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Volvo Warranty Problem - Advice sought
Apologies for the length of this post.
I bought a one year old Volvo XC60 D4 from a Volvo Main Dealer in Eastbourne in January this year. This was a Volvo Selekt car, sold with the remaining two years of the manufacturer’s warranty.
On Friday 13th May my wife found she was unable to close the driver’s door window after having opened it. The window jammed in a half-closed position. On inspection it was clear that a piece of rubber was obstructing it. I called out Volvo Assistance. The problem was that the rubber guide for the window had become dislocated, causing the window to jam. The technician managed to get the window to close, but advised me that a more permanent fix was required and that the car should be taken to a Volvo Dealer for this.
I duly arranged to take the car in to my local Volvo dealer in Croydon on the morning of Monday 16th May, fully expecting them to complete a warranty repair.
At about 16:00 on Tuesday afternoon, 17th May, my wife took a call from the dealer, saying that any repair would have to be paid for, as they had found evidence that the car had previously been involved in an accident, and the repair was not covered under warranty.
On my return home at about 16:45 I called them back and told them to speak to the dealer from whom I had purchased the car. I also called the selling dealer to make them aware of the situation and to ask them to discuss the issue with my local dealer.
As I understand it no attempt was made by either dealer to contact the other!
I refused to pay anything to my local dealer and on the afternoon of Wednesday 18th May I collected the car from them. Even at this stage I tried to persuade the dealers to talk to one another and to Volvo, regarding the warranty.
On getting the car back I had a really good look at the driver’s door and the area around it, but could see no sign of damage or repair to the visible parts of the door, or to any of the surrounding bodywork. My local Volvo dealer tells me that the evidence they found was inside the door, but unfortunately despite me requesting it, they failed to provide a photograph of this supposed damage.
I contacted the dealer who sold me the car and agreed to take the car back to them on Monday 23rd May. In the apparent absence of a manufacturer’s warranty this was now the only available repair option. This obviously involved me in considerable inconvenience and expense. To be fair, the selling dealer did provide a courtesy car free of charge, but I still had to make two return journeys to Eastbourne at my own expense.
At this stage I was very unhappy – I had paid a lot of money for a car with a warranty which had been deemed invalid by a Volvo dealer. Furthermore I had been told that the vehicle had sustained an unknown amount of accident damage!
On Tuesday 24th May, I made initial contact with Volvo Customer Relations, who are ultimately responsible for the manufacturer’s warranty. I told them of the problems which I had experienced getting the vehicle repaired under warranty and of my concerns regarding the validity of the warranty. On the same date I received a call back from the dealer in Eastbourne to say that the vehicle had been repaired under warranty, that the warranty was valid, and that the car had not been in an accident. They did say that the vehicle has had the driver’s door replaced at some stage prior to my ownership, but stated that this was not the result of an accident, and did not invalidate the warranty.
Volvo Customer Care subsequently emailed me with a vague and rather equivocal statement that they accepted the selling dealer’s assessment. They told me that the local dealer would be in touch with me ‘in due course’ to confirm that the warranty was in fact valid, and therefore that they were wrong in refusing me a warranty repair. After about a week of chasing, I received a detailed email from my local dealer. They did not accept that they had made a mistake, and stood by their original assessment that the vehicle had accident damage and that the warranty was voided by this. The email gave detailed reasons including the thickness of the paint and the presence of filler residues.
There is a massive discrepancy between the statements of the two dealerships. I am trying to get Volvo Customer Care involved, but so far they have been pretty useless. Initially they gave rather vague backing to the selling dealer, but fell short of confirming the validity of the warranty. After copying them the email from my local dealer, detailing the evidence of accident damage which they found, they have gone silent. The dealer who sold me the car is insistent that the warranty is valid, but the evidence is to the contrary. I have been refused a warranty repair by a Volvo dealer who is adamant that no mistake has been made.
I don’t know how best to pursue this matter. Until we had this problem we were very happy with the car.. However the warranty has another 20 months to run, and if it is not going to be honoured, I have paid too much for the car. The whole point of the manufacturer’s warranty is that I should be able to take the car to any Volvo dealership for warranty repairs.
I am considering getting a third Volvo dealership to give the car an impartial inspection. This will cost money, but if they confirm the accident damage, and confirm that the damage invalidates the manufacturer’s warranty, it would strengthen my position with the selling dealer.
Any advice on how best to proceed would be much appreciated.
I bought a one year old Volvo XC60 D4 from a Volvo Main Dealer in Eastbourne in January this year. This was a Volvo Selekt car, sold with the remaining two years of the manufacturer’s warranty.
