Help: car dealer refuses to fix the car under warranty

vikkthor

Hi all
I need some advice with an issue my girlfriend has with a car dealer.
She bought a second hand car from Drimnagh Motors over a month ago, we agreed the small work to be done before purchasing plus servicing and valeting.
After a couple of weeks she found out that that the front passenger door won’t close or open using the central locking but it only works using the lock on the door. This was not spotted during the inspection to be honest but also the seller never mentioned any issue with the central locking (although we discuss the usual small issues the car has being second hand).
Since there is a 3 months warranty on the car she called in and they were very nice and said it was no problem fixing it as part of the warranty but they have to source some parts that needed to be replaced.
When she brought the car back to get the job done but after the mechanic took the car for over an hour they said that this cannot be fixed under the warranty as it’s an electrical problem, and if she wants to replace the part the job will cost over €500. When she complained that the seller never mentioned such issue he became aggressive and said he wasn’t aware of the problem and in any case she can close the door using her hands and it’s not a problem! In the end he told her that there is nothing they can do and she can complain but they won’t fix the car in any case.
The local mechanic told her she should ask again to get the car fixed as part of the warranty but obviously it seems pointless. Is there anything we can do at this point?

Thanks a lot

Kimbot

Generally second hand cars only come with a gearbox/engine warranty so I would imagine your bang out of luck with this one.

_Brian

Did she get a receipt with warranty details written down.

Many second hand cars are sold with an engine and gearbox warranty only.

Toyotafanboi

A lot of this hinges around the price of the car too.

I'd agree with the above, most "3 month warranties" that are provided in house by smaller dealers are generally very basic, covering engine and gearbox and not much else. They are just enough to cover the "fit for purpose" clause. Unfortunately you fault doesn't really make the car unfit for purpose.

Did you get the specifics of the warranty at the time of purchase?

vikkthor

Thanks all for your quick reply.

Yes she should have all the specifics, she was going though all the paperwork yesterday night but we didn't had the chnace to discuss yet

boardsuser1

A well known Co.Cork dealer who was selling a car i was interested in 2 years ago tried to offer an engine an gearbox only warranty on a car then worth €9000, i laughed and walked out, got the same car elsewhere for a grand less with a full warranty which i got in writing.

Always watch the small print though!

R.O.R

Out of interest, what kind of car is it? I've owned cars in the past with similar issues as described, that were sorted with a spray of WD40.

vikkthor

R.O.R wrote: »

Out of interest, what kind of car is it? I've owned cars in the past with similar issues as described, that were sorted with a spray of WD40.

It's a 04 Toyota Yaris. Where did yo spray the WD40? Did you remove teh door panel?

Alanstrainor

vikkthor wrote: »

It's a 04 Toyota Yaris. Where did yo spray the WD40? Did you remove teh door panel?

For a car of that age/price point I would not expect such issues to be covered under warranty. Generally you will only get a basic warranty covering the engine and gearbox for cars that old.

I would be looking into fixing this yourself OP, I doubt you have much of a leg to stand on here. It could be something very simple.

EDIT: This thread suggests that a clean of the actuator motor could be a possible fix:
http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44694

R.O.R

vikkthor wrote: »

It's a 04 Toyota Yaris. Where did yo spray the WD40? Did you remove teh door panel?

Cars I had issues with were Fords - because the passenger door handle didn't get used that much it stuck, and the handle operated the locking mechanism on the inside, rather than a button (pushed handle in to lock the door).

If there's a button to lock/unlock from inside the car, does it move as freely as it should?

Isambard

if you found the fault only after a couple of weeks it does sound as if it something that might well have occured after purchase, in which case it won't be covered by the Warranty.

JohnBoy26

R.O.R wrote: »

Cars I had issues with were Fords - because the passenger door handle didn't get used that much it stuck, and the handle operated the locking mechanism on the inside, rather than a button (pushed handle in to lock the door).

If there's a button to lock/unlock from inside the car, does it move as freely as it should?

Ford were notorious for sticky central locking and a spray of oil down into the actuator temporarily(very temporary with wd40) fixed the problem but the op's problem is different to that I think.

JohnBoy26

vikkthor wrote: »

It's a 04 Toyota Yaris. Where did yo spray the WD40? Did you remove teh door panel?

Why not get a replacement door lock/cl motor from a breakers?

Silverfish

Have you tried resyncing the keys?

bucketybuck

The dealer would have known immediately if any door locks were warrantable yet he agreed to look at it anyway, based on that I suspect that if it had been a minor fix he would have just sorted it out for you. Which makes me wonder if it needs something bigger, like a full door lock/handle assembly, central locking ecu, etc etc, rather than the quick fix people are suggesting. That doesn't mean you don't give the quick fix a try of course.

The bigger question is about any warranty, and I'm sorry but no, door locks or central locking would not be considered driveline items. And its already been pointed out, but what do people expect on a 13 year old Yaris? A harsh fact of life is that you get what you pay for. And I have little wish to defend cowboy dealers but I doubt there was very little profit in that car for the dealer, certainly not enough to cover €500+ repairs unless he has a legal obligation to do so.

