Thread: When is a warranty not a warranty.

About 9 years ago I bought the wife a new car, from day dot there was handbrake issues requiring weekly adjustments. Which of corse went back to the dealer. Eventually they said there was nothing wrong so I had the DP drive it and park it at the top of their drive and apply the hand brake the nominated 4 clicks (my issue was pulling it on to hard apparently). Went inside t discuss and halfway down the drive the car goes sailing past as he didn't leave it in gear.

"Its a new car" and it didn't have handbrake issues

See below.

Originally Posted by drivesafe

Well I finally got a reply from LRA, if this is what you could call it and NOTE, this is the ONLY correspondence I have EVER received, you will understand when you read the reply.

All I can say is I'm speechless!


Dear Mr ######,
*
We understand that you have posted some comments regarding your vehicle on an internet forum regarding your Range Rover Vogue indicating you have not had a reply from Land Rover Customer Care.
*
Thank you for your loyalty to the brand and naturally, we very much regret to learn that the ownership experience of your Range Rover has not lived up to your expectations. We ask you to accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by us not replying sooner.
*
Regarding the concern with seat trim that was raised with ( DEALER’S NAME ) Land Rover, it was noted as a wear and tear item as per previous dealership advice and as such was a retail repair. We understand this decision was conveyed at the time as per your correspondence.
*I'd suggest that you'll have to wear this one and its a matter of insufficient product testing to show this design issue. Ultimately it isn't an issue of faulty workmanship or materials.
If you have further concerns with your vehicle then we recommend presenting your vehicle to an authorised Land Rover dealership for repairs.
*
Land Rover Australia issued your vehicle with a Three Year (3) or 100,000KM (which ever occurred first) New Car Warranty on the 30th of November 2007. This warranty was in place to cover the owner for any costs associated with unforeseeable defects in manufacture, within the timeframe.
*
Land Rover Australia is not in a position to assist financially to your vehicle due to the age of vehicle. While we understand this may not be the answer you were looking for, but we are bound by the terms and conditions of the new car warranty.
*Write back to them and list the faults that were identified during the warranty period that were never corrected. Remind them that these faults are still covered under the warranty terms. It is not your issue if the dealer(s) are incompetent. You fulfilled your obligation and the obligation of LRA to rectify those faults stands. Australian Consumer Law backs you on this.
We hope this clarifies our position in regards to this matter.
*
Yours sincerely
*
#### ########
Customer Care Manager
Land Rover Australia

Hi Peter and I have tried repeatedly to get in contact with LRA, it never gets beyond the Customer Service Centre and the only reason I have received this E-mail from them, is that they are trying to cover their backside after the “SO” comment was made and them not thinking it would be posted up on a forum.

As to the seat, they have been replacing these seats for a couple of years now, because of the poorly designed seat cowling, so I will wait and see if they come to their censors or we go through the courts.

As much as I tried to keep this in-house, their behaviour has left me with no other avenue and it’s all in the hands of Fair Trading now.

Please keep us informed how you go.

On a brighter note - (nothing to do with Landrover, but does have to do with warranty), on 3/12/13 my son's Hyundai I30 diesel had the turbo expire. At 110,000km and three years, with five years unlimited warranty, it would seem to be a clear cut case for warranty repair. It was towed to a Canberra dealer. Looked like they were going to be a bit sticky at first (wanted copies of invoices for every service since new before parts could be ordered!) but this afternoon we heard that the repair had been approved, they have the parts, and are working on it, may even be ready this afternoon, but at least should be Monday. The service people at the dealer seemed surprised at the fault, apparently never had one of these before.

John

Asking for invoice copies seem odd John. Wasn't the stamped service book enough proof of servicing?

I bet many dealerships yearn for the good old days when warranty was 1000 miles/ four weeks on new cars and no warranty whatsoever on used vehicles.

Originally Posted by Grumbles

Asking for invoice copies seem odd John. Wasn't the stamped service book enough proof of servicing?

I specifically asked that question, and the answer was a decisive no. Makes you wonder why they bother to stamp them!

It was a bit of a problem, as the car was a legacy about two years ago from Melbourne, most of the servicing was done by a non-dealer mechanic in Yass, but one service up her, also by a non-dealer. Since all my son's paperwork was lost in a house fire just over a year ago, he had to ask for copies from the bloke in Yass - he printed them off immediately back to 60,000km, but had to get an IT bloke in to recover the older ones from their archives. The servicing in Melbourne was done by the selling dealer, and those service records were obtained by the Canberra dealer.

John

Originally Posted by Grumbles

Asking for invoice copies seem odd John. Wasn't the stamped service book enough proof of servicing?

Establishing genuine part usage maybe, ensuring non-genuine parts had not contributed to the failure or ensuring a payment for service had been made rather than a free stamp in the book from either a bona fide mechanic or a ring in stamp.

Remember before computers, bic disposable lighter bottoms looked remarkably like Bank of NSW passbook stamps. More than a few people were able to draw money from empty accounts.