Serious Tale Of Woe - Warranty

[Guest Porker]

I reported on this NG about a week ago that my Alhambra 1.9TDi broke down on the M25.

 

Well... The SEAT main dealer has removed the rocker cover and found that a valve follower has broken up and the parts are nowhere to be found ! He presumes that they have disappeared down an oilway. Fair enough.

 

Now I took out a warranty when I purchased the vehicle from this main dealer that were more than happy to take my money. The warranty is a standard Warranty Holdings policy issued by Ford et al.

 

I am told however (by the garage) that the failure of the valve follower only covers the part that failed and the labour to replace it. The consequential damage is not covered. The bill is going to be around

[Ivor_E_Tower]

I suggest that you get in touch with the warranty company and tell them what's happened so far. Suggest that they get one of their engineers to visit the garage where your Alhambra resides.

Are you a member of the AA, RAC or Consumer's Association (Which magazine)? Do you have access to any free legal advice?

Good luck; keep us posted on developments.

[HJT]

Check your car or home insurance. Many companies like Churchill, More Than, Directline etc offer a 24 hour free legal advice line for any matters at all. I have used this a couple of times and they have always been very helpful.

Good luck and don't take any nonsense from them, they often try these sort of things on to get out of paying. Ask them to quote exactly where in the policy (page number,paragraph etc) it states that this isn't covered.

 

Howard

[Guest Porker]

Thanks for the advice so far its been useful.

 

Who am I going to have a problem with, the garage or the Warranty company ?

 

Well believe it or not the issue is with the garage, the warranty company have been fair IMO.

 

Phoned warranty company this morning and stated that the valve follower had broken. Yes they said, this is covered and also damaged caused by the breakage.

 

Rang garage, before the service manager got halfway through the 'you're not covered' story, I told him I had rung the warranty company stating what he had previously told me and they told me it was covered. Silence. Then, OK I'll ring the warranty company he says and explain to them. Strange.

 

Call back from garage, "The inspector wants to come out and look at the car because it definately needs a new engine." (All determined by the garage by removing the rocker cover only). This will cost you

[Ivor_E_Tower]

...but the warranty company have already told you that you are covered. Did you note the name of the person you spoke to? You presumably know the approx time they told you this. Phone the warranty co back and tell them that the garage expect you to possibly pay

[Guest Porker]

Thanks for your feedback. Makes me feel that it is not just me!

 

I didn't note the name of the rep. for the Warranty company (should have) but I have asked two people there and they both gave me the same response. I did however note the name of the inspector who the garage spoke to.

 

In essence the problem is that the garage maintain that the engine needs replacing but the warranty company probably think the fault can be rectified without resorting to this. I tend to agree. The garage are holding out for a big job and aren't interested in a smaller claim as its less money for them. Therefore the garage want to charge me the

[Ivor_E_Tower]

So if the warranty co have also suggested using another garage, they must also have their doubts over the one that currently has the car. Ask the warranty co how they would expect to get the car transferred between garages - be prepared to split the cost with them, but if they agree, ask the garage you now want to use if they will do a deal with you, eg for cash for the towing.

[Guest Porker]

Well the latest news is still bad.

 

I have a new job with a lot of responsibility so don't have the time to argue with everyone for 2 hours so after speaking to the garage he knocked his price down to

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Sorry to hear the news.

In one of your earlier posts you said:

"Phoned warranty company this morning and stated that the valve follower had broken. Yes they said, this is covered and also damaged caused by the breakage."

Sounds like it's time to contact Watchdog and as many consumer programmes as you can. Have you tried SEAT UK? Write or phone their director of Customer Services. High mileage or not, this seems an odd failure that Seat ought to contribute to.

[HJT]

Under the "Sale of goods and services act" the goods or service i.e. the warranty has to be of a merchantable quality and fit for the purpose it was sold. Clearly the dealer was negligent in not checking the mileage and has sold you a warranty that is not fit for the purpose it was sold for and is liable.

I would definately get some legal advice here. The dealer has sold you a clocked car without informing you and a warranty that is of no use to you. You are in the right on this and should not be out of pocket on it.

 

Howard

[Guest Porker]

Thanks for the advice. One thing I should make clear is that I didn't purchase the vehicle from the dealer. My earlier text does read this way, sorry for the confusion. The warranty for the vehicle was purchased from the main dealer as soon as I bought the vehicle. If he had sold me a clocked car then it would be straight forward and I would have a claim. I feel he neglected to check the cars mileage at the time of issuing the warranty which I consider negligent as he had access to this info. I was unaware at this point that the mileage was incorrect.

 

To be honest I doubt I will get far but I feel that had the dealer checked the mileage earlier, I would have been in a better informed position. I now owe about

[Ivor_E_Tower]

I think you definitely need legal advice here. How long ago did you buy the car? The selling dealer does not seem to have sold you something of "merchantable quality" and he should have checked if it had been clocked. The Warranty should apply whether or not the car was clocked - that's the whole idea of a warranty, to protect you from unforeseen and unforeseeable problems. The Seat dealer is almost guilty of fraud - trying to overcharge you for strip-down because he didn't like the warranty co's attitude.

Mechanical bits of an engine should not disintegrate because they are worn out. Similarly just because the warranty co's engineer can see signs of wear or damage on other engine parts does not mean that the warranty doesn't cover the damage that has already occurred.

Have you tried contacting your local paper (if you have one) to get your tale of woe published? Is it time to name and shame the garages involved yet?

[HJT]

Was the original car purchase a private sale or through a dealer, because as Ivor says, if it's a dealer you have definately got some protection in law on the original purchase.

I would definately get some legal advice. One session with a consumer solicitor could save you a lot of money. Or as I mentioned above your home or car insurance company might have a free legal advice line, (many do).

Good luck.

 

Howard

[Dodger]

Porker,

 

How many miles do you think the car has actually covered? I would like to think that the TDI engine is easily good for 120K. Then when it does wear out the symtons would be big end failure and worn bores. Also ancillaries like the water pump and altenator fail. I would not expect the first sign of a worn out engine to be the cam followers to start disintegrating.

 

If the car is still under 100K miles then I think the warranty company are being very unfair in putting this down to normal wearing out of the engine.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

If you don't have legal cover, phone or call into your local Citizen's advice bureau - most are staffed by people with the same sort of qualifications as solicitors - sometimes you even get retired solicitors or legal executives working there. They should certainly be able to offer good advice as to where you stand legally, and they may even be able to draft and/or send letters to the garages and warranty company.

[Guest Porker]

Hi,

 

It's been some time since I updated the status of my knackered engine. Well after a number of weeks, loads of frustration and

[Guest Porker]

forgot to mention, it now has a recon Seat approved engine.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Glad you've got it back on the road at last but...

Sounds like it may be time to part-ex it for a better model, or better the devil you know?

[Guest Porker]

Exactly the dilemma I'm in. On one hand I'm probaby driving something that has done 200k miles and cost me near

[Ivor_E_Tower]

This is always a tricky one. What else may need erplacing after 200k miles? If it's now going OK, it may be worth holding onto it, certainly in the short-term to see if it's now going OK.

Beware if switching to a Voyager - the insurance costs are much higher than for Galaxy, Espace etc! Apart from Galaxy and Espace, the only other serious contender I looked at was the Hyundai Trajet - TD new at just over