The other question is if the door lock ever worked from the time of sale? Probably not, would I be right in saying your friend just never used the passenger door for a few weeks? Its a shame people don't properly check out cars they are buying but I can see how that can happen. Unfortunately it also doesn't really matter, you can't prove it that it didn't fail in the weeks following the sale, and the dealer would be quite right to point out that it must have been working because the buyer said nothing either pre-sale or in the few days post sale.

vikkthor

R.O.R wrote: »

If there's a button to lock/unlock from inside the car, does it move as freely as it should?

Yes there is and it does move freely. I doesn move a little when I click the central locking button on the key but not enough to open or close the door.

vikkthor

bucketybuck wrote: »

The dealer would have known immediately if any door locks were warrantable yet he agreed to look at it anyway, based on that I suspect that if it had been a minor fix he would have just sorted it out for you. Which makes me wonder if it needs something bigger, like a full door lock/handle assembly, central locking ecu, etc etc, rather than the quick fix people are suggesting. That doesn't mean you don't give the quick fix a try of course.

The bigger question is about any warranty, and I'm sorry but no, door locks or central locking would not be considered driveline items. And its already been pointed out, but what do people expect on a 13 year old Yaris? A harsh fact of life is that you get what you pay for. And I have little wish to defend cowboy dealers but I doubt there was very little profit in that car for the dealer, certainly not enough to cover €500+ repairs unless he has a legal obligation to do so.

The other question is if the door lock ever worked from the time of sale? Probably not, would I be right in saying your friend just never used the passenger door for a few weeks? Its a shame people don't properly check out cars they are buying but I can see how that can happen. Unfortunately it also doesn't really matter, you can't prove it that it didn't fail in the weeks following the sale, and the dealer would be quite right to point out that it must have been working because the buyer said nothing either pre-sale or in the few days post sale.

As I said we didn't notice it when we inspected the car as the central locking seemed to work (all doors fully works except for the front passenger side). My girlfriends drives just 5 mile back and forth to go to work and she never noticed it until jus after a week or so :-/

Jayop

Honestly, if that's the only fault you have in a 13 year old car you bought a good one. Personally I wouldn't worry about it, just lock and unlock the door manually when you get it and be glad you didn't buy one with a serious problem. The dealer has in my eyes done nothing wrong, if it was a small quick fix they'd have sorted it for you, but they're not going to pay 500 for a fix on something like this on a car that they probably only sold for about €1500.

Del2005

vikkthor wrote: »

As I said we didn't notice it when we inspected the car as the central locking seemed to work (all doors fully works except for the front passenger side). My girlfriends drives just 5 mile back and forth to go to work and she never noticed it until jus after a week or so :-/

Things can fail at any time, it could have been there at time of purchase or just happened when she tried it. The length of the commute makes no real difference to a door not opening.

Bring it to a different garage and get a quote for repair, but if the original garage looked and said no I doubt it'll be cheap. As said look for a replacement door from a scrapper, should be relatively easy to get a colour matching door for a Yaris.

shane b

Unfortunately the warranty only covers engine and gearbox issues. I bought a car there a few years ago and that what written on my receipt. Whether the problem was present before the car was bought is hard to know.

GerryDerpy

Sale of Goods & Supply of Services Act 1980: goods shall be of merchantable quality. It is your statutory right to have the problem fixed by the seller.

colm_mcm

GerryDerpy wrote: »

Sale of Goods & Supply of Services Act 1980: goods shall be of merchantable quality. It is your statutory right to have the problem fixed by the seller.

No it isn't. A non functioning central locking doesn't make the car unfit for purpose or not of merchantable quality. This is a 13 year old used car not a new one.

GerryDerpy

colm_mcm wrote: »

No it isn't. A non functioning central locking doesn't make the car unfit for purpose or not of merchantable quality. This is a 13 year old used car not a new one.

That is the angle their solicitor would take alright, I'd be pushing right back on that.

colm_mcm

You can push away, but the facts remain as try are.

FWIW, if the central locking is attempting to move, it's not an electrical fault, it more than likely just needs an actuator, which is approx €30 from a scrapyard and another €70 or so to fit.

EPAndlee

Sounds like the central locking actuator isn't working on that door. Recently was working on a Yaris with that exact problem. Picked one up for 20 quid and swapped it over

bucketybuck

GerryDerpy wrote: »

Sale of Goods & Supply of Services Act 1980: goods shall be of merchantable quality. It is your statutory right to have the problem fixed by the seller.

There's always one.

dil999

GerryDerpy wrote: »

That is the angle their solicitor would take alright, I'd be pushing right back on that.

It would never reach the dealers solicitor because the customer solicitor would tell them to cop themselves on.

The amount of legal 'experts' on boards is astonishing.

I am not in the motor trade, and I am not in anyway biased towards second hand car dealers. To the OP, you bought a 13 year Yaris for what? €2.5K? and the only problem is a faulty passenger door lock? No reasonable person would expect the dealer to cover that.