Warranty on repair

cantwbr1 wrote: »

In Match 2017 we bought a 141 Skoda Superb from a local dealer (not Skoda). After a couple of months the driver window motor failed and was replaced under warranty.
Last week the same window motor failed. I haven’t been back to the dealer yet (as I’m out of the country since it happened) but what can I expect from them. The car is no longer under warranty but I think that the window motor should last longer than a year

Never mind the warranty. The repair should have been permanent and its failed within a year so you have consumer rights to have it fixed.

But the first thing to do is see what the dealer says.

A part fitted during a warranty in this instance is only covered until the existing warranty expires, the warranty doesn't get extended on that part.

So for example if a motor was fitted March 17, on a car in warranty until January 18, that motor is only warrantied until January 18.

Spare parts fitted come with 2x years warranty if the customer (or dealer) pays for the repair, which neither did in this case, Skoda the manufacturer did.

Aside from all that though, you could reasonably expect the repair to last more than a year so i'd go to the dealer with the expectation that you want them to cover full costs or at least meet you a good portion of the way towards the cost.

Also, are you sure it's the motor failed again? The window switches in those are prone to trouble iirc.

grogi wrote: »

Nonsense. It would be different though if the OP paid for the repair, even symbolically. Then customer laws would apply.

Show me where it says that? All I can find is that a repair should be permanent in the legislation, there's no mention of paying for it.

mullingar wrote: »

It's out of warranty for sure.


The repair was "permanent" as it was not in any way completed as a temporary repair as it had fully working Skoda parts installed. The fact it failed a year later is down to cheap parts made by skoda

That's not permanent in consumer law.

Del2005 wrote: »

That's not permanent in consumer law.

Why do you think consumer law applies?

Who is a consumer?
Generally speaking a consumer is defined in Irish law as a natural person who buys goods or a service for personal use or consumption from someone whose business it is to sell goods or provide services. By law, you are not a consumer if you:

Receive goods as a gift
Buy goods for commercial purposes (i.e. you will be using the goods for commercial and not private use)
Buy goods for private use that are normally used for business purposes
Buy goods from an individual who is not in business (i.e. you buy a car from an individual whose normal business is not selling cars)

Del2005 wrote: »

They bought a car from a dealer which developed a fault and it wasn't permanently fixed. What part isn't covered by consumer law?

:rolleyes:

mullingar wrote: »

With logic like that, cars will never have a warranty expiry.

The bottom line is the garage made in all good faith a permanent repair during the warranty period. Failures outside warranty are simply not covered by the dealer.

Warranties can expire all they like. Consumer law overrides them and in this country you have up to 7 years to make a claim.

The bottom line is that the OP bought a car a year ago and within that time it developed a fault. The dealer tried to repair it but it's turned out not to be a permanent repair.

The warranty or lack of it doesn't enter the equation as it's a consumer issue not a warranty issue.

If it was a spurious part fitted eg Lucas, the garage may very well be able to have it replaced under warranty from Lucas themselves.

James Bond Junior wrote: »

If it was a spurious part fitted eg Lucas, the garage may very well be able to have it replaced under warranty from Lucas themselves.

Sure - but the garage has no obligation to chase that case. They might do it to show good faith, but they don't have to.

James Bond Junior wrote: »

Not hard, send it back to the supplying motor factor and they take it from there.

Take it out. Send it. Store the car. Receive it. Put it back... That's at least few hundred quid in labour and other costs.

DaveyDave wrote: »

If the customer can't claim warranty replacement on a warranty replacement, then surely the dealer can? They paid for a part? I know it doesn't necessarily effect them because they did their part, but if the customer is back in it would be nice to do, if possible?

Each part has a percentage fail rate, say 5%, times that by how many millions of parts there is out there. Seems like a waste to not get your money's worth.

I don't know much about how dealers operate though.

The dealer didn't pay for it either, the manufacturer did.

When the dealer replaced the wiper motor the bill for that repair was sent from the dealer to the manufacturer. A self billing invoice probably but its the same result, the manufacturer covered the costs.

So consumer protections apply to whomever actually paid the bill in the first place. In this case it wasn't the car owner, so their protections remain the same as they originally were from the purchase of the car itself. And it wasn't the dealer, so they can't reclaim costs they never accrued in the first place.

No, the manufacturer paid the bill. They are the ones who could look to recover costs, but since they would be looking to recover costs from themselves why on earth would they do that?

James Bond Junior wrote: »

Which the garage can put in as a labour claim as part of the warranty claim.

But you are talking about spurious parts, in such cases the suppliers are very unlikely to pay for ancillary costs such as labour.

Parts warranty and manufacturers warranty are different animals. If a supplier supplied a spurious part and it fails, their obligation is to supply a replacement part. They did not fit the part in the first place and have no obligation to cover the cost of fitting it the 2nd time around. Goodwill not withstanding.

James Bond Junior wrote: »

I don't mean to be patronising but in the trade world, garages can and do put warranty claims in and include a labour claim as part of this. Fact.

When they supply and fit a part they also give warranty for the whole.

bucketybuck wrote: »

Who are you trying to tell, I'm literally in charge of warranty for a multi- franchise dealer.

You were talking about spurious parts. I have often billed time and costs to motor factors because of faulty parts or even incorrectly supplied parts, but that doesn't change the facts about their obligations.

I have extremely close links to one of the largest independent motor factor chains in Ireland. In my experience, suppliers will also allow for labour on warranty claims.

bucketybuck wrote: »

So do I, we own one of them.

Dick measuring aside this thread is about a repair carried out under manufacturers warranty followed by a 2nd failure outside the warranty terms, I'm not sure spurious parts suppliers are very relevant.

No you're right, I didn't mean to be coming across as I know more than you, just that is our experience.