Vauxhall Grandland X Wet Belt Issue

thompsa1

I've got a 2018 Vauxhall Grandland X (1.2l engine). Our car was recalled last year due to the known wet belt issue causing engine and brake failure among other issues. We were told by our local vauxhall garage at the time that the belt was fine, no issue was detected.

However now, a year on we've got an "Engine Failure - STOP" warning coming up and "Low Oil pressure" warning intermittently. Having done some research and spoken to my retired-mechanic Dad, we're pretty sure this is going to be wet belt issue, which could potentially result in full enigne replacement.

My question is - does anyone know our rights regarding getting this replacement covered by Vauxhall? I want to be armed with the facts and our rights/potentially other cases when i take it in to Vauxhall as I'm absolutely not willing to be out of pocket for this known fault.

Also worth noting that while I have had the car serviced regulary, it's been done by my Dad (reciepts & dates etc have been kept, but not offically done through a garage)

Mildly_Miffed

The Puretech recall checked to see if the belt was delaminating at that time. It clearly wasn't.

As for any goodwill on a 6yo car that's been home-serviced... Good luck, you're going to need it! Did he use the correct spec of oil? What change interval?

Remember, too, that the cambelt change interval on these is six years.

Nobbie1967

Stop driving it and see if a garage or your dad can change the belt and clean the debris from the oil pickup and sump. You could still save the engine if you act quickly. Can’t see Vauxhall doing anything for you on a home serviced car.

boobyd

Mildly_Miffed said:

The Puretech recall checked to see if the belt was delaminating at that time. It clearly wasn't.

As for any goodwill on a 6yo car that's been home-serviced... Good luck, you're going to need it! Did he use the correct spec of oil? What change interval?

Remember, too, that the cambelt change interval on these is six years.

Not quite.
I thought it was but my daughter has just bought a  2018 69k one and it has a 10 year/120k quarantee as long it has a yearly inspection.(Carried out when serviced at no charge) 

Joyfullife

Having a nightmare trying to get Vauxhall or anyone else to take responsibility for the Vauxhall Grandland 1.2 ecotech we’ve got. Purchased on PCP April 2024 and broke down on the motorway 1st March this year after losing power and showing an ‘stop - engine failure’ type message. We’d had engine management warnings around the oil pressure etc previously but didn’t know the significance at the time. Vauxhall and the warranty company are now saying that the wrong oil was used in Sept 24 when it was serviced. Local garage have provided me with a letter which has the details on re the oil and I’ve spoken to the company who confirmed the oil was correct at time of MOT. He also advised me that the oil spec has changed several times since then. Considering paying for the repair then trying to recoup the costs. Car has only done 5000 miles since we bought it and less than 50k miles in total. Car registered Oct/Nov 2020

Desmond_Hume

Joyfullife said:

Having a nightmare trying to get Vauxhall or anyone else to take responsibility for the Vauxhall Grandland 1.2 ecotech we’ve got. Purchased on PCP April 2024 and broke down on the motorway 1st March this year after losing power and showing an ‘stop - engine failure’ type message. We’d had engine management warnings around the oil pressure etc previously but didn’t know the significance at the time. Vauxhall and the warranty company are now saying that the wrong oil was used in Sept 24 when it was serviced. Local garage have provided me with a letter which has the details on re the oil and I’ve spoken to the company who confirmed the oil was correct at time of MOT. He also advised me that the oil spec has changed several times since then. Considering paying for the repair then trying to recoup the costs. Car has only done 5000 miles since we bought it and less than 50k miles in total. Car registered Oct/Nov 2020

Have you told them this..? They’d probably be able to tell by scanning the car anyway.

Joyfullife

Yes, the finance company and everyone else involved is aware. Finance company did a diagnostic test back in April and said the damage/development of damage was not present at time of purchase. The previous owners had it 3 years and did around 42k miles. We’d had it less than 1 year and done around 5k miles when we actually broke down. Not really sure where to go from here tbh. I know Stellantis have extended their warranty on cars with wet belt to 10 years or 112k miles but the dates for the warranty period don’t include our car

photome

If you have told them all that you have ingnored engine management lights around oil pressure, I suspect yiu have no chance of getting any help from Vauxhall/stellantis

why did you ignore the warning

rakah

I have the same issue with 2019 Citroen C4 Grand SpaceTourer. I purchased it in Sept 2022 then had it serviced at the Stellantis in 2023. In the next 6 months, warning lights started coming on for service reminder, oil filter warning, and engine repair.

In March 2024, I took the car to a local garage for an inspection, which revealed the "wet belt", cracking timing belt  issue. I went to Stellantis Wimbledon with this issue. They told me I had to book their diagnosis service. Despite that, they still did not check the engine or timing belt or if they did they just ignored it. Instead checks were done on the warning lights and it's connectors and I was told it was just a warning lights issue and it's just an electrics issue. 

The warning lights were still happening and in the last 2 months, I was getting one that is stopping my vehicle.

The warning light is "Oil pressure fault: Stop the vehicle". Then the vehicle starts limping and I have to stop the vehicle.

I got another inspection done by my local garage and they said I should get the timing belt changed by Stellantis as it's under warranty and this needs to be changed for free. The warranty states: 

"The timing kit replacement is 112k miles / 10 Years on this engine. However, it is essential that the timing belt is checked at each annual service (as would be done by a dealership) and that the annual service is correctly performed including using the correct grade and specification of engine oil."

Researching this shows that this is valid, especially since they are already paying for compensation to people who had timing belts changed between 2022 and 2024. They already have a big lawsuit resulting in compensation going on in Europe so have opened this to the UK.  

When I approached Stellantis customer care team today, they denied this, and said I need get another diagnosis and even then it would not guarantee if they would pay for the timing belt. Their customer care team are rude and deny the warranty conditions. You can't even get through to the actual dealership via email or phone.

Joyfullife

Thank you for your reply and I’m sorry you’re experiencing this too. My car is on a PCP and the finance company paid for a diagnostic test which stated that there was no damage or signs of damage when we purchased the car. The car had done around 42000 miles when we bought it. The diagnostic test showed that the damage to the wet belt, which was described as excessive deterioration and delamination after just 5000 miles. I’ve now been without a car for 3 months but I’m still paying the finance. It’s a ridiculous and dangerous situation. We were on the motorway when the car lost power. I’ve been quoted almost £1500 to repair it through Vauxhall