On Friday 13th May my wife found she was unable to close the driver’s door window after having opened it. The window jammed in a half-closed position. On inspection it was clear that a piece of rubber was obstructing it. I called out Volvo Assistance. The problem was that the rubber guide for the window had become dislocated, causing the window to jam. The technician managed to get the window to close, but advised me that a more permanent fix was required and that the car should be taken to a Volvo Dealer for this.
I duly arranged to take the car in to my local Volvo dealer in Croydon on the morning of Monday 16th May, fully expecting them to complete a warranty repair.
At about 16:00 on Tuesday afternoon, 17th May, my wife took a call from the dealer, saying that any repair would have to be paid for, as they had found evidence that the car had previously been involved in an accident, and the repair was not covered under warranty.
On my return home at about 16:45 I called them back and told them to speak to the dealer from whom I had purchased the car. I also called the selling dealer to make them aware of the situation and to ask them to discuss the issue with my local dealer.
As I understand it no attempt was made by either dealer to contact the other!
I refused to pay anything to my local dealer and on the afternoon of Wednesday 18th May I collected the car from them. Even at this stage I tried to persuade the dealers to talk to one another and to Volvo, regarding the warranty.
On getting the car back I had a really good look at the driver’s door and the area around it, but could see no sign of damage or repair to the visible parts of the door, or to any of the surrounding bodywork. My local Volvo dealer tells me that the evidence they found was inside the door, but unfortunately despite me requesting it, they failed to provide a photograph of this supposed damage.
I contacted the dealer who sold me the car and agreed to take the car back to them on Monday 23rd May. In the apparent absence of a manufacturer’s warranty this was now the only available repair option. This obviously involved me in considerable inconvenience and expense. To be fair, the selling dealer did provide a courtesy car free of charge, but I still had to make two return journeys to Eastbourne at my own expense.
At this stage I was very unhappy – I had paid a lot of money for a car with a warranty which had been deemed invalid by a Volvo dealer. Furthermore I had been told that the vehicle had sustained an unknown amount of accident damage!
On Tuesday 24th May, I made initial contact with Volvo Customer Relations, who are ultimately responsible for the manufacturer’s warranty. I told them of the problems which I had experienced getting the vehicle repaired under warranty and of my concerns regarding the validity of the warranty. On the same date I received a call back from the dealer in Eastbourne to say that the vehicle had been repaired under warranty, that the warranty was valid, and that the car had not been in an accident. They did say that the vehicle has had the driver’s door replaced at some stage prior to my ownership, but stated that this was not the result of an accident, and did not invalidate the warranty.
Volvo Customer Care subsequently emailed me with a vague and rather equivocal statement that they accepted the selling dealer’s assessment. They told me that the local dealer would be in touch with me ‘in due course’ to confirm that the warranty was in fact valid, and therefore that they were wrong in refusing me a warranty repair. After about a week of chasing, I received a detailed email from my local dealer. They did not accept that they had made a mistake, and stood by their original assessment that the vehicle had accident damage and that the warranty was voided by this. The email gave detailed reasons including the thickness of the paint and the presence of filler residues.
There is a massive discrepancy between the statements of the two dealerships. I am trying to get Volvo Customer Care involved, but so far they have been pretty useless. Initially they gave rather vague backing to the selling dealer, but fell short of confirming the validity of the warranty. After copying them the email from my local dealer, detailing the evidence of accident damage which they found, they have gone silent. The dealer who sold me the car is insistent that the warranty is valid, but the evidence is to the contrary. I have been refused a warranty repair by a Volvo dealer who is adamant that no mistake has been made.
I don’t know how best to pursue this matter. Until we had this problem we were very happy with the car.. However the warranty has another 20 months to run, and if it is not going to be honoured, I have paid too much for the car. The whole point of the manufacturer’s warranty is that I should be able to take the car to any Volvo dealership for warranty repairs.
I am considering getting a third Volvo dealership to give the car an impartial inspection. This will cost money, but if they confirm the accident damage, and confirm that the damage invalidates the manufacturer’s warranty, it would strengthen my position with the selling dealer.
Any advice on how best to proceed would be much appreciated.
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Comments
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Lots of cars have repairs, some even before they are delivered.
If its only the door that has been damaged, then the worst case should be that door not being covered. But I'd have thought that even if its not covered under the original 3-year warranty, it should be under the selekt used car warranty?
I think you need to decide what you want to do. It seems your local dealer is giving you enough evidence to reject the car. But if the selling dealer refuses to play ball, that could get expensive.
I looked at a volvo a couple of weekends ago. About a year old, 11,000 miles. But a mismatched front tyre. The dealer couldn't give me a satisfactory explanation, so I walked away. Chances are it was simply a puncture, but I'd have wanted to give a car a through inspection, and didn't want it enough to do so.0 -
Will Eastbourne not repair it under warranty if they insist the warranty is intact?0
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I have been refused a warranty repair by a Volvo dealer who is adamant that no mistake has been made.
