Renault main dealer forgot to tell me about missing service items.

innorush

I brought a 6 yr old car from Renault main dealer a year ago, during it's yearly service this week the technitian told me that the timing belt should have been changed last year, i.e. before I brought the car. When I questioned why I was not told about this during the purchase the sales manager admitted it was a mistake, but the good news is they will "heavily discount" the belt change from £850 to £500 asa good will gesture. I've declined this and stated that as the car went through a 84 point pre-sale check and the car had a full Renault service, this should have been picked up prior to my purchase, in fact I would not have brough the car if I new this was the case. I've stated that either they fix the belt at their own cost or buy the car back from me. Legally where do I stand on this and can anyone offer advice on how to get a successful resolution? 

macman

What does the '84 point pre sales check' cover in respect of servicing, specifically?
The FSH doesn't really help you, as it does indeed have an FSH-and the history is that the cambelt wasn't changed.
Does the service history/invoices show that the belt was billed for and not changed, or just that the owner never asked for the work to be done?

AdrianC

Where do you stand?
You bought a car that hadn't had the cambelt changed. You didn't check, but assumed.
The dealer have offered you a ~40% discount on the cost of changing it.

You want to reject the car a year after purchase? Nope. Not happening. There is no substantive fault.

You have a choice...
1. Accept their offered reduction and get the work done by them.
2. Push them for a larger reduction.
3. Swear they'll never see a penny of your money again, and get it done elsewhere.
4. Don't get it done, and stand at the side of the road as and when it goes ping.

If you take 2, you'll find yourself back to 1/3/4 soon enough.

angrycrow

Even £500 feels too high for a cambelt I would expect to pay around £350 at an independent. Renaults have never had a good rep for cambelts lasting much beyond the recommended age although some get lucky. Get it changed ASAP and move on.

Dealer never had an obligation to change the cambelt and it should have been obvious from your inspection of the service records pre purchase that it needed doing. At that point you could have negotiated either a discount to reflect the need for a cambelt change or negotiated a price for them to do it pre sale. They were only required to mention the cambelt if you specifically asked. 

jimbo6977

angrycrow said:

Even £500 feels too high for a cambelt I would expect to pay around £350 at an independent. Renaults have never had a good rep for cambelts lasting much beyond the recommended age although some get lucky. Get it changed ASAP and move on.

Dealer never had an obligation to change the cambelt and it should have been obvious from your inspection of the service records pre purchase that it needed doing. At that point you could have negotiated either a discount to reflect the need for a cambelt change or negotiated a price for them to do it pre sale. They were only required to mention the cambelt if you specifically asked. 

Genuine question - how so? 

I find it impossible these days to get a schedule of what needs doing at what intervals out of manufacturers. I guess this is because they want you to keep coming back to the main dealer network, who will do whatever is required at the salient point in time. This being the case, a consumer has little choice but to rely on a "FSH" being genuinely full, ie meeting all service requirements over the life of the car up to the point of sale. 

fred246

Well it should have been done at the right time. If I worked in the dealers and a customer refused a timing belt at a service I would write that in the service record. If a used car has an 84 point check then they should 100% check if there is a history of a timing belt change. You take it to a main dealer for all their specialist knowledge and equipment blah blah blah and then when they mess up the customer is supposed to foot the bill. Get it changed as soon as possible by the most competent person you can find (I know that bit can be very tricky!). You could then claim the money back from the dealer and threaten them with court action. You might get some contribution. Taking them to the small claims court would be a real gamble.

bigadaj

Fred's after a job in a garage now.......

MinuteNoodles

Cambelt changes are usually not done as a routine part of servicing, like brake fluid changes they're done as a separate job with the customer being told it needs doing, the ramifications of not doing it and then the customer is left with the choice. If they were planning on selling it within a year or so then 9/10 times they'd not bother.

So yes it can have a full Renault service but still not have had the cambelt done. An "84 point pre-sales check" also won't check to see if the cambelt has been done either. The onus is on the buyer to ask whether it needed doing and to ask for proof it was done. Complaining about it 12 months after the event is likely to see you getting little joy. Even if you take it to court you won't be entitled to a refund. You will be entitled to a pro-rata refund based on the now current value of the car and the condition it is in after 12 months of ownership as you have had 12 months benefit from the car.

deanos

£850 to change a cam belt ? blimey 

AdrianC

bigadaj said:

Fred's after a job in a garage now.......

You don't want to do it like that...

onlyfoolsandparking

MinuteNoodles said:

Cambelt changes are usually not done as a routine part of servicing, like brake fluid changes they're done as a separate job with the customer being told it needs doing, the ramifications of not doing it and then the customer is left with the choice. If they were planning on selling it within a year or so then 9/10 times they'd not bother.

So yes it can have a full Renault service but still not have had the cambelt done. An "84 point pre-sales check" also won't check to see if the cambelt has been done either. The onus is on the buyer to ask whether it needed doing and to ask for proof it was done. Complaining about it 12 months after the event is likely to see you getting little joy. Even if you take it to court you won't be entitled to a refund. You will be entitled to a pro-rata refund based on the now current value of the car and the condition it is in after 12 months of ownership as you have had 12 months benefit from the car.

How do you know that, are you a Judge in the SCC? from my own 'inexperienced' Legal standpoint I don't believe the OP is entitled to any refund based on the circumstances and the fact the dealer has made a goodwill gesture albeit a quite expensive one shows at least that they are trying to assist the OP.