Legal Help - Windows opened themselves and ruined interior
Discussion
Can anyone help? I am absolutely distraught, and don't know which way to turn.
On Friday evening, I parked my car on my drive, locked it, and put the key upstairs in my safe, as I knew I was going out in my partner's car for the night.
An hour or so later, we go out in my partner's car, and my keys are in the safe, the car is locked. Come back at midnight and the car is still fine and locked.
Get up in the morning, and the car has opened the windows, and water has ruined the interior! Everything is soaked and/or ruined and needs replacement or drying out.
So, my instant reaction with it being in warranty is to take the car to BMW to get them to resolve it, but they are telling me it must have been me pressing the button for opening the car down for 5 seconds to use the 'comfort access' window opening feature, thus they will not fix the car.
To say I'm gutted is an understatement.
I've spoken to my local dealer and BMW UK, and neither of them feel they should fix the car under warranty.
My window motors and sensors on both sides were replaced last week, but they tell me this cannot have caused the issue. Looking on the net, a few other people have experienced this across a range of BMW cars, and a few of those point to the 'Body Control Module' or the 'General Module'.
Can someone please help?
On Friday evening, I parked my car on my drive, locked it, and put the key upstairs in my safe, as I knew I was going out in my partner's car for the night.
An hour or so later, we go out in my partner's car, and my keys are in the safe, the car is locked. Come back at midnight and the car is still fine and locked.
Get up in the morning, and the car has opened the windows, and water has ruined the interior! Everything is soaked and/or ruined and needs replacement or drying out.
So, my instant reaction with it being in warranty is to take the car to BMW to get them to resolve it, but they are telling me it must have been me pressing the button for opening the car down for 5 seconds to use the 'comfort access' window opening feature, thus they will not fix the car.
To say I'm gutted is an understatement.
I've spoken to my local dealer and BMW UK, and neither of them feel they should fix the car under warranty.
My window motors and sensors on both sides were replaced last week, but they tell me this cannot have caused the issue. Looking on the net, a few other people have experienced this across a range of BMW cars, and a few of those point to the 'Body Control Module' or the 'General Module'.
Can someone please help?
Pulse said:
My window motors and sensors on both sides were replaced last week, but they tell me this cannot have caused the issue.
I got to that point and i had to laugh.up till then I was thinking what an odd occurence.
But seriously - this kind iof s
t makes me wonder how car dealership employees sleep at night.Some co-incidence eh? I turst the dealer you enquired with is aware of this work? And they're just ignoring that minor fact?
For example, if taps provided and fitted by a plumber are faulty, you should be able to claim compensation from the plumber
Substitute plumber for car dealer?
http://www.consumerline.org/legislation/?item=Supp...
Substitute plumber for car dealer?
http://www.consumerline.org/legislation/?item=Supp...
Is the dealer that did the work the one you bought the car off? Doesn't matter enormously if it isn't but it makes things a bit more clear cut.
Get the work done and pay under protest. Write "paid under protest" on the bill.
Then send the bill to the dealer and ask them to reimburse you saying that their faulty workmanship caused the problem, or else they supplied a car that was defective. Send it recorded delivery.
They may well ignore you.
Write again saying that if they don't respond within 14 days you will commence legal action.
If they don't pay reimburse you then open a claim using http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk Costs a minor amount and you get it back if you win. Companies often don't even bother to defend so you win by default.
Get the work done and pay under protest. Write "paid under protest" on the bill.
Then send the bill to the dealer and ask them to reimburse you saying that their faulty workmanship caused the problem, or else they supplied a car that was defective. Send it recorded delivery.
They may well ignore you.
Write again saying that if they don't respond within 14 days you will commence legal action.
If they don't pay reimburse you then open a claim using http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk Costs a minor amount and you get it back if you win. Companies often don't even bother to defend so you win by default.
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=...
http://www.bmw-driver.net/Forum/showthread.php?t=1...
http://en.allexperts.com/q/BMW-Repair-805/1999-bmw...
http://en.allexperts.com/q/BMW-Repair-805/Car-unlo...
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=304...
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=201...
http://www.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29...
http://www.insideview.ie/irisheyes/2009/04/uncomma...
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.ph...
http://www.bimmerpost.com/forums/archive/index.php... 321340.html
http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e39/8678279-1...
Pulse said:
Forgot to mention earlier that BMW tell me that I have a 'Dealer Warranty', not a 'Manufacturer Warranty', so they do not get involved in any warranty issue. The car is under 3 years old.
As far as I know, thats bulls
t. BMW "made" the car, not the dealer. Therefore its BMW'S problem. Or something like that.Pulse said:
Forgot to mention earlier that BMW tell me that I have a 'Dealer Warranty', not a 'Manufacturer Warranty', so they do not get involved in any warranty issue. The car is under 3 years old.
Forget the warranty. It's completely irrelevant in law.Pretty disappointing that BMW are not prepared to assist in trying to maintain your ownership experience.
Edited by Deva Link on Tuesday 8th December 17:36
Deva Link said:
Is the dealer that did the work the one you bought the car off? Doesn't matter enormously if it isn't but it makes things a bit more clear cut.
Get the work done and pay under protest. Write "paid under protest" on the bill.
Then send the bill to the dealer and ask them to reimburse you saying that their faulty workmanship caused the problem, or else they supplied a car that was defective. Send it recorded delivery.
They may well ignore you.
Write again saying that if they don't respond within 14 days you will commence legal action.
If they don't pay reimburse you then open a claim using http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk Costs a minor amount and you get it back if you win. Companies often don't even bother to defend so you win by default.
I bought the car privately. This dealership is the dealership who replaced the window motors/sensors though, amongst another 10 problems(ish).Get the work done and pay under protest. Write "paid under protest" on the bill.
Then send the bill to the dealer and ask them to reimburse you saying that their faulty workmanship caused the problem, or else they supplied a car that was defective. Send it recorded delivery.
They may well ignore you.
Write again saying that if they don't respond within 14 days you will commence legal action.
If they don't pay reimburse you then open a claim using http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk Costs a minor amount and you get it back if you win. Companies often don't even bother to defend so you win by default.
Sound advice on the rest though. It may be the best option. Just a shame I have to even go down this route, when it should be a case of them proving me wrong, not the other way around.
Deva Link said:
Pulse said:
Forgot to mention earlier that BMW tell me that I have a 'Dealer Warranty', not a 'Manufacturer Warranty', so they do not get involved in any warranty issue. The car is under 3 years old.
Forget the warranty. It's completely irrelevant in law.Pretty disappointing that BMW are not prepared to assist in trying to maintain your ownership experience.
Edited by Deva Link on Tuesday 8th December 17:36
When you say forget the warranty.. Can you explain?
Pulse said:
When you say forget the warranty.. Can you explain?
...because a warranty (or guarantee) is "in addition to your statutory rights" - you'll see that phrase often where warranty or guarantee is mentioned.Yours isn't really a warranty issue anyway. It's about the dealership not repairing the car properly.
I did think from your earlier posts that the car was either quite new or that you'd bought it from that dealership. That would make things easier as, clearly, the car has a fault if the windows open themselves.
The problem with blaming the repair on its own is that the dealership may claim that the work they did couldn't have caused that problem and it would be tough to argue against. Civil courts do work on "balance of probabilities" though, so the court may make the same link you did and decide the garage is at fault anyway.
ETA: One thing I would suggest is don't wade into the garage threatening legal action or they'll throw the shutters up. Perhaps arrange a meeting with the dealer principal or general manager.
Edited by Deva Link on Tuesday 8th December 17:58
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