes ill turn it off for the night, and itll be better in the morning, but sometimes not. Easy fix, just an inconvenience now, and as i have all the warrenties etc if it causes more problems its not out of my bank. 

 

I sent to evans halshaw to get this sorted after the 3rd time it happened, and they had to send to a vw specialist that they work with because they dont have the specific vw diagnostic tools aparently. He had it for 2 days and said it wasnt showing any faults (eml was on when i handed to citroen so i was a bit confused. 

 

The 3rd time within a month that i sent it in, i had a boost pressure sensor replaced and was told its fixed. I drove from there to my work .2 miles away, and was in limp mode again when i finished. Ffs. 

 

I took it back the next day, same deal of "nothing's wrong with the car"

 

4 days ago i took it in while in limp mode, kept the engine running while waiting to be seen to, and told them to take it to their specialist and to not turn the engine off so he can literally see the lights. I was told it would need a software update (not covered with warrenty, £140) and maybe engine wire harness to be replaced (also not covered) 

 

Ive just gone in and the car is gonna be picked up for me shortly, but the car couldnt take the update (?) so once again nothing has been done to fix my car. 

 

I live 15 miles away from evans, so every time they have it i am stuck in town. Luckily i have a friend nearby and i can crash on his sofa, but when they have the car for 4-7 days at a time its getting a bit much.

 

Has anyone here experienced the flashing glow light and limp mode before, that can be fixed for maybe a few weeks by just turning the car off and on again? I dont trust this "specialist" but i cant take it anywhere i trust because off the warrenty.

 

Sorry for the long post, i am more than frustrated about this. And as much as i love the car, i am tempted to just get a cheap pos so i can afford to fix it somewhere i trust.

If they are not fixing it because they cant, take it somewhere who can and send em the bill, they have had a couple of goes, they cannot argue with it really.

 

 

20 hours ago, UrbanPanzer said:

If they are not fixing it because they cant, take it somewhere who can and send em the bill, they have had a couple of goes, they cannot argue with it really.

 

Unfortunately that isnt possible under this warrenty, i would have to pay and my warrenty would be void, huge waste of money. My option is to go to skoda and get them to sort it, evans halshaw would pay up to £40 an hour but id have to pay anything over it 

 

I think that if you inform them of your consumer rights, they will find that if something is happening that shouldn't be and forcing that car into limp home mode, then they have had 2 attempts to fix it and failed, so now they must accept the bill for you needing to take it elsewhere to fix it.

Evans Halshaw do, in general, get laughed at don't they? Ie a bunch of clowns.

 

Edit:- one other thing, if it needs a software update, the actual software is issued FOC organising to get it downloaded into the car will cost  under an hour of a tech's time, similarly if there is an accompanying essential cable change, Skoda will be supplying that FOC I'd think if it has been needed due to some other production error by Skoda.

 

Maybe time for your money back?

Edited 21 June, 20197 yr by rum4mo

Any warranty and the ability to uphold the paper its written on usually means use a reputable repairer....

 

Are they sending to a VW specialist thats is reputable ? they are wasting more than £40 an hour in messing around several times.

 

Where in the warranty does it say you have to use their "approved repairer"........What would happen if you travelled 300 miles to buy the car over the internet, would you be going back and forth to this particular specialist ? I think not..

 

I very much doubt the car won't take the update, it's whoever is doing it maybe does not know what they are doing ? Even if they "agree" to you going to a dealer and getting a proper diagnosis and then return to the "specialist" they use to have it fixed.

As I said it's costing them more in the long run.

 

Take it to a dealer, explain the situation, let them diagnosis it and bill / charge £40 an hour up to how ever many hours they need to diagnose it on the report / bill, Evan halshaw dont need to know any different, just pay the bill.

 

 

Who is the specialist ?

 

Listers come up as now having the Banbury Skoda franchise.

 

As to the issue without the fault codes difficult to narrow down the possible causes.

 

Is there a local independent VAG specialist who will read the codes for a few £ not the £100+ Listers will charge ?

 

If you can take a trip up to Warwick call VASTEC, explain the situation and arrange for them to read the codes.