A Paisley grandfather is breathing a sigh of relief after saving thousands of pounds following an ordeal with a car dealership that tried to charge him for problems with a brand new car that was practically fresh off the forecourt.
Alan McNaughton, 71, was told by Arnold Clark in Linwood that the broken clutch, which occurred to the Ford Puma after fewer than 3,000 miles, was not covered under warranty and that he’d have to part with more than £2,000 to fix the problem himself.
That’s on top of the £278 a month for the next three years that he’s currently paying for the car after having bought it on a Hire Purchase finance plan.
However, following enquiries by the Paisley Daily Express the dealership has relented and agreed to cover the costs of the repair.
Alan was delighted with the outcome and said: “I got a call from Arnold Clark’s head office to say that they are going to pay the full cost of the repair to my Ford Puma, Thanks so very much to all at the paper.”
Alan, who uses his vehicle to attend vital health appointments relating to three separate cancer diagnoses he’s received as well as to ferry his grandchildren around, was left without a car after the firm took his hire car away when they found the problem was
clutch-related, and therefore not covered by warranty.
The problem reared its head in a dangerous situation, with Alan finding the car just “stopped on the A737 slip road just off the M8” a couple of weeks ago.
He was towed to Arnold Clark in Phoenix Retail Park where they inspected the vehicle and told Alan that the clutch was damaged.
“I said, well it must be covered by warranty and they said, 'no it’s not, in our opinion, it’s driver abuse'," Alan recalled.
“And I think it’s totally unfair. I think they’re picking on the wee man, a pensioner with cancer, and sticking their fingers up at me."
Alan had only had the vehicle for six months and was astounded when he was accused of having damaged the clutch, saying that in 50 years of driving, not once had he had clutch problems.
Alan reached out to the Paisley Daily Express after getting nowhere with Arnold Clark and Ford. Upon hearing about Alan’s situation, Arnold Clark’s head office said that they would be covering the cost of repair on this occasion.
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