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

ElephantBoy57

innorush said:

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.

What car do you have, is it high milage?

"Your Renault is fitted with a strong and durable cambelt (or timing belt), which keeps the heart of your engine in perfect timing. We recommend changing your cambelt between 4–6 years or 72,000–96,000 miles (whichever is sooner)."

AdrianC

ElephantBoy57 said:

innorush said:

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.

What car do you have, is it high milage?

"Your Renault is fitted with a strong and durable cambelt (or timing belt), which keeps the heart of your engine in perfect timing. We recommend changing your cambelt between 4–6 years or 72,000–96,000 miles (whichever is sooner)."

Indeed - the OP's 7yo car should have had it done by now...

'course, it may have been that it was just about due at the time of purchase of a not-quite-6yo car, not overdue as they seem to be suggesting.

Mercdriver

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.

Not always the case.  With Mazda, on the major service at 75000 miles, brake fluid is changed as per schedule.  I just had mine done, although am 12,000 miles ahead of schedule, it was the next service due.

AdrianC

Mercdriver said:

Not always the case.  With Mazda, on the major service at 75000 miles, brake fluid is changed as per schedule.  I just had mine done, although am 12,000 miles ahead of schedule, it was the next service due.

Brake fluid is time-based, not distance, because it's hygroscopic.

Way back in the day, I had a 3-series co.car. The dash said "SERVICE". It went to the dealer for service. Weeks later, the dash said "SERVICE". The first time was mileage-based oil/filter/etc. The second time was time-based brake fluid.

DoaM

Entitled was probably the wrong word ... I believe MN was getting across the point that, even if the OP won a SCC case, they likely wouldn't be awarded a full refund as (under consumer law) a seller can reduce the refund to account for the consumer's time of ownership.

MinuteNoodles

onlyfoolsandparking said:

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.  

I meant that if they were entitled to a refund it wouldn't be a full one due to the fact they've had the use of a car for a year. It's even less likely given that nothing bad has yet happened.

fred246

The basic problem is dishonesty and lack of regulation in the motor industry. The garages are dishonest because they make more money that way. Nobody makes them be honest so they don't bother. People feel they should be able to trust garages to tell them what needs to be done to the car. They aren't interested in timing belts and don't want to learn. It will have been traded in "we can't give you much it needs a timing belt change". Then they sell it with full service history and charge maximum price. Regulation would force them into telling buyers that urgent maintenance was needed when buying.

onlyfoolsandparking

fred246 said:

The basic problem is dishonesty and lack of regulation in the motor industry. The garages are dishonest because they make more money that way. Nobody makes them be honest so they don't bother. People feel they should be able to trust garages to tell them what needs to be done to the car. They aren't interested in timing belts and don't want to learn. It will have been traded in "we can't give you much it needs a timing belt change". Then they sell it with full service history and charge maximum price. Regulation would force them into telling buyers that urgent maintenance was needed when buying.

Thank you Jeremy Clarkson!

datostar

deanos said:

£850 to change a cam belt ? blimey 

I'd be asking exactly what they intend to do. Some like to change the water pump and auxiliary belt(s) at the same time as the cambelt while the area is accessible, and even the dephaser pulley on a Renault VVTi engine. £850 would indeed be excessive just for a cam belt. Renault do use fixed price servicing, e.g. Megane cam belt from £199; Renaultsport Megane cambelt from £599. We don't know what model the OP has.