Turbo Actuator Fault - Warranty Extended due to Lockdown?

stephanie25l

I bought a used car in mid-February, doesn't have a manufacturer warranty anymore. It did have Arnold Clark 60 day used car warranty. At the very start of lockdown the EPC light and engine management light came on, although car is driving fine.

I was able to get this checked at a local garage today (only garage which is open) and was told it is a turbo actuator fault, and cost will vary between 100-200, or over 1000 depending on what needs replaced. He didn't investigate and said Arnold Clark should cover this.

My warranty should technically have ran out in the middle of lockdown, but the light appeared a few weeks before this date. The branches were obviously closed, so should AC still honour this warranty?

If they had been open I would have taken the car in straight away, and it would have been within the warranty period.

Thanks!

daveyjp

Forget the 60 days, your consumer rights are stronger and if faults develop within 6 months the dealer should be responsible.  There is some leeway depending in age, mileage etc of car.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/buying-or-repairing-a-car/problems-with-a-used-car/

You should still get the matter recorded with Arnold Clark.

stephanie25l

daveyjp said:

Forget the 60 days, your consumer rights are stronger and if faults develop within 6 months the dealer should be responsible.  There is some leeway depending in age, mileage etc of car.

Thanks a lot!

Does this apply in Scotland also? 

The car is a 66 plate with 20k miles, would a fault with the turbo/actuator be classed as expected wear and tear at this stage?

AdrianC

stephanie25l said:

I bought a used car in mid-February, doesn't have a manufacturer warranty anymore. It did have Arnold Clark 60 day used car warranty. At the very start of lockdown the EPC light and engine management light came on, although car is driving fine.

I was able to get this checked at a local garage today (only garage which is open) and was told it is a turbo actuator fault, and cost will vary between 100-200, or over 1000 depending on what needs replaced. He didn't investigate and said Arnold Clark should cover this.

My warranty should technically have ran out in the middle of lockdown, but the light appeared a few weeks before this date. The branches were obviously closed, so should AC still honour this warranty?

If they had been open I would have taken the car in straight away, and it would have been within the warranty period.

Did you contact them at all at the time of the fault becoming apparent?

Your 60 day warranty expired a couple of weeks or so ago - so, unless you did, this is outside the warranty period.

"Lockdown" doesn't mean nobody is using their vehicle - quite the opposite, many people are even more reliant on them with public transport being such a bad idea.

Yes, you may be able to get it covered under the CRA - but you've got more of an uphill struggle.

stephanie25l

AdrianC said:

stephanie25l said:

I bought a used car in mid-February, doesn't have a manufacturer warranty anymore. It did have Arnold Clark 60 day used car warranty. At the very start of lockdown the EPC light and engine management light came on, although car is driving fine.

I was able to get this checked at a local garage today (only garage which is open) and was told it is a turbo actuator fault, and cost will vary between 100-200, or over 1000 depending on what needs replaced. He didn't investigate and said Arnold Clark should cover this.

My warranty should technically have ran out in the middle of lockdown, but the light appeared a few weeks before this date. The branches were obviously closed, so should AC still honour this warranty?

If they had been open I would have taken the car in straight away, and it would have been within the warranty period.

Did you contact them at all at the time of the fault becoming apparent?

Your 60 day warranty expired a couple of weeks or so ago - so, unless you did, this is outside the warranty period.

"Lockdown" doesn't mean nobody is using their vehicle - quite the opposite, many people are even more reliant on them with public transport being such a bad idea.

Yes, you may be able to get it covered under the CRA - but you've got more of an uphill struggle.

No, I knew the branches were shut so didn’t think there would be any point in contacting them.

The fault occurred within the warranty period, the garage was shut for over half of the 60 day warranty time so I’m hoping that due to them being closed there will be some leeway with regards to the 60 day period!

oh_really

It may have been prudent to fire off a paper trail email to advise them of the situation.
I would be guarded in disclosing too much information to them regarding a third party making a diagnosis, simply inform them a fault has developed and could they investigate.

mattyprice4004

Yep, you should have sent an email / Facebook message / Tweet when you first became aware, or we'd all be claiming the fault was there for months and we just hadn't bothered to have it checked out. 

You have rights, but you'll need to enforce them yourself rather than relying on their warranty. 

stephanie25l

mattyprice4004 said:

Yep, you should have sent an email / Facebook message / Tweet when you first became aware, or we'd all be claiming the fault was there for months and we just hadn't bothered to have it checked out. 

I’d like to think that due to lockdown the situation is slightly different. It wasn’t a case of I ‘just hadn’t bothered to have it checked out’ - had the garage been open I would have taken the car over immediately. As soon as I was able to have the code read by a local mechanic I done so, and took his advice.

Of course if the garage had been open and I was claiming to have had a fault for several weeks I would be to blame, but not a great deal I can do when the country is in lockdown and no one was working in the branch.

Thanks for the help.