RAC approved warranty repairs

Samsonjh · 28 July 2021 at 12:01PM

Can anyone help? Long story short a friend purchased a second hand Land Rover Discovery (albeit relatively new) last year and since then they've had nothing but trouble with it. When purchased the car came with six months RAC warranty and during that period the turbo has blown and numerous other problems resulting in the car being taken to an RAC approved garage for the warranty work to be carried out... and that's where it's stayed for over six months, enough time for the warranty to expire. So far the garage have, allegedly, carried out the work in relation to the original fault however this is highly doubtful and now that the car has been returned it has numerous new faults that can either be attributed to or subsequent of the original fault which require it to go back to the garage who claim they are new faults and not related and therfore not covered by the original warranty which has now expired... and that circle continues and continues, if that makes any sense? My friend has since taken the car to a Land Rover specialist who've basically condemned the repairs carried out by the original garage and say that the original fault has never been properly addressed, resulting in the subsequent problems. Funnily enough, being as the "approved" garage took so long for the repairs and the warranty period ran out whilst it was with them RAC are saying any further work is now at the owners expense... anyone got any ideas? Surely this can't be right?

Thanks

AdrianC · 28 July 2021 at 12:48PM

When you say "relatively new", I assume the car is outside of the manufacturer's warranty...?

They bought a car with a 6mo warranty at least 7 monts ago, possibly longer. So, yes, that warranty has expired.

I suspect they're heading rapidly for a serious finger-pointing session, and it may be worthwhile paying the specialist garage to produce a formal report on the issues and the work done so far.

Samsonjh · 28 July 2021 at 1:46PM

AdrianC said:

When you say "relatively new", I assume the car is outside of the manufacturer's warranty...?

They bought a car with a 6mo warranty at least 7 monts ago, possibly longer. So, yes, that warranty has expired.

I suspect they're heading rapidly for a serious finger-pointing session, and it may be worthwhile paying the specialist garage to produce a formal report on the issues and the work done so far.

2016, purchased from a second hand car dealer with the RAC warranty as part of the sale so no manufacturer warranty.

AdrianC · 28 July 2021 at 2:07PM

So a 5yo car...

Late D4, rather than early D5?

Samsonjh · 28 July 2021 at 5:02PM

AdrianC said:

So a 5yo car...

Late D4, rather than early D5?

Yeh, late D4 I believe.

born_again · 28 July 2021 at 7:35PM

Should have rejected it under their consumer rights when it happened.

AdrianC · 28 July 2021 at 8:15PM

born_again said:

Should have rejected it under their consumer rights when it happened.

There's no mention of the faults manifesting themselves within the first 30 days, so the supplier has a right to repair - which they exercised.

From here on in, it's down to proving that the ongoing issues are related to an inability to properly repair whatever became apparent during the first six months, and isn't new issues which have become apparent outside the six months.

Is it reasonable for a turbo to fail on a 5yo car? It may be.

Samsonjh · 29 July 2021 at 4:35AM

AdrianC said:

born_again said:

Should have rejected it under their consumer rights when it happened.

There's no mention of the faults manifesting themselves within the first 30 days, so the supplier has a right to repair - which they exercised.

From here on in, it's down to proving that the ongoing issues are related to an inability to properly repair whatever became apparent during the first six months, and isn't new issues which have become apparent outside the six months.

Is it reasonable for a turbo to fail on a 5yo car? It may be.

Yeh, I agree with the turbo, these things happen, but the issue isn't really around the initial fault, it's more around the competency of the "approved" garage to identify and carry out the necessary work to repair the subsequent fault(s) caused as a direct result, which they don't seem to have ever done. By keeping the car in their garage for over six months so that the warranty expired surely there should be an expectation that the car has been A, fully repaired and B, checked thoroughly enough in that period so that any knock on faults would be identified and corrected? The turbo blew on a motorway I believe spilling the oil everywhere. I'm no mechanic but even I know an engine minus it's oil leads to all manner of other problems more often than not resulting in a new or reconditioned engine for the very reason that to identify every single fault caused as a direct result is almost impossible. It just feels to me that the owner is being ripped off and the warranty has been intentionally allowed to expire in order to force them into having to repeatedly return it to the garage at their own expense... where do they stand legally in relation to this? It doesn't sit right at all with me but I'm not sure how they go about disputing it? Do they contact the ombudsman, consumer advice etc? Do they even have a legal leg to stand on? As it is it feels almost like they're being held to ransome by the garage who can just keep demanding more money from them. Surely RAC as the warranty supplier have a degree of responsibility to ensure the correct work has been carried out by their garage being as the original fault was well within the warranty period?

AdrianC · 29 July 2021 at 6:55AM

Samsonjh said:

Yeh, I agree with the turbo, these things happen, but the issue isn't really around the initial fault, it's more around the competency of the "approved" garage
...
Surely RAC as the warranty supplier have a degree of responsibility to ensure the correct work has been carried out by their garage being as the original fault was well within the warranty period?

The RAC warranty covered the cost, but who chose to use that garage from all the RAC-warranty-approved ones in the area?

Is there currently any documentary evidence, or just a verbal opinion, that the faults directly arise from the work?

One thing's for certain, there's no clear link to the supplier of the car being liable for this situation.

This is why, IMHO, the first step is to pay the LR indie to produce a full report on what they've found.