Car fault reported under warranty but not acknowledged until warranty expired

MrStanners

Hi,

My car had a 5 year manufacturers warranty.
It has an intermittent dashboard fault and I took it to the dealer last year just before the warranty expired to have it checked, they said they couldn't detect the fault. The fault is a bit annoying but I can live with it.

I have just had it serviced and I again reported the dashboard fault, the car is now nearly 6 years old. This time they said the instrument panel needs replacing and it'll cost over £1100 and it isn't a warranty repair. I explained on the phone about me reporting it when it was still under warranty but I didn't get anywhere.

I don't intend to pay £1100, if gets worse I would try to get it repaired or get a second hand part fitted.

Is is just bad luck for me and there is nothing I can do about getting it replaced under the 5 year warranty, or do I have any rights because I reported the fault before the 5 year warranty expired?

Apologies if this question should be in the Motoring forum but I'm trying to find out my rights.
Thanks

DoaM

Warranties are in addition to your consumer rights, so can have any reasonable conditions attached. What conditions were attached to this warranty?

MrStanners

It has limited coverage for some items which may be expected to wear out, e.g. clutch, brakes, bulbs. These shorter life items are listed and the dashboard display is not in them.

It also has a more general "fair wear and tear" exception. However I don't think it's reasonable for a dashboard display to become faulty within 5 years. Or if it is then it should be identified as a shorter life item.

There are also conditions re careless handling, accident, improper use of vehicle but I haven't done any of them so they don't apply.