Bought a new car and the wipers don't work!

Have you tried the indicators? From my experiences on the M25 they don't appear to work on a good number of new cars.

And plenty of people seem determined to show how well their fog lamps work in a bit of drizzle.

I also delighted in one enthusiastic driver yesterday being so enamoured with her satnavinfotainmentshareyourappsthingy sticking out of her dashboard that she was poking that for a full half minute without glancing up once, until she twigged her actual destination was the central reservation when her front wheel bounced on to the kerb. Maybe they should be delivered broken.

I agree though that a car being delivered without windscreen wipers is ridiculous. And I presume illegal.

SJB

Why are you worried about the wipers not working? After all, we all know it never rains over your side of the Irish sea (or this side either)!

I know that car. As well as the wipers have you noticed yet that it makes a funny noise every few minutes and won't let you choose classical music on the radio. It seems that the manufacturer is happy with the latter as people only listen to pop music anyway.  Another funny thing is that if people who have been in your previous car get in, you will no longer recognise them as they get altered by some magic database somewhere. I wasn't very happy about this and had a word with the garage, but they went on a bit about their excellent reputation. I do have a lot of respect for them so I'm going to stick with it. One of my friends told me that I could get a car that does all these things properly for a quarter of the price, but as it doesn't look as good I'm not interested. If it's cheaper it simply can't be as good, can it?

Simply remove the windscreen. As well as giving crystal-clear vision this has the added bonus of never having to defrost it.

Is this analogy / satire?

Hope you didn't buy the car using your rainy day savings!  

Sloop John B posted:

I recently bought a new car from a well respected British car manufacturer with great heritage, but not under British ownership anymore.

To my disbelief the windscreen wipers don't work. I'm told by the manufacturer that they are aware of the problem and a software upgrade will come out in Mid April which will allow the wipers to work. I cannot believe that a reputable company could release a product when they knew it lacked some basic functionality.

They have a very active forum and although there are some complaints about this many have they view that sure, doesn't it do everything but drive in rain and this will be sorted according to the company so what's the big issue? I can't believe  this sort of reaction and am quite aghast that a companies whose cars I have bought since the early 70s think that this is in any way acceptable.

I'm glad that I still own some models from their glory days but I will very hesitant to buy from them in future when they can release products that have known issues.  They still do make great engines though, but they seem to have lost out in the computerisation of cars and seem to think that their previous reputation will make prospective purchasers gloss over the shortcomings. I hope they are right as I'd like to see my classic models serviced for years to come but history tells us that time does not stand still for manufactures that loose their way.

 

John that's a great post. Thanks a mill for brightening my day.

clearly an analogy to current hifi issues, well done.

Stick with British for your model car collection.

Japanese for your real car.

Surely you ought to go back to your dealer and quote the Trade Description Act to them.  This car is NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE.

Ah. I get it now. Stoopid me.

Don't so coy SJB,  naim & shame the manufacturer

You guys are so naughty... 

Fwiw. I'm currently "driving" the same model "car" as I type this post and working wipers or no, it's performing wonderfully. I look forward to the wiper fix that's due shortly, but until then I'm enjoying it come rain or shine. 

This would be a JLR product, say........?  Surprised selling a new car with such a defect is legal. Without working wipers, my car would fail its MOT.

Like you i have just purchsed the same car ! It is my first car to have an electronic operating interface. Like other people i eventually came to terms with no wipers. But then i got frustrated after a few days, i discovered the remote doesnt work.

Its got a big V8 at the core so i am currently just enjoying the lovely sound it makes...........

Suggest you look on the VOSA website for vehicle recalls interesting reading over the years, all cars go wrong at some time some more than others though.

unfortunately, its not just the wipers...

iT's put me off, the remote operating mech is bad enough...

The dealer I spoke to was a bit fed up with the maker. It seems that quite a few of the existing range cut out all of a sudden and need to be turned off and then on again to get them going. The manufacturer promised a year ago that they'd get it resolved quickly, but it seems that the wiper problem has diverted their attention. Quite a few of the owners of their legacy models are getting pretty miffed apparently and were even thinking of swapping to other makes of car. The dealer muttered something under their breath about how having great engineering was all very well, and what a shame it would be if people swapped makes because of the poor user experience. I told her I could see her point. 

Sloop John B posted:

I recently bought a new car from a well respected British car manufacturer with great heritage, but not under British ownership anymore.

To my disbelief the windscreen wipers don't work. I'm told by the manufacturer that they are aware of the problem and a software upgrade will come out in Mid April which will allow the wipers to work. I cannot believe that a reputable company could release a product when they knew it lacked some basic functionality.

They have a very active forum and although there are some complaints about this many have they view that sure, doesn't it do everything but drive in rain and this will be sorted according to the company so what's the big issue? I can't believe  this sort of reaction and am quite aghast that a companies whose cars I have bought since the early 70s think that this is in any way acceptable.

I'm glad that I still own some models from their glory days but I will very hesitant to buy from them in future when they can release products that have known issues.  They still do make great engines though, but they seem to have lost out in the computerisation of cars and seem to think that their previous reputation will make prospective purchasers gloss over the shortcomings. I hope they are right as I'd like to see my classic models serviced for years to come but history tells us that time does not stand still for manufactures that loose their way.

 

Very good SJB  - Indeed some years back, this could have been a post on a TVR forum....

Try not to let the car cause you undue stress, leave it on the drive, go inside and stick some tunes on the Naim system. 

Oh well, if the wheels are falling off the car, buy a bike instead

Cbr600 posted:

Oh well, if the wheels are falling off the car, buy a bike instead

I've just bought two, it's an expensive business!

JamieWednesday posted:

Ah. I get it now. Stoopid me.

Me too, I blame old age and alcohol

Be careful - it is an offence to use the vehicle on a road with defective wipers (whether it is raining or not is totally irrelavent)

The offence is complete as soon as it is used on the road "Failure to maintain"

I would seek compensation or return it as "unfit for purpose" - Consumer Credit Act .....

As it stands, you have a defective vehicle which you can't drive lawfully