As many people on the island already know, a local taxi operator is battling a well-known motor chain. I shall post regular updates here.
27 October – Delighted to hear that Angus Macneil MP has now taken up Mairi’s case.
Received 18 October 2011
Mr Maciver
Thank you for your latest email directed to ourselves by Heidi,
regarding some further issues surrounding the servicing carried
out on the aforementioned vehicle. To clarify the point which you
raised in your email, the vehicle was serviced by Arnold Clark
Toyota on the dates and mileage advised by myself previously.
This would not show on Volkswagen system as the service was not
carried out by an approved VW dealer. The service was carried out
by Toyota, who would carry out the service in accordance with the manufacturers’ guidelines they are unable put it onto VW system.
Regards
Peter
Customer Services
Taxi operator Mairi Murray, from Stornoway, bought her Volkswagen Passat from Arnold Clark Toyota in Aberdeen on March 25. Since then, it has had a string of severe problems which have regularly put Mairi’s taxi off the road. It is now off again and Mairi says she cannot afford to pay the thousands of pounds it will cost to repair.
It's no fare for Mairi
The first fault was a defective gearbox which, she says, was speedily replaced by Arnold Clark without question.
“Since then there have also been many other severe problems with the vehicle’s electrics affecting wipers, indicators, airbag lights and service lights as well as a defective handbrake, faulty turbo and severe flywheel problems. All put my vehicle off the road and lost me earnings.”
Mairi is now facing a bill of about £4,000 for the flywheel and turbo problems to fix her car. Arnold Clark refuses to help because it’s outside their short warranty period – and, they say, because she did 20,000 miles in four and a half months. Mairi maintains that by choosing Arnold Clark, which she believed was reputable, she ended up worse than she ever thought she could be. The finance company has also refused to help – after a briefing by Arnold Clark, of course.
Ms Murray has now lost her business and without it is worried she may soon lose her home. The Citizens Advice Bureau, the trading standards department and a local lawyer say nothing can be done. Arnold Clark’s small print is watertight.
However, after a wee bit of digging around, Arnold Clark’s claims are now looking increasingly shoogly. The main issue now is whether the car was in a reasonable condition to be sold in the first place. Initially, they gave no proof the car had ever been serviced at all although Arnold Clark now says it had two services.
However another reputable Volkswagen dealer has checked it for me today (Oct 17) and told me there was just one full service in February 2009. All other entries are repairs, not services, they tell me. Whoops. Naughty Arnold.
Arnold Clark has also failed to provide the legally-checkable service history they claim to have for the vehicle and which I requested from them 10 days ago.
One of the grounds given to Mairi for the car giant refusing to help was that she had done mileage of 20,000 miles in 4.5 months. They failed to explain why they considered that unreasonable. They knew it was to be a taxi because the temporary insurance they organised for Mairi was refused for exactly that reason.
They also claimed the taxi meter affected the electrics. Why? Er …well. Arnold Clark certainly was not told that was the case by the inspecting garage in Stornoway. Much of the car’s electrics has been and are faulty, with or without the meter, and other Passat taxis have no such problem with similar meters.
People in the trade believe Arnold Clark is clutching at straws to shirk responsibility.
Mairi thinks, a two-month warrant notwithstanding, that Arnold Clark cannot wash its hands of responsibility for what has happened to her. The car’s shocking list of serious defects have already lost her the business and without income she may lose her home too. She believes Arnold Clark sold her a car for her business that was not fit for purpose.
When I contacted Arnold Clark they claimed Mairi’s car had been serviced at 18,328 miles and then at 31,991 miles. I decided not to take their word for that. Another Volkswagen dealership on the mainland was able to get the details and dates that Arnold Clark mechanics had put on the VW computer for me. They say, no, it is not true. Computer says no. Just one service two and a half years ago and the rest of the entries are merely repairs.
Arnold Clark continues to claim: “We have no evidence of any electrical issues with the vehicle, there were no issues prior to the sale of the vehicle and we have not had the vehicle back since it left the branch.” Maybe they should have taken it back for inspection then.
“Problems with the electrics only became apparent after the fitting of the meter.” Is that proof ? Oh, you think so? In that case, the seven eight or eight serious deficiencies with the car only became apparent to Mairi after she bought it from Arnold Clark. Is that proof they sold her a dodgy car in the first place? Actually, yes it could certainly be exactly that.
