Another rant about Macklin Edinburgh West (now Vertu Newbridge)

[Rolfe]

Before I went out I tried the pre-heat, as the car was still plugged in and at 100%, and it definitely worked. Dropped the SOH down to 99%, so I knew it had done it even before I went out to check. (Previously I'd noticed that no power was being taken from the battery even when it was supposedly heating.) While the SOH was still high I tried a few smart-ish stops, and the car was fine, no noise, no vibration.

I did the hill reverse, twice, and there was no sign of anything wrong at all. No sound, no vibration, no juddering, no scraping, the car just went down the hill backwards with no fuss at all. I'm pretty dubious about this entire brakes story. Although, what do I know about it.

Then I went on a joy-ride on the same road I took when the car was new, and the LKA definitely wasn't driving me to distraction this time. A few beeps but very little pulling on the wheel at all, even when I turned the sensitivity up to high on the way back. And that was on a winding road where you tend to cross the centre line on the bends. My impression was that if the line wasn't terribly clear it was just ignoring it.

The speed limit recognition was just as terrible as always, seeing what it shouldn't be seeing and sometimes not seeing what it should have seen. But the A701 is particularly bad for this, with big signs warning HGVs that they're limited to 40 mph shortly after almost every "national speed limit" indication, and of course the car sees that, and of course it flashes 40 at you for the next 20 miles. It was also seeing some 20 mph signs relating to side roads, and it completely missed the "national speed limit" sign exiting Broughton, because it's dirty and partly overhung by branches. But then it was always thus.

I'm encouraged enough to leave off the pre-flight check-list for now and see how I get on.

So the bottom line is that, assuming they fix the door handle next week as arranged, everything I wanted done has actually been done this time. If they'd been a bit pleasanter to me and hadn't tried to upsell me £2,000 worth of what I suspect is make-work, they might have been in with a chance. As it is, after Friday of next week I hope never to see them again.

 

[DixieTGS]

You have to be quite careful selecting neutral. It is quite easy to go past neutral and select reverse instead, In which case it does pop up that warning. It's reassuring to know it does have sensible protection in for that situation.

 

[Rolfe]

Might well have been that, good thought. I don't feel like doing any more for now, because I can't fault the way the brakes are operating no matter what I do to the car. I'll just have to see what Andrew says tomorrow.

 

[Rolfe]

You have several ways to escalate any issues:
Vertu - head office or social media channels (which tend to elicit the quickest response)
Retail Motor Industry - as Vertu are a member RMI | Retail Motor Industry Federation
The Motor Ombudsman - again Vertu are a member Home

and of course the Supply of Good and Services Act as outlined here

Vehicle servicing and repairs

Taking your car or vehicle to be serviced requires you to put trust in the garage or mechanic who is doing the work for you. However, you don’t need to rely on trust alone to get a fair deal.

www.araglaw.co.uk

I also suspect, as has been the case with my wife and I when we enter a car dealership, there are still those in the motor trade who treat men and women differently when explaining things.

Most of that isn't really relevant, thankfully, because I have not actually been scammed. I backed off before agreeing to the work. Probably a complaint to Vertu about over-selling is the way to go. I hadn't thought about attacking them on Twitter, that's definitely a better idea than a private email.

You might think, given that I presented them with a list of things to do including the numbers of the software updates needed, and was aware that the door button was a common fault, and had had a steaming row with them about poor service last year, they might have realised that there weren't too many flies on me. (Unlike the car until half an hour ago, just had to remove several hundred more insect corpses.)

On the other hand, maybe they remembered my saying I was a moderator on this forum, something they definitely disapprove of, and decided to stick it to me in revenge.

Just checked the Twitter accounts.

That looks highly promising. Definitely a line of attack.

 

[Rolfe]

Look what I just found in my email inbox.

I could get quite creative with this. Probably will, actually.

 

[Archev]

Look what I just found in my email inbox.

View attachment 36721

I could get quite creative with this. Probably will, actually.

I cannae wait to read the next episode

 

[Rolfe]

Should have Andrew's verdict by close of play tomorrow. That will dictate the next move.

 

[decrep]

all your brake shenanigans should have polished the disks up nicely, I'm betting Andrew says they're the best he's seen, on a BEV with regen.

 

[oakesl2]

Two-year service time. I won't repeat my furious rants about what happened at the time of the one-year service, that's covered elsewhere. I had hoped to go to a different dealer for the two-year one, but circumstances (a door lock/unlock button failure) conspired against me and I found myself booking in to Macklin again, under its new identity as Vertu. I had a fairly simple wish-list.

