BMW won't repair my car under warranty

BMW won't repair my car under warranty

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lip13

Original Poster:

9 posts

74 months

Wednesday 10th January 2018
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I bought a 520D Touring from Stratstone Leeds last year and over Christmas it developed an issue. On 3 separate occasions when opening the doors with the key fob, after getting into the driver's side the door would then not close/latch. To keep the door closed I would have to pull it closed and push down the door lock. Once this was done then the door would not open again for some time from either the inside or the outside. On another occasion on opening the doors with the key fob, the driver's door would not open. So today I dropped the car in to get it repaired and also told them about a vibrating noise that was coming from the driver's side to look into.

So towards the end of the day I got a call saying they had identified the problem. They said that water has got inside the door which has caused the lock and release cable to rust. They say that this issue has been caused by different speakers being fitted in the door which is also the cause of the vibrating noise. Because of this they say that the repair will not be covered under warranty. So this has p***ed me off as you can imagine! I didn't know I was buying a car that had been modified in any way and so therefore would have no idea that the warranty would have been void.- if I had know I wouldn't have bought it. How likely is it that replacing the speakers would have caused a leak which would cause the lock to fail? Where does the responsibility lie around this? For all I know, I bought the car with the fault already there - surely I can't have been expected to take the car apart to check for modifications?

So the Service department have told me that it will cost £570.85 to fix and to take it up with the Sales department. Has anyone had anything similar happen to them or know where I might stand with this? Thanks

FWIW

3,041 posts

96 months

Wednesday 10th January 2018
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What did the sales department say?

E-bmw

9,101 posts

151 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
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Unfortunately in most terms & conditions on things like this have a clause saying basically that ignorance is no defence, and I am not being nasty to you in saying this.

Aside of that inside most doors is a plastic membrane which is supposed to direct any water entering through the seal on the window past things like window regulators/locks/door solenoids etc, to prevent exactly this issue.

If this had been interfered with, then it is possible that the person fitting the speakers could have caused the issue and in that case it would not be covered under any warranty.

LaurasOtherHalf

21,429 posts

195 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
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Did you buy the car from bmw with their AUC warranty?

When I had my M3 CSL the local dealers phoned me up asking to use my chassis number as they were in a bit of a pickle.

They’d sold an M3 cabriolet with CSL wheels and when the owner put new tyres on he’d found two were buckled. Investigating further it turned out they were eBay copies so the dealers were being forced to replace them with genuine CSL wheels which they needed my chassis number to order. They’d sold the car as having CSL wheels so under their warranty they had to stick to that.

Whether this means your dealers are responsible for none standard parts I don’t know?

hilly10

7,076 posts

227 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
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If it’s covered by AUC then surely it’s covered as you say how are you to know the speakers have been changed. Standup to them and demand they put it right, speak to the Dealer Principal. I think they are trying it on. There is no way I would pay up.

I bought my 5 20d Touring covered by AUC in October it’s just over three years old, when I spoke to the salesman he assured me it’s as good as a new car warranty underwritten by BMW themselves

lip13

Original Poster:

9 posts

74 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
quotequote all
FWIW said:
What did the sales department say?
That's today's job. They were closing as I picked the car up yesterday

lip13

Original Poster:

9 posts

74 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
quotequote all
hilly10 said:
If it’s covered by AUC then surely it’s covered as you say how are you to know the speakers have been changed. Standup to them and demand they put it right, speak to the Dealer Principal. I think they are trying it on. There is no way I would pay up.

I bought my 5 20d Touring covered by AUC in October it’s just over three years old, when I spoke to the salesman he assured me it’s as good as a new car warranty underwritten by BMW themselves
My car was 18 months old when I bought it so it's still within the original manufacturer's warranty. The dealer told me before I bought it that he knew who the original buyer was and that it had been kept in good condition. There's no way I would have expected anything to have been changed in the car.

E-bmw said:
Unfortunately in most terms & conditions on things like this have a clause saying basically that ignorance is no defence, and I am not being nasty to you in saying this.
I'm not sure how the ignorance is on my side though? The dealership purchased the car back and didn't check and probably didn't ask whether the car had been modified in any way. I'm not sure why exactly I should be punished for this?

Smuler

2,286 posts

138 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
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lip13 said:
I'm not sure how the ignorance is on my side though? The dealership purchased the car back and didn't check and probably didn't ask whether the car had been modified in any way. I'm not sure why exactly I should be punished for this?
Who says they didn't check, or know? wink

Ask for the Approved Used Car check report. I don't have an example to hand, but I'm sure from the ones I've had that they do check audio and this is duly noted as having passed.

Thus I would argue they are then approving the audio as suitable in accordance with their own terms; from their website.

Full vehicle preparation and stringent inspection by qualified BMW Technicians. Any mechanical faults are rectified using Genuine BMW Parts prior to delivery.

Next check the terms of your Approved Used Warranty and assuming it does not exclude the relevant faulty parts my argument would be "you've sold me the car with these parts approved and such items are expressly covered by the warranty, so you should pay."

If no success go on to BMW UK Customer Services who I've had kick a dealer's ass before so I'd be confident. They shouldn't be selling modified cars (unless OEM parts) as far as I know. Another dealership told me that BMW UK do sneaky audits on the cars sold to make sure dealers aren't selling below par or cars they shouldn't.




LaurasOtherHalf

21,429 posts

195 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
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Surely you (the OP) won’t be. You bought the car from an authorised bmw dealership as an authorised used car.

As in-they authorise the used car is up to their standards. What is the consumer supposed to do, strip the car down with detailed knowledge of what parts should and shouldn’t be there?

A bit like my example with the wheels-how is a buyer supposed to know the wheels weren’t genuine? You can sure as st guess if the car came in with ebays finest Carlos fandangos and a set of ling-longs they’d chip the price down as they’d need to replace them.