I don’t know how best to pursue this matter. Until we had this problem we were very happy with the car.. However the warranty has another 20 months to run, and if it is not going to be honoured, I have paid too much for the car.
Since the refusal, you have had a repair under warranty and Volvo have confirmed the warranty is valid. Surely that's it resolved?0 -
Thanks for the advice thus far.
To clarify a few points.
Yes, the dealer in Eastbourne has repaired the vehicle, supposedly under warranty. They maintain that the warranty was valid ( but they probably would say that having sold me the vehicle).
The vehicle was sold under the Volvo Selekt scheme, with the remaining term of the manufacturers warranty. The terms of the warranty are identical to those for the new vehicle and are, if anything, more beneficial to the owner than those of the Volvo Selekt warranty which only apply to vehicles more than 3 years old.
No. Volvo has not confirmed the validity of the warranty and appear unlikely to do so in any unambiguous way. I would actually be totally satisfied with a written statement from Volvo that they are fully aware of the issue with repairs to the car and that the warranty stands. I'm sure my local dealer would not refuse to do a warranty repair if I had such a statement.
My local dealership, who would be my normal recourse for repairs and servicing have made it clear that they will refuse to do warranty repairs on the vehicle and maintain that it has suffered accident damage which has been repaired in a way which invalidates the manufacturer's warranty.
I paid for a car with a manufacturer's warranty which should enable me to return the car to any Volvo dealership for warranty repairs. This is important since I do a substantial mileage in Europe, and returning the car to Eastbourne from Austria for a warranty repair could be very expensive. The price I paid reflected the value of this warranty. If I had been aware that the warranty status was dubious, I would not have purchased the car. If I had wanted a used car with a warranty which required me to always return the car to the dealer, I would have expected to have paid several thousand pounds less than I did..0 -
Only for items that are covered by the warranty. The initial fault wasn't covered so the selling dealership has now repaired and it will be now be covered by the remaining manufacturer's warranty in future.I paid for a car with a manufacturer's warranty which should enable me to return the car to any Volvo dealership for warranty repairs. This is important since I do a substantial mileage in Europe, and returning the car to Eastbourne from Austria for a warranty repair could be very expensive. The price I paid reflected the value of this warranty. If I had been aware that the warranty status was dubious, I would not have purchased the car. If I had wanted a used car with a warranty which required me to always return the car to the dealer, I would have expected to have paid several thousand pounds less than I did..0 -
Only for items that are covered by the warranty. The initial fault wasn't covered so the selling dealership has now repaired and it will be now be covered by the remaining manufacturer's warranty in future.
That's very reassuring, if true. However it remains to be seen whether my local Volvo dealer will see it that way. From the correspondence with them to date I rather doubt it.
To be clear, the suspect door has not been replaced, only the rubber window guide. The local Volvo dealer has indicated that the accident damage was much more extensive, involving the door itself, and possibly some of the surrounding body panels. If I were to have further problems with the door, or other problems come to light which might be attributed to this accident damage, do you think they would be covered?
Unfortunately I have no way of knowing how extensive the accident damage was, and whether further problems may come to light. I certainly feel very disillusioned and to be honest 'ripped off'.
Volvo dealers get top dollar for these Selekt used cars on the basis that the car has only ever been repaired by authorised dealers, that the full history of the car is known, and that the manufacturer's warranty is intact. None of these requirements have been met in this case.0 -
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Try asking the previous owner(s) if there has been an accident.0
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Even if the car was in a previous collision since when does that invalidate the warranty?
As long as any repair was done by an approved bodyshop to OE standards.
I certainly wouldn't bother using the Dealer that has caused the problem.0 -
That's very reassuring, if true. However it remains to be seen whether my local Volvo dealer will see it that way. From the correspondence with them to date I rather doubt it.
To be clear, the suspect door has not been replaced, only the rubber window guide. The local Volvo dealer has indicated that the accident damage was much more extensive, involving the door itself, and possibly some of the surrounding body panels. If I were to have further problems with the door, or other problems come to light which might be attributed to this accident damage, do you think they would be covered?
Unfortunately I have no way of knowing how extensive the accident damage was, and whether further problems may come to light. I certainly feel very disillusioned and to be honest 'ripped off'.
Volvo dealers get top dollar for these Selekt used cars on the basis that the car has only ever been repaired by authorised dealers, that the full history of the car is known, and that the manufacturer's warranty is intact. None of these requirements have been met in this case.
Volvo dealers are unlikely to have their own bodyshop anyway, they are too cost intensive, they will likely have a local VBRA bodyshop they use.
If manufacturers warranties were invalidated by having damage repaired here would hardly be any cars with a valid warranty on the road.0
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