Vehicle warranties

Damocles59

I have a Vauxhall Insignia which is still under manufacturer's warranty. I had a breakdown (warning light came on, car started to judder) 230 miles from home and from where I bought the car from a Vauxhall dealer. Had to call out RAC who carried out diagnostic test. Car was misfiring in the 3rd cylinder and I was informed I couldn't drive it back home. We drove slowly to local Vauxhall dealer who said they were busy so couldn't look at the car until after New Year (4 days later). So had to purchase a part from them. RAC engineer kindly fitted it for me in under 5 minutes. Returned home the same day and took it up with the dealer after New Year. They say unless the car is presented to them in its failed state and booked in, they wash their hand of the matter. But this was an emergency and I'm away from home. What do I do on a Saturday morning before New Year? It seems they are exploiting a loophole by saying the car has to be booked in, whereas the Sale of Goods Act says parts must last for a set number of years, and if not, the manufacturer or dealer should replace. Any advice on what I should do and has anyone ever come across such a thing? Asking a customer to book a car in before a breakdown is plain nonsense. If you know you are going to break down, you would get the problem fixed before setting off on a long journey.

Fosterdog

It’s not the dealerships fault that you were so far from home, it is your responsibility to ensure you have adequate breakdown cover to protect you in such circumstances. There is also no law stating that another dealership (nor the original one) has to drop everything and put you at the front of the queue to have your car fixed, even if you had been at home they would have had to book you in for their earliest possible repair slot and not fix it there and then on the day. Under consumer laws you do have to give them the opportunity to actually rectify the problem, not pay for your own repair and then claim back from them, for all they know the part had been deliberately damaged and not failed under the protection of consumer laws or manufacturer warranty.

Nobody is asking you to book it in before a breakdown (although it is generally a good idea to get a car checked over before making a long journey) the same as you would not be expected to make a doctors appointment before you get ill. You wait until you are ill and then make the appointment which could be several days away.

They are not exploiting a loophole at all, they are doing what is reasonable for any business under the circumstances.

Ganga

What part was it,what was the cost.You could allways write to Vauxhall HQ and ask for some sort of goodwill help towards the cost.

JJ_Egan

OP is quoting SOGA for a repair under the manufacturers warranty .
How old is this vehicle ??
In effect you did not use the warranty to fix the fault but bought a part and had it fitted by a third party . That alone may void the warranty .

shaun_from_Africa

As the car was still under the Vauxhaull warranty, it should have been covered by their roadside assistance program.
If this is the case, using it instead of the RAC probably would have resulted in the car being fixed free of charge at the roadside especially as it was a very quick part to repair.

shaun_from_Africa

Ganga wrote: »

What part was it,what was the cost.

My guess would be an ignition coil, lead or sparkplug.

Le_Kirk

It wouldn't be SOGA (assuming it was after October 2015) it would be Consumer Rights Act but even so, as stated above, you would not invoke that when talking about warranties/guarantees.