Fault on car after 3 months, bought from dealer..
Discussion
My wife has a 2015 320d xdrive estate, bought from one of the large car supermarket type places. It's a very nice car, well looked after etc etc.
It came with a 3 month 'warranty' which has now just lapsed (we bought it in May), and has developed a fault with the iDrive system, causing it to reboot constantly in a loop. This means she has no nav, radio, car settings, service history, bluetooth etc etc.
We contacted the trader who immediately told us the warranty had lapsed and hard luck, so we reminded them of our consumer rights and they've been a little more receptive to our issue.
They have asked us to get the fault diagnosed at a BMW dealer and let them know the result, but will not commit to covering the diagnostic costs (£99/hr)
Is it reasonable to expect them to cover the cost of diagnosis? They also haven't committed to covering the repair so I wonder what my next step is.
Thanks.
It came with a 3 month 'warranty' which has now just lapsed (we bought it in May), and has developed a fault with the iDrive system, causing it to reboot constantly in a loop. This means she has no nav, radio, car settings, service history, bluetooth etc etc.
We contacted the trader who immediately told us the warranty had lapsed and hard luck, so we reminded them of our consumer rights and they've been a little more receptive to our issue.
They have asked us to get the fault diagnosed at a BMW dealer and let them know the result, but will not commit to covering the diagnostic costs (£99/hr)
Is it reasonable to expect them to cover the cost of diagnosis? They also haven't committed to covering the repair so I wonder what my next step is.
Thanks.
vxr2010 said:
I don’t think it’s as easy for a dealer just to say a 3 month warranty , i believe it’s longer than three months ? you could contact trading standards , car is in effect not fit for purpose
Yes, as I said above we reminded them about our consumer rights. My question was about whether we should expect them to pay for the diagnosis of the fault.
andymc said:
you have to pay for the diagnostic, usual warranty terms
There's no warranty in place - so no terms, just the provisions of the CRA which trump any warranty terms anyway. Paying for diagnostic work for warranty claims is a scam which should be resisted. Any diagnostic should only be chargeable if work is done that falls outside any warranty or CRA provisions.ElectricPics said:
There's no warranty in place - so no terms, just the provisions of the CRA which trump any warranty terms anyway. Paying for diagnostic work for warranty claims is a scam which should be resisted. Any diagnostic should only be chargeable if work is done that falls outside any warranty or CRA provisions.
This is my thinking. It's up to them to sort the issue, and surely diagnosing the fault is part of the repair?Just an off chance - if it "failed after 4 years" it isn't the subscription to some services that have run out have they.
Dad had a iDrive X5 that did exactly that and it turned out that a lease extension had taken the subscription services to an extra date but when sold as "BMW approved" no one thought to tell him everything would pack up on date x.. £99 for the new load of maps, software etc and ran fine.
Dad had a iDrive X5 that did exactly that and it turned out that a lease extension had taken the subscription services to an extra date but when sold as "BMW approved" no one thought to tell him everything would pack up on date x.. £99 for the new load of maps, software etc and ran fine.
cbmotorsport said:
As ever after posting on PH, the situation is now as clear as mud. Different opinions:
1. It's failed, the car is 4 years old suck it up.
2. It's a fundamental system within the car that's failed after 3 months and 2,000 miles. Of course the dealer should pay for it.
In reality it's probably somewhere in the middle of those two positions, or it's as posted in the post above yours, the software needs updated. 1. It's failed, the car is 4 years old suck it up.
2. It's a fundamental system within the car that's failed after 3 months and 2,000 miles. Of course the dealer should pay for it.
Is there not a local garage that can do a diagnostics check on a BMW? That would be my first stop, or to a BMW dealership and explain the situation. They may be able to tell you it is software related for free, if you ask them.
Is it worth disconnecting the battery? Might cause it to reset?
OP - I can understand your frustration, but at the same time I have sympathy for the BMW garage which has to do the diagnostics. In fairness they didn't sell you the car, so they haven't made any money from a sale. It seems logical that they would want to be paid for their work. Maybe it might be worth asking if they would drop the diagnostics charge if you have the work carried out at the garage. (We have been doing this for the last couple of years to stop people coming in and having their problems diagnosed for free, then going somewhere else for repairs).
Can't comment on legal position as I'm not in UK and don't know the rules.
OP - I can understand your frustration, but at the same time I have sympathy for the BMW garage which has to do the diagnostics. In fairness they didn't sell you the car, so they haven't made any money from a sale. It seems logical that they would want to be paid for their work. Maybe it might be worth asking if they would drop the diagnostics charge if you have the work carried out at the garage. (We have been doing this for the last couple of years to stop people coming in and having their problems diagnosed for free, then going somewhere else for repairs).
Can't comment on legal position as I'm not in UK and don't know the rules.
You bought a car with 3 months warranty right? You were happy with this at the time and no doubt chose to decline the extended cover on the car that was new to you but has covered many miles and been used for years. It is almost 5 years old.
The Sat Nav was clearly working at point purchase and has just failed suddenly. Why do you feel the dealer is responsible? I highly doubt they have just sat in their office and triggered it to fail for a laugh. It is why that car was a fraction of the cost of a brand new one after all.
The Sat Nav was clearly working at point purchase and has just failed suddenly. Why do you feel the dealer is responsible? I highly doubt they have just sat in their office and triggered it to fail for a laugh. It is why that car was a fraction of the cost of a brand new one after all.
JimmyConwayNW said:
You bought a car with 3 months warranty right? You were happy with this at the time and no doubt chose to decline the extended cover on the car that was new to you but has covered many miles and been used for years. It is almost 5 years old.
The Sat Nav was clearly working at point purchase and has just failed suddenly. Why do you feel the dealer is responsible? I highly doubt they have just sat in their office and triggered it to fail for a laugh. It is why that car was a fraction of the cost of a brand new one after all.
Even if he had taken the extended warranty, Sat Navs etc are often excluded. I know the policy offered by a very large dealer group that might be a writing implement and a mythical animal that features in Game of Thrones don't cover them.The Sat Nav was clearly working at point purchase and has just failed suddenly. Why do you feel the dealer is responsible? I highly doubt they have just sat in their office and triggered it to fail for a laugh. It is why that car was a fraction of the cost of a brand new one after all.
hutchst said:
cbmotorsport said:
This is my thinking. It's up to them to sort the issue, and surely diagnosing the fault is part of the repair?
Only if the fault was present when your wife bought the car. Didn't she notice it wasn't working?Warranties cover faults that occur in an agreed time period post-sale. CRA liabilities cover faults that were present at the time of sale, which the OP states is not the case here.
It is true that in some cases symptoms of a fault might only occur some time after the point at which the fault itself developed (so the fault may have existed at the time of sale but not been evident), but from the information provided this doesn't appear to be the case.
Edited by Ed/L152 on Tuesday 10th September 22:18
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