Warranty Payout Refused? Check Your Legal Rights
Monday, 25. July 2011
This is now getting bloody monotonous! Every week I seem to read something about warranty claims that aren’t being honoured by the dealer or manufacturer because the claim has been made just outside the warranty period or mileage. Last week it was the Guardian, this week it’s What Car that have made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end! Why are we obsessed with our rights under the warranty provided by the manufacturer and the dealer? Whatever happened to good old legal rights under common law? Most warranties last for 3 years or 60,000 miles whichever comes first.
So when a component fails when the car is 3 years and a week old that’s no longer the responsibility of the supplying dealer or the manufacturer. If you believe that you should be off down to the end of your garden and start dancing around with the fairies! Of course it’s not but first we need some balance here.
I’m not getting at the manufacturers or the dealers. In most cases (including me personally) when a warranty claim is made it is honoured and dealt with quickly and courteously.
But the point here is that cars are not expected to come to a grinding halt when they hit 60,000 miles or celebrate their third birthday.
Far from it and if a fault that was there from the day it was built but was only identified 3 years and a week after it was registered isn’t it right that you should have a claim against the supplying dealer for providing a car unfit for purpose?
In fact the law states that you can even reject the car up to 6 years after you bought it, although you would need some fairly strong evidence that the fault was there when bought, but the point is that the law is on your side so use it and stop being steamrollered by dealers, who tend to try and avoid their legal obligations by passing you on to the manufacturer.
Sod off, it was the dealer from whom you bought faulty goods so sort the problem out and you, Mr Dealer, deal with the manufacturer. As with the case in What Car the dealer spoke to the manufacturer, Mazda ‘on their customer’s behalf.’
Nope, the dealer has the problem, he can speak to Uncle Tom Cobbly for all we should care but the legal responsibility remains with the company that sold the product. Finally, in this case the manufacturer offered a 55% payment as a ‘gesture of goodwill.’
Do you know what? Poke the gesture of goodwill up your rear orifice, there is a legal obligation here, in fact I think that the expression ‘gesture of goodwill’ should be banned! Treat the payment as it should be, an obligation under law to replace a part that was badly fitted/manufactured in the first place.
Rant rant rant! I should stop this, it’s not good for my heart! Have you had problems with a warranty claim, please let me know on my blog? By Graham Hill
Warranty Vs Legal Rights – Do You Know The Difference? | The Best Car Finance Blog In The World Says:
[…] Warranty Payout Refused? Check Your Legal Rights (thebestcarfinanceblog.co.uk) Share My Blogs With Others: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]