PHEV Speaker / Amp / Puddle Light Fault on 5HS

[Tristar500]

Hi All,

Last week I took delivery of a 5HS which is a replacement for a GX4h which I have had for 3 fault free years. After 3 days of use the sound was lost from the main car speakers to be replaced with an electronically produced 'knock' every 20 seconds coming from the drivers door speaker. The day after the sound was back. The after that the sound was lost. Today I have no sounds. The main console display works, maps are there and all the lovely displays are there but I have no radio, CD, SD card playback, Bluetooth playback and therefore no phone or sat-nav guidance to keep me company. I do still have the 'knock' every 20 seconds which sounds, for those who can remember, a bit like the initial moment you put a record player needle on a record a bit too heavily. The garage can't look at it until 22/9 and by then there will be another knocking sound, me, banging my head against the window. This is a £46,550 car. Not impressed!

Any ideas?

 

[user 1877]

I sympathise and agree it's not good enough. Stupid question but does turning down the volume get rid of the "knock"?

 

[Tristar500]

No, turning the volume down does not reduce the volume of the knock and turning it up does not increase it either.
A long press on the volume button to switch off the display does not stop it either, it still has life!

 

[Steel188]

You are right, this is unacceptable in any car, let alone one costing £47K. It also illustrates the poor attitude of your dealer.

I had an issue with my charging connection flap when the car was new, which my dealer fixed in a couple of days. When it happened again a week later I rang them up and they were asking me to book it in 10 days later. I told them that I would be in their showroom in 30 minutes, and they would have 30 minutes to fix it, even if they had to cannibalise the ones on display and I didn't care who else would have to wait, they should have fixed it the first time.

If I was you, I'd turn up, demand to see the Managing Director, and tell them to fix it on the spot, or give you an equal car of theirs for the 24 hours you are prepared to give them to complete the work, even if it means you taking the MD's car! Stripping parts from their demo or showroom cars would be acceptable so you can be gone in less than an hour, otherwise you will complain about their poor service to MMCC UK! And mean it!

They are there to serve you, not the other way round.

 

[STEVIAN]

i agree with the rest , put it in writing that you want them to fix it or else you shall be rejecting the car

 

[Tristar500]

Thanks for the advice chaps. The car has been collected today, which is an improvement on 22/9, so I will see how this goes. The thinking is that as the 5HS model is shipped without the upgraded Alpine stereo that somehow it has not been installed correctly at MMC Reception Centre in Portbury. Fingers crossed!

 

[Tristar500]

The car is back and apparently all fixed. The culprit, I am told, was an unsecure speaker connection in the drivers door. I have some serious listening to catch up on.

 

[StevieB]

The car is back and apparently all fixed. The culprit, I am told, was an unsecure speaker connection in the drivers door. I have some serious listening to catch up on.

Yeah, sounded like an earthing problem which was knocking out the amp (hence the bang noise).

What's the sound system like compared to the standard system them? Is it a big improvement?

 

[Tristar500]

Hi Steve,

Apologises for the delay in replying

Before I answer your question the car has been back in the dealership because the blue LED puddle lights, also in the drivers door, stopped working. They have been fixed, apparently a 2 minute job. However, since the lights have been fixed there is a knocking sound from the drivers door speaker when the car is first turned on and this happens at irregular intervals whilst driving though the sound does stay on. So it sounds like some interference between the LED puddle lights and the speaker. Waiting for the dealer to sort this again!

When it does work properly the sound is excellent. At first I did not notice an awful lot of difference between the sound system in my old GX4 and the new one. However, I tend to listen to an awful lot of music through Spotify and also books through Audible all via Bluetooth. On the odd occasions that I go back to the SD card there is a noticeable difference. Real clarity to the music rather than thumping bass though I am sure this can be messed about with. I wonder if this is down to the quality of the files on the SD card vs the quality of the Spotify files.