Should Car Manufacturers Reimburse Customers For Faulty Parts?

DN35

My C250 suffered a breakdown due to a failed part, which has lasted about 50% of it's expected life span.


When I approached Mercedes and asked to be reimbursed for the parts they stated the following:


1) As the work was not carried out by Mercedes it was against their Policy to refund the parts cost;
2) They have Procedures in place to validate if claims will result in a pay out for the work, this complaint does not fall into a pay-out.


I have asked them for a copy of their Policy and Procedures documentation they have consistently referenced on phone calls but they are now refusing to share this information as it "might be for internal use only" - they don't seem to know.
Can they hold the fact that I used an qualified alternative garage for the work against me? Do they have some small print in their sales T&C's that states I can only use Mercedes approved garages for any work?
Given the part which failed only lasted about 50% of it's life-span, does this fall under the Customers Rights Act, as in, not fit for purpose?


Thanks for any help that is forthcoming!

martinthebandit

What part was it?

.......and 'expected life span' is a phrase that leaves lots of room for manoeuvre

DN35

Thank you for the quick reply.


The part was the Cam Chain guides which caused damage to the overhead cam sprockets and the chain it's self - all needed replacing as the vehicle wouldn't run. The chain and ancillaries should be good for around 100,000 miles, this vehicle had only done 50,000 miles.

AdrianC

Not a hope.

If you'd taken the car to the Mercedes dealer, and they'd done the work, then there MAY be a goodwill payment from MB, assuming a full dealer service history.

Wear in a camchain is very likely to be exacerbated by incorrect servicing - wrong oil, unchanged oil - so there's no way you can say for sure "The parts were faulty". Also, you didn't BUY the parts themselves. You bought a car, containing those parts. Your contract is for the car as a whole.

I presume the car is not six months or less from brand new, so the onus is on you to prove that the fault was present at the time of purchase. Also, if you bought the car before October 2015, your legal recourse would be under the old Sale of Goods Act, not CRA. If you bought the car from anybody other than Mercedes Benz UK themselves, even a franchised dealer rather than a wholly-owned one, then your legal recourse would be against the supplier, not M-B.

EdGasketTheSecond

I bet it's a W203 series; they are renowned for this. Chain and sprocket problems start around 65K usually. Those cars are best avoided. Never heard of anyone getting help from MB with this. They went from a perfectly well designed engine in the W202 to a rubbish one in the W203 series; must have been cost saving gone mad to go from a duplex chain to a single one!

DN35

It is indeed a W203 :-( and it failed at around 60k.

AdrianC

The W203 C-class was replaced in 2006/7. This is a car that is, at the youngest, over a decade old.

And you're seriously even contemplating goodwill from the manufacturer...?

takman

DN35 wrote: »

My C250 suffered a breakdown due to a failed part, which has lasted about 50% of it's expected life span.

.....
Given the part which failed only lasted about 50% of it's life-span, does this fall under the Customers Rights Act, as in, not fit for purpose?

DN35 wrote: »

It is indeed a W203 :-( and it failed at around 60k.

The W203 was produced between 2000 and 2007, your saying the part only lasted 50% of its lifetime.
That means that due to the car being between 10 and 17 years old your saying the expected life of the part is between 20 and 34 years!.

The car as a whole wont even have an expected life of 20 years, so i'm not surprised Mercedes are not interested.

EdGasketTheSecond

I think the OP meant that the engine should be good for well over 100K miles which should be true of any engine that is maintained. There was a flaw with the W203's but MB to my knowledge have never helped out with costs of fixing the chain and timing gear or indeed the whole engine when the timing gear fails.

DN35

Sorry for the confusion, I'm not an expert - hence why I'm here asking the questions! :-)


It's a 2010 year so I guess that's a W204 ............?

AdrianC

DN35 wrote: »

Sorry for the confusion, I'm not an expert - hence why I'm here asking the questions! :-)

It's a 2010 year so I guess that's a W204 ............?

Yes.

It's still a seven year old car, though. I presume it doesn't have a full main dealer service history? Did you buy it new or used?