Peter Kerr, from Arnold Clark customer service, writes : “I am sorry that Miss Murray feels that we are not taking an interest in her issues, however all works previously required were actioned immediately by the branch with goodwill being offered towards the repair of the gearbox although the events occurred out with our used car warranty period.”
He says: “It should be noted that the repairs previously undertaken were carried out by an approved V.W. dealer on Stornoway at Miss Murray behest. The repairing branch providing a list of required parts which were then supplied by Arnold Clark.”
Sadly, for Arnold Clark’s flagging reputation, that is not how others remember the sequence of events – and they have proof. I have now asked Arnold Clark to explain why they claimed Mairi’s car had full services if they are not even logged on the VW computer system, as required under its conditions with all dealers.
They have serious questions to answer and Mairi says she simply cannot let Arnold Clark walk away and leave her in the lurch. I can see her fighting her case a whole lot further – maybe all the way to Volkswagen itself and certainly to the national motor trade associations which Arnold Clark claims to be a member of.
I would love to know if Arnold Clark’s claim of “promises delivered” came true for you. Comments are open.
I think the way that Mairi has been treated by a so called ‘reputable’ car dealership is disgraceful!! The least they could do is meet her halfway. I ceratainly will not now or in the future purchase a vehicle from Arnold Clark.
This is a real eye opener for anyone who is considering buying a car from Arnold Clark. I feel very sorry for Mairi, she has been very unlucky. Surely there is something Arnold Clark can do to help her out of this unfortunate predicament she has found herself in through no fault of her own.
I recall hearing similar stories about them in the past. A short warranty on a car as new as that is shocking, wonder why that was………
Hopefully you’ll get it sorted!
hi i’ve bought a few cars from Arnold Clark there a bunch of con mershants i bought a seat altea 05 plate from them on way from inverness heater wasn’t working when husband checked they had put a bigger fuse in and blue everything it needed a new part had to fight for that. 2 weeks after the dual mass fly wheel went left me with a bill of 1,000 to pay know my window wont go up or down plus my key fob had deflated so i don’t have central locking. it’s a total disgrace i feel for u mairi x
I have also fallen foul of Arnold Clark’s customer services, having bought a 3 year old MG ZT with just 30k miles on the clock, from one of their branches in Glasgow in 2009. I had a host of issues with it, and eventually managed to get them to pay out damages totalling around £900 to have the faults fixed. I tackled the finance company too, and they coughed up their share of the damages claim. I only got a 30 day warranty from them, despite being led to believe i was getting a 3 month warranty. However, i soon found out that the warranty they provide isn’t worth the paper it is written on! I pursued them under my statutory rights, sale of goods act etc, even after the 30 days warranty had passed, and they eventually paid up my damages claim. I then part exchanged the car after just 7 months ownership, and bought a Volvo S60 instead, from an independent dealer in Newcastle. I will never ever buy another car from Arnold Shark!
Arnold Clark should be ashamed of themselves, when customers come to you in good faith and with TRUST, you are happy o sell to them, when the item in question becomes evidently a bad product as this appears to be, you just turn the other cheek. This lady came to you to set up a business, an admirable thing to do in this world today, give her a break and do the decent thing and sort it, a reputable company like ARNOLD CLARK should be able to face up to its responsibility here.
Jan well said
I hope this story goes to all the papers, Name and shame them !!!!
another arnold clark story, (perth division) bought a car from the perth garage, the salesman asked if i wanted a loan for the car,i told him i had an online price of £120.00 per month for 3 years,he phoned me back and said they would match that price so i agreed and went to inverness for the car,when i got to inverness the salesman pushed papers across the desk and pointed to the figure of £120.00, “as agreed” he said, luckily for me i looked at the part of the paper he was trying to mask with his hand, it said final payment £399.75, now if i had signed this paper i would have been ripped off for nearly £280.00 , when i confronted him he lied and said that he had told me about the final payment on the phone, i will never deal with arnold clark again and would advise anybody who is thinking of buying a second hand car, avoid ARNOLD CLARK
I would never buy a car from them again. I bought a brand new MG from them 8 years ago and it had a string of electrical faults, with lights blowing constantly, multichanger CD blowing constantly, battery losing it’s charge. It was being towed away to the mainland often during the warranty and over the years till eventually the cylinder head gasket blew on the A9. I blamed MG, but now reading the above and the other stories, I would never buy a car from them again.
