Car insurance - can't fix car and won't write it off.

housebuyer143

I'm asking for my sister. About 4 months ago she had a slight collision which resulted in her car needing to go to the garage. The garage repaired the bodywork and said the car was good to go but then realised there's an issue with the cruise control sensor in the windscreen - this is an electric car by the way and it self drives on the motorway and self breaks etc. 

Anyway, they sent the car to the manufacturer and the manufacturer cannot work out what's wrong with it or how to fix it. The insurance company are refusing to take responsibility for the repair because they've said it's under warranty because the car is less than 3 years old and it's a faulty sensor. However the manufacturer is saying the crash cause the sensor to be faulty and neither is taking responsibility for it. Regardless of who takes responsibility, no one knows what's wrong with it or how to fix it. So it doesn't seem like there's a solution at present. All they keep saying is you have to wait but she's been waiting 4 months so far without her car.

She's stuck now because she doesn't know how to get her car fixed because at the moment they're arguing amongst themselves and it seems like it's never going to be fixed/ written off.

Can anyone offer some advice of what she needs to do next to get something to happen?

TELLIT01

Are you in the UK?  I ask because I didn't think self-drive cars were permitted here.

cw8825

What part of the bodywork was repaired which is impacting the windscreen sensor?

What car is it?
It won't be written off for a sensor

DullGreyGuy

TELLIT01 said:

Are you in the UK?  I ask because I didn't think self-drive cars were permitted here.

Level 2 self driving is legal in the UK, these include things like adaptive cruise control, lane assist, automatic parking. They have been for years as my car over a decade ago had these things. Full automation isnt 

housebuyer143 said:

I'm asking for my sister. About 4 months ago she had a slight collision which resulted in her car needing to go to the garage. The garage repaired the bodywork and said the car was good to go but then realised there's an issue with the cruise control sensor in the windscreen - this is an electric car by the way and it self drives on the motorway and self breaks etc. 

Anyway, they sent the car to the manufacturer and the manufacturer cannot work out what's wrong with it or how to fix it. The insurance company are refusing to take responsibility for the repair because they've said it's under warranty because the car is less than 3 years old and it's a faulty sensor. However the manufacturer is saying the crash cause the sensor to be faulty and neither is taking responsibility for it. Regardless of who takes responsibility, no one knows what's wrong with it or how to fix it. So it doesn't seem like there's a solution at present. All they keep saying is you have to wait but she's been waiting 4 months so far without her car.

She's stuck now because she doesn't know how to get her car fixed because at the moment they're arguing amongst themselves and it seems like it's never going to be fixed/ written off.

Can anyone offer some advice of what she needs to do next to get something to happen?

What was the "slight collision"? What area of the car was impacted? 

In my mind a slight collision is little more than going over a speed at 30mph that you didnt see so unless the collision was much heavier than you say or the area of damage is exactly where the sensor is then it would seem more likely a fault than accident damage especially as they can't point to a broken something or other to show it was impact damage rather than than something else. 

Whilst I side with the insurers the Financial Ombudsman has much more teeth than the Motor ombudsman so its worth having a formal complaint with both organisations with a view to going to the respective ombudsman's if they dont resolve the matter. 

born_again

cw8825 said:

What part of the bodywork was repaired which is impacting the windscreen sensor?

What car is it?
It won't be written off for a sensor

Often  cruise control sensor is behind a plastic square in bumper. 

Which manufacture is this? As dealer should be referring to their tech team to sort out.

housebuyer143

Thanks all. Its a vauxhall mokka.

My sister was pulling out a junction and the car to the right let her out and she stupidly didn't look to the left and pulled out in front of an incoming car who also wasn't paying attention. She shunted it in the side and the other car kept going so it ripped off her number plate, dragged the car sideways a little and messed up the suspension. She was going so slow the airbags didn't even deploy and she drove it home. 

The manufacturer has had it 3 months now and they thought it was the cruise control, then it was a sensor in the windscreen and now there are more faults. They don't know what's wrong currently or how to fix it. Unfortunately she is having no end of issues with vauxhall garage and they never call her back, promise her a courtesy car and then when she goes to get it, it's not been booked out and they haven't got it. Don't answer the phone and she has to keep going there to get them to speak to her.

So is a complaint the next step? I appreciate the insurance don't want to fix something that they don't have to, but currently no one is taking responsibility for it and it's going around and around. 

daveyjp

Any frontal impact on a modern car has the potential to cause a lot of electrical component damage.  As stated above sensors for adaptive cruise are sometimes located in the radiator grill area.

If the front of the car has been removed to replace/repair panels replacing any electrical items and ensuring they are calibrated correctly is a specialist job.

If the insurance bodyshop can't fix it they shouldn't be given the job, so raise a formal complaint with the insurance company.

Vauxhalls are now all Peugeots in a different dress and your experience of the dealers does not surprise me, but as components are shared the wider Stellantis group should be aware.