Hi people. Im fairly new to the forum- havent posted much yet. Just thought Id share the problems Ive had with my Valver- wondered if anyone else has had so much aggro?
Bought my 95 N Monaco Blue Valver at beginning of July from a dealer in Oxford. Paid £2995 for it. Had been waiting ages to find a good example & had enquired about plenty only to find they were not as mint as I wanted. It was traded in and I managed to get first viewing. Turned up and it seemed mint. One lady owner, full service history, 81k, seemingly no expense spared on maintaing it. It also came with a 6 month universal warranty. Struck a deal to take it for £2995 and pick it up later in the week once a few bits of trim had been replaced and it had been taxed, valeted, and had a few scratches sprayed out.
Ended up picking it up 3 days late as bank funds took 5 days to clear over the Net. Dealer had not replaced broken trim, taxed it, or sprayed out one of the scratches. Really I should have left it to be sorted, but I had been without a proper car for months and was dyig to take it. He promised to send me the trim parts and gave me a cheque for half the tax.
Got 15 miles down the road from Oxford dealership, heading to Winchester and it overheated. Got it into a service station and filled it up with water hoping that they had just neglected to fill it with coolant. Got home seemingly Ok then onto Bournemouth. Rung dealer the next day and he just said keep an eye on it. On the Sunday went down to Burnin Bournemouth show, where it over heated big time spurting coolant all over the show n shine cars! Kept it off road til I could get it to my local Valver/ R5 specialist where they took it in and it turned out to be a corroded connection to the fan. The next week I was coming back from afriends when I smelt a strong smell of petrol. Got home and the fuel line had ruptured in the engine bay so had to clamp it off and tow it back to the garage. I then went on holiday abroad for a week. When I returned, naturally the first thing I wanted to do was go for a spin. To my dismay I found one of the injectors was squirting fuel everywhere. Back to the garage! This time it was a perished seal on the injector which was replaced then once put back together, the other seal started leaking! A few hours labour later and it was sorted!
After a few days of running it fine, some of the gears would not engage without a lot of pressure and reverse made a major crunch. I ran it into town the next morning and the clutch cable snapped! Had to have it recovered from the centre of town (embarassing!) and had it sat on the drive another week til the garage could fit it in. I rung the delaer and was informed by one of the staff that if I sent the invoice for the cable and fitting they would pay it. The garage fixed the cable and informed me the clutch was on its last legs and needed to be done. I rung the dealer back and they toold me to go through the warranty company. Rung warranty company and they referred me to Nationwide tyre and clutch centre in Winchester. I took it there and was informed that as the clutch had not actually gone, the warranty company were not obliged to fix it! It was gonna cost the best part of a grand to be done and the cambelt should be done with it. After a bit of persuasion I got Nationwide to tell a Porky Pie and tell the warranty company the car had now been towed in with a broken clutch. They had the car a week and a half before it was finally done. The excuse was they had no engine winch which I could not believe ina garage of such size. I had to pay 20% wear and tear on the clutch and £200 for the cambelt kit. As soon as I arrived at Nationwide I noticed the front grille was broken which I immediately pointed out and they tried to claim it was not there fault. After an argument they agreed to sort it. I drove it away and it sounded like a shagged out fiesta. There was no power and a major exhaust blow. I got out to inspect it and found coolant leaking heavily out the bottom of the car! I turned around and took the car back and told them how pisssed off I was. It turned out the bolts from the exhaust manifold only appeared to be finger tightened and there was a substansial gap. As for the coolant they couldnt find the problem so told me to take the car and keep an eye on it. I got back to Uni in Bournemouth and the coolant was empty. I booked it back in at the garage and was without the car again for a week. They took it in and told me it needed a new water pump which they managed to get done on warranty. My Dad picked the car up in the week and ran it to work the next day when it wouldnt start. He got a tenant to jump it and left it at home. I returned Friday night and it started Ok and I went into town. After returning from Blockbuster it would not start! Got a mate out who came and jumped it. It was ok for about a mile then it just started loosing all mechanical and electrical power till it conked out. We had to jump it twice more on the 3 mile journey home.
Once again the next morning we towed it back to Nationwide where they inspected it. Turns out they had broken the connector onto the alernator. Out of good will they said they would not charge me- cheeky b******s!
Since Nationwide had worked on it, the power steering pump has got a lot noisier, and the front wheels scrub on full lock. It is on standard wheels and looks like it may have been lowered -30mm max, although there is no record of it.
After a weeks motoring the throttle got jammed open. This time it turned out that the throttle cable had perished inside the rubber casing. Fixed this ourselves but again it meant having no car for half a week. A week later and it seems to be running Ok- touch wood! Not holding my breath tho.
The dealer I brought it off has never sent me the trim parts he promised to the value of about £60 and has not paid me back as promised for the clutch cable. Despite sending him multiple letters, everytime I ring him he claims he has not received anything and tells us to send it again- which we have. Today we sent him a County Court Summons!
So that is the story of N24 WJW and my 4 months of ownership! Didnt realise it was gonnna take me so long to write!
