Citroen Guarantee Question?

Magicman1

Hi folks, I have a Citroen Berlingo van, bought new last June. I had it serviced in January at 20,000kms. There's is now 47,000 on the clock and I'm having a problem with the gearbox, in that it's slipping from 5th gear back to neutral.

I'm aware that the van should have been serviced at 40,000kms, so here is my question. Will the 2 year guarantee I got with the van still cover the work needed on the gearbox even though i'm overdue a service by 7,000?

The van is in private use and is not misused. It has high mileage but that's because I do a Cork/Limerick round trip every day. Any thoughts?

Marcus.Aurelius

Should be in the terms of your contract, should be in your maintenance logbook where your service stamps go, or else in the maintenance schedule. At any rate, the law usually runs with what a "reasonable" person would do. Your service (in the real world at least) has nothing to do with the gearbox, and wouldn't have changed what's wrong with it.

In the garage world however, they've lots of sneaky ways to shaft the customer and avoid their responsibilities.

Check the T&Cs for terms of warranty with regard to servicing timing. I would have thought (from Mazda anyway), as long as you service the van at a citroen dealer its ok. (open to correction!)

Magicman1

I called a different Citroen garage to the one I'll be bringing it to and asked them what they thought and they seemed to think that there's no way Citroen would cover the work to be done because of the 7000 overdue the service! Surely that can't be right. A guarantee is a guarantee, the van isn't even a year old !

Anan1

If you don't service the car then the warranty is void. You might get something as a goodwill gesture, though.

crosstownk

It depends on the fault. But not sticking to the manufacturers service schedule is a massive negative factor when in comes to having certain work covered under warranty. The terms and conditions of any vehicle warranty always stipulate that service intervals should be adhered to.

That said, have a Citroën dealer investigate the problem and determine what the fault is and take things from there.

Magicman1

Yeah, it seems that way alright! I spoke to an independent assessor on Friday. He told me that Citroen do not have to stand over their guarantee if the van wasn't serviced! All my own fault then. Still can't figure out why a nearly new van is hvaing trouble like that - shouldn't have happened!

The assessor also said that if the manager of the dealership that is doing the job makes a representation to Citroen on my behalf, they might cover it as a goodwill gesture.

Here's hoping.....and thanks for your help....cheers

Run_to_da_hills

As far as I know slipping from 5 to neutral is known problem with Berlingos (And Partners),the 5th gear pinion can sheer from the end of the shaft. The gearbox dose not have to come out as the faulty pinion can be got at by removing a back plate, some back street garages will try welding this pinion permanently on to the end of the shaft with a 29.9 rod as a short cut repair job. :eek: (That’s what I did ! ).

cashmni1

get the van serviced in the citroen garage, (late or not it will be serviced) and then bring your case to them. As said, the common fault with that gearbox can be fixed, so they might cover it as a goodwill gesture.
Let us know how you get on, and good luck.

Magicman1

So, here's the deal - and thanks again for your comments! I brought the van to my Citroen dealer and, in conjunction with Citroen in Dublin, they've agreed to do the job under the guarantee. I've been told they have to strip down the gearbox and rebuild 5th gear! I'm no mechanic but sounds like a big job to me?

Main thing is that they're covering it, and I've learned my lesson about keeping it serviced.