Just had my car declined by this company for warranty work. I'll give you all a brief history of happenings.....
Bought car in December from a private dealership, didn't test drive it (stupidly).
I had my Dad with me who knows a lot about cars to check it over etc, spot any faults. Car sounded fine, no rattles etc.
I bought the car and on driving it home after 50 miles, noticed a rattling noise and vibrations through clutch pedal. Car was juddering at 1500 in 5th and 6th etc, classic symptoms of what I now know is the Dual Mass Flywheel.
I phoned my dealer the next day to complain that I was getting clutch noise, vibration etc and hadn't even got the car home from buying it!
He got back to me and said the car was fine when he had been driving it for tests. I insisted that the car be fixed as I was not happy with my purchase after an hour of driving and that it was within the 30 days of their own dealer guarantee thing. They said they would look into putting me onto a Warranty, but it was not definite.
While waiting a few days for them to get back to me. As a precaution, I went to my local Citizens Advice Bureau and opened a file in case the dealer did not do anything to rectify the issue and tried to fob me off.
Next day, the dealer phoned back and said as a measure of courtesy, he would place me on a Motorcare Warranty 'Gilt Plan' which is their highest warranty level and was, in his words "very comprehensive and should cover everything" so that I could get it fixed down here (140ish miles away) rather than take it back to him. This suits both parties and I accept it on the basis I'd get the repair done. He tells me to wait a month before trying to claim.
I waited about a month and took the car to a local VX Network Q dealer, who kept the car in but did not open it up. They reckoned it was the DMF and then phoned Motorcare on my behalf to try and get a claim number and approval for a repair.
Motorcare have denied the repair as the Flywheel has not mechanically failed and stopped the car from working. Their policy apparently only covers parts that cause mechanical failure.
I phoned the dealer where I got the car and asked him where I stand as I felt I should not have to pay for this. He stuck to his opinion that the car was fine when he drove it etc and will not budge. I then said so "I am expected to drive a car with a faulty part that could potentially harm the engine components further when it eventually does fail." He said he could not possibly comment on that, but knew what I meant. He then goes on to say VX will always go with a worst case scenario as they want to throw a new flywheel on it as they are getting business from the repair and that he did not fully believe they were telling the truth. I know who I believe! The VX people who actually work with these engines, as opposed to a Del Boy Trotter from Cumbernauld!
As it is, I'm stuck and will need to go and collect the car without any repairs being done, as it was estimated at £1000 parts and labour and I can no way afford to pay it.
My Dad is looking at a local garage, who we normally get work done at to do the work, and try to haggle it down a bit, but the whole situation is frustrating to say the least.
I love the car, but if I knew I would have to pay £1000 to get it working correctly, I'd have bought something else for £7k. Sorry for the rant, but this leaves with a few questions....
1) as anyone else had dealings with Motorcare?
2) If I am driving and the DMF fails at motorway speeds (70mph) or a country road at the NSL of 60mph, will it likely cause me to crash or lose control?
3) Should I go back to Citizens Advice and chase this up further?
Thanks in advance
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