Car warranty after change of ownership

clare-iom

A week ago I bought a camper for £7k - 6 days later head gasket / cylinder head goes (I'll find out the full extent next week) - estimate at the moment is looking at approx £1.5k - as you can imagine i am not a happy camper now!

The vehicle is still under warranty from garage the previous owner purchased it from only 10 months ago.

Can I still use the warranty even though ownership has changed?

Having read previous posts I'm aware of the fact that its a private sale I dont have any comeback with the seller but is there anything I can do considering I've not owned it a week?

iolanthe07

You need to find out the terms of the warranty from the previous owner. Some warranties are transferrable to a new owner and some are not.

neilmcl

+1, generally manufacturer's warranties are transferrable but its likely a dealer's warranty would not be.

Wig

Ask seller if he wouldn't mind trying it on with the warranty claim. They won't know it has changed hands.

darich

Wig wrote: »

Ask seller if he wouldn't mind trying it on with the warranty claim. They won't know it has changed hands.

Might work....unless the warranty company asks to see V5 doc for some reason.
Then both owner and previous owner would be found out to be committing fraud.

Admittedly, I have no idea why or if the warranty company would ask for the V5. But they may send correpsondence to the registered address ie precious owner.

But ignoring all the above it's fraud - getting someone to claim on a warranty for something they don't own to get a repair done is dishonest and fraudulent.

As I said - it might work....but in my opinion it's too big a risk to try it.

iolanthe07

Wig wrote: »

Ask seller if he wouldn't mind trying it on with the warranty claim. They won't know it has changed hands.

Blimey, I wouldn't do that if I was the seller. (S)he would be leaving him/herself wide open to civil action for fraud.

bravobeastie

I didn't think the V5 (logbook) was proof of ownership?

darich

bravobeastie wrote: »

I didn't think the V5 (logbook) was proof of ownership?

You're right...it shows the registered keeper....but it's still fraud.

thenudeone

neilmcl wrote: »

+1, generally manufacturer's warranties are transferrable but its likely a dealer's warranty would not be.

Some years ago I bough a car from a main dealer and bought a 2 year warranty. The warranty didn't mention whether it was transferrable or not.

Shortly afterwards I got a new job with a company car and had to sell the other one. Obviously it's worth more with 18 months warranty. The dealer refused to agree that I could transfer it to any new owner.

I wrote to them as follws:

I have taken legal advice and have been advised that under section 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925 and the contra-preferentum rule under equity (i.e. general case law) the benefits should be transferable since they have not been expressly ruled out, and that prohibiting the transfer of the benefits would only be allowable if the prohibition was expressly included in the contract, which it was not. Nowhere in the warranty does it state in any way that cover cannot be transferred to anyone other than the original purchaser.

RESULT = success. The dealer wrote me a letter to hand to the next owner confirming that they would honour the warranty.

bravobeastie

darich wrote: »

You're right...it shows the registered keeper....but it's still fraud.

Sorry, yes totally agree with you there. I just wondered

clare-iom

Thanks to all for replies - sadly having spoken to the dealer (& discovered in the small print) it is not transferable. I just have to take it on the chin - though its raw to have such a hefty repair bill 6 days into owning a vehicle