Car warranty: Excessive diagnostics
Discussion
Just trying to find out what my options are here, and what rights I have, what my next steps should be. I'm also going to find a solicitor on Monday, but figured it couldn't hurt to ask here as well. 
I bought a car in August last year (just over 6 months ago). It's 5 years old, outside of manufacturers warranty, but came with a 2 year extended warranty from the garage I bought it from (not a main dealer).
The car developed a fault whilst driving it, engine light on, sounded awful, lots of bad signs. I pulled over and got it recovered home, notified the warranty company of the fault, and got it recovered to a main dealer a few days later.
The warranty states I can have the diagnostic and repair carried out at a garage of my choosing, and that I'm responsible for covering any diagnostic costs (I can't claim them back if a fault is found). All good so far.
The main dealer diagnosed the issue, said what initially failed, and how it has caused further damage. Essentially, the supercharger has failed and caused damage to the engine. They've given a more detailed diagnosis than that, but it's basically that.
They've said the engine is not repairable, and have sent a quote to the warranty company to supply and fit a reconditioned engine and supercharger.
The warranty company haven't yet approved or denied the claim, but have said they want further diagnostic work done before making a decision. They've said they want the head to be removed for further inspection, to determine the exact cause of failure and to see if it is repairable, rather than replacing the whole engine. The problem is, Jaguar have quoted this as a £4k job, and the warranty company are saying I need to pay for it (and not be able to claim it back). This is also just to remove the head, and then there will be further diagnostic costs, and they've talked of also removing and completely stripping the engine. All at my cost.
The main dealer has talked to the warranty company and said that their diagnosis is correct, no further diagnosis is required, and that they're trained technicians and there is no merit in removing the head. They asked the warranty company, if they still want to go ahead then if they would:
a) cover the costs themselves for further diagnostic work, or
b) with my permission, to send their own technicians out to inspect the car themselves (and avoid main dealer labour rates)
They've declined both, and said that they want the main dealer to do the work, and that I need to pay for it. If I don't, then they won't process the claim.
That's the current situation.
My question is really, what to do next. I don't want to (and can't) pay £4k for the additional diagnostic work, especially as that's not even an end goal, it's just the next of multiple steps they want to go through. My argument is, a main dealer has inspected it and given them a diagnosis of what's failed, why it's failed, and why it's not repairable. If they don't trust that, it should be on them to cover further work.
I know that as it's outside of 6 months, dealing with the garage that sold the car is going to be more difficult.
In terms of the warranty, what should I be looking to do next? As it is effectively an insurance product, I assume I can complain to the ombudsman, but there's probably other things I should look at first. I could complain to the warranty company, but not sure what specifically I should say.
Edit: I can't add up. Buying in August means it was 5 months ago, not 6, so relevant for Consumer Rights Act etc.
I bought a car in August last year (just over 6 months ago). It's 5 years old, outside of manufacturers warranty, but came with a 2 year extended warranty from the garage I bought it from (not a main dealer).
The car developed a fault whilst driving it, engine light on, sounded awful, lots of bad signs. I pulled over and got it recovered home, notified the warranty company of the fault, and got it recovered to a main dealer a few days later.
The warranty states I can have the diagnostic and repair carried out at a garage of my choosing, and that I'm responsible for covering any diagnostic costs (I can't claim them back if a fault is found). All good so far.
The main dealer diagnosed the issue, said what initially failed, and how it has caused further damage. Essentially, the supercharger has failed and caused damage to the engine. They've given a more detailed diagnosis than that, but it's basically that.
They've said the engine is not repairable, and have sent a quote to the warranty company to supply and fit a reconditioned engine and supercharger.
The warranty company haven't yet approved or denied the claim, but have said they want further diagnostic work done before making a decision. They've said they want the head to be removed for further inspection, to determine the exact cause of failure and to see if it is repairable, rather than replacing the whole engine. The problem is, Jaguar have quoted this as a £4k job, and the warranty company are saying I need to pay for it (and not be able to claim it back). This is also just to remove the head, and then there will be further diagnostic costs, and they've talked of also removing and completely stripping the engine. All at my cost.
The main dealer has talked to the warranty company and said that their diagnosis is correct, no further diagnosis is required, and that they're trained technicians and there is no merit in removing the head. They asked the warranty company, if they still want to go ahead then if they would:
a) cover the costs themselves for further diagnostic work, or
b) with my permission, to send their own technicians out to inspect the car themselves (and avoid main dealer labour rates)
They've declined both, and said that they want the main dealer to do the work, and that I need to pay for it. If I don't, then they won't process the claim.
That's the current situation.
My question is really, what to do next. I don't want to (and can't) pay £4k for the additional diagnostic work, especially as that's not even an end goal, it's just the next of multiple steps they want to go through. My argument is, a main dealer has inspected it and given them a diagnosis of what's failed, why it's failed, and why it's not repairable. If they don't trust that, it should be on them to cover further work.
I know that as it's outside of 6 months, dealing with the garage that sold the car is going to be more difficult.
In terms of the warranty, what should I be looking to do next? As it is effectively an insurance product, I assume I can complain to the ombudsman, but there's probably other things I should look at first. I could complain to the warranty company, but not sure what specifically I should say.
Edit: I can't add up. Buying in August means it was 5 months ago, not 6, so relevant for Consumer Rights Act etc.
Edited by mx5tom on Saturday 18th January 13:59
Good luck, we have a VW in that has stripped its cambelt, the warranty company won't confirm what they will pay for until the exact fault has been confirmed, the trouble is either the belt failed, somebody has replaced a part badly (most likely) or something internal caused it. The engine has internal damage (you cannot turn it over by hand) so it needs a new engine. the car on paper is 2 years short of needing a cambelt being a 2017 car.
The customer is liable for stripping the car down to confirm the exact fault however thats going to be a 15 hour job on paper to strip it down to its parts, it then takes up a ramp and its not a given they will cover it. We have advised the customer to take it up with the supplying dealer and the credit card company.
Warranties are ok for simple things but for engine failure they are a complete unknown. I know it doesn't answer your question other than it is completely normal for a warranty company to make big payouts difficult to process both in terms of time and money. Its also clearly stated in the t&c that diagnostics is the customer expense. The only warranties worth the paper they are written on are AUC's
The customer is liable for stripping the car down to confirm the exact fault however thats going to be a 15 hour job on paper to strip it down to its parts, it then takes up a ramp and its not a given they will cover it. We have advised the customer to take it up with the supplying dealer and the credit card company.
Warranties are ok for simple things but for engine failure they are a complete unknown. I know it doesn't answer your question other than it is completely normal for a warranty company to make big payouts difficult to process both in terms of time and money. Its also clearly stated in the t&c that diagnostics is the customer expense. The only warranties worth the paper they are written on are AUC's
mx5tom said:
Edit: I can't add up. Buying in August means it was 5 months ago, not 6, so relevant for Consumer Rights Act etc.
That's handy. As it's less than 6 mths it's up to the seller to prove it wasn't faulty at the time of sale. So they should pay for the diagnostic. They should also pay for the repair if it was a pre-existing fault. If it wasn't then the warranty should pay.
Sounds easy. I'm sure it won't be.
You may have a problem with consequential damage - the warranty company might cover the supercharger, but not the further damage it did.
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