Hello,

Following on from my last post here I'm pretty sure I've been fully done over - that said, nobody likes a quitter so let's get at it.

First off, as soon as I was home the vehicle was leaking oil and not a drip either. The undertray was full of oil (and one lonely bolt+washer), and I was at a loss as to where from. It wasn't the turbo hose, it wasn't the oil filter, it was somewhere in front of the sump and below the oil filter.

More inspection threw up more questions than answers. The sump looked kind of new and had been sealed by Stevie Wonder in an earthquake. The stuff was everywhere. I was also losing power randomly through driving when under 1500rpm. I didn't think these things were linked, and I was lost in where the oil was coming from so I gave in and called Jamesons in Birmingham and the gaffer, John, talked to me about some common faults to check first. Great guy. Anyway, it wasn't any of the things we talked about (split turbo hose etc.) so I brought it in.

Turns out it was the oil filter housing (which explains why I couldn't see it). This just raised more questions: why was the oil filter housing off? Why was the sump new? It dawned on me that, potentially, this had a new engine in it. Uh oh.

The seller had work done to it through a family business that dealt with logistics. What he told me was it had been serviced there and had a new control arm. Fine, but what I'd missed was they had sheared off a bolt at the top mount and then decided that 2 bolts = 3 bolts and left it there. There were a number of other random bolts used to secure things (the aforementioned random bolt was probably dropped and then the next available to hand bolt used in its place). Even the front bumper was tech-screwed back on.

I'm pretty annoyed that the geezer lied to me as it's clearly had more work done than he let on but I wouldn't have known that at point of sale.

Anyway, it had stopped leaking oil and I was pretty happy about that. The random drops in power are most likely EGR based (although there is no check engine light) and the mechanic flashed something to reset the position sensors which worked a charm for about 4 days and now it's back to how it was.

My next task is to get the throttle body out and clean it - I'm hoping that will be enough. Still have to fix the rear passenger side door. Still have to work out why the Bluetooth isn't working. Still have to work out why I bought this car.

Plus side, fixing problems on a motorbike taught me some valuable lessons so maybe this will turn me into a less useless human being.

Peace.

Well I’m excited at least at your new purchase…. Takes my mind off my woes …. In fairness we run two in the family and they have been pretty reliable overall.. one has 60k the other has 168k… the high mileage one has had the usual … rear calipers, rear shocks front bearings and unfortunately a transfer box.. but if you look at the miles per workload it been pretty impressive… the split intercooler hose is a sh*te to do so if you happen to have the front bumper off ..do it… though it sounds as though yours has been fitted with quick release fittings for ease…
Good luck and keep the woes coming… if it’s any consolation, last night I had to do a 400mile round trip event over nine hours to change a wheel! Missus had popped down to Devon on a Bank Holiday (as you do) to visit her mum.. got caught in traffic, no surprise, took a detour down a country road, hit a pothole and destroyed a month old Pirelli… Evoque.. no spare, (only tube of gloop not very effective on a hole in the sidewall) RAC refused recovery on the basis it was tyre damage not a breakdown (wtf) but if we wanted to utilise their services they would charge us accordingly.. RAC man’s mate could do us a budget tyre for £300…
Hence had to drive down with spare wheel from shed in boot, five mins to change wheel and back home in the middle of the night! Does that trump you?