Claiming garage costs from RAC

Allan87

Back in December I broke down and the RAC diagnosed it as a failed ignition coil and replaced it there and then. This week the car failed again though luckily it was outside the house and I had it towed to my dealer. They've got back to me to say its the ignition coil and need to replace it. As this coil pack is the one the RAC only just fitted and comes with a 12 month warranty I should think I am able to claim back the cost of the part, but am I also able to claim back the costs I've incurred as a result of paying my dealer to repair it?

goldspanners

Allan87 wrote: »

Back in December I broke down and the RAC diagnosed it as a failed ignition coil and replaced it there and then. This week the car failed again though luckily it was outside the house and I had it towed to my dealer. They've got back to me to say its the ignition coil and need to replace it. As this coil pack is the one the RAC only just fitted and comes with a 12 month warranty I should think I am able to claim back the cost of the part, but am I also able to claim back the costs I've incurred as a result of paying my dealer to repair it?

you might get parts warranty from rac,could your dealer not have helped claim warranty for the part?
why should they pay your dealer repair fees though? its your car.

they obviously diagnosed the fault properly as the ignition coil being faulty,so they done nothing wrong. they werent to know it would break soon.the dont have crystal balls in thier vans.
on the other hand maybe the coil broke the second time due to some fault on your car causing it to break,the coil could be shorting or could be breaking due to a spike from the alternator?

Allan87

goldspanners wrote: »

you might get parts warranty from rac,could your dealer not have helped claim warranty for the part?
why should they pay your dealer repair fees though? its your car.

they obviously diagnosed the fault properly as the ignition coil being faulty,so they done nothing wrong. they werent to know it would break soon.the dont have crystal balls in thier vans.
on the other hand maybe the coil broke the second time due to some fault on your car causing it to break,the coil could be shorting or could be breaking due to a spike from the alternator?

The dealer has said it's only the coil pack at fault as diagnostics didn't report problems on any other system.

So no I don't expect them to have crystal balls, but I don't expect a brand new part to fail after 2 weeks.

goldspanners

Allan87 wrote: »

The dealer has said it's only the coil pack at fault as diagnostics didn't report problems on any other system.

So no I don't expect them to have crystal balls, but I don't expect a brand new part to fail after 2 weeks.

as i said claim the warranty on the part then,i wouldnt expect a brand new part to fail so quickly either,and im sure neither do the RAC. thats why im suggesting there may be something else causing it.
but its not impossible that the part was faulty,i have had many new parts fail,its life, it happens. but why should the RAC pay for the labour from the dealer? after all the car is yours isnt it?

did you watch them test the alternator? diagnostic machines are hardly gospel.

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

You should have contacted RAC re the part and part warranty

They arent liable to pay for the repair as you never gave them a chance to resolve the issue.

vaio

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

You should have contacted RAC re the part and part warranty

They arent liable to pay for the repair as you never gave them a chance to resolve the issue.

But surely the OP didn’t know what the fault was until the garage had towed the car and done the diagnostics.

I’d say the RAC will pick up the whole bill

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

vaio wrote: »

But surely the OP didn’t know what the fault was until the garage had towed the car and done the diagnostics.

I’d say the RAC will pick up the whole bill

and you would ask why someone with RAC cover wouldnt call the RAC when there car broke down?

that aside as soon as they found out it was the part replaced causing the fault they should have contacted the RAC.

They cannot be liable for costs incurred for which they got no opportunity to remedy

angel00079

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

and you would ask why someone with RAC cover wouldnt call the RAC when there car broke down?

Perhaps their policy did not include homestart?

vaio

Any feedback?

plane_boy2000

Are you sure that there isnt more than one coil and its another one that has failed?

Premier_2

Allan87 wrote: »

...As this coil pack is the one the RAC only just fitted and comes with a 12 month warranty I should think I am able to claim back the cost of the part, but am I also able to claim back the costs I've incurred as a result of paying my dealer to repair it?

You may be successful in getting back the price of the part from the RAC if you can produce it to them to prove it was faulty.

As for labour charges, the best you could expect to recover is the cost of labour you originally paid the RAC to fit the part ... which I suspect was zilch!