FTO AUSTRALIA

OK, when i bought my fto, the battery light was constantly on. the car yard wrote in the contract that they would fix it. their mechanic determined that the alternator needed to be replaced. in the end, he rebuilt it.

I picked it up on thursday the 26th of feb. the first thing i noticed (apart from it being INCREDIBLY dirty) was the charge level.it was sitting at 12V. Now i've been told, by many many people that the norm should be around 14V. Since then, it has been steadily dropping to 10V. However today, as i drove to modbury, my radio started dropping out. so i turned everything off, and realised that what i thought had come true. The car was running off the battery, and not the alternator.

Later today, i stopped to get some food at barnacle bill's in salisbury, got back into the car and all i heard as i turned the key was a clicking and the alternator tried to kick in... the car wouldn't start as it had drained the battery.

So i had to fork out $160 with the help of my girlfriend to call the RAA and join them at the same time, just to give me enough charge to limp home...

All this because of some sh*t mechanic who wouldn't even take a call during working hours on Friday.

pm sent

what was dirty? the inside of your car, or the alternator? if the inside of the car was dirty then get them to pay for cleaning!

Also, send the car back & get the alternator fixed properly under warranty ..

Call fair trading to see whether the workshop is responsible for paying the towing & where you stand overall..

Be firm with the mechanic & let them know that you're not happy about being screwed around (mention the towing costs to the workshop anyway & see what they're willing to come to the table with - maybe they will throw in a free service or something)

The Roadside Assistance is just a cost you have to cough up yourself .. everyone with a car should already be a member .. if you were already, you wouldn't have had to pay the extra towing costs for using the service within 24 hours of joining.

I'd been meaning to join, but stupid me kept forgetting...

And thanks for the advice. I think i'll give the fair trade a call tomorrow. I'm sick of this car yard...

my car has always sat on 12V

maybe not a good thing...

Cassf88 wrote:my car has always sat on 12V

Seconded. Same here

they should sit between the 12 to 14v mark