Car dealer woes - How much time is reasonable for repair?

[benje]

Hello All,

After a bit of advice please, in April this year I paid £6k for a car from a used car dealer. Part of this deal, was a 6 month parts and labour warranty, underwritten by the dealer himself.

Anyway, within 1 month the car went into limp home mode, so car was driven to dealer for repair. Dealer had the car for 1 week, sending it to two different garages before they diagnosed the fault and repaired the car. Roll on 2 weeks ago, car starts to throw a considerable amount of smoke out of the exhaust (burning oil). I ring the dealer who gets the car picked up, and sent to the garage.

The day after I call to see if anything has been diagnosed - nothing to report.
I call again 6 days after car was picked up - Can't diagnose the fault.

Today after almost 2 weeks of dealer having the car, I get a message from the dealer telling me to call the garage where the car is. So I call them, they tell me they can't diagnose it, think it may the piston rings, and are waiting on the Dealer to call them, to give them the go ahead and remove the cylinder head! So no car for 2 weeks, and a dealer that appears to be giving me the runaround. I've tried calling the dealer multiple times today but no reply.

So how long is reasonable for the repair ( I know, how long's a piece of string etc) I've had the car almost 3 months, it's been in the garage for 3 weeks, and it looks like it that's only going to increase.

Any thoughts on my next move? I'm currently hiring a car to get me into work, so it's costing me a considerable amount in hire costs. Is giving him until the end of next week to repair it unreasonable?

Thanks in advance.

[t400ble]

What car is it?

Miles?

Age?

[Ledaig]

t400ble said:

What car is it?

Miles?

Age?

Making an assumption that the failure is within the bounds of the warranty, then the above is not relevant.

If the dealer feels the repairs are not viable (with respect to age or mileage) then they shouldn't have included the warranty and accepted the associated risk - but they did.

A better question would be, is the dealer footing the 'warranty' costs or is he using one of the insurance warranties?

If they are footing the bill then I would say 2 weeks to give the go ahead for investigation works is more than enough, if it's the latter then it should already be under way.

At 2 weeks, I would be going over to have polite chat over their intentions.

[t400ble]

The only reason I ask is to see out of interest what car it is

Paul

[bigee]

I reckon that after 3 weeks of 'investigating' you are at the tipping point of being able to be a bit firmer with them. To me you would be entitled to have car fixed and,if not able to do so then a replacement/refund would be perfectly reasonable.Good luck.

[Snowboy]

To answer the primary question; I'd say 5 working days to get answers.


To look at the larger scenario;
It depends what's written on the T&C of the warranty.
That's where car age, type, mileage becomes relevant.

£6k might be a premium VW or might be a bargain basement cat-d Range Rover.
This will possibly change what the warranty covers; of could be expected to cover.

[paoloh]

The warranty is not the only issue.

The dealer must warrant the goods for 6 months and this is within that period.

The Op is in a strong position.

[calibrax]

Go over there, they will have to speak to you because they won't want you making a fuss in front of other potential customers.

[Vaud]

paoloh said:

The dealer must warrant the goods for 6 months and this is within that period.

Really?

[paoloh]

Vaud said:

paoloh said:

The dealer must warrant the goods for 6 months and this is within that period.

Really?

Yes.

If a fault becomes apparent within the first 6 months, it is down to the dealer to prove it was not present at point of sale.

[Snowboy]

paoloh said:

Yes.

If a fault becomes apparent within the first 6 months, it is down to the dealer to prove it was not present at point of sale.

While that is broadly true on a new toaster it's not true on a used car.

It is more to do with the contract terms and the nature of the goods which can be considered up to six months later.

[Vaud]

paoloh said:

Yes.

If a fault becomes apparent within the first 6 months, it is down to the dealer to prove it was not present at point of sale.

That is not the same as a warranty.

[paoloh]

Vaud said:

paoloh said:

Yes.

If a fault becomes apparent within the first 6 months, it is down to the dealer to prove it was not present at point of sale.

That is not the same as a warranty.

Err, hence my first post

[benje]

Thanks all, to answer a few questions, the car is a VW Golf. The warranty is underwritten by the dealer himself, no T&Cs as such, just a clear statement on the invoice stating "6 months parts and labour warranty"

I'm not sure if that leaves me in a better or worse situation...

[littleredrooster]

My guess is that the dealer bought a third-party warranty when he sold the car. These typically exclude any claims within the first 30 days, hence the delaying tactics you are now seeing. As soon as the 30 days are up, he can make a claim and avoid paying for the repairs himself and save his profit.

Edit: just re-read the timescale again. That'll teach me to read a post properly! Sorry.

[Jasandjules]

Put the car dealer on notice that the repairs are taking too long and you are not putting him on notice that you will seek to recover hire car charges from him...

[paoloh]

littleredrooster said:

My guess is that the dealer bought a third-party warranty when he sold the car. These typically exclude any claims within the first 30 days, hence the delaying tactics you are now seeing. As soon as the 30 days are up, he can make a claim and avoid paying for the repairs himself and save his profit.

Edit: just re-read the timescale again. That'll teach me to read a post properly! Sorry.

A lot of dealers put £100 ( approx ) from each sale into an account to cover warranty expenditure and underwrite it themselves.

[paoloh]

hora said:

Cynical but could it be the dealer has only now taken a policy out realising its a major bill and is waiting for the magic 30days? i.e saying hes only just sold the car recently?

Smoke etc (EGR stuff?)

Very valid point, happens a lot.