Who should pay ?

[M J H]

Now 10 months into Grif ownership, bought through a main TVR dealer ( having paid full money with WH warranty ). Has been a great car, with no probs other than oil leak which was "sorted" at service 2/3 monthe ago.
Oil leak now gettig worse so took back to same main dealer who have now identified a number of seals / gaskets to be replaced. (V8 front/tailshaft/rear crank/rear main cross oil seals etc )

My question is who should pay for this....(by the way 2500 miles done as second car ).

Warranty doesn,t cover, so I've left it with the dealership to think it through and let me know what they think is fair and reasonable. I've booked it in anyway, so we are just left to debate whose paying.

Would wellcome any views, similar examples etc, is it my problem now I've had it 10 months, 50/50 ?

[Hut49]

When you say the oil leak was "sorted" 2/3 months ago what do you mean and how much did they (I'm presuming its the same garage who are giving the diagnosis now) charge to fix it? If the problem is the same I think you should at least get the previous 'fixing' costs set against the new estimate since the fix obviously didn't. Trouble is, they will likely see that one coming, so they will probably "accommodate" this in their calculation of the price now. Might be worth getting a second estimate so you're sure the cost is reasonable.

[M J H]

I suppose the question I'm really asking is after how long should the new owner start to bear the costs of any problems,ie when is it reasonable for the TVR dealer to say, over to you now.
The reason I and I'm sure many others, buy from a dealer and pay for the priviledge, is that extra peace of mind.
The " fixed " leak was resealing engine sump pan joint and this was done FOC.
This is not a winge , more want a feel for how others see it.

[wedg1e]

I'd say they didn't spend enough time identifying the exact source of the leak: any leak from further up the engine will almost certainly result in an oily flange.... around the sump... ;0
It's not a huge job to replace the front crank and gearbox output shaft seals, though the rear crank and 'cruciform' seal are a bit more involved... like engine-out type involved.
I'd be tempted to try and find which bit is definitely leaking and if it's just one place, aim to fix that first.

Ian

[RichB]

Well not got the answer but just e-mailed this thread to my wife who works in the customer-relations dept' of a well known car company and here's here reply. She raises some interesting points, women eh? Don't you just love em! Rich...

Main dealer should provide some sort of used car warranty (poss only 3 months though) aside from WH policy which cust would have paid for.

If leak continued after 'fix' cust should have taken it back then, not waited another 7 months!**!

Seals tend to be wear/tear so not covered by ext warranty but depending on age/mileage/service history could blag dlr for contribution?

Depends how much dlr values his custom!

Lack of use contributes towards deterioration of seals etc as you well know !!!

[simon.b]

I bought my Griff from TMS a few years back and had the oil leak experience along with radiator and a few other issues. It all stemmed from the car have a low mileage and being stood for a long time.

The dealer fixed one oil leak and a few weeks later another would appear, but through out this time the dealer always carried out the work FOC, I assumed under my WH warranty.

I also had some warranty work done FOC at a local non-TVR garage.

Cheers,

Simon.

[rev-erend]

MJH - I wondered why I had not heard your car
around Godstone for a while... sounds like general
engine oil leaks.

As the warranty company does not cover them - I think
you will be very lucky if the dealer agrees to fix
them for free, after all I think you car is about 9 years old ?

You might have to bit the bullet on this on - it's a
shame but really only a minor problem.