cv joint under warranty

nicka99

hi all,
last year my 6 year old car failed its MOT due to a slight split in the front nearside cv joint. Joint was replaced by mobile mechanic and car passed. The invoice states workmanship and parts are covered by 12 month warranty.

11 and a half months/9000 miles on and it failed again due to the same problem.

The repair company say its a 'wear and tear' item therefore not covered their warranty so I have to pay for a new one. I pointed out that the one on the other side had lasted 6 years and still going so I would expect the new one to last a similar time. Their argument was that other factors other than just 'wearing out' could have caused it to fail such as being hit by something, me driving over something, some other component causing it to wear faster than expected...

they have agreed to me only paying £50 towards the costs (£99 + vat) - should I argue more or is this reasonable ?

thanks,
Nick

dawny10

Is it the actual joint that has gone? CV joints normally have a rubber boot which keeps the grease in and dirt out of the joint, these can perish and split quite easily. If its been off for an amount of time there might be damage to the cv joint itself and then it might be a full driveshaft or at least an outer section.

nicka99

sorry - its the rubber boot thing that holds all the grease in that was split. there was grease all over the inside of the wheel.

red_eye

nicka99 wrote: »

sorry - its the rubber boot thing that holds all the grease in that was split. there was grease all over the inside of the wheel.

the rubber boot is wear and tear.

System

I used to have one car where it was normal practice to have to replace the boots before MOTs as they split so easily.

I became a dab-hand at replacing them.

jase1

£120 for a CV boot?

Somewhere between £5 and £20 (being generous) for the part, and 1-2 hours' labour. Where does £120 come from? It should be half that.

mattyprice4004

red_eye wrote: »

the rubber boot is wear and tear.

It should still last more than 11 and a half months.

fivetide

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

It should still last more than 11 and a half months.

agreed - especially if 'all parts are guaranteed for 12 months' as the OP said.

It is the garage's fault if they have failed to make exceptions to this rule.

Price does seem high though OP. Have a look on something like eurocarparts, see how much the part is and then offer to pay the price of the part (as I bet it's not much more than a tenner) they can then fit it for free as the labour charges must be astronomical and getting them to honour the guarantee could be hard going.

5t.

jase1

TBH I'd be expecting change from £100 for a CV joint change, never mind a boot

Had this done on a Primera a few years back (just had a quick look at a scan of the invoice) -- the ABS rings were a known failure point and were part of the CV. Joint and boot replaced at local garage for £65.

Given that the joint was £25, and the boot a fiver, labour was charged at one hour. Boot on its own is no more expensive to fit, so would presumably have been £40. And this is on an "expensive Japanese" car.

red_eye

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

It should still last more than 11 and a half months.

how many miles of ribs rubbing ageist each other, flexing with suspension and steering movements, centrifugal forces and heat can a rubber cv boot take?

mcjordi

£120 FOR A BOOT they saw you coming...

boots are about a tenner plus an hours labour so no more than £40/50 so you are paying for it anyway even with a discount..