Now unless when you bought the car they said “oh it’s had some speaker upgrades and stereo add ons, we can’t warranty those, nor anything that fails as a result of those modifications” I’d say you’re within your rights.

bmwmike

6,918 posts

107 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
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Agree with others. They should be putting this right without you having to kick up a fuss.

Trading standards issue IMO if they don't get off their backsides (after BMW UK).

hilly10

7,076 posts

227 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
quotequote all
Smuler said:
They shouldn't be selling modified cars (unless OEM parts) as far as I know.

Exactly this. They aint got a leg to stand on

XMT

3,778 posts

146 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
quotequote all
bmwmike said:
Agree with others. They should be putting this right without you having to kick up a fuss.

Trading standards issue IMO if they don't get off their backsides (after BMW UK).
Agreed. Just contact BMW UK about it. You bought it used approved original example.
I fully understand that it is not something BMW could check on every car however that is the reason a premium is paid for an AUC and they need to absorb that cost.

Not only would I advise them to do the repair to the door but to also replace the speakers for original ones as the modification was not disclosed on sale.

E-bmw

9,101 posts

151 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
quotequote all
lip13 said:
hilly10 said:
If it’s covered by AUC then surely it’s covered as you say how are you to know the speakers have been changed. Standup to them and demand they put it right, speak to the Dealer Principal. I think they are trying it on. There is no way I would pay up.

I bought my 5 20d Touring covered by AUC in October it’s just over three years old, when I spoke to the salesman he assured me it’s as good as a new car warranty underwritten by BMW themselves
My car was 18 months old when I bought it so it's still within the original manufacturer's warranty. The dealer told me before I bought it that he knew who the original buyer was and that it had been kept in good condition. There's no way I would have expected anything to have been changed in the car.

E-bmw said:
Unfortunately in most terms & conditions on things like this have a clause saying basically that ignorance is no defence, and I am not being nasty to you in saying this.
I'm not sure how the ignorance is on my side though? The dealership purchased the car back and didn't check and probably didn't ask whether the car had been modified in any way. I'm not sure why exactly I should be punished for this?
Just a couple of things that come to mind, you say that it is still covered by the manufacturer's warranty, surely the manufacturer's warranty is voided by the installation of unapproved parts not done my an approved dealer?

If that is the case you need to absolutely confirm where/when/by whom they were fitted to back you up?

On the other point ignorance is implied by not knowing, as in, if you are ignorant of the fact you do not know it, as I said, I was not being nasty to you, just stating that you were ignorant of that fact.

The more you say, the more it seems that they too were ignorant of that fact. If you can prove that they didn't know & hence they sold the car with a voided warranty then you should be able to get them to cover the repair/return to standard & apply the warranty that you should have had from the start.

lip13

Original Poster:

9 posts

74 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
quotequote all
Thanks all, the above gives me some good arguments to go back to the sales guys with and BMW customer service if I get no luck there. I'll report back on any progress

superlightr

12,842 posts

262 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
quotequote all
the sticky wicket will be if BMW say that they believe the OP put in the speekers/did the work after buying the car.

I don't believe this to be strong grounds if it were argued in court as the OP sounds believable but be prepared for that. Any pics saved of the car and speakers - unlikely I know.

Smuler

2,286 posts

138 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
quotequote all
lip13 said:
Thanks all, the above gives me some good arguments to go back to the sales guys with and BMW customer service if I get no luck there. I'll report back on any progress
Go straight to someone Senior. Head of Used Car Sales for example. See if their website gives names. Shows you mean business.

Sardonicus

18,928 posts

220 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
quotequote all
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Surely you (the OP) won’t be. You bought the car from an authorised bmw dealership as an authorised used car.

As in-they authorise the used car is up to their standards. What is the consumer supposed to do, strip the car down with detailed knowledge of what parts should and shouldn’t be there?

A bit like my example with the wheels-how is a buyer supposed to know the wheels weren’t genuine? You can sure as st guess if the car came in with ebays finest Carlos fandangos and a set of ling-longs they’d chip the price down as they’d need to replace them.

Now unless when you bought the car they said “oh it’s had some speaker upgrades and stereo add ons, we can’t warranty those, nor anything that fails as a result of those modifications” I’d say you’re within your rights.
This ^ wink and IMO it dont matter if the dealer knew the speakers had been changed or not the point is you didnt fit them scratchchin but they supplied a car that had been modified pre sale thats caused a failure whether if they knew or not its their issue wink

lip13

Original Poster:

9 posts

74 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
quotequote all
superlightr said:
the sticky wicket will be if BMW say that they believe the OP put in the speekers/did the work after buying the car.

I don't believe this to be strong grounds if it were argued in court as the OP sounds believable but be prepared for that. Any pics saved of the car and speakers - unlikely I know.
I'm waiting for the service department to send me over pictures they took with the door card off. I'm not worried about them arguing that I made the change. If this ever got to court there's no proof at all that I ever bought speakers or anything else to modify the car

lip13

Original Poster:

9 posts

74 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
quotequote all
Smuler said:
Go straight to someone Senior. Head of Used Car Sales for example. See if their website gives names. Shows you mean business.
I'm looking for contact details now. I'm willing to kick up enough fuss with whoever I can to get it sorted!

CRA1G

6,498 posts

194 months

Thursday 11th January 2018
quotequote all
lip13 said:
I'm waiting for the service department to send me over pictures they took with the door card off. I'm not worried about them arguing that I made the change. If this ever got to court there's no proof at all that I ever bought speakers or anything else to modify the car
Lets hope they haven't got somthing in writing to say the previous owner hadn't fit the speckers..?