Peugeot "warranty"

xsiguy69

I guess your right. Shame on me for not having the hindsight to expect my turbo seal to leak because a non vat-registered mechanic failed to pour oil into my engine properly!

If only this had happened in two months time and then the warranty would be up and it wouldnt be a problem!

JasonLVC

There is nothing in the EU regulations that stipulate the service must be performed by a VAT registered dealership.

(EU regulation Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation MVBER(EC) 1400/2002 and also MVBER(EU) 461/2010)

I guess the VAT rule probably comes from the manufacturer wanting to stop people servicing their own cars at home and then still being able to claim for any warranty work - especially where a component fails as a result of the DIY'er bodging the servicing job - hence a VAT registered business is legitimate rather than an invoice you knock up on your home computer to make it look like you've had a 'proper' service done.

On saying that, there are many legitimate non-VAT registered garages who'll do just as good (if not better) job than a dealer.

Suggest you go back to Peugeot and ask them where exactly it states in the legislation about the need for a VAT registered garage. if they cannot find that clause then they've no reason to reject your claim and maybe take a photo of the garage to show Peugeot that it does exist.

xsiguy69

Anyway I feel i am being a bit too negative about peugeot. They will hopefully take pitty on me. And if not its going to be an expensive lesson for me to learn.

One thing is for sure I wont be getting myself into this situation again.

harveybobbles

xsiguy69 wrote: »

I guess your right. Shame on me for not having the hindsight to expect my turbo seal to leak because a non vat-registered mechanic failed to pour oil into my engine properly!

If only this had happened in two months time and then the warranty would be up and it wouldnt be a problem!

Well if you read/enquires as to what the T&C's were of the warranty then you would have know ful well to use someone who is VAT reg'd.

This is the case with any Warranty. Be it on a new car or 2nd hand car.

jase1

Hmmm. How difficult would it be to persuade a garage to "by accident" back-date a service if you took the car in now?

Biggles

xsiguy69 wrote: »

Yes I am until the end of next month.

Oh dear, another one falls on stony ground!

bigjl

As the OP has given very little information to go on then I can only assume that they have infact had an almost new car serviced by a back street mechanic.

Or perhaps, in fact more likely, they missed out a service, car started to smoke or make a funny noise and they got "an invoice" made up to try an claim off the warranty.

Guess what, Peugeot are the guilty party.

And since any Garage that isn't VAT registered is almost certainly not paying tax etc, then I would never use a non VAT registered one.

Some business' it is not beneficial to be VAT registered, say you provide non VATable goods or services, like a Domiciliary Care agency, however when you are in an industry that charges VAT to customers and can then claim back that VAT it pays in order to provide these goods or services but chose not to do so then you are either mad or not as honest with the revenue as your customers may think.

You can chose to use a non VAT registered Garage if you want but my time in the trade has shown me how the industry works from the inside, and it isn't something I would ever do, if simply because it shows a certain kack of business acumen and I don't want him to touch my car.

Not that getting a mechanic to do a little cash job on the side is wrong, to get a cheap car back on the road, most VAT registered mechanics will do this, my argument may seem a bit convoluted but saving a few quid occasionally and a mechanic getting a bit of cash in hand is a very different thing to a mechanic that is hiding away from the VAT man premanently.

I would never run a garage without being VAT registered, it is like free money, you get your VAT back in payment for collecting VAT for the Revenue.

bigjl

xsiguy69 wrote: »

I guess your right. Shame on me for not having the hindsight to expect my turbo seal to leak because a non vat-registered mechanic failed to pour oil into my engine properly!

Nice to see you are taking responsibility for your own situation.

Anybody that tries to save money on servicing a car still under a manufacturers warranty deserves everything they get.

There are two possibilities in my opinion, you didn't service it and produced an invoice when the car went wrong.

Or you had it serviced to save a couple of quid and the back street merchant put in the cheapest oil he had which was quite simply not up to the job.

Flyboy152

xsiguy69 wrote: »

Thanks for that. Very interesting. I have logged a complaint with Peugeot. They say that the VAT-registered garage rule is in my service book. I have gone through it and there is no mention. Surley they have a duty of care and responsibility to make their conditions of warranty clearly known.

Best of luck with that. It is a condition of the warranty, one which is included in their (and all other manufacturers) standard warranty terms. Read the warranty handbook, it is all in there.

Flyboy152

bap98189 wrote: »

I think it has rather a lot to do with their competency. Any business turning over more than £73k p.a. has to be VAT registered. Think about it, what sort of garage could exist with a turnover of less than £73k? They would either have to be doing a lot of work off the books, or be some sort of part-time operation with very little in the way of equipment.

Also anyone can print off an invoice Joe Bloggs car servicing. The VAT registration is a form of proof that the garage exists.

It is also for verification purposes. VAT registered businesses, by their very nature, must keep more detailed records, than a business which hasn't registered.