Advice re demon car please

[Miley]

Hi

I'm hoping someone will be able to help us please, we are at our wits end with Vauxhall.
We bought a Vauxhall Astra a year ago from a Vauxhall dealer, on finance that was arranged through the dealer. 10 days after getting it, we were on the M3 with our kids in the back of the car and it suddenly lost all power and ground to a halt in the middle lane. My husband managed to get over to the hard shoulder. After 10 mins it did start again and we took it back to the dealer/garage the next day. According to the paper work they removed intercooler pipes and press test sys, check vacum value & supply & activator'. I've no idea what all this means but this work was covered by warranty and the car did work when we got it back.
Fast forward to October 2009. Now we can't drive the car because water is pouring out of it, coming out as quick as it goes in. £89.49 for a coolant hose replacement/labour.
12th January 2010, car refuses to start and the engine management light is permanantly showing. Back to garage. Diagnostic states several codes are found relating to flat battery. Battery is recharged, another £89.89. 16th February 2010, MOT failed. Nearside inner drumstick joint steering joint has relative movement at its fixings and rear brake application is uneven. Brake is cleaned up and adjusted. NSF inner articulation joint is replaced, total £258.20.
22nd February 2010. On the school run when the steering siezes and the ABS light comes on. Then the engine management light. The speedo stops working, fuel gauge stops working and the radio seems to have a mind of its own, CD popping in and out by itself. Back to garage. Today have been told it needs a new battery. They put the battery on and then say the diagnostic machine has shown an ECU light. They say we need a new alternator (cost of repair on this occasion currently stands at £524). And if, after the new alternator is fitted, the ECU light is still on, we will need a new unit, which brings the repair to around £1400.
All this in a year. We don't know where to go from here. We don't have the money to repair it again, not to mention future costs with the rate it's going. The whole point of buying it was to have something reliable. It's a 2004 car, we're not talking some clapped out banger. We accept that wear and tear is going to occur but it cannot apply to everything that's happened in a year can it? And whose to say if we got it back it's not gonna go wrong over and over again. We just want rid of the car now. Do we have any rights legally? We just don't know what to do.
Thanks.

[old_andrew2007]

Bump