Devil’s Advocate
If you sold a car and the buyer came back after 2 years saying it was faulty what would you say! 20,000 miles on Lewis roads in 4 month’s is the same,based on average mileage.
I feel sorry for the lady in question,but some comment’s here are ridiculous,”I have bought several cars from Arnold Clarke and their a bunch of conmen” err once bitten!
I have no dealings with said company but being the largest independent in europe and in business since 1954,ripping off customers must be pretty low on their sales policy.
I do know for a fact,if you monkey with the electrics of any modern’ish vehicle the VECU and engine ECU will freak out and put up fault codes!
Roddy, brave popping your head above the parapet!
No alternative opinions allowed………. naughty of you! You’ll have some sort of ‘phobia’ if you do …………’motophobia’…… lol
Got to agree with what you say. When you consider she’s done 40k and gone beyond the warranty period then I reckon any retailer would say the same, but in particular Arnold Clark.
It’s really unfortunate for Mairi as she earns her living from the car, I know her and she’s a nice lass.
‘oops’ 20K……
Very unfortunate but most garages are the same. I bought an 02 plate renault laguna from a local garage 18 months ago and had about 6 weeks of hassle with it and the garage refuses to look at it .
Needless to say I had to get another car and the renault is still parked behind the house broken and going nowhere!!!!
Sounds typical Arnold Clark, would be bad enough if it was her personal car but when its what she used to make a living that makes it so much worse, they should be ashamed of themselves and do the decent thing.
‘PROMISES DELIVERED’ thats a laugh!!
I have also had bad experience with Arnold Clark (Inverness). Bought car brand new from their showroom, and had nothing but problems with it. They refused to allow it to be fixed in Stornoway which meant i had to take it to Inverness, and I wasnt compensated for travel/overnight stay expenses. Dont believe their ads, steer clear!!
i think this is very very shocking!! Mairi started up the taxi as a business! she is now loosing out on a lot of money because of ARNOLD CLARK! having the car for not even a month then having to pay over a thousand pounds to fix it! well i think ARNOLD CLARK should at least meet her half way! something needs to be done about this!!!
no i think arnold clark are in the right if the warranty is out then its out
and how are they supposed to to tell if the fly wheel is broken and how long the turbo will last. and i think all the electric faults are caused by putting a meter on that wasn’t factory fitted and doing that amount of mileage in 4.5 months. so i’m on arnod clarks side here
As mairi is a soul trader/partnership but not Ltd she maybe entitled to use section 75 of the consumer credit act 1974 where she can hold the finance company jointly liable, unless the finance was hire purchase, this again is different, under the Supply of Goods and (implied terms) service 1973, The trader (arnold clark) is not responsible for the contract, with hire purchase the contract is with the Finance Company and with this law, mairi can only claim damages i.e the cost of the repairs, the sale of goods act 1979 does not fully apply because she is a trader and not a private consumer, the only part that applies is discription and title of the car if the finance is not HP, if there is anything in the discription that was misleading mairi may have a case. Call consumer direct 08454 040506 and if mairi follows the instructions that they give her and the trader or Fin company fail they will refer to a Trading Standards officer who may look into to case….good Luck
Forgot to mention the SOGA 1979 and the SOGAS(Implied Terms) 1973 last 5 years in scotland so when anyone buys anything this is the amount of time someone has to claim irrelevent of warrenties at this is something extra that trader offer there customers it is not part of the consumer laws.
this is shocking mairi ,lets kick there ass,hope it all gets sorted
Well if mairis taxi was that important why then did she not take out a private warranty when her own expired. As regards electrical after market additions we have all been warned of the dangers.
Why was the flywheel not replaced along with the gearbox and clutch, this would have avoided the fly wheel issue and would normaly have been common (GOOD) practise. Good luck Mairi with your business.
Never heard of someone replacing a flywheel as ‘common practice’ when replacing the clutch…………….
Very common practice with dual mass flywheels which are fitted to modern engines.
You live and learn, there’s me thinking I knew everything………. I’ll need a brandy now.
Advocacy what a shock, you don’t know everything. I’m stunned.
I notice some good feedback there. I hope this can be resolved. In this present ecenomic climate everyone needs to work, and for this opportunity to be taken away from Mairi by a reputable car dealer ( i dont think).
I wish you luck and hope that they will see sence.
well i have been with mairi since she got that car and had nothing but problems since she got it… ARONLD CLARK YOU JOKE!
Give her a new car get her back on the road…….Miss her loads H