help with warrantee needed. out of warrantee but only 45k miles and gearbox duff

allelecs

The gearbox on my van, which I brought from new 4 and a half years ago and which has only covered 45,000 miles has blown up. My engine blew up at 17,000 miles and was replaced under warrantee.

Do I have any recourse with the manufacturer? Surely a gearbox is not fit for purpose if it only covers 45,000 miles and then blows up?

I have another problem, which is I owe the local main dealer money. I was not invoiced for additional work carried out on the van when the engine blew for nearly a year after the work was carried out. At the time my 25 year marriage was starting to break up due to what later transpired to be my wife's infidelity and I went to pieces. I would like nothing better than to be able to march into the Renault dealership and demand my gearbox is replaced but I cant do that as I have not got the money I owe them.

Does anyone know how I can go about getting Renault deal with this problem? Do I have any rights as to how many miles my gearbox should cover as a minimum?

Any help would be much appreciated.

iolanthe07

AFAIK most private vehicle warrantees are valid for 36 months or 36000 miles, whichever comes first. Since you are well outside these parameters, I really don't think you're likely to get any goodwill contribution from the manufacturer or the dealer, though it's worth a try. Sorry.

thescouselander

You may be able to get this replaced. I remember reading about people getting their car fixed outside of warranty because broken part on the car did not last as long as one could reasonably expect. I belive this principal has been backed up in law when cases have gone to court. I suggest giving your local trading standards office a call.

vikingaero

Warranty & Guarantee

Wig

iolanthe07 wrote: »

AFAIK most private vehicle warrantees are valid for 36 months or 36000 miles, whichever comes first. Since you are well outside these parameters, I really don't think you're likely to get any goodwill contribution from the manufacturer or the dealer, though it's worth a try. Sorry.

I read it that he BOUGHT the van from new, i.e. 3 year warranty.

You are protectd under the sale of goods act for things that should not reasonably be expected to fail for upto 6 years.

Have you got a full service history?

I'm not sure how a court would view a gearbox failure after 45K and 4.5 years. I think in this sort of case you would need to show the court some sort of evidence that it was a faulty gearbox or that it had failed unreasonably early. Evidence (i.e. a report) from for example an RAC inspection or a Engineering consultant.

greyteam1959

I think you are expecting a bit much here mate.
Unless of course you can find some sort of a past problem in the design of the gearbox then you might possibly have some comeback.

custardy

1st thing is does it have a full dealer warrenty?
i doubt you will get any free repair but may get the likes of labour free.
however given dealer prices on a gearbox you maybe better just sourcing a 2nd hand unit and getting it replaced at a private garage

seftonsun

mervyn11 wrote: »

I think you are expecting a bit much here mate.
Unless of course you can find some sort of a past problem in the design of the gearbox then you might possibly have some comeback.

I'm not commentating on the problem, but what one should ask is whether it is reasonable for a gearbox ona modern vehicle to only lasy 45K miles and 4.5 years. If the manufacturers do and are happy to state that then all well and good, otherwsie unless they can show some misuse or abuse they should be willing to make a pro rata contribuation to the repair or replacement.

As indicated earlier, all this about 1 or 3 year or whatever period warranty cover for a certain number of miles is IN ADDITION not a substitute for your Statutory rights. And clearly the law is looking at most goods being fit for purpose for around 6 years (fair wear and tear excepted), unless indicted to the contrary at the time of sale or by their very nature nature not expected to be duarable for that length of time. I would suggest that most people would expect an engine and a car box in a motor vehicle to be capable of performing adequately for at least 6 years.

Of course the problem is (not withstanding the OP owes the dealer ££££) is that most car dealers and garages are not very consumer orientated except when receiving money. So a long slog on the usual war of attrition should be expected if anyone wants to get a result. After all, when does the motor trade ever do what the law expects of them?

darich

It's also worth remembering you bought the van from the dealer so you're contract is with them. Any issues regarding the vehicle should be pursued at the dealership.

Although Renault manufactured the van, you have no contract with them and as a result, they would probably write back and say to contact the dealer.

I had similar problems with VW and my polo a few years ago (abs and gearbox failed at 35k and 42k respectively). Trading standards basically said that i should have contacted the dealer in the first instance instead of VW head office.

If you have a full Renault service history then you may be in luck and it may be replaced at a reduced rate or even free but given the van is outside the warranty and that you owe the dealer money, i think you may be out of luck.

goldspanners

i doubt you will get it done on warranty.
but check and make sure there has been no recalls regarding gearboxes on this vehicle that they have missed.
45k on a normal car wouldnt be acceptable to fail.
but as its on a van i would imagine they would be a bit more strick as the van could have spent most of its 4.5 years overloaded carrying items too heavy for it.
a usual warranty would be 3 years or 60,000 miles.(whichever comes first)
so you are well out of warranty period.

Conor_3

seftonsun wrote: »

I'm not commentating on the problem, but what one should ask is whether it is reasonable for a gearbox ona modern vehicle to only lasy 45K miles and 4.5 years.

If it's been mainly urban use, then yes it is reasonable to expect it to last a short time. A car that's done nothing other than potter around town will have done many many more gearchanges than one which has spent its life tanking down motorways in 5th most of the time. This is why you end up with the anomaly where a 3 year old 100,000 mile car which has done most of its mileage on the motorways is actually in BETTER mechanical condition than a 5 year old 50,000 mile car that's just pottered around town and done short trips.

In addition to that, the service schedule actually suggests INCREASED servicing for vehicles that do mainly short trips and/or less than 10,000 miles a year.