Buying used car, preserving manufacturer's warranty
Buying used car, preserving manufacturer's warranty
Author
Discussion

MrCarrot

Original Poster:

7 posts

Tuesday
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I'm buying a used Mazda, 2 years old, which has about 11 months manufacturer's warranty left.

I've inspected the car in detail and test driven and am happy to go ahead. However the service history is somewhat sketchy - not that I don't believe it's been done, but it hasn't been done by a main dealer and I have no proof of things like oil quality, type of filter used, etc.

Is there a way I can ensure the remainder of the warranty is preserved, and beyond that, if after say 3 years and 6 months the engine blew up would I be totally screwed in terms of trying to hold the manufacturer to account?

It looks like Mazda sell extended warranty but when I tried to get a quote on their website it says the car is already covered by a warranty and wouldn't provide any further info.

In hindsight I had much the same issue with the C-Class Merc that I own now, but I never gave it a second thought and never had any issues in the 10 years I've owned it. This time around it's the most amount of money I've ever spent on a car, so I'm nervous lol.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks,

paul_c123

1,243 posts

11 months

Tuesday
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Are the T&Cs of the warranty available online?

Inbox

573 posts

4 months

Tuesday
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Ask the dealer to confirm in writing that all the servicing is up-to-date and the balance of the manufacturers warranty is valid. The sketchy servicing record is a way out of warranty obligations.

Is the car actually a Mazda approved used car that has met the checks or just an approved used car? They sound similar but aren't, you want the former not the latter.

Lastly, do not hand the money over until you are satisfied and have their statements in writing, once you have you will have little leverage with them.

You could go nuclear and contact Mazda UK, explain the situation and ask them to confirm. I would call and follow-up with email if you do so there is a trail.

Personally I would walk, a Mazda 2 isn't a rare car, why buy a potential problem.

MrCarrot

Original Poster:

7 posts

Tuesday
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Sorry, to clarify the car is not from Mazda and is not used approved, so I'm assuming if a warranty claim is required on any servicable part I would probably be out of luck?

paul_c123

1,243 posts

11 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
I'd not rely on the selling dealer (or any other dealer, for that matter) saying "yes the warranty is fine" - you NEED to know the warranty exclusions and then check yourself (ie find out the service schedule, then physically go through the services to see if it meets that). Do you have, or can you find online, the warranty T&Cs? Without, we are all guessing.

Torquey

1,936 posts

246 months

Tuesday
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I think would come down to how mazda feel on the day,what broke, the cost and the direction of the wind.


I can't believe someone couldn't be bothered to bide by the servicing schedule on a 2 year old car. Sounds quite lazy of them.

I'm also surprised the dealer won't give a 12 month warranty on a 2 year old car, if there was any doubt on the mazda warranty (even though a 3rd party warranty will no doubt be useless).

Id personally walk away and find a mazda approved car with a full mazda service history. There must be plenty around.


Edited by Torquey on Tuesday 7th October 20:22

MrCarrot

Original Poster:

7 posts

Tuesday
quotequote all
Torquey said:
I think would come down to how mazda feel on the day,what broke, the cost and the direction of the wind.


I can't believe someone couldn't be bothered to bide by the servicing schedule on a 2 year old car. Sounds quite lazy of them.

I'm also surprised the dealer won't give a 12 month warranty on a 2 year old car, if there was any doubt on the mazda warranty (even though a 3rd party warranty will no doubt be useless).

Id personally walk away and find a mazda approved car with a full mazda service history. There must be plenty around.


Edited by Torquey on Tuesday 7th October 20:22
It's from one of the well known car supermarkets and the car appears to be either an ex rental or ex company car, with a letter stating the service dates, mileage and what was done, but no invoices.

Looking at the approved used ones from Mazda I suspect they are coming from similar places, but what the situation is with regards to service history I'm not sure. Obviously the approved used gives you a 12 month warranty but maybe still no come back should something serious go bang even further down the line?

paul_c123

1,243 posts

11 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
MrCarrot said:
It's from one of the well known car supermarkets and the car appears to be either an ex rental or ex company car, with a letter stating the service dates, mileage and what was done, but no invoices.

Looking at the approved used ones from Mazda I suspect they are coming from similar places, but what the situation is with regards to service history I'm not sure. Obviously the approved used gives you a 12 month warranty but maybe still no come back should something serious go bang even further down the line?
Mazda may well buy cars from auction too but they'll go for better cosmetic condition and full service history. They probably only buy a small fraction, because most of their stuff comes from expiring finance deals and people buying another new car (and of those, they'll reject a lot of cars which are cosmetically or mechanically too poor).

Supermarkets will buy anything, cosmetically prep them, assess it mechanically but if there's anything non-obvious which is expensive, elect to leave it for the customer to find out.

Inbox

573 posts

4 months

Tuesday
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If you are buying from one of the car supermarkets you should assume you're on your own as far as warranty is concerned. It sounds like they aren't offering an in-house warranty because it is covered by the manufacturer but...

The sketchy service history will likely void a manufacturers warranty claim, you could try asking a Mazda dealer if they could print out any info in the Digital Service Record (electronic service history) on their system and then ask if the manufacturer warranty is still valid.