• do the service
• apply the SC077 service bulletin (the LKA fix)
• infotainment version R38 please
• sort out the problem that the car still won't pre-heat while it's plugged in but not charging
• fix the passenger door button

I told them in advance about the door button, I even took the car there in advance of the service and asked if they could sort out the new door handle so that it could be fitted at the time of the service, but although they eventually, after a fair bit of nagging, promised to do that, they didn't. So I'm back there again come what may.

As far as I know the software updates have been done properly this time. The infotainment update has been done, but I haven't checked the rest yet. So far so good, but then comes the bit that propelled me towards my inevitable incandescent fury.

I was told they had found a couple of things that were safety issues that should be addressed. The "couple of things" turned out to be as follows.

• two new front undertrays due to damage. On the video they showed me this didn't look particularly serious, but I got an earful about how it could damage the "engine" (sic.) if débris got in there. A marked change of attitude from their dismissal of my concerns about the saggy rear undertray scooping up everything in its path

View attachment 36661 View attachment 36663View attachment 36662

• Damage to a wheel arch again necessitating a new part. This is apparently poised to cause the car to crash if something does something and stops the wheel from turning

View attachment 36664

• new brake pads and discs all round, by the sound of it, because heavy corrosion

View attachment 36665

View attachment 36666

• regas the aircon, recommended at two years. (I would have thought this would have been included in the service if it was required maintenance, but apparently not).

I was handed a two-page list of costings for all this, which without adding up the detail looked like a big bill. My spidey-sense was going off all over the place warning me that this looked like a scam or at the very least over-selling. I was told that the brakes could be done right now because they had the parts, but that the undertrays and wheel arch liner would have to be ordered in. I said I couldn't afford all that right now and they started telling me about their finance options. I said no thanks, I need to think about this. I was also given an earful about how it all had to be genuine MG parts, which could only be supplied by an MG dealer, which suggests to me they had some idea which way my mind was tending.

I left it that I'd take the car as it was, and book it in for the door handle, and think about the rest. I didn't tell them I wasn't going to have it done, just that I wanted to think about it.

I was given the usual sheaf of paperwork, and I particularly asked for the list of advisories to be included, as somehow that had been spirited away from me. I was scolded that these weren't "advisories", they were essential, indeed urgent work. I assumed the detailed estimates for the work had been included as I asked, but when I got home it wasn't there, just the basic service ticks and crosses with no prices at all. I phoned the dealer back and was told that that work had been purged from the system as I had declined it. I said I wanted that copy of the estimates so that I could see the detailed costings to add it all up and think about it. I was told it was their property and it wasn't policy to let customers have that information. Finally the guy agreed to tell me the total cost of all the items they had listed. Almost £2,000. I yelled a bit and put the phone down. This is getting to be a bit of a habit.

Anyway, I did what I had intended to do anyway and went to my own garage with the list. The car is booked in there on Tuesday anyway, to have the tyre situation sorted out post Hardknott Pass adventures, so he will have the chance to look at these issues while he's at it. It's possible, indeed likely, that the undertray and wheel arch liner damage happened during the Hardknott pass incidents, but the question is, is it bad enough to need replacement parts?

I'm also pretty dubious that the car needs a whole new round of brake blocks and discs after 20,000 miles. At the very least I want a second opinion about this.

So I guess my present position is that if Andrew confirms some or all of this work needs done, I'll get it done. But I'm extremely reluctant to let Macklin/Vertu near it. Andrew confirms that he can order up genuine MG parts, they're not only available from MG dealers, and I'm pretty damn sure that (a) he won't recommend work unless it's necessary, and (b) he won't charge me what Macklin/Vertu were proposing to charge. But we'll see.

OK, comment away. What do you guys think? Am I being oversold/scammed? Or is the stealer on the level?

I was at this branch yesterday and I’m pretty certain they are providing me with false information . It went in for water in the twilight apparently very common for condensation. I was threatened with “it will cost you £168 for labour if we cannot find anything . The car is 7 months old and whilst washing it soap was running down the inside . They called me later saying they have not charged me the inspection charge but it repair will be £2440 as there is scuffing and a crack on the taillight . I knew about the scuffing it’s with the plastic casing of the charging cable rubbing on the car. However there is no visible cracking to the lights. I asked for the engineer to show me where and was told he was busy so the advisor said she would come and and show me. She pointed to the seam of the panel and said it was a hairline crack . I can’t see anything but said I would test with water .
I still can’t see anything after the water test so I have emailed them back asking for pictures which they refused to provide earlier . Something isn’t sitting right with me

 

[decrep]

Sounds like you to should try somewhere else.