East Lothian man loses job after £11k BMW breaks down - again

An East Lothian man who lost his job after his second-hand car kept breaking down is fighting to return the vehicle to the dealership and be compensated for lost work.
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Ryan Gordon, 20, from Tranent bought the white 2013 plate BMW in July last year – but just hours after driving it off Peter Vardy Vauxhall’s Seafield Road forecourt, it had broken down.

After keeping the vehicle in the garage for eight days, ­Ryan was told that the problem was down to a faulty vacuum switch.

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Ryan said: “It shouldn’t have taken them that long. Your car shouldn’t be in the garage for more than a day and that should be it done.”

Ryan Gordon - who claims that he lost his job because the car he bought from Peter Vardy was so unreliableRyan Gordon - who claims that he lost his job because the car he bought from Peter Vardy was so unreliable
Ryan Gordon - who claims that he lost his job because the car he bought from Peter Vardy was so unreliable

After the car broke down again on the day he collected it from the garage, it was sent to a BMW dealer to further investigate.

When Ryan collected it three days later, there was a new set of rattles and the floor of the car was overheating.

Ryan and his dad – a mechanic for more then 20 years – were convinced that both BMW and Peter Vardy had missed the real issue with the car, but their concerns were dismissed.

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A month later, Ryan was told the dealership was going to install a new engine – but before they could, a new diagnosis of a faulty crank shaft meant more work was needed.

Ryan Gordon - who claims that he lost his job because the car he bought from Peter Vardy was so unreliableRyan Gordon - who claims that he lost his job because the car he bought from Peter Vardy was so unreliable
Ryan Gordon - who claims that he lost his job because the car he bought from Peter Vardy was so unreliable

Ryan said: “They’re trying to cut corners and take the cheap way out of things. They decided to get me a new engine, then rebuild the engine completely, then they said they’d only fix what was broken.

“Their solution to every problem has given me more problems.”

In December, Ryan was working for Tillicoultry Quarries and was just two weeks away from passing his probation.

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But his car broke down three times in one week, making him late, and he wasn’t kept on.

Ryan Gordon - who claims that he lost his job because the car he bought from Peter Vardy was so unreliableRyan Gordon - who claims that he lost his job because the car he bought from Peter Vardy was so unreliable
Ryan Gordon - who claims that he lost his job because the car he bought from Peter Vardy was so unreliable

He said: “I told Peter Vardy and they weren’t interested. I told them that I had to get in because if I was late I would lose my job. They told me they’d phone me back that day and I never heard from them.”

Now in a new job as a plant operator, Ryan’s problem car broke down again last week and he missed a Saturday shift, which he would have earned time-and-a-half for.

Abandoning the car in Cockenzie, Ryan demanded a courtesy car but has been left fuming.

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He said: “Because the car has let me down I lost a good job. They haven’t got me what I deserve and they’re still mucking me about.”

Ryan bought the car on finance for £11,000 and has tried to reject the deal through the credit company. Now he wants to be reimbursed for the missed shift last week, too.

He said: “I want rid of the car. Ideally I want compensation for the shift I lost and that’s not taking into consideration the job I lost thanks to them.”

A spokesman for Peter Vardy told the News: “We are really sorry to hear of the issues that the customer has had with the vehicle as customer service is of paramount importance to us.

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“It is currently in our BMW service department and we are awaiting a diagnosis report from them on the vehicle which will hopefully mean we can ­resolve the issue.

“As the customer has contacted the finance company with regards to rejecting the vehicle, they are carrying out their own investigation and are communicating with us throughout this process.

“This should mean we will have an outcome for the customer next week so hopefully we can provide a suitable solution either way.”