Auto Protect Car Warranty

Richey_t

Hi,

I need some advice please

I have recently purchased a car and with it at additional cost I added an Auto Prorect extended warranty package. The car has developed a fault with the ECU that when the battery is 75% health or lower, the economy mode comes on all the time, stopping the can from using anything electrical unless the engine is on. I have taken the car to a citoren dealer who agree it is a fault, and can be fixed with a software update.

I contacted autoprotect who told me that I am covered for mechanical and electrical faults, but in this instance I am not covered as the ECU is not totally faulty and doesnt need to be replaced, only updated to resolve a fault???

How can I be covered for an electrical part that has a fault, but will not be fixed because it isnt faulty to be completely removed and replaced?

I hope someone can help me with this, it seems very wrong that I have paid a company to fix a legitimate fault, yet they refuse to fix it unless it needs to be "replaced"...

chrisw

Is it definitely faulty? It would seem sensible that it cuts unnecessary power when only at 75%. If the battery is really only 75% healthy I would get it replaced, but if the battery is fine and the ecu is misreading it I would go for the update. It isn't that expensive so although the seller or warranty company should pay in theory, I'd be tempted to pay myself to avoid the hassle.

Richey_t

Yes, it is a fault. It has been recognised by my local citroen dealer as a fault and one that can be fresolved with a ECU software update. Citroen agree that the tolerance of 75% as a eco mode activation, is far too high and serves no purpose unless set much lower.

I cant say that I agree that I should pay for the update to avoid hassle. Its not right that people are mislead in to paying for a service and have to jump through hoops and seek legal advice just to to demand what they are entitled too.

I'm still not sure of my legal standing, any help would really be appreciated.

NeverEnough

Welcome to the world of Aftermarket vehicle warranties - they are often not worth the paper they are printed on and most of them will refuse any claim without a fight. Quite often some of the more obscure of their terms and conditions are carefully hidden so that they can weasel out of paying up and you may have a fight on your hands as they will probably argue that the vehicle has not "broken down" or similar nonsense.

You need to read the policy very carefully and try to ascertain exactly what they are relying on in their wording to avoid paying up and then decide if it is worth fighting for or not. How much is the repair, by the way? It may end up being more time and stress effective to pay for it, depending on the excess payable on the policy.

All these aftermarket warranty companies are really well known for this sort of nonsense, unfortunately. Occasionally, though, they do pay out for expensive failures. Depends on how much time and effort you want to expend on this - what sums are we talking?

ontrack

If its simply a software reflash the Citroen dealer should be able to do it quite cheaply. if the car has a full Citroen service history it may we worth writing to Citroen to try for a "goodwill" claim.
Really if it is a common software problem then the ECU isn't faulty so the warranty company are probably right in rejecting it.