It comes down to, in the event of a warranty claim how do you prove the car has been serviced as per the manufacturers requirements, as things stand that is not easy, see sketchy service history.

MDL111

8,163 posts

195 months

Tuesday
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I don't know this, but my assumption would be that a car that does not have a main dealer service history will no longer be covered by the manufacturer warranty. Was there not somebody on here asking about an Audi (or some such car) that had a late/missed service (something along the lines of he did not know it needed a service) and then they wriggled out of the warranty claim. I think if the warranty is important to you, then I would pay a little more and find a car that has full main dealer history (does not necessarily have to be sold by an official dealer, but should have all the required stamps from main dealers). I would generally not be keen on a newish car that immediately went outside the main dealer network, why - do save a little bit of money - that does not give a lot of confidence in terms of how the car was treated overall. Obviously there are exceptions, such as the next main dealer is 100s of miles away and it does not make sense to bring it there for a service.

Lester H

3,616 posts

123 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
There are two ways of looking at this: 1) If you are worried about the vague history, avoid. 2) It ‘s only 2 years old, so if you really like it, barter the price down and then have an immediate full service. New rental cars usually are serviced to some extent.

Edited by Lester H on Tuesday 7th October 23:08

ScoobyChris

2,130 posts

220 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
MDL111 said:
I don't know this, but my assumption would be that a car that does not have a main dealer service history will no longer be covered by the manufacturer warranty.
This is not correct. Since block exemption, provided your car is serviced to the manufacturers schedule using genuine parts at a VAT registered garage, the manufacturer warranty remains intact.

The big difference comes when the car is out of warranty and something goes wrong and a main dealer is much more likely to give good will to a good customer!

Chris

loskie

6,453 posts

138 months

Tuesday
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is the service history "sketchy" or is it that Mazda have an electronic record that the dealer do not actually have hence the letter and perhaps it does have a Mazda service history.

OP if not I'd say NO to both of your questions BUT remember the Sales Of Goods Act which is probably more robust than any warranty.

sixor8

7,184 posts

286 months

Wednesday
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Mazda have had electronic service records for some time, since 2006 for the MX5! There is no service book of stamps. A dealer may be able to tell you.

Garages that register with their system can also update it, specialists would most likely.

MrCarrot

Original Poster:

7 posts

Wednesday
quotequote all
Lester H said:
There are two ways of looking at this: 1) If you are worried about the vague history, avoid. 2) It s only 2 years old, so if you really like it, barter the price down and then have an immediate full service. New rental cars usually are serviced to some extent.
Thanks, unfortunately the price is the price, they won't budge on that. I have a Mazda specialist near me who can inspect the car afterwards and do a full service. The real issue is that I'm worried the remaining warranty on the vehicle will be null and void.

ScoobyChris said:
This is not correct. Since block exemption, provided your car is serviced to the manufacturers schedule using genuine parts at a VAT registered garage, the manufacturer warranty remains intact.
Correct, I don't think I'd ever use the main dealer for a service unless I absolutely had to. I tend to find indie's that use genuine parts and log everything correctly. The issue here is nothing has been properly recorded, so whilst I'm to believe the services were done, I have no real proof other than a letter which doesn't mention oil spec, etc.

loskie said:
is the service history "sketchy" or is it that Mazda have an electronic record that the dealer do not actually have hence the letter and perhaps it does have a Mazda service history.

OP if not I'd say NO to both of your questions BUT remember the Sales Of Goods Act which is probably more robust than any warranty.
Very good points, I know from owning a Mercedes that the history is logged electronically. You prompted me to call Mazda this morning and ask, unfortunately it's not been logged electronically. They said the warranty would NOT be null and void if it was established the issue was a manufacturing defect. However if the issue at hand could be a result of it not being serviced or not being serviced correctly then it might not be covered.

If I am not mistaken I'd have pretty decent coverage for 6 months under the Sales Of Goods act. If there were something wrong though, it would be handy to not have to fight over it.

MrCarrot

Original Poster:

7 posts

Wednesday
quotequote all
Quick update: based on the comments here and after further consideration I travelled to a Mazda dealership and reserved one there. It was about £1k more but has one private owner from new, full Mazda service history, 12 months warranty, floor mats, additional roof bars and its next service thrown in.

Thanks all for the advice.

Jamescrs

5,530 posts

83 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
MrCarrot said:
Quick update: based on the comments here and after further consideration I travelled to a Mazda dealership and reserved one there. It was about £1k more but has one private owner from new, full Mazda service history, 12 months warranty, floor mats, additional roof bars and its next service thrown in.

Thanks all for the advice.
Sounds like a sensible decision to me, enjoy the new car

Torquey

1,936 posts

246 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
MrCarrot said:
Quick update: based on the comments here and after further consideration I travelled to a Mazda dealership and reserved one there. It was about £1k more but has one private owner from new, full Mazda service history, 12 months warranty, floor mats, additional roof bars and its next service thrown in.

Thanks all for the advice.
I would definately have chose this option. Hope it works out well.