Warranty on cars

[Rooster]

Not sure where I stand on this? I bought a used car three weeks ago, after one week the slave cylinder has gone completely leaving me stranded with a car that has no gears. Low loaded to my specialist indi garage. Contacted warranty company. They have visited and the claim has been rejected on the grounds of wear and tear, despite the fact the car has failed totally and I cannot move it. The small print states it is only applicable if "sudden stoppage of function for a reason other than wear and tear, deteroration or negligence" occurs. My garage is insisting that the car has failed, the warranty company states otherwise. Oh and they didnt even tell me the clkaim had been rejected, apparently I must chase them!

When I called they were very intimidating on the phone, negative,condescending, smug and overbearing.

The job of renewing slave cylinder will be £650 which, while I can afford, I don't want to. Advice please?
The company apparently used to trade under a different name and apparently had a less than enviable reputation.

[JakeThePeg]

Speak to the supplying dealer. Might be told to Foxtrot Oscar, but you never know.

Alternatively, speak to OFT?

[TooMany2cvs]

Rooster said:

The small print states it is only applicable if "sudden stoppage of function for a reason other than wear and tear, deteroration or negligence" occurs.

So what reason are the garage giving for the slave's failure...?

What car, what age, what mileage, what service history?

[ging84]

found this last night while looking into my own issues
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140402...

very good level of detail on your rights

even if a warranty provided with the car does not cover a fault, your sale of goods act rights with the dealer still apply
there is a handy flow chart on how they work on page 27

[Rooster]

TooMany2cvs said:

So what reason are the garage giving for the slave's failure...?

What car, what age, what mileage, what service history?

Garage says the slave cyclinder "O" ring seals have gone but they feel it isnt wear and tear as the car was fully serviced from new and has a full list of everything done evry 6000 miles (and its pretty impressive). Only 47000 miles on a 2003 car.
Tried ringing the garage that sold it to me but apparently need to talk to their servicing rather than sales.
Will read up some information tonight.

[andymc]

I suspect clutches will never be covered as they're a consumeable

[TooMany2cvs]

Rooster said:

Garage says the slave cyclinder "O" ring seals have gone but they feel it isnt wear and tear as the car was fully serviced from new and has a full list of everything done evry 6000 miles (and its pretty impressive). Only 47000 miles on a 2003 car.

So little use and lots of standing around. Prime conditions for hydraulics to corrode and leak when put back into use. It's had 7 services in 11 years. Brake fluid change documented every two years (so pretty much every service)?

[The Surveyor]

andymc said:

I suspect clutches will never be covered as they're a consumeable

I would agree if it was a clutch plate which had failed, just the same as brake pads / disks. If the failure is hydraulic related, this should be covered by the warrantee, otherwise what is it actually covering, and yes I know they aren't worth the paper their written on etc..

If you get nowhere with the warrantee company go back to the dealer who sold you the warrantee, suggesting it was maybe, mis-sold!

Paul

[andymc]

you need to prove the fault was there at point of sale ideally

[VtecLover]

Just wondering but what car is it as the prices seems very high @ £650 to replace the part...

[Rooster]

TVR Tamora. Clutch slave cylinder is £220. The rest is oil and labour. I trust them as they service and deal with my Chimaera regularly and our porsches too.

[rigga]

Never found an aftermarket warranty company that's worth dealing with come claim time, always wriggle out of paying.

[johnfm]

An o-ring seal on a 40k miler probably is wear and tear - but warranty company sound unhelpful.

[calibrax]

Rooster said:

TVR Tamora. Clutch slave cylinder is £220. The rest is oil and labour. I trust them as they service and deal with my Chimaera regularly and our porsches too.

£430 for labour and oil?

Is it really a job that would take many a lot of hours to do, or are their labour rates "main dealer" level?

[Rooster]

calibrax said:

£430 for labour and oil?

Is it really a job that would take many a lot of hours to do, or are their labour rates "main dealer" level?

I didnt think that was a massive amount given the amount of work they had to do for photos for Warranty company etc. They are a well established TVR indie and very reasonably priced.

[carreauchompeur]

Hopefully given the type of car and presumably purchase price the supplying garage will sort this out for you, sounds potentially more a sale than warranty issue.

[TheConverted]

I Had similar with my car.

the dealer, supplied a third party warranty that was holey inappropriate for the the car. in the small print it stated that they would not cover any existing faults or failures from before the purchase of the car. and the standard wear and tear get out clause.

I had a few issues with the car the dealer told me to contact the warranty company. I did they rejected on grounds of wear and tear. (bearing in the suspension, known fault with the megane's and missing undertray)

I pressed the Dealer and all was resolved via the warranty company. I did point out that the warranty was not really suitable. personally I think the dealer had been miss sold the warranty service. as it was never going to cover the dealers obligation, under SOGA.

I'm not a legal type, I was just polite and civil with the dealer.

Andy

I wasn't going to mention it as I wasn't sure it was relevant. But in the end (2-3 calls) I refused to deal with the warranty people as they were so condescending and unhelpful. as far as I was concerned my contract was with the dealer.

(I'm not the huge whinny diva i sound either)

[BOF]

rigga said:

Never found an aftermarket warranty company that's worth dealing with come claim time, always wriggle out of paying.

I have been with Warranty Direct for 10 years - have had several claims met to my satisfaction - including £2400 auto box failure on Jaguar...never had the slightest problem with them.

BOF

[Rooster]

The good news is the clutch is in excellent condition, nearly new, the slave cylinder had to come out (hence labour costs)for the "O" rings to be replaced and the garage that sold it to me has agreed to pay for the parts while I stand the cost of labour, best I could do but hey ho!

[sparkythecat]

So you have to pay £450 for labour and sundries, but the supplying garage isn't paying the £220 cost of a new slave cylinder, but instead just the £20 cost of a repair kit?

That's rubbing salt in, that is.