AutoProtect warranty problems...

Kilty_2

As surprised as I'm sure you are by the title of the thread *rolleyes* I'm having a problem with AutoProtect and looking for advice.

The gas tailgate struts in my (less than 4 year old, 22k mile) car are broken so the tailgate is very heavy to lift and does not support itself.

Dealer phoned them to make a warranty claim and was told they would only pay parts + labour for ONE strut because the fact one has broken has lead to the 2nd one breaking :eek:. (there was no progressive fault here - one day the tailgate wouldn't lift itself....) This leaves me having to pay Renault parts and labour for the 2nd half of the job myself.

!!!!!!? I mean really?

So is it worth chasing them and how would you go about doing so if you were in this position ? (or is it worth buying a set of no doubt better quality aftermarket struts for less than the price of one from the dealer and giving a mate a case of beer for lending a hand? :rotfl:)

MX5huggy

Or get one of these?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/11wkvfIarvL.jpg

Kilty_2

MX5huggy wrote: »

Or get one of these?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/11wkvfIarvL.jpg

:rotfl:

Probably better than the OEM Renault struts

thenudeone

Kilty wrote: »

they would only pay parts + labour for ONE strut because the fact one has broken has lead to the 2nd one breaking :eek:.

Have a look at the policy wording carefully. Many warranties exclude "consequential damage", for example: damage caused to covered parts by the failure of a non-covered part or vice versa; but to exclude damage to one covered part caused by the failure of another covered part seems extreme.

Kilty_2

thenudeone wrote: »

Have a look at the policy wording carefully. Many warranties exclude "consequential damage", for example: damage caused to covered parts by the failure of a non-covered part or vice versa; but to exclude damage to one covered part caused by the failure of another covered part seems extreme.

That's what I thought. It's only (!) a £120 job anyway so I don't get why they try to wriggle so hard.

I'll go over the policy with a fine comb. Hate these companies.

Kilty_2

Went over the policy wording and it makes no mention of a covered part that is broken by the failure of another covered part being excluded - only that of non covered parts as stated above.

Going to call them and have them review the claim, asking which clause in the policy they are refusing the claim for.

Lum

£120. :eek:
Every car I've replaced struts on, they're literally just a press fit at each end, you pull them off and you push the new one on. £20 max for a pair from a scrapyard (test if they work by getting them to open the hatch on the car in question and see if it stays open)

Out of interest, what is the labour charge for this 5 minute job?

Kilty_2

£12 labour per strut (0.2 hours).
£37.95 EACH from the parts desk :rotfl:

+ VAT.

EDIT - just realised they're charging me the full £60 an hour labour instead of the £43 I heard the guy saying they charge AutoProtect. :mad:

(won't be paying it anyway :rotfl:)

Lum

If they round up the labour to the nearest hour then get them to charge the full hour to AutoProtect and then use some of their spare 0.8 hours to fit your second strut. Actually while they're at it, get them to offset the free money they're getting against your second strut. (don't actually do this)

A better alternative, find somewhere else to do the work. If you go to a decent scrapyard, they'll probably want a tenner, cash only, to fit the second hand ones they just sold you.

Kilty_2

I can buy spanking new aftermarket (ie non-Renault) ones on eBay for £30 delivered and I'm sure a colleague will give me a hand fitting them. More the principle which means I'm actually going to call AutoProtect to ask them what the score is.

Just so annoyed with all this stuff, buy a car from a main dealer with a warranty and assume stuff like this would be plain sailing.

Lum

3rd party warranties are basically insurance policies. Like any insurer they will do anything they can to wriggle out of paying.

I'm surprised Martin hasn't done an article on them yet, or looked into ways that people can reclaim them. I know of one person who was sold a warranty on a Subaru and when he went to claim, it was pointed out in the small print that it excluded 4x4 vehicles