Wrong car part fitted, dealership refuse to cooperate

Wrong car part fitted, dealership refuse to cooperate

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vxr8mate

Original Poster:

1,654 posts

188 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
Hoping for some advice on what to do next.

About 18mths - 2 years ago my car had a new battery fitted at the dealership from where I bought it as new some 8 years ago.

The battery seemed fine until earlier this year when it failed (less than 18 moths old at that point and under warranty).

Breakdown guy tested it and thought something was wrong, so took it to the dealer and they tested it. 'All is okay' they said, so I carried on.

A short while later it was in for its annual service at the 'specialist' garage I use and so I asked them. They told me the battery is meant for my car's predecessor and not mine!

So, I took this up with the dealer and they told me they had the product code for it (which they gave me) and that's all they knew. I took this up with their national customer assistance and they promised to look at it. This was in June this year.

After numerous calls chasing them for answers they say my car seems to be registered with them twice, once as the correct model and again as the preceding model which is a different car altogether.

This seemed to explain why I had the wrong battery, but to them it didn't. It is almost Sept now and the last time I heard from them was Aug 3rd when they told me in an email 'they are looking to their parts department for answers as to if it is th eright or wrong battery' and I should contact Motorcodes being their ombudsman if I'm not happy.

Anyone had any dealings with Motorcodes? Do they have any authority?

Now I fear the battery is laboring on start up causing potential starting on various other parts and likely to fail again as soon as the cold returns.

Any suggestions guys?

deckster

9,630 posts

254 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
Two years ago? Get a new battery from Halfords and move on. Life is genuinely too short.

Butter Face

30,191 posts

159 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
Just buy a new battery? Surely it's less than £100 and a nice quick easy fix?

Dealer will have fitted whatever part number the manufacturer gave for the car.

What outcome do you want/expect?

vxr8mate

Original Poster:

1,654 posts

188 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
Butter Face said:
Just buy a new battery? Surely it's less than £100 and a nice quick easy fix?

Dealer will have fitted whatever part number the manufacturer gave for the car.

What outcome do you want/expect?
How about the battery they should have fitted in the first place.

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
vxr8mate said:
Butter Face said:
Just buy a new battery? Surely it's less than £100 and a nice quick easy fix?

Dealer will have fitted whatever part number the manufacturer gave for the car.

What outcome do you want/expect?
How about the battery they should have fitted in the first place.
GSF usually have codes for the weekend, you'll probably get one for 40% off.

ModernAndy

2,094 posts

134 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
What car was it for and was it the manufacturer's part number rather than an aftermarket part number?

Matthen

1,285 posts

150 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
Or Euro Car Parts. Day doesn't go by when there's not a 30% off voucher going around.



vxr8mate

Original Poster:

1,654 posts

188 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
ModernAndy said:
What car was it for and was it the manufacturer's part number rather than an aftermarket part number?
Vauxhall VXR8

Yes, it was all manufacturer's.

ModernAndy

2,094 posts

134 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
vxr8mate said:
ModernAndy said:
What car was it for and was it the manufacturer's part number rather than an aftermarket part number?
Vauxhall VXR8

Yes, it was all manufacturer's.
I thought it might be. I don't know how Vauxhall do part numbers but you can often find a part number gets replaced with another for the next generation of the same car. It's then a different number but essentially the same part if not exactly the same part. However, in this case, it seems like the product information for your car in their system is wrong and you've ended up with entirely the wrong battery being fitted and it's failing prematurely as it's inadequate for whatever reason.

If you're sure that's the case and assuming it is still under warranty then I'd insist they swap it for the other part number they have on the system.

SVTRick

3,633 posts

194 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
well compare the CCA - Cold Cranking Power (Amps) for both batteries for the two car models.
Anyway if you have warranty on the battery get them to change it and fit the correct
battery in the process.

E36GUY

5,906 posts

217 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
SVTRick said:
well compare the CCA - Cold Cranking Power (Amps) for both batteries for the two car models.
Anyway if you have warranty on the battery get them to change it and fit the correct
battery in the process.
Quite. One could argue them supplying the wrong battery in the first place has lead to the failure?

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
E36GUY said:
One could argue them supplying the wrong battery in the first place has lead to the failure?
You could argue it, but it's very unlikely to be true.

If the battery was spinning the starter healthily, then it had enough capacity.
If it sat on the tray, clamped down securely, and the cables reached the terminals, then it physically fitted.

It's been fine for two years, now the battery's died. Maybe the battery died. Maybe the car killed it. Replace the damn battery, and if you really want the absolute right one, then do some research before buying...

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
You could argue it, but it's very unlikely to be true.

If the battery was spinning the starter healthily, then it had enough capacity.
If it sat on the tray, clamped down securely, and the cables reached the terminals, then it physically fitted.
A quick check on one of the main battery supplier websites shows two listings.
6.0 2007-8
6.2 2008-

And... they both take 019 batteries.

Crafty_

13,248 posts

199 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
vxr8mate said:
Now I fear the battery is laboring on start up causing potential starting on various other parts and likely to fail again as soon as the cold returns.
A battery can't "labor" and I'm not sure what "causing potential starting on various other parts" means but if you are implying that the battery could have caused damage to other components on the car I don't think you are going to get anywhere with that one, its been doing the job for two years just fine. Either the battery has enough juice to power the car or it does not.

It did have enough juice to power the car, without issue for the last two years, but now doesn't, battery has been diagnosed as faulty, put a new one in.




HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
In any case two year's life for a battery is apaulling these days so get a battery with a decent guarantee this time.

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
A quick check on one of the main battery supplier websites shows two listings.
6.0 2007-8
6.2 2008-

And... they both take 019 batteries.
"019" merely denotes the case size / terminal type & orientation - nothing to specify the electrical performance or battery chemistry.

davepoth

29,395 posts

198 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
280E said:
TooMany2cvs said:
A quick check on one of the main battery supplier websites shows two listings.
6.0 2007-8
6.2 2008-

And... they both take 019 batteries.
"019" merely denotes the case size / terminal type & orientation - nothing to specify the electrical performance or battery chemistry.
So one of the batteries has the easy task of cranking over a 6.0 litre engine, but the other one has the difficult task of cranking over an extra .2 of a litre.

I'm going to stick my neck out here and say it's the same battery.

shep1001

4,599 posts

188 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
[quote=shep1001]


Yup if the CCA or capacity is much lower than it should be it can reduce the life of the battery. Depends how much load & for how long/number of times you fire her up


How does the 'correct' spec of the battery differ from the one fitted (look for something like 017 round post 680 CCA 88A)



I looked them up, the same size battery is available for both models, with a wide range of prices covering different capacities. You need to look at std spec from the factory and compare from there. Is it not in your handbook??

Edited by shep1001 on Wednesday 24th August 20:22

BertBert

18,953 posts

210 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
Simply unbelievable. If failed battery has a warranty get it changed under warranty. If not just go to halfrauds and but a new one.


James P

2,950 posts

236 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
vxr8mate said:
ModernAndy said:
What car was it for and was it the manufacturer's part number rather than an aftermarket part number?
Vauxhall VXR8

Yes, it was all manufacturer's.
I think it's a problem specific to the car.

I had a 2009 6.0 VXR8 and never even managed to get the right owners manual. Went to dealer with copy of V5 (so they had Reg and chassis numbers) and the manual they ordered was for the Monaro - even had a picture of a different car but shrugged shoulders was all I got from them.

On the same lines they never did manage to work out what nav discs they needed to order in the 3 years I had the car.