Volvo Warranty Problem - Advice sought

paulmu

bigjl wrote: »

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.

As I understand it the problem is that Volvo have no record of this repair. If there were a record of the repair, proving that Volvo standards had been maintained, I don't think I would have had any problem getting a warranty repair.

The car was previously registered to Hertz, and so far, attempts to get information from them concerning the history of the car have been fruitless.

I am pushing Volvo to give me a clear and unambiguous statement concerning the warranty, as this could resolve the matter. I am not unduly concerned that the vehicle has been in an accident, but am concerned that the warranty has been deemed invalid.

Although I am unhappy with my local dealership, this relates more to their poor customer service than anything else. I have no reason to believe they are lying to me about the unauthorised repair to the car which they claim to have discovered. As far as I can see, they have gained nothing by refusing to do a warranty repair, as they have received no payment from me or anyone else. They have also created a lot of work for themselves explaining in writing why they would not honour the warranty. Had they done the repair, as I understand it, they would have been able to claim the costs of the repair from Volvo.

bigjl

Why would anybody inform the car manufacturer about an accident repair

The most they can do is invalidate your paint warranty and possibly the corrosion warranty on the parts that have been painted.

You can't invalidate the warranty on the engine because it has had a door painted.

paulmu

bigjl wrote: »

Why would anybody inform the car manufacturer about an accident repair

The most they can do is invalidate your paint warranty and possibly the corrosion warranty on the parts that have been painted.

You can't invalidate the warranty on the engine because it has had a door painted.

As I understand it, in order to maintain the warranty, any repairs have to be done by an authorised Volvo dealer. These repairs are then logged on a database which can be accessed by dealerships when dealing with the vehicle. Thus any Volvo dealer has access to the history of the vehicle. There is no onus on the owner to notify Volvo of bodywork repairs, it is done by the repairing dealer. The fact that the repair to my vehicle is not recorded presumably means it was not done by an authorised dealer.

I agree that a dealer should find it difficult to refuse an engine repair just because the bodywork has had an unauthorised repair. However, given the evasive and unhelpful attitude of the two Volvo dealers I have dealt with, I wouldn't put it past them to try! The small print of the warranty does state that it is invalidated if the car is not maintained and repaired by Volvo authorised agents, so could be interpreted this way.

The repair to the door which I sought to have completed under warranty was not a corrosion or a paint issue, so the impairment to the warranty is certainly more extensive that that.

Any further problems with the door or adjacent components which could reasonably be attributed to the accident or the unauthorised repair would not appear to be covered. This could extend to issues such as the central locking system or the door mirrors. The driver's door is packed with components which could potentially fail, especially if they have been disturbed by a poorly completed repair. They would, of course, have been covered if the repair had been done by a Volvo dealership.

In my view, whether knowingly or unknowingly, the warranty was misrepresented when the car was sold to me.

bigjl

paulmu wrote: »

As I understand it, in order to maintain the warranty, any repairs have to be done by an authorised Volvo dealer. These repairs are then logged on a database which can be accessed by dealerships when dealing with the vehicle. Thus any Volvo dealer has access to the history of the vehicle. There is no onus on the owner to notify Volvo of bodywork repairs, it is done by the repairing dealer. The fact that the repair to my vehicle is not recorded presumably means it was not done by an authorised dealer.

I agree that a dealer should find it difficult to refuse an engine repair just because the bodywork has had an unauthorised repair. However, given the evasive and unhelpful attitude of the two Volvo dealers I have dealt with, I wouldn't put it past them to try! The small print of the warranty does state that it is invalidated if the car is not maintained and repaired by Volvo authorised agents, so could be interpreted this way.

The repair to the door which I sought to have completed under warranty was not a corrosion or a paint issue, so the impairment to the warranty is certainly more extensive that that.

Any further problems with the door or adjacent components which could reasonably be attributed to the accident or the unauthorised repair would not appear to be covered. This could extend to issues such as the central locking system or the door mirrors. The driver's door is packed with components which could potentially fail, especially if they have been disturbed by a poorly completed repair. They would, of course, have been covered if the repair had been done by a Volvo dealership.

In my view, whether knowingly or unknowingly, the warranty was misrepresented when the car was sold to me.

Define authorised?

As I have already mentioned very few franchised dealers have a bodyshop anymore.

As long as the repairs are done to a proper standard there is no issue.

I am now going to ignore your thread as I think you are on the wind up

neilmcl

bigjl wrote: »

I am now going to ignore your thread as I think you are on the wind up

Don't worry, given your attitude towards fellow, and in particular new, posters and your constant, unfounded accusations of lying and trolling I think most posters on this forum are happy to ignore anything you post as well.