Reasonable repair timescales.

johnc13

Hi,

At the beginning of November I was involved in a car accident, the accident is a fault accident and resulted in the front end of my new Nissan car being damaged and needing repair.

It's been 3 months now and the repair has still not been complete, as there is a delay on just one of the parts required to complete the work. The insurance company is Sainsburys (direct line group) and the repair is being carried out by UK assistance. My understanding with the information given by them is that they only use genuine parts as the car is new and this will protect the warranty.

3 Months is seeming a long time for a repair when parts should be readily available as the car is still in production in this country, we were given a hire car for the first month and we have only just been made aware that the garage can give us a runaround car, which they have 3 days ago. The garage initially quoted a 6 week timescale, now they say that there is no definitive date given by the parts supplier, however they estimate it could be up to 6 months!

I was wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation, and am seeking advice on what is seen as a reasonable length of time for repair. Not having the car I am paying for on finance is not great and I would like to try and take this further with the insurer and garage to try and get a resolution, however I am unsure on how to proceed. I don't want to be taken advantage of, and I am unsure if i have any rights to further action here..Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

InsideInsurance

Have you actually checked with your local Nissan garage about the part?

The insurer ultimately is not responsible if Nissan have got problems with a part. Is it critical for the operation of the vehicle? Is it something that you could live without for a while if they rebuilt the car without it?

johnc13

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Have you actually checked with your local Nissan garage about the part?

The insurer ultimately is not responsible if Nissan have got problems with a part. Is it critical for the operation of the vehicle? Is it something that you could live without for a while if they rebuilt the car without it?

It's the upper crossmember, I don't know much about cars but it looks like its a crucial piece.

I haven't checked with Nissan locally, I will do this with my local garage and I assume I could check directly with Nissan via e-mail. I have just took the garages word for it.

If it is a genuine issue, do I just have to accept it and ride it out.. It strikes me as strange as the car is still produced, surely they would have parts available. If it turns out there is not an issue can I demand the insurer sort this?

rs65

I think your issue is with Nissan.

If the part was available, why would the insurer/garage not get it and get your car fixed.

Can they use a non-genuine part whilst awaiting the nissan part?