Zilvinas S

Lied about obvious issues

We've purchased a 2015 Skoda Fabia from Holden Group. We've never seen or test driven the car. It was delivered to our home address 115 miles away with a possibility to return it within 14 days at our own cost. We were assured by the sales representative the car is in excellent condition, has passed their rigorous checks and has no known issues. Once the car was delivered, we immediately noticed that the second key is not working. It has left us with an uneasy feeling, considering the promise of a rigorous check before delivery. However, as it was only a dead battery, we decided not to complain. Another issue which we noticed was a whining sound coming from the engine bay when the AC is on. This time we called Holden Group and their service rep told us "this is normal and all VW group cars have this noise". When we disagreed, we were told to take it to a mechanic for a second opinion. We did take the car to a local mechanic who immediately told us this is not normal and is due to a worn out radiator fan bearing. When we called Holden again, they were not interested in the opinion of our mechanic, nor wanted confirmation from them over the phone and instead changed their tune to say that the noise does not affect the operation of the fan and therefore there is no issue. When asked to confirm via email that an issue exists, they’ve refused to do so. When we asked them if the radiator breaks down within the warranty period would we be covered by the warranty they replied it depends on our warranty details and could not confirm for sure. We have extended a gesture of goodwill asking to discount the price of the car by what it would cost to fix the issue ourselves and they've refused to do so as well. We've been offered to keep the car as is or return the car 115 miles away at our own expense. In my view this is a company that doesn't care about its customers and its own reputation. Don’t believe their rigorous check promise and only buy the car if you have checked everything yourself.