Car warranty void by changing lightbulbs!!

damarall

I've got a 57-plate Seat Leon (with 3 years warranty). A week ago my headlights went, making my car dangerous (and illegal). Luckily I was close to Halfords so I drove there and had both bulbs replaced by one of their mechanics. It was a service they offered, so I gladly took them up on it. A few days later the electrics began performing erratically. I took the car to Barrett's, the Seat main dealer they called me to say that it was a computer malfunction, but because I did not take the car to them to replace the bulbs my warranty was invalid. It cost me £100 for the hour they looked at the car, then they said they couldn't tell me how much longer it would take and estimated another eight hours at £100 per hour. This wouldn't be covered by the warranty and I would have to pay the full amount.
I have taken the car away from the garage and cannot understand how changing two light bulbs in a dangerous situation can ruin my warranty.
Just dunno what to do now?!? :eek:

bryanb

Are the instructions for changing the bulbs in the handbook? If yes it's a job for the owner, so they would be out of order.

LandyAndy

A bit strange that both headlights went at the same time. That sounds like a symptom of something else, possibly the onset of the subsequent electrical probs.

Agree with bryanb about the manual..

Anihilator

Is the electrics fault caused by the parts or how the repair was done?

terryya

Stick the old bulbs in and take it to another dealer!

LandyAndy

terryya wrote: »

Stick the old bulbs in and take it to another dealer!

I suspect the events so far will be available to all dealers on a central database.

damarall

The plot thickens!!!
A friend of mine is a mechanic and has JUST phoned. He's had a look, and put it through all his electrical machines and it's an ABS fault! Why Seat didn't pick that up when they had the car for an hour (for £100!!!) I don't know!! So, surely this is covered by the warranty!!!! I'm going to be having a good moan about this one, and they can pay me compensation for this mechanics work!!!! I've had such a really bad weekend because of this!! Defo hate Seat! Going to trade car in for a Toyota.
Thanks guys for all your comments! I'm going to really fight this one though, can't believe they've told me warranty is invalid because of Halfords changing the lights. Going to see the manager of Halfords and tell him that Seat are slagging them off too!!
Thanks again
Damarall x

Chippy_Minton_2

damarall wrote: »

Going to see the manager of Halfords and tell him that Seat are slagging them off too!!

Seat and half the general population.:D

Why do you think they're called halfrauds?

Lemonade_Pockets

In one sense they are correct that fitting non standard parts can invalidate aspects of your warranty. It is only logical that this be the case, otherwise they are warranting something which they have no control over.

However your warranty should only be invalid for any issues where the fitment of the bulbs (if they are different to the standard ones) in this case is the proximate (root) cause.

I would speak to the service manager or dealer principle calmly and rationally. If they have any sense they will sort the problem out asap.

Crabman

Surely Halfrauds had a duty towards you in taking reasonable care to not invalidate your warranty. If someone in a fairly new car told me both light bulbs had blown I'd be pretty sure it wasn't just the bulbs that needed replacing, and I'm not even an experienced DIY mechanic. Evidently most of us here would be able to have given better advice than they did.

Be careful what you say to them and keep it in writing. In case the warranty claim doesn't go anywhere with Seat, you may well have a prima facie case against Halfords.

hewhoisnotintheknow

another [STRIKE]quality [/STRIKE]VAG product[STRIKE], and outstanding dealer performance[/STRIKE]