Charged for Work Before Recall Work Can Commence

telfordtom

Hi all,

A few weeks ago I received a letter from Vauxhall, advising me of a recall and asking me to urgently book my car in with them. The earliest I could get booked in for was today, and my car is currently with the approved Vauxhall retailer/garage. However, they have called me advising that as my car is overdue a service (can't afford one at the moment with other cost of living pressures) they need to do at least an oil and filter change (costing £99) before they can do the (free, as they issued a recall) work it was originally booked in for. This seems a bit suspect to me, so I asked them to give me some time to discuss it with my partner and called Citizens Advice, who advised me to contact Vauxhall head office. Having done this, the head office got in contact with the dealership and said that they'd now passed it on to the warranty team to see if I'm 'covered' for the work. This could take 48 hours so I'm collecting the car this afternoon, waiting for their call back and then I'll book it in again if/when they give me a bit more clarity. If it does need an oil/filter change I'm sure I can get it a lot cheaper than £99, and as the car is 5 years old I don't imagine having a third-party garage do a service will matter as it's out of warranty.

The puzzling thing is, the recall was due to an apparent minor fault with assisted breaking and the letter mentioned a software update was the means to fix it...so I'm not sure why they'd need to change the oil and filters before commencing work, but then again I'm not a mechanic.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I'd imagine that there'll be some consumer law stopping them from 'blackmailing' me (for want of a better term) into having paid work done before they do the work that they're obliged to do for free after they issued a recall, surely?

DullGreyGuy

It really depends on what the "fault" is

How old is the car? Is it on PCP or Lease or such where the finance will demand servicing is done on time? Did you buy it new or used?

If its a major safety issue then its a hard sell for them to say you need service work done... if it could really be considered a small upgrade rather than a fault then they'd really be free to stick whatever conditions on that that they want to.  A home entertainment system company used to offer free upgrades for X years to their kit but it was conditional on a service being done at the same time. 

If you bought the car secondhand or its over 6 years old its hard to argue you have a right of anything from the manufacturer

diystarter7

Hi OP

Is the cars yours ie you own it outright or leased etc?

A  "recall" is FoC, is that the type of recall you are referring to ne from the car makers?

Thnaks

telfordtom

Hi, thanks for the reply.

It's a 2018, so 5 years old, bought second-hand on HP so as far as I'm aware I'm not obliged to keep up with a service schedule.

I can't seem to find details of the exact recall online and I've since recycled the letter, but as it's assisted breaking that's apparently the issue I'd lean towards it being a safety issue? It just seems odd to me that they can send me a letter enclosed in an envelope which is marked "Urgent: This is not a circular" with "Safety Recall Notification" in red underneath it and then say they can't correct the fault until I have paid work done. Could be legit but it feels to me like the garage are trying to pull a fast one.

telfordtom

Just to add...I 100% remember the letter saying that the work would be done FoC.

Grey_Critic

What is the reason for a recall? The manufacturer has identified as part of monitoring repairs to vehicles - in the case of a safety item - Brakes in this case then after discussing the matter with the DVLA they will be told to recall all effected vehicles and rectify the fault.

A Vehicle Recall allows for the release of the name/address of the registered keeper - many years ago we used to get the recall letters for the vehicles sold by our dealership and had then to go through our records and put the name and address on and post by Recorded Delivery. A time consuming and boring job to say the least. That then changed and the informati0n was supplied to the manufacturer and they sent out the letters.

There were no conditions attached to the recall - The manufacturers (Ford in my case) were not interested in the service history or condition of the vehicle. I doubt if DVLA would allow a dealer to apply a condition - won’t do it if you don’t have a service in this case -when a vehicle was recalled for a safety item. ALL Vehicle Safety Recalls are carried out Free Of Charge - The dealer is reimbursed by submission of a warranty claim using a unique identifying code. I have literally processed tens of thousands of them over the years

Grey_Critic

telfordtom said:

Hi, thanks for the reply.

It's a 2018, so 5 years old, bought second-hand on HP so as far as I'm aware I'm not obliged to keep up with a service schedule.

I can't seem to find details of the exact recall online and I've since recycled the letter, but as it's assisted breaking that's apparently the issue I'd lean towards it being a safety issue? It just seems odd to me that they can send me a letter enclosed in an envelope which is marked "Urgent: This is not a circular" with "Safety Recall Notification" in red underneath it and then say they can't correct the fault until I have paid work done. Could be legit but it feels to me like the garage are trying to pull a fast one.

You can check for recalls her.

https://www.check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk/recall-type

If ypou go onto the DVLA website and check your vehicle you can click on a link to check for outstanding recalls.

telfordtom

Grey_Critic said:

What is the reason for a recall? The manufacturer has identified as part of monitoring repairs to vehicles - in the case of a safety item - Brakes in this case then after discussing the matter with the DVLA they will be told to recall all effected vehicles and rectify the fault.

A Vehicle Recall allows for the release of the name/address of the registered keeper - many years ago we used to get the recall letters for the vehicles sold by our dealership and had then to go through our records and put the name and address on and post by Recorded Delivery. A time consuming and boring job to say the least. That then changed and the informati0n was supplied to the manufacturer and they sent out the letters.

There were no conditions attached to the recall - The manufacturers (Ford in my case) were not interested in the service history or condition of the vehicle. I doubt if DVLA would allow a dealer to apply a condition - won’t do it if you don’t have a service in this case -when a vehicle was recalled for a safety item. ALL Vehicle Safety Recalls are carried out Free Of Charge - The dealer is reimbursed by submission of a warranty claim using a unique identifying code. I have literally processed tens of thousands of them over the years

Very interesting, thank you

I have found a copy of the letter I received online, details below:

The Issue: Our investigations have revealed that you vehicle may be affected by a loss of brake assistance caused by timing belt particles in the engine oil circuit.

Our action: To address this issue, we will update the software of your vehicle to improve the braking assistance system diagnostics and prevent any risk of reduction of braking assistance. We will also check your vehicle's braking assistance system components, which could be damaged/clogged by deterioration of the timing belt. This work will be carried out free of charge by ay Vauxhall Authorised Repairer.

Ectophile

That implies that the engine oil would need to be replaced as part of the recall.  In which case, they are being a bit cheeky asking you to pay for it.

EssexExile

Welcome to the strange world of Vauxhall dealerships. I've encountered several in my time and not yet come across one I would trust any further than I could throw it.

Grey_Critic

Ectophile said:

That implies that the engine oil would need to be replaced as part of the recall.  In which case, they are being a bit cheeky asking you to pay for it.

If lubricants need to be replaced or topped up as part of the recall then they will be paid for by the manufacturer. ALL Parts and Labour on a recall are included FOC as part of the action.

Point of interest when they changed the recall system to the letters being sent out by the manufacturers I was one of the people asked to submit comments on ways to improve it. Some recalls went along for years with the old system.. My dealerships embraced them as not only did we get a steady supply but it often brought in new customers.